Escape | ✓

27

"I told you he'd be pissed."

"Can you shut up for five minutes?" I glanced back at Fen and ran my hands over my face.

"I could, but it'd do you no good. You'd just try to come up with excuses for how this isn't your fault and come up with another, equally idiotic, plan to try and do the shit you already caused. Are you sensing a pattern here? Because I am."

If looks could kill, Fen would've been dead by now.

"You seem to be strangely calm for someone willing to resort to cheap tricks to try and gain his love the last time we met."

Fen grinned bitterly. "And you seem strangely upset for someone willing to use cheap tricks to try and scare him off. The difference between you and me is you succeeded and yet you're still sitting there like a wounded puppy."

I shook my head. "You didn't see his face."

He didn't see the anger that was radiating off Eli.

"You said you didn't mind if he hated you."

"I don't."

"Are you serious?" Fen shook his head. "And I thought Nixon was stubborn, but you? You're something else."

"Shut—"

"You clearly like him and yet you're willing to do anything if it means that you don't have to face the truth."

"And what about you?" I scowled. "You're telling me in such a short amount of time you've gotten over your feelings and are completely okay with watching Eli be with someone else?"

"I never said I was over him," Fen muttered. "But I don't want to hurt him anymore. I went along with your stupid plan because I didn't want to watch him get hurt either, not because I had some secret plan. Believe it or not, I do care about him. More than you do apparently."

"I care about him."

"Do you?" Fen challenged. "Because if you did then you wouldn't be putting him through this."

I didn't respond to that. I wasn't sure how.

"Do you want my advice?" Fen asked.

"No—"

"You should put your pride or whatever is holding you back to the side and go see him and stop running away every time something goes off plan or gets hard."

"We're mates, Reuben!" Eli's angry words rang in my mind.

We were mates. I knew that and yet...

"What are you doing?" Fen called out as I went to my room and grabbed a suitcase.

I started tossing some clothes and important items inside. "I need to go somewhere for a few days."

I didn't wait to hear Fen's response.  I took my suitcase and carried it out the door. As much as I hated to admit it, I couldn't understand my own feelings. Before, I was used to making a decision and sticking with it, but recently, I've been doing the opposite and I was tired of it.

I needed to go back to the place where this whole mess started—the place where I met both Eli and Fen. The place I'd spent my whole childhood wanting to get away from.

I needed to go home.

AN: This is a shorter chapter, but next time we see Reuben he'll be back in his pack and we'll see what his family is like.

That'll be fun though because Reuben's already talked about how his family values mates and once they find out about him rejecting Eli...

All I can say is have fun, Reu🫣