“It’s been two years. Don’t mates usually find each other at the same time and claim each other together?” Of course, Tyler didn’t know jack about ménages. He was in way over his head. How the hell can a mated couple suddenly take on a third? And if that were the case, why wouldn’t all mated couples spend their lives on pins and needles wondering if a third was going to come along, male or female? Something about this situation was fishy, but Tyler couldn’t put his thumb on it.
Michael smirked again, reminding Tyler he was reading his thoughts. But then he answered the question, sort of. “Usually, yes.”
The man’s vagueness was driving Tyler crazy. He stared Michael in the eye but couldn’t manage to delve around in the man’s head in the same way Michael was doing to him. He narrowed his gaze at Michael.
Michael chuckled softly. “Don’t the mated pairs in your pack communicate through their minds?”
Tyler shook his head. “I have no idea. I don’t think so.”
“Huh. Maybe it only works for true mates.” Michael leaned forward and narrowed his gaze as though Tyler were a curious specimen in a lab. “I’m blocking you. It’s a skill you’ll develop over time I guess. But, you … you’re a wide-open book.”
Tyler leaned back. Now what was he supposed to do? “What does Alyssa say about all this?” Tyler wondered if he had the strength to walk away—again—if the woman didn’t want him.
“She’s understandably upset.”
Upset? That word didn’t begin to tell Tyler whether his mate was angry or just flustered.
And Michael wasn’t elaborating.
“Listen, Michael. I didn’t cause any of this to happen on purpose. It just did. I don’t understand it myself. But here we are. If I could just walk away, I would. Hell, if I could just walk away, I already did. It didn’t work. I can’t get Alyssa out of my head for even one moment to sleep or eat or work. I can’t function normally. Surely you remember what that feeling was like from when you first met her.”
“You have no idea.”
Hey, the man wasn’t speaking out loud, but his silent communication was better than nothing.
Tyler took a deep breath and continued. Slamming my head against a brick wall. “I’d ask you what Alyssa wants if I thought you’d give me a straight answer, but frankly, I don’t really trust you. So, if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather speak to her face to face and hear directly from her what her wishes are concerning this peculiar set of circumstances. If the woman asks me to leave, I will. Promise.”
Not happily, mind you, but at this point Tyler couldn’t even begin to picture a scenario in which he came out the winner in this arrangement. What was he supposed to do? Climb into bed between Alyssa and Michael and… Jesus Christ, the idea made him shiver. He wasn’t gay, and he wasn’t bi. Of that he was certain.
A burst of laughter erupted from Michael. “Lordy, aren’t you precious? Are you this ignorant in general, or just where it concerns mating?”
“Sure, make fun of the new guy.” Tyler decided he might as well pointedly communicate with Michael from mind to mind since it didn’t seem to matter one way or the other whether he spoke out loud. “Real mature. I’ll have you know I just finished my masters in finance from the University of Oklahoma. I can’t control the fact I was raised by a bunch of backward, fucked-up, redneck jackasses.”
Tyler stood and switched from telepathy to shouting. “I can only control my response. I’m here, aren’t I? I left the goddamn pack, my parents, my friends, even my belongings. I drove halfway across the country with nothing more than my car and the clothes on my back to see where this mating might lead me.
“I had no idea Alyssa was already mated. Hell, I never even saw you one time when I was here last week. I saw every other member of your family, but not you. Why’s that?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “As soon as I scented her and realized she was my mate, I ran. Yes, I ran. Not because of you, asshole, but because of her. It never occurred to me she was mated. I assumed, when I realized she was mine, that she was, in fact, not mated. I respect the hell out of her for having the strength to run away like she did and essentially put her foot down where it concerns arranged marriages. And, in the same light, I will respect her wishes where they concern me. I’m only asking for the common courtesy of being allowed to speak to her directly.”
Tyler’s entire body shook. He paced over to the porch railing and turned to face the front yard. He’d never had such a confrontation in his life. Not even with his parents. Hell, his parents were both so docile he’d barely even raised his voice growing up. They might have fainted.