Chapter 32

Stacey’s POV

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I tried. I tried not to be sad after hearing those words from his mouth. But at the same time, I knew what was coming next; his mate was not an evil person because of which he would leave her for me. I just wished that he wouldn’t change his behavior toward me after this, or maybe he would. What was I expecting from him? To be with two women at the same time?

I was hoping that things would begin to get better between us after our confession, but now it seemed like I was too early to hope something like that.

“Sure. Come with me! I will take you to her.”, I responded. Wow! I couldn’t believe it myself; I was ruining my own happiness with my hand.

****

After an hour!!

We reached the city hospital where his mate, Scarlett, was admitted. The Doctor recognized me immediately because I used to visit here at least twice a month to check on her.

“It’s good to see you, Mrs. Brown,” Doctor greeted me. Well, I was kind of married to Adams until he rejected me last week after the party. I didn’t bother to correct him my name because he didn’t matter to me.

“I was here to see Scarlett.”, I said, to which he nodded and joined us to take us to her room though I knew that she was. “Is there any improvement in her condition?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, NO.”, he responded. “Even her parents rarely visit her after seeing her daughter in this state for this long.”, he added.

“By the way, who is he? Your husband? I have never seen him before with you.”, He asked, eyeing Derek. I wasn’t sure how I should exactly introduce him? As my boyfriend or boyfriend of Scarlett. I looked at Derek. It looked like he wasn’t in the mood to answer the Doctor.

“He is Scarlett’s boyfriend. He had no idea about her state until today.”, I responded.

“Oh! That explains why he is so worried and tensed.”, he said, to which Derek gave no response. Before we could reach Scarlett’s room, Derek automatically started walking ahead of us. The Doctor couldn’t understand how Derek was able to find detect the room where Scarlett was, but I did. He could smell her, the smell of her mate.

He abruptly opened the door of the room in which Scarlett was, and I watched him running toward him. I would be lying if I would say that my heart didn’t break when I found him, sitting beside his mate and holding her hand with a lost look in his eyes. I didn’t know whose pain was bigger here? His? Whose mate was in the coma or Mine? Who had lost her happiness again? I wanted to run and cry, but instead, I stood there once the Doctor left, waiting for him to notice my presence in the room as well.

She was unconscious, and in bed, then Derek was behaving like this; once she would be fine, then…surely it will be goodbye to all the conversation that happened between us this morning.

“Stacey, I want to stay alone with her for a while.”, he said, indirectly asking me to leave from there.

“Oh, okay! Let me know if you need anything.”, That was the last thing I could say because I couldn’t blame him for leaving me for his mate, could I?

“Sure. Thank you.”

****

I didn’t know what I was expecting from Derek? To call me or to check on me?

Nope! Nothing even after six hours.

And by disturbing him, I didn’t want to mess with the things that were already happening around. I wanted to indulge myself in work so that I could keep myself away from the thoughts of Derek and Scarlett, but then I wasn’t in my pack.

I heard my phone ringing, I quickly picked up the phone from bed with the hope of Derek’s call, but soon my excitement and hope died when I saw an unknown number.

Who could it be?

Since this was my new number! I wasn’t excepting any calls from an unknown number.

“Hello,” I received the call after swiping my screen.

“Hello, Stacey,” I heard a high-pitched voice of a baby.

“Scarlett, is that you?”

“Yes!”

“How did you get my number, and whose number is this?”

“It’s grandma’s number, and I had heard you were giving your number to that uncle, so I quickly remembered it.”

She had heard my conversation with Jonas even though she was standing so far away from me? Well, what could I say about it because, as far as I remember, even vampires’ senses were sharp?

“Now that your question is over, I’m wondering if you can come here and teach me how to use Imac because Grandpa and Grandma are not very familiar with it, and Daddy is not at home.”, She said from the other side of the call. I knew she was the best thing to distract my mind, so I didn’t say NO and agreed immediately.

I stayed at Scarlett’s side till night, but there was no news of Derek. It looked like he was either going to stay in hospital or maybe would come home late. When it was finally Scar’s time to go the bed, I left for my house with a promise to Scar that I would again come to her place tomorrow.

****

I thought to check on him before sleeping, but instead of mind linking him, I dropped a message for him.

Stacey: Is everything all right there? Just let me know if you need anything.

