Tatum was nursing her nth number of drink—she'd stopped counting a while ago—as she listened and exchanged stories for the next hour in the basement, where the music was lower and a couple of pool tables and foosball tables and a few other games were placed.

"Hey, listen." Micajah, who was sitting to her left, called quietly and Tatum leaned forward, curious. "Yeah?"

"I . . . I don't want to overstep my boundaries here." He started, and Tatum had a pretty good idea of what he was about to say.

"No, you listen," She intercepted, her tongue emboldened by the steady stream of alcohol, "I don't wanna talk about it, I don't wanna listen about how sorry you are, or how bad it must be. I just wanna relax and forget about it."

"No, no that's not it, at all!" He whisper-yelled quietly, looking around the group to make sure no one was listening in on them, "Thing is, I . . . I had a mother who lost her Mate. Not dead though. He rejected her."

"Oh." Tatum didn't know how to reply. That just seemed like it was even worse, "Had?"

"No, she's alive." He hurried to correct her assumption, lips pressing into a thin line as he collected his thoughts, "She just went . . . completely crazy after that. Neglected me and abused me all my life in more than one ways." His voice roughened at the end and Tatum realized just how difficult it was for him to say all that out loud.

"I'm so sorry." Tatum wanted to squeeze his shoulder—she was truly sorry for him—but didn't know if she would be able to radiate him some comfort, so she settled for patting his forearm awkwardly instead. "I didn't know people went crazy after a rejection."

"They don't." Micajah said in a hard voice, swallowing. "They just need to love something fiercely enough to have a reason to stay sane. It's in their willpower to live. It's just a fact that I wasn't enough, considering I was not her Mate's child."

"Oh, Micajah." This time, Tatum gave his shoulder a squeeze and Micajah looked up, smiling a little bit, "But, all that's in the past. The reason why I told you about that was because I'm so proud that you held on with all your might after what happened. That you not only managed to stay sane, but also trained hard as one of the best warriors and leaders in our country. Your dedication makes you one of the bravest people I've met, Tatum. I'm glad you found that one thing to stay for."

Tatum was rendered speechless. It was the first time someone had understood so acutely what she was going through. Yes, Angier was with her throughout all of it, but he couldn't fathom what this feeling of loss was like, couldn't understand that Tatum felt most of the time like she was hanging off a cliff and the rope she was holding onto was her life.

It felt like Micajah had jumped into her head and picked out her thoughts and laid them out in front of her. His articulation of the disaster that was her emotional balance was so on point that she felt like choking the guy in a hug. She refrained from doing that, instead choosing to focus on the compliment he'd given, and how good it made her feel.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Anytime." He said and Tatum appreciated the note of candidness in his voice. "Hey, maybe we could all hang together at the Uni. What do you say, Seneca?" Micajah turned to his Mate sitting on his left, who put an arm around his shoulders, giving him a smile that was just pure love. "Yes, definitely. We need more friends."

"Awesome." Tatum grinned, exchanging numbers with the both of them and smiling at every joke after that. This time though, she didn't have to fake it.

After that, Tatum was floating on a high. She laughed a lot and thought that this was nice, she should attend more of these types of gatherings, that hanging out with friends was not such a bad idea, after all. She even let herself think that she should maybe talk to the other human kids in her class, but quickly dismissed that thought.

That was a bit too much, too soon.

All in all, Tatum felt like she was having a lot of fun. For once, she was happy.

That's when Anders waved at someone, and a taller dude who was a bit older than the rest of them walked over, sitting on one of the empty spots in the huge couch opposite to the one Tatum was seated on.

"This is Alpha Marcus Blythe. He used to go to school with me. Marcus, this is . . ." Tatum tuned out as Anders listed out all the names, and nodded when Marcus acknowledged her. Angier was distracted and didn't notice that Alpha Marcus was expressing his happiness to have met them all, and Tatum elbowed him subtly to gain his attention.

"Oh yes! Nice to meet you, Alpha Blythe!" Angier said suddenly, interrupting the conversation with the suaveness of a bull in a china shop. Tatum felt like face-palming but resisted the urge to do so, patting his arm instead, "You'll have to excuse him. He's a bit drunk."

"Oh yeah, it's fine," The Alpha said, throwing her a grin, "Not everyone can hold their liquor like us with the Alpha blood."

A chorus of forcedly polite agreements passed around the group and Tatum was uncomfortable. Just who did this guy think he was? Insulting her own right in front of her.

