Chapter 2

As David left, I gasped. It was as if a piece of my heart was fastened to his truck and was being ripped out as he drove off. I took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself.

“I will see him tonight,” I whispered and it helped a little. I took another breath and whispered it again. After several more rounds of that I was able to feel somewhat normal. I still felt a dull ache that had to have been caused my David, my mate’s absence, but the initial panic had dropped to a much more manageable level.

I chuckled wryly as I realized that I just had my first taste of what being away from my mate was going to be like. The havoc on my emotions from the pull of being mated was certainly going to be interesting to navigate, though for a moment I managed to smile when I thought about how sweet our reunion after work would be.

“That was weird?” A familiar, yet unwelcome voice cried out.

“What do you mean?” I asked, turning around, seeing Tiffany coming from the store entrance with a somewhat confused look on her face. Her shift must have just ended.

“That ... thing with the guy in the truck! Who was that?”

“That was David.” I answered flatly. “He’s the man who moved in to split costs. He was also the man who stood up to those bikers that started harassing me at the bar a few months ago.”

“Huh,” she huffed. “Well, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he likes you!” It was obvious that she was just trying to get under my skin, but with my emotions as volatile as they were it was unfortunately working. I snorted and flicked my tail in irritation.

“I should hope so! We’ve been together for the last few months.” I retorted and Tiffany’s mouth dropped open both shock and disgust. “Which means that you apparently don’t know better,” I muttered under my breath as I passed her by without stopping.

When I’d made it inside I took a deep breath to try to calm down. I checked the time on my phone and saw that I had a few minutes left before I needed to punch in. On my way to the time clock I typed out a message to David.

‘Wish I was home with you.’ David’s response came quickly.

‘Me too. I get to see you tonight though. Love you!’ His reply made me happy, and I put my phone away just in time to clock in.

Since the store was getting ready for the holiday season, everyone was kept busy. Being much taller than any of the other employees I was constantly pulled from one end of the store to the other to help putting up random pieces of decoration. Consequently, that meant that I didn’t have any time to talk to Sara about David when she arrived for her shift. Eventually though, It was time for my break, and I managed to pull her aside for a minute.

“Finally, I’ve been wanting to talk to you all day,” I said quickly.

“I noticed, but it’s been such a zoo! Anyway, what’s going on?” Sara asked just as quickly.

“Last night, it happened...”

“Uhh ... what happened?”

“Between David and I. It happened.”

“You’re gonna need to be more specific.” Sara looked like she had her guesses, but apparently I was going too need to spell it out for her. I looked around to see if anyone else was around and saw Jenna walking by. I waited until she was gone, then I leaned down close to Sara so I could whisper.

“David and I mated last night.”

“Whoa!” Sara exclaimed. She jerked her head back and stared at me looking completely shocked.

“I thought you’d be happy for me...” I murmured, a little hurt at her response.

“Well, I am. But it’s also a lot different than getting kissed or going on dates. I mean, you’re pretty much married now, right?” She whispered as loudly as she dared.

“Yes, we are.”

“That’s a big deal!”