Gage

Chapter Twenty-Two - Shifters

I pulled on a pair of skinny jeans that hugged my figure and a black shirt. I sat on the bed as I pulled on my white sneakers.

After I was done I looked up and sighed.

What was I doing here? What was I really doing here? Am I going to trust Gage? What's holding back? Why can't I be happy. I don't want my past to take hold of my actions now. Having walls up all the time is so tiring.

I leaned back flopped back on the bed and closed my eyes.

Keeping up this act is backfiring. If I want to keep the people I care about safe, I think it's better if I just tell them the truth.

And what if Gage doesn't like why he sees if I put my walls down?

Those are your insecurities speaking.

I know. It'll be so weird having my walls down, it'll feel like I'm naked or something.

You'll get used to it. Your mate isn't here to hurt you. He's not like Alpha Hades.

I stiffened up when she said that.

I need to do something with myself. I can't be the woman who stays at home and waits for her husband to come home. I refuse to be that wife.

But there's nothing wrong with that.

Wait, where even have you been? You abandoned me.

I never abandoned you, I just had to be silent. I was already weak from Hades, if I came out he would have taken me from you too.

I missed you.

I know you did. I missed you too. And I finally gained enough strength to tell you that Gage is only here to help you and love you. And by the looks of it, you already got him wrapped around your pinky.

I mean, you know how it goes. And all he's done with me are hugs, handholding, and cheek kisses.

I wish you could see me shaking my head at you.

"Naomi, are you ready to go?" Gage asked me.

I nodded my head and got off the bed. I concluded that he and I, were a team and I needed to start trusting my partner.

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I sat on his office couch playing with my hair. I was bored out of my mind.

"I need a job or a hobby or something. A purpose." I blurted.

Gage looked up from his paperwork and said, "What?"

I got up from the couch and walked to his desk. "You heard what I said. I'm not going to twiddle my damn thumbs until you come home every day. That's not me."

"Why not?"

I glared at him. "When I was back home, I was a photographer. And I had a car to drive myself to places I couldn't run too. I don't even know where I am. If I was stranded here I wouldn't know where to go."

"Okay, okay I get it."

I ignored him and continued, "If you keep me cooped up in that house like a damn house pet then I'll run the first chance I get just to get air."

"Naomi. I get it." He said putting his pen down. He got up and leaned in front of his desk pulling me by my hips towards him in the process. "I'm sorry, I've been neglecting you. My father did that a lot to my mother. Even though he loved her to death he always put his work before his family."

"Look I'm not asking you to choose me over your work I don't want to ever have to make you choose, I just want something to do." I said stopping him from continuing. I laid my hands on his shoulders.