Chapter 12

~Kehlani~

I awoke with my alarm clock. It goes off at 6 am without fail, but this morning, I didn’t want to rise with it. The stress of things has been weighing on me and keeping me from sleeping. I am not sure what it was last night, but I slept pretty well. It just wasn’t enough.

You know why we slept so well last night.

What do you mean, Kai?

Our mate slept here….next door to us. That made us sleep so much better than usual.

I hadn’t thought of that; the mate pull improving my sleep. If only I had an entire day to catch up, but there were things to do and places to be. I got out of bed and went to take a shower. Jayden and I had a date today, and I needed to get ready. I already knew what we would do for the most part; I just didn’t figure out what I would wear. After my shower, I stood in the closet for a bit, trying to figure out the best outfit for the day. I decided on some skinny jeans with a red silk camisole. I pulled on my black, thigh-high wedge boots and grabbed my black leather jacket. Comfortable and cute, if I do say so myself. I left the makeup alone. To be honest, I am not much for the stuff, but I will splurge when it is a special event. I grabbed my lip gloss and headed out the door. I must have been preoccupied because I didn’t notice Jayden standing in front of my door and ran into him. He grabbed my arms in an attempt to steady himself and me. I looked up at him; those damn green eyes just made me weak in the knees. Jayden grinned at me. “Are you in a rush to start your day with me?”

I could feel my cheeks get red, and I tried to look anywhere but into his eyes. He makes me so damn nervous and excited and horny all at the same time. “Uh, I wasn’t looking where I was going. My bad. Good morning; how did you sleep?” I stood up straight and smoothed out my clothes.

“Not bad actually, though it would have been better had I not gotten up so early,” Jayden replied.

“Did my alarm wake you up? I am sorry. I am not use-” I started to say.

“No, no. I didn’t even hear your alarm. I actually had a live alarm wake me up.” Jayden chuckled and ran his hands over his face. “Anytime I am away, Brooklyn calls at 5:30am to wake me up.”

I looked at Jayden and smiled. “She sure has a lot of energy. I think that is so cute.”

“Yeah, it can be as long as you are well rested, which, much of the time, I am not.” Jayden looks at me and cocks his head. “You look….amazing today.”

I smiled and really looked at him. His black hair was spiked up on his head, and he had some stubble on his chin. He was wearing a white t-shirt that hugged his muscles and was a bit thin. I could make out a bit of ink on his chest and decided to ask him about that later. He had on a pair of blue jeans that were a bit tight, and anyone could see the muscle definition in his legs. He finished his look with a pair of white, high-top air forces and a black leather jacket. “You look good as well, and I guess great minds think alike.” It took him a minute to realize what I meant, and he smiled in acknowledgment.

“So, should we head down to breakfast now? I'm sure the pack is waiting to see their Alpha.”

“Actually, I thought we would start the date with breakfast. I have a place I wanted to take you to.”

“Lead the way, Kehlani.” With that, I headed down the stairs with Jayden in tow. I had my car brought to the front of the packhouse, so we did not have to worry about the garage. As I walked toward the driver’s side, I realized I was no longer being followed, and Jayden was not walking to the passenger side. I stopped behind the car and turned to see where he had gone. Jayden was standing on the sidewalk, staring between me and the car.

“Is everything okay?” I asked him.

“Uh…..I mean…..is…..is this you?” Jayden pointed to the car with his eyes getting big. I couldn’t help but laugh. This is the usual reaction I get when people see my car. I don’t get to drive it too often, but I try to take the opportunity when I get it. I restored a 1969 Chevy Camaro pace a few years ago. I fell in love with this car when I saw it once and just had to have it. I changed the paint job and interior. The car is painted a solid black with bright red stripes on top. The interior is also bright red with a mix of leather and fabric upholstery. I ran my hand across the car trunk and continued to the driver’s door. The car is a convertible, and the top was already down, which is my preference. I turned toward Jayden as I started to open the car door.

