Forbidden

Chapter 5

5

So Hayden was quite possibly Tegan’s Mate.

Great.

I’d been upset, but not for the reason Tegan thought. She thought I was upset with her for having my little brother for a mate. I didn’t care about that. I cared that she’d found her Mate before I discovered mine. I cared that her Mate wasn’t anyone her Pack hated.

Who was I kidding? I didn’t even know if Liam was my Mate, but I knew that if he was, if that lingering little light bulb in the back of my head that had been annoying me every second since he stepped foot back in town, we could never ever be together. No matter how hard I tried. No matter what the circumstance, they’d kill me for betrayal before they ever let me be Mated with him.

And knowing that hurt.

So when Tegan left, in a last attempt to get away from me, for I was inconsolable, I kicked my wastebasket and fell onto the bed, biting down hard on my lip to stop my tears, but it didn’t help, and all I got was a bleeding mouth and eyes full of salt water.

A timid knock came on the door and my mom peeked in at me.

“You okay? I made you a sandwich.”

I hastily wiped the tears and turned to smile at her. “Um, yeah I’m fine. What kind?”

“Turkey and Colby Jack. Good enough?”

“Perfect.”

She set the plate on the nightstand and looked at me. “Can I get you anything else?”

“Nope,” I replied. “I’m good.”

She lingered for a moment as I started to pick at the sandwich like I usually did with my food. It was a bad habit. I thought she was going to scold me for a moment, until she opened her mouth.

“Why’d Tegan run out like that honey?” she asked.

I sighed.

My mom was so nosy.

“I don’t know,” I said, stuffing a piece of the sandwich into my mouth and savoring the toasted rye bread and the turkey and cheese all melded into one. “She said she had to go.”

“Misha Devor Grant, stop lying.” She frowned at me.

“I didn’t say anything, can’t you just take me at face value for a minute and stop poking around? Gosh!” I frowned.

“Fine,” she shot back, storming out, her walk noticeably exaggerated now.

The door slammed behind her.

I frowned at it and continued to eat my sandwich until I heard the loud vibration of my phone on my desk. Sighing, I got up and picked up the flat piece of metal and scrutinized the display.

Randel.

He was definitely not the person I wanted to talk to now. And he was my boyfriend, who my parents wholly approved of, and who I might be getting married to in the spring.

I touched the ‘answer' icon on the touch screen.

“Hi Randel,” I said, trying to inject some enthusiasm into my voice for I was emotionally lacking.

“Hi,” he said as I fell onto my bed. “Do you have that sweatshirt I gave you since we ran the Line last?”

“Um yeah,” I said, looking down at the long gray cotton sweatshirt with ‘88’ emblazoned over the front like some kind of freaking sign. “I’m actually wearing it,” I shrugged meaning to come off blasé as I pushed another piece of sandwich into my mouth.