Page 52 of Bonding with the Beta (Fated Souls #2)

52

KAYDEN

S oulmate. Soulmate.

That word buzzed around my head the entire journey back to the district. It’s well into the early hours when we get anywhere near home.

Harley was fairly silent.

We both needed some time for the information to sink in.

“I think we should reject each other,” Harley says when I pull up outside her new pack house. “Because Genevieve was right. The pull towards you is almost non-existent and doesn’t feel good.”

I nod. “Yeah. I think so, too.”

Harley frowns. “Just because it doesn’t feel good, doesn’t mean it feels right.”

“I know,” I rasp. “But the Moon Goddess will point you to where it matters most. She did it for me. She’ll do it for you, too.”

“Yeah…maybe,” she sighs. “It’s crazy how I can go from fixating on finding you for most of my life for it to end like this. I feel so lost.”

“I’m sorry you’re hurting,” I whisper. “And I’m sorry it ended like this.”

Harley shrugs. “It probably would hurt much more if I were your real mate.”

“And I probably wouldn’t have met Kayleigh if I was your real mate, but I did.”

“I know.” She smiles sadly. “She’s your soulmate.”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway, let’s get this over with so I can attempt to move on.” She rolls her shoulders back. “I, Harley Woodgreen, reject you, Kayden, as my mate.”

I blink and wait for the wave of gruelling rejection to hit my wolf, but nothing happens. I narrow my eyes a little and clear my throat. “Uh. I, Kayden Hartley, reject you, Harley, as my mate.”

My heart thumps heavily in my chest, and I brace for a bellowing of pain, but instead, she hums in surprise and leans back into the chair. “Well, that was anticlimactic,” she murmurs under her breath, and I nod in agreement. “And besides, your surname is Hartley? This would never have worked out.”

A laugh echoes from my chest. “Harley Hartley? Yeah, the fates were definitely not on our side with that one.”

Harley scrunches up her face in playful disgust. “That’s terrible.” Her eyes drop as she plays with her fingers. “I hope our wolves are going to be okay. I’m worried about the future.”

“I think they will,” I say softly. “Mine’s not even whimpering.”

“Mine neither.” She shakes her head. “It’s weird. I had no idea about the weak gene thing. It makes me feel lesser.”

I twist my body towards her. “Trust me, it doesn’t make you lesser, and it doesn’t make me lesser. We’re still wolves. We can still make our wolves happy—maybe it’s just not with their fated mate. No one can take our wolves and ties to this world away from us. We have to find different paths. I know the future might seem daunting right now, but I promise, you’ll find your soulmate soon.”

“But wolves mate for life.” Harley’s expression changes. “I don’t understand how they’ll cope. I don’t want to be in pain. I’ve heard horror stories.”

“Me, too. But I don’t think it’ll be like that for us. I guess we need to listen to their wants and needs and do everything we can to keep them happy and content. I love Kayleigh, and I know he will love her, too, even if she’s human,” I admit. “If you want to talk about your worries, I’m here to listen. Just because this didn’t work out doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to be okay. I want you to be happy, Harley.”

She hums softly. “Yeah, you’re right.” She rubs her chest. “It still hurts a little.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I only wanted to be honest with you.”

“And I’m grateful for that.” She flashes me a small smile. “You could have lied and led me on, and that would probably have been worse.”

My lips purse. “I’m not a total villain.”

“Only earlier when you called me a bitch.”

I wince. “Yeah, that was uncalled for.”

“I was trying to get under your skin about your girlfriend, and it was childish,” she sighs. “She’s very beautiful.”

“I know,” I exhale.

I miss her pretty face and those bright blue eyes.

“Too beautiful to be stuck with you,” she says teasingly.

My brows raise. “Wow, we’re really at that level already after knowing each other for almost two days?”

“Suppose we can call it trauma bonding.” She laughs.

“Fine. Trauma bonding it is.”

Harley sucks in a breath before pushing open the car door, her eyes drooping with sadness for a quick second. “Thanks for getting this all cleared up. I guess I’ll see you around now we’re in the same district.”

“Yeah,” I say. “I’ll see you around.”

When she’s gone, I don’t feel broken, empty, or hollow.

Everything inside me intensifies for Kayleigh.

And now I have to pray that she’ll let me back in.

I don’t think. I head to Stonebridge University.

I have no idea how long I wait outside her dorm room for, but I don’t know where else to go. I’ve been calling her phone continuously. Each one goes to voicemail, and I’m left frustrated at myself.

The sound of talking echoes in my ears, and I glance down the hall. My eyes snag on blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and blue eyes with dark circles underneath them. My breath hitches at the sight of her.

A small dark-haired girl is beside her, looping her arm through Kayleigh’s. I step into the centre of the hall, and both sets of eyes glance up at me.

Kayleigh stops dead in her tracks, eyes widening at the sight of me.

“Hey, blondie,” I whisper, emotion clogging my chest.

“No,” the other girl says, stepping forward to meet me. “You don’t get to do this to her. Please do everyone a favour and go away.”

I blink at her sudden outburst and raise my hands in defence. “I just want to talk.”

“You had your chance. Now, leave her alone,” she snaps.

Kayleigh’s eyes begin to fill with tears, and she doesn’t look away from me. “Please,” I whisper towards her.