“Are you just going to stand there and gawk, or are you going to get in so we can go?” I asked Jayden with a wink. I got into the car without waiting for his response. Jayden seemed to come out of his daze then and hopped in the car. I took off fast, enjoying the wind on my face. It would be a 20-minute drive to our location, but the way I was driving, it may just be 10.

~Jayden~

Wow. I would have never guessed Kehlani was into cars. I wasn’t much of a car enthusiast, but I could appreciate a gem when I saw one. Kehlani knew how to handle the power that came with this car, and we were almost floating to our destination. She finally pulled into the parking lot of a small diner called All of Us. That was a peculiar name for a diner, but I went with it. We got out of the car and walked into the building. I could instantly smell many different species in the diner, and the name quickly began to make sense. This seemed to be a neutral place to gather for any species, and everyone seemed to be getting along. As soon as we walked in, a big, burly man came from the back of the diner and grabbed Kehlani. He had his arms around her waist, picking her up and spinning her. She was laughing and hugging him back. Jace was not happy, nor was I, and a low growl came out of me. The man put Kehlani down and eyed me suspiciously. I don’t know who he is, but I definitely didn’t like him touching Kehlani. Jace felt even worse, but I had to remind him that this probably wouldn’t last, and who was I to kill her chances at another mate?

Kehlani walked out of the man’s arms and over to me. Putting a hand on my chest, she says, “Jayden, this is Frank. He is the owner of the diner and like a second father to me.” Kehlani turned to Frank, “This is Jayden…...my fated.” Of course, I was embarrassed by my reaction, but I could also feel my cheeks heat up at being introduced as her fated. Frank walked closer to me, looking me up and down.

He held out his hand and said, “ It is nice to meet you. You better not hurt her.” I shook Frank’s hand, wondering how much it would hurt if he did attack me. Frank let go of my hand, and Kehlani hit Frank on his arm as he walked back to the kitchen.

“Let’s go sit down.” Kehlani grabbed my hand and walked me to a booth. She didn’t have to wait to be seated, so I figured she came here often. As we sat down, I noticed Kehlani’s name carved into the table with a heart. “I did that so long ago,” she said, running her fingers over it. “I’m surprised it is still here.”

“I’m sorry about the growl. You know how it can be.”

Kehlani eyed me and smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I know it wasn’t personal.”

“So tell me about this place. I get the feeling that it’s important to you.”

Kehlani gets a wistful look on her face at this. “My parents used to bring me here a lot growing up. Frank grew up with my mom, and they stayed in contact. He ended up coming out here after my mom moved here and opened this diner. As you can see, it's open to anyone of any species. They all know that there can be no fighting and no hostility. We used to love to come here just to get away from the pressures of the packhouse. I came here a lot when mom died. It was nice to be close to Frank and listen to the stories he had of her. Also, dad was so busy and being home was hard on me.” Kehlani looked off, trying to keep her unshed tears in. I gently cupped her cheek and ran my thumb over her chin.

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose both parents. I'm glad you had someone to help you through it, though. Frank seems like a good guy.”

“He's a very good guy. I feel like we helped each other through my mom’s death, and he definitely helped me deal with my dad being gone. I don’t get to come out here too much with all of my Alpha duties.” Before I could respond, the waitress walked up to our table.

“Hi. What can I get for you?” I heard her but was busy looking at Kehlani. As the waitress spoke, I noticed Kehlani’s eyes start to narrow. She didn’t say anything to the waitress, and I wondered why.

“Since this is your spot, I will let you decide what we get.” I'm still looking at Kehlani now, and suddenly, I feel a hand on my arm.

“Oh darling, I can give you pointers on what's good here.” It was the waitress talking and the waitress who was touching me. I could see Kehlani’s glare intensify, and a scowl appeared on her face.

I gently pushed the waitress’s hand off me and said, “Thank you, but I was speaking to my date.” Kehlani smirked at this while the waitress huffed and stomped off. I ignored the waitress and kept my eyes on Kehlani.

