Page 51 of Alpha Mates

“Okay.” I stare after him, the picture of calm and composure, but the second he’s out of sight, anxiety whirls into my entire body.

I just have to wait until lunch. I have one more class, and that’s it.

I repeat it like a mantra to calm myself and Alex before I look at Beckett. “I don’t want to hear it,” I growl and head for class.

Beckett’s grin doubles. “I didn’t say a word.”

Parked at my usual lunch table with Beckett and Isabel seated across from me, my eyes remain glued to the cafeteria’s double doors as I wait for my fix to arrive.

Part of me hates myself for being so pathetically desperate to spend time with Aiden of all people, but that part has grown quieter throughout the day. Now, all I have is meagre scraps of self-control and dignity, and it’s hanging on by a splitting thread.

“You okay, buddy?” Isabel asks gently.

“I’m fine,” I say too fast. “Why? Why wouldn’t I be fine? I’m fine.”

“Are you, though?” Beckett asks in the same tone. “Because the creepy staring contest you’re having with the door, and your shaking leg, are kinda saying something else.”

I glance down and grimace when I find my leg really trembling. I force it to still.

Beckett and Isabel eye me with an irritating amount of understanding. They think it’s the bond. I wish it were only that.

“I’m fine,” I say again, though I’m no longer sure if I’m trying to convince them or myself.

He said he’d come, and yet…

Dropping my gaze, I idly toy with the foil of my lunch while my hope sputters out and my upset settles in. The clock ticks on and I try to stop checking, but my eyes keep dragging back up to check like a lost pup.

Lunch is almost at it’s end when the doors finally push open. My heart leaps as I sit up, but the quickly sprouted hope wilts when neither of the boys that walk in are the one I want to see. But I do know one of them.

My chair screeches beneath me as I stand and head towards Aiden’s beta.

“Hey,” I call out before he can join the queue. “Emart, right?”

The wolf at his side, an omega, quickly covers his mouth, but there’s no missing his snickers.

“It’s Emitt,” the beta corrects through narrowing eyes.

Okay, not the best way to start with the person closest to Aiden. I should apologise and make small talk first to smooth things over.

“Sorry. Do you know where Aiden is?” Close enough.

“Yeah, he just went back to the pack. He said he needed a run.”

The words are like a punch to the gut.

“Oh.” I reply dumbly while I try to wash away my disappointment, but it clogs my next breath.

“Didn’t you say that he was really keyed up during math,Emart?” the omega asks conversationally.

“Keyed up?” I echo, looking to Emitt, who glares at his grinning friend.

“He’s fine,” Emitt dismisses as he looks back at me. “He was just a little worked up, and when he gets like that, he makes sure nobody is in the line of fire.”

“And why would he be worked up, I wonder,” the omega asks innocently as he blinks at Emitt.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Emitt declares as he takes hold of the omega’s shoulders and pushes him away. He pauses, softening to me. “He’ll be here after school for you guys to head back together.”

Nodding aimlessly, I hear myself thank Emitt while I watch him go with his friend. I try to ignore it, to dump it somewhere far away, but my shoulders still slump as sadness crests inside me. It’s impossible to ignore, and impossible to get rid of because I … I miss my mate.