"What?" I say in a hushed whisper.
"I accept you as my mate." Ashton's eyes light up with happiness and he hugs me to his chest. My arms are crushed to his chest so I can't hug him back but he doesn't seem to mind.
"Ashton," I try to say squished against his chest, "what's a mate? What does that mean?"
He tenses up and let's me go. I lean back and see that he is suddenly nervous, maybe even scared. Ashton's eyes dart around, always avoiding mine. He makes eye contact with something behind me and winces. I turn around and see Josh's stern, almost angry, expression as he looks at Ashton, then softens as he makes eye contact with me.
"What," I ask in the sudden silence, "am I missing something? What's a mate? You mentioned it before but didn't explain." Silence engulfs us again and my questions go unanswered. Before I can say anything more, Josh speaks up.
"Go on. Tell her." Josh's accusation cuts through the silence. I gape at him. I've never heard Josh sound like this, except for maybe a couple times close to this, but nothing to this extent.
"Tell me what," I turn towards Ashton and now I can clearly see he's scared of something, "Ashton?"
"Mate is short for soulmate," Ashton starts but his voice wavers, "as werewolves we're given a soulmate. Someone who is destined to be with us forever, in this lifetime at least. These soulmates are destined for each other and they more than likely will find each other in their lifetimes. They're everything a werewolf prizes, the one person they put in front of everyone and everything-" Ashton cuts himself off at the hitch in his voice. My heart pounds in my ears and sense of foreboding and apprehension washes through me. Something is wrong, something is very, very wrong.
My brain tries to connect something but I push it away, not wanting to admit it. I don't want to think, I don't want to realize, I don't want to admit something is wrong. But the sense of wrongness fills the air, too big no ignore, and suddenly my mind is full of memories.
"The first time we met." My voice trails off as I remember the word Ashton's very first words to me on my first day. My mind lingers on the word 'mate' now understanding what he meant.
"Evie-" Ashton reaches for me as I get off his lap and take a step away from him.
"Reject. You said reject." My voice is a harsh whisper.
Ashton winces and tries to reach out to me but I take another step back, "You said reject." I repeat.
"I know." Ashton whispers.
"And then you said mate." The harsh whisper hasn't left my voice.
"Ashton, explain to your mate." Josh emphasizes 'mate' and this time it's my turn to wince. Ashton notices my wince and shoots a glare at Josh but is unable to hold it for long.
He looks back at me, "Evie-" I cut him off.
"Just explain. I want to know everything." My voice turned hard.
"It means nothing now-" Ashton starts but I cut him off again.
"Oh really?" My voice catches and I feel the burn of tears behind my eyes. Ashton must notice the almost tears because he stands and tries to reach for me again. I step out of his reach again and his arms drop. He looks defeated and I resist going to him.
"Tell her Ashton." Josh says from behind me.
"Tell me what?" I ask him, knowing there's more.
"I didn't want a mate," Ashton says abruptly after a minute of silence, "I didn't want a mate." He repeats quietly.
YOU ARE READING
Rejected At First Sight
Werewolf"Oomph!" The sound rushed out of my mouth as the door opened before I could reach the handle and my body hit a wall. I took a step back and realized that it wasn't in fact a wall, but instead a very attractive male. I looked up at his head to see a...