After sending the message, I kept staring at my phone screen like an idiot for half an hour when I realized that he wasn’t going to message me soon; I dialed the Doctor’s number, which was saved on my phone.

“Hello, Doctor Harris”

“Yes, speaking.”

“Hello Doctor, It’s me, Mrs. Brown, this side.”

“Oh, hello, Mrs. Brown.”, he greeted cheerfully, on which I rolled my eyes.

“I wanted to know about the patient that….”

“Don’t you know?” Doctor Harris asked, cutting me in between.

“Know what?”

“About the miracle. I don’t know how and what did Scarlett’s boyfriend do, but all of a sudden, she came out of the coma.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise and feeling happy. Though that day, it was not my mistake that she met with an accident. But a part of me was feeling guilty for whatever happened. Thankfully, I wouldn’t feel guilty anymore.

‘Do you think because of mate bond it happened?’ Alicia asked.

‘I don’t know. I’m not sure about it.’, I responded.

‘I wish Derek would have told u about it on his own. It wasn’t that we were going to act like bitch, were we?’ Alicia whimpered. Even she had started liking Rex and Derek more than just friends or say human.

“Hello…Hello, Mrs. Brown? You there?”

“Yeah! I’m here. How’s she doing now?” I asked him.

“We are running still running tests on her. I can tell you more about her when I will have the report in my hand by tomorrow morning.”

“Okay. Great. Thank you so much, Doctor Harris, and good night.”

“Good night Mrs. Brown. Sweet dreams. Is this your number? I’m savi…”

Before he could have completed the sentence, I disconnected the call.

*****

Next Morning!!

I checked my phone again, but I hadn’t received any message from Derek. It looked like he was really stressed out between everything that was happening with him. I wondered whether he returned home last night or not?

‘Be strong, Stacey! You don’t need anyone to handle it again and again after heart break.’, I said to myself and forced myself to walk toward the washroom. There was a party at Ruby’s place for her baby’s gender revelation, and then, as per the previous plan, Derek and I were going to return back to our pack.

Now that situation was a bit different, I doubt he would even come with me to our pack, leaving his mate in this condition, and I was not an evil person who could even ask something like that from him.

“Do you know about Derek finding his mate again?” Dad asked at the breakfast table. I nodded my head while mom let out a gasp after knowing this. “So, what now?” he asked again, staring right into my eyes.

“Nothing.”, I replied, shrugging my shoulder. “What do you expect from him to leave his mate? Huh? When one can’t do the same to own mate?” I questioned back. It was obvious that he would choose his mate. That was a completely different thing that he maybe had the feeling for me, but it would be stronger than the mate bond.

“You can stay here for a while, you know.”, Mom suggested.

“Until when, Mom?” I asked with a painful smile. “Until when I can stay with you? I have a pack to handle. I have some responsibility on my shoulder from which I couldn’t run away just like that. All these incident is not breaking me but making me powerful.”, I added.

“I’m scared that I will lose you again, Princess. You will again shut everyone down just like the previous time.”

“I won’t. I promise.”, I said with determination because there were a lot of people who loved me, and I wouldn’t hurt them by shutting them from my life.

After finishing my breakfast, I left for Derek’s place because I knew that I had made a promise to someone to come there.

“You are late.”, She said, tapping her legs on the floor annoyingly and had folded her hand around her chest.

I checked the time before replying, “But you were sleeping by this hour yesterday.”, I pointed out.

“But today I was awake since early morning because of excitement.”, She pointed out.

“I’m sorry, granny!” I apologized, holding both my ears. “Please forgive me.”

“Fine. You are forgiven.”, She paused before continuing. “But when I had said that you’re late. I mean to say that daddy left from here just ten to minutes before. You could have met him only if you were early.”

“Oh!”

“Do you know when did he return home?” I asked her.

“Yes! In the morning and left for the work again after half an hour.”, She replied nonchalantly and then looked at me with a serious expression, “Is everything all right between you and Daddy?”

“Yeah! Everything is fine.”

“I can hear your heartbeats, and I know that you’re lying.”, She pointed out.

“Didn’t I tell you that you shouldn’t be using your powers this frequently?”

“Why not? This is so cool.”

“Because they are a lot of bad people outside you can hurt you to get your powers or worst, they will kill you. So, you shouldn’t use your powers and act as a good kid of your age, okay?”

