She sighed. “I guess I just thought that I’d be more important. It’s clear that I’m not.” Jaime was about to speak again when Taryn suddenly walked in. “Shaya? Shaya, what is it?” When her best friend didn’t respond, she crouched in front of her. “Shaya, talk.” Taking in a preparatory breath, she admitted, “I found my mate.” First Taryn looked relieved, thinking this should be good news. Then, expectedly, confusion crossed her face when she realized that it clearly wasn’t good for Shaya. “I don’t understand.”
“I found him, but I can’t have him.”
“You can’t have him? Why? And who is he?”
Shaya shook her head as if unable to speak the name.
“It’s the bastard who just left,” Jaime revealed for her.
Taryn gaped. “Noooooooo. How long have you known, Shaya? You knew at my mating ceremony,” she quickly surmised.
Shaya nodded, still avoiding eye contact.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“You know why. I want him to claim me because he wants to.” She shrugged. “He doesn’t.
He’s not going to claim me.”
Taryn shot to her feet and began pacing. “The son of a bitch is, believe me. I’ll make sure of it.”
Finally Shaya looked up. “And if the only reason Trey wanted to claim you was because someone else bullied him into it?”
Taryn paused briefly in her pacing. “Damn it, Shaya.”
“I understand why this is complicated for him, but I thought that maybe he’d give up his position. I can’t be his Alpha female. You know that.”
“You’d make a better leader than any of the females I’ve ever seen him with.”
“But I’m not an alpha, and nothing will change that.”
“Well, let me assure you, he’s banished from here. He does not set foot on our territory again.
And he can go shove his alliance up his arrogant ass.”
“That won’t be enough,” said Shaya quietly. “You’re mated to an Alpha, Taryn. You know how they work.”
It was obvious by Taryn’s pained expression that she knew where this conversation was heading. “So we’ll make it damn clear that he is not to go near you.”
“Are you going to stop him from going near any guy I decide to date?”
“He confronted Dominic when he thought he was dating Shaya,” Jaime told their Alpha. She didn’t want Shaya to leave any more than Taryn did, but this was about Shaya, not them. “He told him to break it off.”
Shaya sounded so tired and defeated when she spoke, yet there was steel in her words. She intended to make Taryn understand. “He wouldn’t even have to do that to every guy who’s interested.
After two or three times, the rest will make it a point to stay away from me unless they have a wish to piss Nick off.”
Taryn shook her head vehemently. “No, Shaya. If he doesn’t want to claim you, then he should stay out of your business.”
“But he won’t.”
“Shaya, please don’t ask me to sanction this.” It was a genuine plea from this very strong female who they all knew could order her friend to stay if she wanted. “I can’t.”
“It’s the only choice I have.”
“No, it’s not!”
Shaya got to her feet, her expression apologetic but determined. “If I want a life of my own, a connection with another guy, then yes, it is.”
Shaking her head again, Taryn stated in an unsteady voice, “You can’t leave. I need you here.
And what about Kye, huh? I picked you as his godmother, you can’t leave!”
“I don’t want to, but—”
There was a knock at the door followed by Trey speaking. “Taryn, what is it?” Clearly he’d felt his mate’s distress through their bond.
“Nothing. It’s nothing, I’ll be right out.”
Apparently, Trey didn’t accommodate “alone time” any better than Dante did, because he barged in. “Taryn?”
She turned to him, her lips wobbling. “Shaya’s going to leave.”
“What?”
Instead of elaborating, she dived at Shaya and wrapped her hands around her. “When?” whispered Taryn, tears streaming down her face just as they were streaming down Shaya’s.
“Not until after Jaime and Dante’s mating ceremony. I’d never miss that.” Even in this agony, the female was prepared to sit through a mating ceremony that wasn’t her own and be reminded of what she was missing out on. Jaime couldn’t allow that. “Shaya…”
“Don’t.” She gave Jaime a hard look over Taryn’s shoulder. “I would never be envious of you having that.”
Taryn’s shoulders shook as more tears flowed. “You deserve better than him. Fate is a bitch.”
“Yeah.” Shaya laughed shakily, hugging her friend even harder.
Jaime was close to crying herself, even though she wasn’t one who was prone to having emotional outbursts. Hearing Shaya’s pain, Jaime had to wonder if that was how Dante had felt when she denied him. She wished she could have told Nick to put Shaya first, to claim her and trust that together they could work through what came next. They would always be stronger together than apart.
So why wasn’t she practicing this herself?
Maybe Dante was right and the bond would help stabilize her wolf. Maybe he wasn’t.
Although her wolf recognized him as hers, she was constantly watchful and wary, perhaps recognizing that he was the biggest threat because he was the only one who could truly hurt them.
There was a chance that in time her wolf would come to recognize that Dante, despite the power he had over her emotions, was, in fact, a safety net. Of course there was a chance that she wouldn’t. But there was no chance at all as long as Jaime held back, was there? So maybe it was time to take that risk and stop hurting her mate.
Jaime turned to the fretting male beside her who obviously wanted to ease his mate’s pain and was frustrated that he had no idea how. “I think we should give them a minute alone.” Trey merely spared Jaime a tiny glance. Well, there was another way to get him moving. “Who has Kye?” Instantly he stiffened as his parental overprotectiveness took over and he had a need to know exactly where his son was.
“Go make sure he hasn’t woken yet,” Taryn told him. “He’ll be hungry soon.” Eventually he nodded and left the room. Taryn mouthed “thank you” to Jaime just before she, too, left the two best friends alone. There was someone that Jaime needed time alone with right now.
He wasn’t in the living area, which meant that he could only be in his office. As she swung the door open, an offensive scent hit her nose and she halted. Her wolf growled and flexed her claws.
“…I know, but like I said, you’ll have to come back when Jaime’s…Oh, there you are, baby.” The curved smile he gave her from his chair behind his desk was warm and had a hint of relief to it.
“O-oh, h-hi,” stammered Bitch Face nervously. It was wise of her to be nervous. Having heard Dante’s words, it wasn’t difficult to guess that Bitch Face had obviously hoped to get him alone.
Jaime loved him all the more for the fact that he’d been telling her to leave until—
Wait, she loved him. When the hell did that happen? Okay, it could be said that if they were mates, then it was only natural. But even between mates, love was something that grew over time. It wasn’t automatic. She was surprised that Dante hadn’t sensed it yet. God, she hoped he hadn’t. What greater power could a guy have over a woman than to know she loved him with everything she had when he didn’t love her back?
Or, at least, she was assuming that he didn’t love her back. If she wanted to know for sure, all she had to do was tap into their bond. But she didn’t. That would be the ultimate invasion of his privacy. Okay, fine, she didn’t look because she was a goddamn coward; she was scared to look and then find that he didn’t love her back. It was better to live in a delusional land where love didn’t enter the equation on either end.