Chapter 26

Sebastian

“Mom?” Sebastian asks, looking at Skye, “Is that okay for her to do?”

Charlotte looks over at Skye and sees that she’d fallen asleep while holding Silas and Celeste. “No, probably not,” she says, gently taking the twins off their mother, “poor thing must be exhausted.”

“I guess.”

“Sebastian, she had a massive panic attack, if you’d ever had one you’d know how draining they are, especially one that’s like the one she just had.”

“She was making so much progress.”

“Sebastian, things with her aren’t always going to be easy. She’s been through a lot. You need to be very patient with her.”

“I know, it’s just frustrating.”

“Of course it is, it isn’t her fault though. She’s the way she is because of what she’s been through.”

“I know! I just…I don’t know…”

“Why don’t you go and clear your head somewhere? Go and blow off some steam at the gym. I’ll keep an eye on the children and Skylar.”

“Whatever!” He stalks out of the room. Charlotte sighs and looks fondly at Skylar.

Sebastian leaves the house and heads to the gym. When he gets there, he finds Kade and walks over to him. “Alpha,” Kade says, “what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Skye?”

“My mom sent me here,” Sebastian answers, “said I needed to blow off some steam, whatever that means.”

“Troubled?”

“It’s Skye, she’s just…a bit frustrating at times.”

“I get it, man. I’d feel the same way if I were in your shoes.” They work out together, while continuing to talk about Skye and her struggles.

Eventually, some woman come in and Sebastian and Kade go over to them. “Hey ladies,” Kades says, a flirtatious smile on his face.

The women blush. “Alpha, beta,” one of them answers.

“Ladies,” Sebastian says, coyly.

“Alpha,” a different woman answers.

“What’s your name?”

“Nicolette.”

“Nicolette, that’s a pretty name.”

Nicolette puts her hands on his chest. “Want to go somewhere private?”

Sebastian, against his better judgment, agrees and follows her to a different room.

Skye

Skye wakes up, still laying on the floor of the living room “S…Sebby?” she whispers.

“He went to the gym,” Charlotte answers.

She sits up and stretches. “I d…didn’t mean to f…fall asleep.”

“I assumed. Are you feeling better now?”

“Y…yes, I’m g…going to go f…find S…Sebby.”

“Okay, be safe. Do you know where the gym is?” Skye nods and walks out of the house.

Once Skye arrives at the gym, she goes into the building and begins to look around for Sebastian. Eventually she sees Kade, flirting with some woman. “K…Kade?” she calls out.

Kade freezes and looks up at her. “Skylar?” he answers.

“W…where’s S…Sebby?”

“He..uh…he…”

When Kade doesn’t answer, she wanders away to a different part of the gym. She enters a different room and freezes. Inside the room is Sebastian who has his hands wrapped around a woman, making out with her. “S…S…Sebby?” Skye whispers, her voice cracking.

Sebastian’s eyes widen in horror and he pushes the woman away. “S…Skylar, what are you doing here?” he asks, sounding irritated.

“....” Skye doesn’t answer. Her eyes travel back and forth from Sebastian to the woman he’d been making out with. Eventually, she turns away from him and runs out of the building.

She runs back to the house, stopping only when she’s reached the porch. She bends over, trying to catch her breath. She sinks towards the ground and breaks down into tears.

Alice comes out when she notices that Skye is just sitting on the porch with her head buried into her knees. “Skylar?” she says, “Skylar, are you okay?” Skye doesn’t respond nor does she make any movement at all. Alice minklinks Charlotte, alarmed at Skye’s odd behavior. “Charlotte?” Alice asks, “Could you come out to the back porch?”

“Yes,” Charlotte answers, “Why? Is something wrong?”

“Skye’s here. She isn’t moving or talking.”

Charlotte comes sprinting out of the house a few seconds later. “Skylar?” she asks, kneeling down next to her, “Honey, what happened?”

“S…S…Sebby,” Skye chokes out.

Charlotte looks angry. “What did he do this time?”

“K…kissing a w….woman…”

“You saw him kissing a woman?” Skye nods. Charlotte’s heart breaks for her. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. My son is an idiot.”