“Okkkaayyy!!”

*****

It had been more than twenty fours since Derek found his mate back, and since then, he hadn’t talked with me in a proper conversation.

I think that was the effect of the mate bond.

“Sweetheart! I will have to leave now.”, I said, checking the time. It was mid-noon, and after getting ready, I would have to leave for Ruby’s place. “And I also believe that you have understood all the features of it, so you won’t have any problem now.”

“Does that mean it’s a goodbye, and you’re not coming here again?”

“I’m sorry darling, but I promise to attend your birthday next month. I have a lot of work on my pack. Hmm”, I said, caressing her soft cheeks and trying to make her understand my situation.

“I will miss you.”

“I will miss you too. And you have my number so you can call me anytime.”, Saying this, I kissed her cheek and started to leave her room. After bidding goodbye to Mrs. Randell, I had barely taken a step toward the door when Derek walked in.

A part of me was disappointed and depressed by his actions because he didn’t care to share anything with me and was keeping the things to himself.

“You’re here?” his shock expressed was telling me that he wasn’t expecting me here, maybe because he had no idea what was going around him.

“Yeah! I came here to spend some time with Scar.”

“There is something I would like to talk to you about. So, can you join me outside?”

Finally! He was going to hare about his mate’s condition.

Or maybe his decision to be with her, not him?

Whatever it was, I mentally prepared myself to hear him out.

“Sure.”, I agreed, and once we were out, I asked, “What is it?”

“I want us to forget about the conversation that happened last morning and just be friends. Nothing more than that. I don’t want to lose you as a friend, and at the same time, I don’t want to lose my mate. So, forgetting everything that happened in the past, from now on, let’s just think about the future as friends.”

“Great. I was also going to say the same.”, I said nonchalantly. He looked shocked after listening to my words. What?

Did only men have the right to say ‘let’s be friends’ even after feelings?

We could do the same. I, too, could friend-zone him.

“I’m sure we both will move on again in our life.”

“What…what do you mean?”

“I mean, if Moon Goddess could make a way to your fated mate through, then I’m sure she would have chosen someone for me too! Bye, Derek.”, I said and tried to run away from that very place as soon as possible because I couldn’t trust myself a second more. Otherwise, I would end up revealing my true feeling for him. Once I was settled in the car and my car left away from his place, I broke down in tears.

****

Thanks to makeup!!

Thankfully I successfully hid my hideous face after crying as someone close to me died. I knew everyone would question me about Derek, seeing me alone at Ruby’s place, but I mentally prepared myself to tell them the truth about him finding his mate.

And just as I had expected, they really did ask about Derek, and I told them the reason for his absence.

“Damn, Man! I really thought that you two would have ended up together.”, Lucy said, getting upset.

“Well, you’re not the only one.”, John grumbled.

“Okay, guys! Let’s not talk about him and upset her more than she is.”, Laila said.

“Exactly!” Ruby agreed.

“But why did Moon Goddess bring them close when she was not planning them to end together?” Owen muttered in anger.

“Trust her decision. She knows what she is doing. I’m sure she will have some plans for our Ace!” Tania said.

Though it was Ruby’s party for her special day for her pup, but everyone shifted their attention to me to cheer me up and to make me feel good even though I told them the nth number of times that I was fine.

It seemed like deep down; they knew that I wasn’t.

*****

After returning from the party!

I started packing my things to return back to my pack.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, arching my eyebrow at my mother, who was not trying to stop me, which was unlike her. “Are you not going to stop me from leaving?”

“There is no reason for throwing a fist over that topic when I knew that you would have to leave.”, She responded. “Moreover, it’s not that why to waste my energy in stopping you when I know that you will be returning back to us next week.”

“Next week?” I asked in surprise. “Why will I be here next week? Don’t I have Alpha duties to do rather than visiting you every week?” I asked again in a sarcastic tone.

“Well, I agree about that, but I’m sure that you don’t want to miss your Beta’s wedding.”

My heart slammed against my chest.

No.

No. No. No.

This couldn’t be happening.

‘Wow, he is running faster than the bullet train.’, Alicia said sarcastically, but deep down, it was her anger that was coming out from her in a sarcastic way. Now, I had one more reason not to visit here this soon.

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#TBC