She nods and twists to face her friend. “It’s okay, Evie,” she murmurs. “I just want to hear what he has to say.”

Relief wracks my lungs, and my shoulders slump forward.

Evie studies me for a long moment, shooting daggers directly at me. “Okay,” she says after a few moments. “I’ll wait downstairs for you if you need me.”

Kayleigh gives her a nod and moves to open her dorm room. I quietly follow her inside and shut the door. Her room is a mess. Everything is everywhere.

When she turns around to face me, her arms are firmly crossed. I flick my gaze across her stone-cold face, and I know this isn’t going to be easy. I’m going to have to work my ass off for this—and I’m ready.

“Why are you here, Kayden?”

My brows crease. “Why am I here?”

“You have a new girlfriend, so I don’t really understan?—”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I cut over her. “ You are my girlfriend.”

“Not anymore.”

Someone might as well have stabbed me through the heart.

“I’m sorry.” I step forward, but she eyes me carefully with a warning. “I did what I had to do so we could be together. Please believe that.”

“And it took you a few days to realise I’m what you want?”

I shake my head adamantly. “I never wanted her, Kayleigh. I’ve been calling and texting you, but you haven’t replied to anything. I would have explained everything, but I wasn’t with her to get to know her. I was with her to clear things up.”

My entire body almost drops to the floor like someone has tied concrete slabs to my stomach. A tear rolls down her cheek, and I despise knowing it’s because of me.

“Kayleigh—” I reach out for her, but she moves away. “I can’t watch you cry and not be able to comfort you.”

She aggressively wipes at her face, leaving her cheeks clear of any tears. “I’ve never felt so worthless,” she starts. “I told you about everything in my life, including my darkest secrets. I told you I wasn’t stable and that I needed help. Then you broke my heart by telling me you’d choose me and that I had nothing to worry about, and then you did the opposite.”

“I went to find out why I can hear your thoughts,” I state loudly. “And I found out that you’re my?—”

“I don’t care, Kayden,” she says through gritted teeth.

I close my eyes for a brief second. “I don’t expect you to understand, but I had to go and find out the truth for us. I had to spend those days with her for my wolf. He needed her to know?—”

“And don’t you think that I needed you, too?” she chokes.

“Kayleigh, please.”

“You hurt me.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I never meant to.”

Kayleigh sniffles and stares right through my soul. “What happened with her?”

“We rejected each other. We found out that we’re not true fated mates. But us, Kayleigh, we’re?—”

“What about your bond?”

I clear my throat. “The bond wasn’t really there. The bond was nothing. You and I have more of a connection than I did with her. Please believe me.”

Kayleigh blinks and glances at the wall, her expression twitching as she thinks. “But what if you had a genuine bond with her? You wouldn’t be trying to get me back. You’d be with her, not me.”

“That still wouldn’t have taken away from the fact that I love you.” My chest heaves.

“Don’t—”

“A mate bond might be vital to some, but the things I feel for you when we’re together—that’s magic in its own sense. It’s euphoric, beautiful, and breathtaking, and I don’t want anything else. I’ll never want anything else. All I want is you.”

Kayleigh places her head in her hands and cries silently. I resist the urge to reach out and wrap my arms around her, draw her into my chest and kiss her forehead over and over, promising that I’ll make it up to her.

“I think you should go.”

“Don’t do this.” My voice cracks.

She wipes her face and glances at me with exhausted eyes. “I’m not going to be your second choice. I’m not going to be your bit on the side because the real deal isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.”

I charge across the room and clutch her face between my hands, tilting her eyes to mine as I stare down at her. “You have been and will always be my number one, Kayleigh. Don’t you see that? There will be no one else after you. No one. ”

“How can I trust you again?” she crumbles against me. “How can I trust that you won’t realise that you’ve made a mistake and go back to her? Because I can’t compete with what Ava and Jaxon have. You can have that with her.”

“I can’t,” I say through gritted teeth.

I need her to know the truth without freaking her out.

My forehead rests against hers, and I listen to her erratic breathing. “I’d rather tear out my own fucking heart than ever hurt you again.”

Kayleigh whimpers and pulls away from my grip, leaving me ice-cold. “This is all a mess,” she murmurs and presses a hand to her forehead. “Such a fucking mess.”

“I need you,” I whisper. “I can’t bear to be without you.”

Her body tenses. “We need time apart.”

Those four words are agony compared to rejecting Harley.

This feels like the end of the world. Rejecting Harley felt like a weight off my shoulders.

A rush of intense pain splashes across my body, and I struggle to keep myself upright.

“Time apart, or are you breaking up with me?” I rasp, not recognising my own voice.

Kayleigh shrugs once. “I don’t know…just—” She pauses. “I need time away from you. I need time to think about what I really want.”

I swallow the razor blades in my throat. “Okay.” I nod once. “But I’ll be waiting for you. No matter how long. I will be waiting.”

“Fine.” She folds her arms over her chest and turns towards the wall. “Please, can you go?”

My eyes focus on the back of her head for a long moment, but standing here and not acknowledging her request will only make things worse. I run my teeth over my lip and exhale through my nose. I walk towards her door and linger for a second.

“Just know I will love you in every lifetime.”

Then I leave with my heart on the doorstep.