Rejected by my Mate

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day I decided to go for a morning run.  I ran around the town for about 20 minutes when someone started running next to me.

"Do you always run this early in the morning?" James asked while running in the same pace as me.

"Sometimes. I just felt like running this morning" I say trying to talk and run at the same time.  I'm not that coordinated. 

"Where are you running to?" 

"See that light post? That's my finish line" I try to say without losing my breath.

"I'll race you" He says with a smile growing on his face. "Winner gets to make the loser do whatever they want, deal?" he says looking over to me.  I think about it for a moment then smile.

"Deal"

"Alright on three two one go!" and we both start sprinting the short distance to reach the light post first.  We're right next to each other almost the entire way, but he managed to pull a head for the last few seconds.  He crosses the light post and throws his hands up in victory.

"Yes! I am the all time champion!" He sings while circling me.

I laugh at the scene he's making. "Alright alright what do you want me to do?" I ask kind of worried.  He looks at me and looks like he's thinking about it hard.

"Well?" I say growing impatient with him.  He laughs and I smile at him.

"I don't know yet. I'll let you know" He says walking up to me.

"Whatever I think you cheated anyways" I say giving him a accusing look.

"Oh please! You know I beat you fair and square" He says while laughing.

"Yeah sure you did" I say not giving in.  He continues laughing and eventually I join in.  His laughter is very contagious.

"Do you want to go get some coffee or something? I haven't had any yet and if I don't I'll be dead by noon" I say smiling he smiles back.

"Sure I could go for some coffee"  I start to lead us to the towns coffee shop.  We walk inside and I immediately want to walk straight out.  Over in the corner was Braden and his gang.  I try to avoid Braden at any cost.  it makes the whole thing less awkward for me.

"Maybe we should come back another time? it's awfully crowded in here" I say looking up at James hoping he'd say okay.  Instead he gives a confused look.

"What are you talking about? it's nearly empty in here. C'mon go find a seat and I'll go get the coffee" He says pointing to a table not far away.  Luckily it was on the opposite side of where Braden was.  I quietly make my way to the table.  I sit down and look at James.  He's up already ordering and he comes back shortly with our coffees.

"Here you go you sore loser" He says laughing while handing me my cup.  I try to laugh, but it comes out forced.  Being around Braden just brings up my heart aches.

"Thanks" I sip on the coffee silently and James gives me a concerned look.

"Do you not like it? I can go get you another one if you want" He says starting to get up.  I grab his arm and feel the tingles again, but quickly make him sit down.

"No no! The coffee is great, just hot is all" I say smiling.  He smiles back relieved and starts to drink his.  We start talking about random things, but my eyes keep going over to where Braden is sitting.  I don't want him to notice me.

I nearly choke on my drink when I notice Braden look over in our direction and get up.  He makes his way over to us and I can feel myself getting nervous.

"Hey there Vanessa" He says casually like he talks to me all the time or something.  I look up at him, but don't make eye contact.

"Hey Braden" I say quietly back.  James looks up at Braden, almost seizing him up.

"Whose your friend here?" He asks motioning towards James.  I was about to speak up, but James beat me to it.

"I'm James" He says holding his hand out for Braden to shake, which he does. "I"m Braden. You're from the Moon pack aren't you?" He questions looking between me and James.  I continue sipping my coffee not wanting to speak.

"Yes I am" James says simply.

"Well we're very happy to have your pack here, let me know if you need anything" Braden says smiling.  That's the one thing about Braden that I've always admired.  He may be a complete ass, but he sure knows how to put up a charm that no one can resist.

"Thank you" James says and then turns to look at me.  I give him a look that says 'we're leaving now' and he nods his head in understanding.

"Well we should be going, got lots of stuff to do today right Vanessa?" James says standing up and Braden looks at me and I nod my head in agreement.

"Alright take care man" I get up and we start to walk out of the coffee shop, but hear Bradens voice. "And it was a pleasure seeing you again Vanessa" He says with his little smirk and I just nod my head then turn and walk out of the coffee shop.

"So who was that guy?" James questioned once we were away from the coffee shop.

"Just some guy" I say simply, not wanting to talk about him.

"Well what's his deal? Is he like popular or like run everything or something?" He asks.

"Yes, he's very popular.  His father is our alpha"

"Oh got it got it" He says nodding his head. "Have you guys ever got together?" He asks looking at me.  I almost choke on air, but recover.

"No we haven't" I say back which was the truth.  Yeah so he was my mate and all, we never got together, not even close.

"Are you lying to me Vanessa?" He asks playfully.

I punch his arm lightly "No I'm not lying we never had a thing and we never will. He's to powerful for me" I say sadly.

James wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close to him while we walk.

"He'd be lucky to have you Vanessa, don't think otherwise" He says comfortingly.  I smile up at him.

"You know, you're not so bad" I say while laughing and he laughs too.

"Thanks. You're not so bad either" And then pulls me tighter.

"Alright can't breathe! Loving moment is over!" I say breaking out of his grip and started running.  He runs after me.

"Want a rematch huh? Alright try to beat me little girl" And he takes off in front of me.  We spend the rest of the day together and have a great time.  James is really easy to talk to and I feel as though I have some kind of connection to him.  I trust him.

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