Alpha Tristan ✓ [Republishing]

Eikosipente [ 25 ]

The next day was hell.

As soon as I had woken up from a sleep that didn't come easily, it was like something had changed. The atmosphere felt cold and that could have been due to the cold climate, but there was a sense of grief that I felt in my chest that I knew wasn't my own.

It was heart wrenching and deep, and I instantly knew that Tristan was in pain. I gripped at my chest and the cold sheet of his side of the bed. Closing my eyes, I tried to speak in his mind but came up to a barrier that I knew I wasn't going to get through.

He had mind-links with over five hundred people—he knew how to block everyone out and he was damn good at it too. I began to have a throbbing headache before I decided to give up, falling back against my pillow.

It wasn't that early in the morning, but Tristan hadn't come home the night before. I had no clue where he was but figured he needed some space to think, no matter how much I wanted him to hold me in his arms and tell me it would all be okay.

The pain in my chest got so strong that I couldn't resist the urge to cry. The tears were not my own because I had never known sorrow as he had. What surprised me was the fact that if I could feel his pain that strongly, his pack could too and that was why everything felt different.

Throwing the silk covers from my body, I reached for my phone and punched in Brielle's number. It went straight to voicemail and I sighed disappointedly, knowing that I would have to take matters into my own hands. I had no idea where Tristan was but one of the best things about the mark was that I would be able to seek him out myself.

He felt far away though, and I had no idea whether or not that was emotionally or physically.

Pulling on one of his sweaters, I went to freshen up before heading down to the kitchen. In the middle of the hallway, I bumped into my mother and watched her begin to spout her apology. I stared at her blankly and shook my head.

"Mum, I don't want to hear it. You meant what you said and you're not sorry." My chest began to feel heavier when I realised the distress I felt was my own. It was like my mum wanted to sabotage my relationship with Tristan and I couldn't forgive her for not letting me tell him about my biological father on my own terms.

"Kara—"

"No." I adamantly stopped her in her tracks. "You keep thinking that I'll choose someone I've never met and hate over my own mate. H-he's everything to me, Mum." My throat closed up and it suddenly dawned on me just how much my feelings for him had changed. I had gone from never wanting him near me to always craving his presence. I craved him more than ever. "He's everything to me—and you keep trying to ruin that. I can't tell you enough that the man you loved was a monster so stay out of my relationship. Let me be happy."

She stood in silence, a shocked expression plastered across her face at my confession. I must have been the last person she would have expected to fall for the Alpha Tristan, but I couldn't help it. If his absence now was indicative of his impending rejection of me, I didn't think I could survive the heartbreak let alone even think of forgiving my mother.