Dark Twin Moon - The Awakening

Chapter 39:

As they left the locker room, Dal wasn't in the space to drive, and before he could even try, Chad snatched his keys from his slightly shaking hands. Even though Dal was annoyed by his best friend's antics, he internally thanked him, as he was seemingly able to sense his discomfort.

Dal looked at Chad sideways, unconvinced of him. His friend always seemed odd. But ever since Kayleb came into the picture, he became even stranger, more alert and wary. And since the incident in the locker room with his soulmate, he has even seemed downright hostile at times towards him. Far from the gentle giant he knew.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice they had set off. With Chad's eyes focused on the road ahead, he was left to his own devices. He pulled his phone out of his backpack between his legs and opened it. His background was a photo of his soulmate that he had secretly taken while he was laughing with his female friend.

An adoring smile crept onto his face as he looked at the gentle smile his mate gave his friend. It pulled at his heart if he was honest with himself. He wanted his soulmate to look at him like that! Maybe a little more lovingly. But the only thing he receives are looks of discontent and downright pain.

He went through his photo folder in silence. His last few hundred photos were all of his mates. Some were clear, and some weren't. He didn't have many opportunities to take clear pictures of him.

But as soon as he finished with those, his stomach churned. There were more pictures. The ones that could ruin any chance he might have with his partner. Naked pictures of girl after girl, even some of him being intimate with some of them. And he couldn't remember any of it.

His guilt and self-loathing over his impudence only intensified when he found a photo of his soulmate he hadn't knowingly taken. It was the first day of school. He was standing in the hallway with some of his pack members. They were goofing around and taking some silly pictures. Charlotte, a special member of his pack, hung around his neck while in the background was Kayleb with his younger brother. His mate seemed to be out of it as Ian pulled him along.

He was dead quiet, even though tears were streaming down his cheeks. If he had looked through his pictures, he would have been able to see those emerald-green eyes sooner. Perhaps he could have even found his love through the picture itself. Now, all he felt was the pain of guilt and shame.

"Oh, I remember that day," Chad said, his voice uncomfortably neutral. "That was a few weeks ago. Wasn't it? A lot has happened in such a short time."

"Too much."

"Maybe." The beta's voice was still neutral. "But it is what it is. We are here."

When Dal looked out the window again, he frowned in confusion. "But we're home?"

For a second, Chad gave his best friend a small smile. It quickly disappeared, though. Instead of answering his question, he left the car and walked inside the main packhouse.

When Dal saw this, he ran after him and almost fell over his own two feet. He was desperate to get a chance with the guy he had fallen head over heels with just one look into his eyes. They were like the endless meadows he had always dreamed of.

With messy hair, still slightly damp from the quick shower he had taken, he searched the hallway of his house for his best friend. But he still wasn't in a place of much thought, so he only used his eyes and not his other senses. Feeling helpless and alone, panic began to rise in his heart. Trying to take a deep breath became problematic. The more he tried, the harder it got.

It got so bad that he almost fell to the ground. He could barely hold on to the wall next to him. With a strength he had not known he had before, he dug his fingers into the wall, shattering the stones beneath his fingertips.