"Your eyes are red," Callum snapped."He made you cry."
"Fuck off."
"What did he do?"
"Fuck off, Callum."
Callum grabbed his phone, but Kat quickly plucked it out of his hand and slid it across the table so it was within my reach.
"Calling Niall isnotnecessary," Kat said.
I scowled at my best friend. "I texted him when I was drinking, and he showed up to talk about it. We talked. I realized I was a dick to him after everything that happened with Larson. He left. That's all."
Callum relaxed slightly. "You weren't a dick to him."
"I literally threw his stuff out onto the porch in trash bags and shoved our bedding into the dumpster. Shifters have a thing about their bedding, as I'm sure you're aware. Even the ones who don't go through heat."
Their identical grimaces told me they were.
"Alright, you were a dick to him. So?" Callum asked. "He's not your fated mate. It doesn't matter."
"I love him. Of course it matters. And if I'm wrong about Jonah, Niall is just as likely to be fated to me as anyone else in the city." I let out a long breath. "I'm going to bargain with Jonah for the pack's debt today. It's time to put it to rest, one way or another."
"That's good," Kat offered. "At least you'll know."
"Do you want us to come with you?" Callum asked."We can abduct him, if he's yours."
"No. I don't want him to realize it's anything more than a normal bargain, and I don't want to abduct him. I appreciate the offer, but I know what I deserve, and it's not Jonah. If fate made a mistake, I'll deal with it."
"You're not willing to put up a fight for your fated mate?" Callum asked, his eyes narrowing.
"I'm putting up a fight formyselfnow."
He clenched his jaw but nodded once.
It was my choice to make. He knew that.
I drank my smoothie alongside the food Callum and Kat had brought with them. Kat talked about a new dessert in her cafes, and I participated in the conversation for the most part, because the alternative was spiraling into my anxiety.
When we were done, I leaned back in my chair, enjoying the solid thirty seconds of relative peace my magic would give me before my anxiety spiked.
"You need to get out of here. We'll clean up your mess." Kat waved me toward the door.
"Thank you. And thanks for breakfast," I managed a small smile before I got up, grabbing the sticky note on my way out to the garage.
"Don't forget your shoes!" Kat yelled.
The joke was on her, because I always kept two extra pairs in my car.
Some of us took running seriously, and had the blisters to prove it.
eleven
LIV
I metJonah at the same place I always did. When I texted him to ask if he wanted to meet up for a run, I didn't mention the bargain, just to be safe. I didn't want Gwen to be there, in case I lost my shit fully when I had confirmation that he was my fated mate.
We ran in silence for a few minutes, because I wanted to get far enough from the villa that no one would accidentally overhear us.
