Chapter 0352
“What are you doing here?” I asked, staring between him and Nan.
Nan had a slight blush on her cheeks, and I had to fight to keep from smiling.
“What do you think I’m doing here?” He asked, raising his brows. “You gave me an address; did you think I wouldn’t use it?”
“You couldn’t wait until we returned?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. I approved of him being here, but at the same time, I knew Nan came here to escape him and get some space.
I tried to gauge her reaction, but she was hard to read.
“No,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. “It couldn’t wait.”
I stared at him for a long time, seeing the sincerity in his eyes, before turning to Nan.
“Can we talk?” I asked her; she lifted her gaze to meet mine and then nodded; a flicker of relief went through her eyes, and I knew she was grateful for the distraction. I told Sammy I’d be back before I grabbed Nan by the hand and pulled her along with me to a private area, away from wandering ears.
The second we were alone, I turned to face her. After a beat of silence, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug, one I knew she needed desperately. She waited no time, hugging me back, her shoulders shaking as she cried.
“I can’t tell what’s happening, Nan. Are you happy or sad?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’m terrified. I’m not sure why he’s even here. He saw Tyler put his hands on me, and then he lost it… nearly killed him. I brought him to the suite so I could clean up, and we started talking. I asked him if he wanted to reject me, and he straight up said he doesn’t know.”
My eyes grew wide as a wave of anger washed through me. How could he say such a thing to her?
I pulled away from her but kept my hands on her arms; tears were spilling out of her eyes.
“Oh, Nan,” I whispered, not sure what more to say.
She sniffled and wiped the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand.
After that, the conversation kind of got awkward, and we were both having trouble breathing. I found this garden the other day, and I thought it would be a nice place to continue this conversation. So, here we are… making awkward small talk and not discussing the real problems. That’s pretty much when you arrived.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my heart breaking for my best friend. I was going to kill Chester for doing this to her. He might have been my friend, but right now, he was the guy who was destroying my best friend, and I wasn’t okay with that.
“He also felt the need to tell me that he slept with Harper before coming here,” she added, rolling her misty eyes. “He what?” I asked, my mouth agape. There’s no way he had that much audacity; seriously, what was wrong with him?
She nodded, giving a pathetic excuse of a laugh as she shook her head like she was trying to shake away the tears. “At least he’s honest,” I tried to make a poor attempt at a light–hearted joke.
“Yeah, I guess,” she sighed “But still…”
I nodded, understanding what she was saying and where she was coming from. There was a long stretch of silence
Chapter 0352
+25 BONUS
where we were both lost in thought for a moment.
“Can I ask you something?” She suddenly asked.
“Of course, you can ask me anything.”
“If I do reject him, or he rejects me…. do you think I would ever find love again?” She suddenly asked. “Or would it always hurt like this? Because it really fucking hurts right now, and he didn’t even reject me yet.”
I nibbled on my lips and stared at the ground. I knew she was truly asking me because I had gone through a rejection, although mine was different.
“It’ll be easier for you because he didn’t mark you yet,” I told her. “In my case with Ethan, I had been marked by him for 2 years. Then, he cheated on me and left me for another woman. It was devasting for my wolf, and because I was marked, I could feel it every time he was intimate with her or anyone. It was painful, and my wolf went away for a while. She’s back now and stronger than ever, though however, whenever I’m around him, it still hurts her. I don’t know if that’ll ever go away, but when I’m not around him, it’s like he doesn’t exist to either of us. I don’t know if that helps you or anything, but you aren’t marked, so it shouldn’t be as difficult. As for finding love again …. Yes, I think it’s possible to love someone who isn’t a mate.
She pondered my words for a long while, nodding and sighing in response.
And then she asked another question, one I wasn’t really expecting.
“Do you believe in second chance mates?”
