Page 40 of This Mate Thing

"Be careful."Then I hang up.

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Chapter 19

Boris

I growl and turn on Zahrah."This is your fault!"

She winces."I'm sorry."

"Sorry?My mate just broke up with me because I'm here with you."Claws form on my hands without my permission.

"I didn't think he'd react this way.Normal people don't react like that."

"He's not normal!He's human."

She flinches."Yeah...didn't think about that."

I throw my clothes into my bag.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving.I have to go to Simon."

She frowns."Now?You can't go now.Maia is coming in the morning.I'm gonna snap some photos of the two of you."

I snarl at her, all my teeth on display, and she scrunches her nose."Boris, calm down."

Calm down?Is she insane?Simon believes he has to protect himself from me.He believes I'll cause him pain.It's not rational, but part of me understands it.All his life, he's done what he can to protect himself.It's all he knows, and I haven't been in his life long enough to show him there is another way to live.

"You heard him."

"Yeah, but...do you think you coming charging into his home in the middle of the night will make things better?Let's stay and do what we set out to do, then you can smooth things over tomorrow afternoon when we get back."

I glare at her."I'm going.If you don't drive me, I'll run to Mom's and borrow her car.Maybe she can come in the morning as you planned."

"Boris."

"No, Zahrah.I listened to you--"

She cuts me off with a huff."A few hours won't make a difference.He's already upset, and--"

"It will.It'll showhim I'm willing to change my plans to make him feel better."

She flattens her lips and breathes in noisily through her nose."Fine."She starts packing her things.

Half an hour later, we're walking.It'll take some time before we're at Mom's, but at least we're on our way.I grab my phone and type a text.

Boris: On my way home.

I want to write something else, beg him to let me in when I arrive, but Zahrah is right.We'll arrive around two A.M., and I'm sure Simon will be asleep by then.He should be asleep.He needs his rest.

When there is no reply for several minutes, I pocket my phone.Zahrah is taking the lead.The frost-covered leaves rustle underneath our feet, but otherwise it's silent.We don't utter a single word, and my gut is churning.

When Zahrah speaks, some ten minutes later, I jump.

"You need to tell him."