Masked

xxviii.

xxviii. Emerald

I ached.

I ached for days. 

Garret stuck with my wishes and didn't come to me for the days that I couldn't bear to look at him, let alone breathe his scent. The minuscule things Lilly did was a whimper. That was it. 

My schedule remained of working and going home to sulk. I had gone to the grocery store once this week to have food in my kitchen for when I cook but cooking has only resorted to shared recipes on Pinterest. I was so upset that not even cooking could ease my mind and my state. 

But even with all the pain I felt, I still missed Garret. The cause of all this. I knew that what he had done was in the past and before either of us knew of each other's existence. Well, I knew of him, I'd be dumb not to, but before we both knew that we were each other's mates. It still drove Lilly and me mad. Someone else knowing Garret more than I did was unsettling, and not just one person, but multiple. 

I sat here, on my couch, phone in hand, tempted to call him. 

What would I even say? I haven't completely forgiven you but I miss the sound of your voice. Pathetic. 

I groaned in frustration and nearly threw my phone to the side, ignoring the temptations. But even before I could move my arm to toss it, it rang. I quickly looked at it to only grow confused at the caller ID. 

Max. 

Maximus. 

My wolf trainer.

"Hello?" I answer confused. 

"Emerald," he says. 

"Maximus."

"What's wrong?"

"Uh... what do you mean?"

"I mean what's wrong in the sense of you being in your apartment, upset, for the last week sulking."

"How could you possibly..."

"Venus," we both say together. Of course. 

"So tell me what's troubling you. Obviously, I can be of assistance."

"I don't know how you could," I say. 

"Try me."

"Strictly confidential?"

"You wound me with this unneeded question Emerald," he says, feigning hurt. 

I smile softly. "Forgive me."

"I'll consider it, now tell me."

"Okay," I say while sighing. "I found my mate."

"That's fantastic!"

"I know," I say softly. 

"Why don't you sound more enthused?"

I sigh again. "I was, I am... It's just... he revealed something to me that doesn't make me feel all that great. Lilly neither."

"Okay, you're being vague and you know I hate vagueness. Almost as much as you do." I laughed. "Now explain to me about Lilly, I thought she hasn't made a presence in years."

"You'd be correct about that. She didn't make a presence until Garret and I touched. There was an attraction to him that I felt but it wasn't till our hands touched that I knew. With me being masked I didn't sense the attraction right away, not as much as he did. But I still can't transform into her or anything, I just feel her. Anyways, I went through heat the other night-"

"Your mate is an Alpha?!" he interrupted. 

"Yes," I chuckled. 

"Wait, aren't you in Texas?"

"Yes."

"Your mate is Alpha of the Silver Knight pack?!"

"I really hope you are yelling all this information in the confines of your home," I say. 

"Well of course," he says. "But you know it's rumored that they have traces of silver in their build, making them immune to any silver bullet."

"I don't believe that's a rumor," I say nonchalantly. 

"Would you shoot him to find out?"

"Max!"

"Kidding!"

"No, you're not."

"Okay not entirely but anyways back to your story. You were going through heat."

"Yes and we didn't mate that night, morals and all that. And he revealed to me the next day that the reasons I had hot flashes so much before we met were because he was having sex with other women." He winced. "Yeah," I say defeated. 

"You're not mad at the fact that he did it- since it was before you two knew each other, you're upset that other women know him more than you."

"Yes," I say. 

"I see."

"I went through mini pits of heat for days because of that. I was afraid to leave my apartment out of fear that it'd happen again. I have to wake up at the crack of dawn every work day just so I wouldn't have to deal with it at night."

"Oh dear. We both know how much you don't like the morning."

"Exactly... But I still love him... I just... I don't know."

"Well, now I know why I was put on the duty to help you in this situation."

"Why?"

"Because I did the same thing as your mate did."

"Really?!"

"Don't sound so surprised. I haven't always been a saint."

"I mean... just how you are with Brenda I just-"

"Well of course. Brenda is my mate and I love her dearly. Doesn't mean that I was always like that before we met. I had a lot of run-ins with the opposite gender way before I met her. I was always looking for a good time, never settled for anyone, just thought with my genitalia basically... But I'm saying is that it stopped when I met her."

"Does she know?"

"Yes. And her reaction was much like how you are reacting right now. We didn't talk for a while, nearly drove me mad. I could feel her hurt about what I had done but I couldn't keep it from her. But she eventually accepted me. I told her that my past was my past and that she was my present and my future. That she wouldn't have to worry about me slipping up because everything I needed and ever wanted was with her." I was silent. "And I am sure that your mate feels the same way. Cause if he didn't, he wouldn't have told you."

"You're right."

"I'm aware... so back to the silver bullet-"

"Goodbye Maximus!"

Without anything else to say, I hung up. I continued to sit there though, in thought. Everything he said was right. I knew Garret loved me and would continue to because I could feel how that information ate him up inside. 

My decision was made up.

I was going to talk to him. I was going to accept his past and have this life with him, for however long it lasted. 

Pulling for his energy, I sensed him nearby and made a quick move to him.