"Excuse me, but he's gonna—" She started but was interrupted mid-sentence by a high feminine cry, "Brother, there you are!"

They all turned their attention to the newcomer, a petite blonde girl with big blue eyes and a small nose that made her look like the real-life version of Tinker Bell. She grinned when she saw the group of us sitting there, walking over to the couches. "Oh! Hi, Alphas, Alephs. I'm Francesca Blythe."

Francesca's eyes roamed over the group as everyone said their 'hi's and 'hello's and looking back, Tatum should've known. She should've noticed the fact that Angier was sitting stock still beside her, or even the fact that his jaw was hanging open. Least of all, she should've known that there was no way the universe would let Tatum be happy for a while without ruining it. She should've known it was all too good to be true.

Angier growled slightly beside her and Francesca's blue eyes fell on him, rounding in surprise. They then shifted into a dark brown color as a growl she couldn't keep down emanated through her, and before Tatum's brain could add up all this, Angier growled in a low gravelly tone she'd never heard him use before.

It was just one word. The word that flipped her universe in its axis. The word she'd been dreading.

"Mine."

Francesca almost purred in reply, and everyone let out a collective gasp of surprise, delight and shock all mixed together. Alpha Marcus stood up and patted his sister's shoulder in a congratulatory manner, pulling her out of the reverie.

"Wow . . . I'm quite surprised. I definitely didn't expect that." She said, not tearing her eyes off Angier.

"So am I," Angier stood up, giving her the biggest grin Tatum had ever seen on his face. "I'm Angier Wellington, Francesca Blythe."

The returning smile she gave him for just saying her name was blinding. Her eyes were alight with happiness and an excitement that rivaled none other, and Tatum almost felt like a voyeur for witnessing a private moment. It was the first time she'd seen Mates finding each other, and the emotions oozing from the pair was like a testament to the existence of destiny. 

The same destiny who'd cursed her to never have this primary feeling of love and to be loved unconditionally.

Tatum felt her throat close up as the wild thought pricked her heart with a bout of deep sorrow and loss, and she hurriedly closed off all mental links to prevent any of her rampant feelings from ruining this moment for her best friend.

Still, no matter how much she tried, it was like a vice gripping her so tight that she couldn't breathe. Tatum Karas was breaking on the inside, and while a small part of her was undeniably happy for her best friend who'd finally found the love he deserved, it was like the rest of her cracked soul was crumbling into pieces. The walls around her heart were falling to the ground, and that moment she was struck by a realization.

Because stripped bare, her heart now revealed the only reason it was beating, the only reason why it chose to stay sane, the only reason she was alive after the trauma of losing a part of it, was because of Angier Wellington.

The same Angier who was no longer going to be by her side.

"Would you maybe prefer to go outside for some air?" Angier's voice slipped past her mental barricade, and she looked up just as Francesca nodded eagerly, grabbing Angier's proffered arm. Her fingers curled around his biceps in an instinctively possessive grip and Angier led her away, the two of them disappearing in the direction of the stairs to the ground floor.

Once they were out of earshot, the group burst into conversation all at once, exclaiming and commenting delightedly about how wonderful it was to see something like that, and none of them knew it was that beautiful since they'd been in the moment and how the Goddess made people find the other half of their souls in the unlikeliest of places. Someone said it would've been wonderful if there had been a secret camera recording them meeting their Mate, it would've been the most perfect thing, wouldn't it?

Tatum felt each word chipping at her control over her emotions, as if she was just a pile of broken glass held together by a flimsy rope that was gonna come undone any moment and hurt everyone around her as she splattered everywhere. It was like her insides were made up of the tears she'd swallowed back and any minute now, everyone at attendance would know that she was made up of nothing but her tears.

"Excuse me, I think I drank too much." Tatum managed to choke out as she stood up, placing her bottle blindly on the coffee table as she rushed out of there without waiting for a reply. She searched blindly for somewhere, anywhere she could go as she took the stairs two at a time, shouldered past masses of people and climbed up to the second floor, or was it the first or the third?

She burst through a cracked door and found an empty room, leaning against the back of the wood as she shut herself in, her head thumping against it as she sank into the floor.

Finally, she cried.

~ * ~

QUESTION: Should Tatum and Francesca become besties?

NEXT UPDATE: 25 MAY.

any other thoughts?

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