Masked Mate

The Honest Truth Only Hurts in the Quiet

"Madden?"

I glanced up as Blaine stuck his head into Phillip's office.

"We need to get you back to your own quarters, if that's alright with you?"

I nodded and slowly stood to my feet, casting Raylen a glance. She had silently cried herself into a deep sleep on the couch. I sighed for all the hurt she would feel when she woke up. Honestly, I couldn't even imagine.

"She'll be alright." Blaine tried to assure me and I pinned him with an accusatory look and he shut his mouth.

"I don't think you truly believe that. How could she be? Her mate, the person who is supposed to love and accept her despite everything and against all odds just turned against her!"

He shushed me, placing two hands on my shoulders and pulling me into a very tight hug. I stood still, refusing to hug him back because I felt no comfort in his embrace.

"It's going to be alright. No one was seriously injured and Raylen's heart will heal."

I shook my head and pulled away. He couldn't understand. She was finally given the opportunity to experience what she believed to be the most fulfilling form of love and it was torn away from her because of past mistakes.

Phillip was likely to do the same thing to me. When he found out how long I had been hiding from him, he certainly would pull away.

I wasn't in love with him. I had grown to know him over my weeks here, sure, but not enough to claim that it was love. Love is knowing that when watching a sunset, the moment the sky bleeds orange and pinks would be their favorite. Love is remembering the smallest of things, the things that would make you sound like such a creep if you said them out loud. Love is hating the smallest of things about them and yet never being able to be mad at them. Love is taking a deep breath when they make the same mistakes over and over again and simply being there for them every time.

I most definitely was not there yet.

But that doesn't mean I didn't care about him. That I don't want to see him hurt. That I enjoy talking with him and that I often dwell on the things we talk about because they make me think.

And losing that because I wasn't ready for love? That's simply not fair.

Well, life's not fair.

"Come on, let's get you to your room before Phillip comes back."

I allowed Blaine to guide me out of the office, the marble floors were cold on my bare feet and I remembered that my shoes were still in the tunnels where I had kicked them off.

"I'll go get them for you." Blaine said gently and I realized I had been projecting my thoughts to him.

I cast a wary glance in Max's direction as we passed, wondering if he could hear my thoughts too. He didn't even look my way when I passed but I still focused on closing off my mind. This moment would be the absolute worst moment for anyone to find out that I was Phillip's mate.

-----

"And you're sure you don't want me to take your shift?"

I nodded as I slipped into my shoes. "I'm sure April. Thank you though." I offered up a smile to convince her that I was okay and she watched me skeptically.

"Okay, but if anything goes wrong, just leave and I'll cover for you."

I walked over and gave her a hug. "Thanks April, you're a great friend."

She was still wearing a worried frown when I left, despite all my insistence that I was alright. I shook off her worry and straightened my shoulders. I didn't have time to worry. I had to keep moving forward.