Troy parked the car in Blake’s driveway and jumped out before the engine stopped idling. He flung himself into the cabin, not wondering why the door was open. The living room was empty, but he could hear movement coming from the back of the house.
“Blake?” He called.
He ran through the halls, eyes peeled for his father. When he pushed open the door to the back bedroom, Troy relaxed. Blake zipped his suitcase and turned. Troy smiled with relief and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the waist of his lover. He buried his face into the hard expanse of his chest and breathed in the scent of clean laundry, soap, and something that was all Blake.
“I missed you,” Troy said.
Blake did not move to hug him back. Instead, he slipped out of Troy’s arms and lifted his suitcase. Then, the lion walked out of the bedroom without saying a word. Troy felt his heart sink. His father must have beaten him here.
The wolf trailed after his mate.
“Blake?” He said, heart fluttering with nerves. “Are you okay?”
Blake walked out the door, threw the suitcase in the back of his truck and turned.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” Blake asked.
Troy flinched. The lion’s voice was hard, sharp like the claws that dug into his hips only hours earlier.
“Did my dad find you?” Troy asked. He mentally berated himself for the adolescent whine to his voice. “You have to ignore him, we will be fine, I swear. We can leave now, I don’t want to come back here anyway.”
“He said you’re engaged,” Blake said.
The words fell around Troy like hail, cold and hard.
“I don’t cheat,” Blake said. “Cheating is the worst thing someone can do.”
“Kylie and I have an arrangement,” Troy pleaded. “Please, we are more friends than anything else. She wouldn’t mind that I was sleeping with you. I never loved her.”
“Did you tell her about me?” Blake asked. “Did you tell her that you were planning to come back to live with me in my home?”
Troy was silent.
“Of course, you didn’t,” Blake said, “because you don’t have an arrangement.”
He walked past Troy and locked the door to the cabin. Troy stood, shaking, next to him, willing the lion to take it all back and tell him it was all fine.
“God, Troy,” Blake said.
Troy flinched. Blake sounded defeated. As he watched Blake run a hand through his shaggy, sandy-blonde hair he felt his heart break. The exhaustion in Blake’s eyes was almost unbearable.
“Why can’t you grow up?” Blake asked. “I was an idiot to expect a young guy like you could be an adult about this.”
Troy frowned. “What does not telling you about my fiancé have to do with how grown up I am? You never asked me if I was engaged.”
“It was your responsibility to tell me,” Blake said. “I was prepared to start my life with you.”
Troy’s heart started to crack.
“You were prepared?”
“I can’t commit to a liar after only a few days,” Blake said.
“So you’re just running away?” Troy asked. “This is exactly what happened last time. You haven’t changed at all. You are going to leave me here, throw me to the wolves.”
Blake shrugged. “It was foolish of me to think getting involved with my ex would be smart.”
“I’m not your ex,” Troy said, his voice coated with venom. “An ex is someone you had a relationship with. I’m just someone you used to fuck.”
Blake’s eyes were sad. “Maybe you are, Troy, maybe you know better than me.”
Tears stung at the bottom of Troy’s eyelashes.
“So, you’re just going to leave?” Troy asked.
Blake didn’t answer, but he pulled his car keys out of his pants pocket. Troy sucked in his breath, trying to brace himself against the hurt.
Troy’s hand found its way to his neck. In one fell stroke, he yanked the chain that held Blake’s agate off his neck. The chain snapped and fell limp into his hand. Troy thrust the agate back at Blake.
“Take this, then,” Troy said, strangely calm. “I don’t want to remember us. I don’t want to have any false hope.”
Blake hesitated. Finally, he reached out and took the necklace. His fingers brushed against Troy’s palm. The wolf shivered at the slight touch of his mate, already longing to say everything was forgotten and pull Blake into his arms.
Instead, Blake kept his distance. He pushed the agate into his pocket and opened the cab door.
“See you around,” Blake said.
“I won’t,” Troy said. “But thanks for pretending.”
Blake took a last look at his mate before shutting the door and pulling out of the driveway. Troy stood and watched as the truck turned onto the main road and disappeared quickly into the line of trees.
Once he could no longer see the truck, Blake’s absence hit him hard. He wrapped his arms around his chest and stared at the road. How could he go back to his family now? Troy shuddered. Now, he truly had to accept his marriage. If he couldn’t be happy, he could at least get out of this place.