Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.

Leilani.

The sounds of heavy breathing by my door snapped me out of the thoughts in my head. My head sprung up as I glanced away from my laptop, thinking I’d heard wrong, but the sound didn’t stop; if anything, it seemed to intensify with each passing second and I slowly rose from my chair, grabbed a baton and tiptoed to the door with the intention of striking whoever it was first before they got to me.

However, as soon as I slowly pushed the door open, I froze with my baton hanging midair when I saw who the intruder was...

"Jay?" I whispered incredulously, my eyes widening when I took in his disheveled state.

After returning from the hospital earlier, I’d been in such a bad mood. I’d been distressed as well and disheveled, and to make myself feel better, I’d buried myself in work. But now, looking at Jay, I could boldly say that my earlier mood was nothing compared to his current state.

He looked... utterly drained and had dark circles around his deep grayish eyes. He sighed tiredly when his eyes met mine, a small smile playing at his lips when his eyes snagged on my baton, and without a word, pulled me into a tight hug.

I froze.

I do not know for how long we stood there, holding onto each other like our lives depended on it, but I knew that at some point, my knees began to feel weak. The tips of my fingers were frozen to stiffness too and my cheeks were so stiff and hurt so much from the cold.

I muttered; "Come on in! I have a small fancy fireplace we can sit close to!"

Jay’s eyes flashed with gratitude and then slowly... very slowly, he beamed a smile at me and drawled; "You’re too kind, Leilani."

Shrugging off his words as his usual sarcasm, I pulled away from him and brushed into the house, not ignoring the way his large presence filled the space behind me.

For the first time since I left home, I had decided to do a bit of Christmas decorations, and Jarek, knowing how I used to forbid Christmas, gasped when he saw the large Christmas tree hanging at a corner of my living room. The corners of his lips tilted upwards at the sight but he said nothing.

Frankly, he didn’t need to as his expression had done all the talking he could possibly do.

He settled in front of the fireplace, and after serving him a plate of dessert, I did too, whilst coming to sit beside him with my laptop.

His scrutinizing eyes darted between the lit up screen of my laptop to my face and then he asked; "You were working?"

I didn’t respond right away, instead I nodded.

"Do you do anything else besides work in your free time?" He asked, and I couldn’t tell if he was joking or being serious because even though the words sounded playful, his eyes were everything but that.

I sighed. "I do... sometimes."

"And do you think that that’s such a good thing?"

"Jay please... work is a lot of fun for me. I don’t want you reminding me of how my entire life is—"

"I’m not trying to remind you of anything." He snapped, cutting in quickly and the words I had at the tip of my tongue died when I saw the worrisome expression on his face.

He wasn’t trying to lecture me. He was simply worried about me.

His voice dropped a few notches and the look in his eyes turned gentler as he whispered; "I’m your employer... and even I think you work a lot more than I do... or can ever do."

"And that’s why you pay my salary," I joked, taking a bite of my banana.

His eyes followed that action, lingering on the bit banana for a second too long before he finally drawled; "And what about Chalice?"

"What about her?" I asked, cocking my eyebrows at him.

My expression shifted when his face flushed slightly, and then he dropped his gaze whilst scratching the back of his neck. "Do you still plan on ’surprising’ her at her wedding?"

Something about the way he asked that question made me frown slightly but I didn’t know what it was. He looked like he had something to say... an input or something, and me, the curious one, wanted to know what he was driving at, so I answered truthfully;

"Yes."

"Why?"

Why?

Again, I frowned. "Did you just ask why?"

Jarek dropped his eyes again and that had me wondering what was happening. I wanted to know if he had switched sides... if he’d suddenly begun to frolic with Chalice just like everyone else... if he was already beginning to pity her, forgetting the things she’d done to me as well.

I searched his face for any trace of these things I thought but found nothing. So I added; "What’s your sudden obsession with protecting her?"

And as soon as I said that, his face scrunched up in distaste. He looked utterly disgusted. He hissed; "I’d never protect Chalice!"

"Then why are you so bothered about her safety or whatever this is? Why do you seem like you suddenly care about her?"

"I don’t care about her!" He snapped, turning away from me to place his plate of chocolate pie onto the side table; then he turned back to face me. "I care about you."

"Well, it doesn’t sound or feel like that right now." I shrugged defiantly. "If anything, it looks like you’re trying to protect her."

He sighed and turned away from me but before he did, I didn’t miss the look of utter bewilderment on his face. I didn’t miss the frown creasing his features or the discomfort making his body go taut.

The veins on the sides of his neck looked like they were about to explode as he swallowed thickly. "I’m jealous." He finally said, making my jaw go slack.

Out of every possible reason I could’ve thought for his sudden behavior, those words were the last thing I’d expected to hear.

I frowned. "But how? You’re jealous that I want to expose Chalice of her crimes?"

"No, I’m jealous because you chose to do it on her wedding day. Her wedding with your mates! And do you know what that means? It means that the wedding may not continue after you expose her... and I cannot help but think that you specifically chose that day to ensure that the wedding doesn’t happen!"

"Jarek!" I gasped, not believing the words coming out of his mouth.

Something akin to rage coiled tight at the base of my stomach and I glared pointedly at him for a while before shaking my head. "No."

"No, what?"

"No, I didn’t choose that day because I have hopes for the triplets and I. I chose it because I know it’ll be the day she’ll be the most embarrassed."

"I don’t believe that." He drawled under his breath and that made me momentarily see red.

"I don’t believe that you chose it because it’ll be the day she’s most embarrassed. She could be most embarrassed at a gala, at a family function... anything. Just any celebration, but you chose her wedding! Why?"

"Can you even listen to yourself? Do you think I get invited to family functions?" I snarled darkly but he simply rolled his eyes at my and shrugged.

"I still don’t believe you."

And it was crazy— you know— to think that he was accusing me of holding out for my mates when he was doing just the same thing with Keisha. So with a frown, I seethed; "Well, that makes us even."

At that, his head shot up. His dark eyes met mine as he snapped; "What?"

"What I mean is that you don’t believe me the same way I do not believe you." I said coldly, making his eyes widen softly before he blinked.

"Now, I don’t understand what you mean by that."

I could feel the change in the air between us. It felt charged. Electric. And the tension pressed down tightly on my chest, feeling like it was about to suffocate me.

Looking away from his piercing gaze, I dropped my voice and drawled; "Well, you think I’m holding out for my mates, don’t you?"

"Uhm... I didn’t exactly say that." He said dryly.

"Well, that’s what your words implied." I muttered defensively, "...but I don’t blame you because I also think you’ve been holding out for Keisha. So we’re even."

As soon as I mentioned Keisha’s name, his face darkened significantly. His jaw dropped and the frown on his face deepened as he glared straight at me.

And that was all the sign I needed.

All the confirmation I needed to know that he was still got very sore whenever she was mentioned.

I rolled my eyes and hissed, breathing through the agonizing ache spreading throughout my chest. "...And I think you’re accusing me wrongfully of wanting to be with my mates because it is what you want deep down."