“Tell me about your parents,” she said, “ Are they still living?”

“Ah, my parents.” I started. “Well, they are great, I have to say. I have a younger sister and we always felt loved growing up. My dad was the Beta of my pack before me so I grew up with Issac and Autumn. My sister mated with someone in a pack more than 8 hours away and my parents decided to go with her since she was pregnant before Brooklyn came along. I see them here and there and we talk all the time.”

“That sounds great. When I was younger I wanted siblings, but after a while I decided it was better to be an only child.”

“Why is that?”

Kehlani laughed. “I didn’t have to share my parents with anyone. I mean, I did have to take a back seat to the pack at times, but the rest of the time, it was all about me.”

I laughed a bit at that. I tried to imagine a younger Kehlani and how great she may have felt to be the center of her parents' lives; how difficult it must have been to lose her parents and miss out on that love. I reached over to grab Kehlani’s hand. Just as I did, the waitress approached the table to take our order. As Kehlani ordered for the both of us, the waitress had her eyes on me. I continued to ignore her, focusing on this beautiful woman who sat before me.

“You seem to be very popular,” Kehlani stated as the waitress walked off.

“Nah, I'm not popular at all,” I chuckle. “She just had nothing else to do.”

“So…tell me your story. Obviously you had someone before so what happened?”

I knew Kehlani would ask this question eventually, but I was not prepared for it. It's definitely something she needs to know; I was just not sure how she would take it. I swallowed the lump in my throat and closed my eyes. The best way is to just get through it, I guess. “I grew up with Issac and Autumn,” I started while opening my eyes. “We were pretty close along with Brooklyn’s mom. I always had a crush on her for as long as I could remember. When we got to high school, she started to hang out with a different crowd, but she still would come to our group outings here and there. I always hoped that I would find out that she was my mate. When I turned 18, I sensed that she was mine, but I had to wait two months to find out for sure. When she turned 18, it was the happiest day of my life at the time. We were mates; I had a crush on her all these years, and I could actually claim her as mine.” The air started getting thick between us, and I avoided Kehlani’s eyes.

“You don’t have to continue if it is too much. I don’t want you to have to relive anything that is too tough.”

“No, no, it’s okay. When we found out we were mates, we went for it. We started to be a couple, yet we didn’t mark each other. I should say that she didn’t want me to mark her. She kept saying she wasn’t ready and that once I marked her, she would be the Beta female, which is a lot of pressure. She wasn’t sure that she was ready for all of that yet. I tried to be patient with her and reassure her that everything would be okay. In hindsight, I should have seen that as a red flag, but then again, I would have missed out on Brooklyn if I had. Anyways, two years later, we got pregnant, and Brooklyn came along. I was so excited to be a father, and I just knew that we would mark each other at this point. When I brought it up, she flew off the handle and accused me of being insensitive and selfish. I got a call from the pack daycare later on that evening saying that Brooklyn had been left there. She hadn’t been there long, but they felt the situation was weird. Brooklyn was never really at the daycare. If she wasn’t with her mom, she was with her parents. I went home to try to find her and see if anything was wrong. I ran into her as she was walking out, suitcase in hand. She rejected me and renounced the pack right there, and walked out of the door. I have never forgotten the pain from that day; the woman I loved rejected me and our child.” I didn’t realize a tear had escaped until Kehlani wiped it off my cheek with her thumb. I didn’t expect to get this emotional after all these years, but here we are. Kehlani caressed my cheek and smiled at me.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, but if you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten as lucky as I have.”

I gave Kehlani a smile that didn’t reach my ears. I don’t understand how she could be interested in someone that is damaged. After loving her so much, it was so hard to be without Brooklyn’s mom. It was hard to be a single father, not being able to give my daughter what a mother could. I figured it would just be me and Brooklyn for life, and I was okay with that. Then one day, I went to a meeting and met this beautiful woman, my mate.