“N…not y…you f…fault…”

“Why don’t we go inside? It’s a bit chilly out, I don’t want you getting sick.” Skye nods again and slowly stands up, wobbling a bit due to pain in her leg. Charlotte takes her hand and they go inside. She sits Skye down on the couch in the living room. Tears continue to quietly fall down Skye’s face. “Shh, it’s okay, you’re okay.”

Fifteen minutes later, Skye manages to silently cry herself to sleep. Charlotte stands up and leaves the room to mindlink her son. “Sebastian!” she yells at him, “Sebastian, don’t you dare put a block up! How dare you kiss another woman! You have a mate, or have you already forgotten? Has it gotten so difficult for you that you decided to go fuck some other woman that isn’t Skye?”

“I didn’t fuck her mom!” Sebastian answers.

“Shut the fuck up and listen! You get home now! Don’t you dare think about bringing that whore with you!”

“Mom….”

“Don’t you mom me! Get home now or do you want to see me even angrier at you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Charlotte severs the link with her son and returns to the living room to sit with Skye. She sees that Skye is still very distressed, even in her sleep. “I’m so sorry, honey. I don’t know where I went wrong with him.”

A door opens and closes, indicating that Sebastian is home. Charlotte sighs and walks out of the room. Sebastian freezes when his mother enters the room. “Sebastian,” Charlotte scolds, “what the hell were you thinking?”

“I…” Sebastian starts to say.

“You weren’t thinking, that’s what happened! What the hell is wrong with you? You know everything that Skye has got through! It’s amazing that she trusts you at all! Well, not anymore because she saw you kissing a woman that wasn’t her! If your relationship isn’t the same after this, you only have yourself to blame!”

“Mom…”

“Don’t! I don’t want to hear your excuses! Stay away from Skye! She’ll come to you when she’s ready!” Charlotte leaves the room, furious with her son’s actions. She comes back to the living room, where Skye is still sleeping.

“Honey, it’ll be okay,” Charlotte tries to reassure her, “just look at me. Look how well I did after my bastard of a mate cheated on me.”

“Mom?” Sebastian whispers, “What are you talking about?”

Charlotte sighs. “Sebastian, I told you I don’t want to see you right now!”

“Mom, did dad cheat on you?”

Charlotte sighs again. “Yes, he did. It happened when you were younger.”

“You stayed with him?”

“Of course, I did! I couldn’t just leave! What’d you expect me to do, just leave you here with him? He wouldn’t let me take you, because you were his heir!”

“Mom…”

“I should’ve expected this, like father like son!” Sebastian looks hurt. “Oh no, you don’t get the right to look hurt! That’s reserved for Skye and me!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you really or are you sorry for getting caught?”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”

“Then prove it.”

Sebastian

Sebastian gazes at Skye before leaving the room. He mindlinks Angela for advice. “Angela,” he says, “I need some advice.”

“What did you do?” she answers.

“Hey, just because I need advice doesn’t mean I fucked something up!”

“No, it definitely means you fucked something up, what did you do?”

“I kissed someone that wasn’t Skye.”

“Sebastian! Are you stupid? Don’t answer that question, we already know the answer to it. Yes, you are.”

“That’s not even the worst part.”

“Don’t tell me Skye…”

“She saw.”

“I outta beat the shit out of you! What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I know, I know! Mom already laid into me!”

“Why the hell did you do it?”

“I was just feeling overwhelmed and irritated.”

“About what?”

“Skye, she’s not exactly the easiest person to deal with.”

“That’s not her fault though. How about trying to talk to her before shoving your face onto another woman’s lips?”

“I didn’t want to upset her.”

“Well, congratulations! That’s exactly what you did.”

“Angela! How do I fix this?”

“By not making such stupid decisions in the first place!” She blocks him after this, preventing him from mindlinking her. He sighs and walks back into the living room.

He sits down and whispers, “Mom, how do I fix this?”

Charlotte mumbles something about him being stupid, before answering his question. “You need to tell her why you did what you did. I can guarantee you that it’ll hurt her feelings even more, but that’s on you for not telling her in the first place.”

“I will. Is she…is she still asleep?”

“Yes, she is. That is not the first thing that’s going to come out of your mouth when she first wakes up. She’s already cried enough today.”

“But you said…”

“I know what I said! You know, she was so upset that she didn’t even make it inside? She just sat on the porch. She cried so hard that she fell asleep. Have you ever been that upset about anything like that?”

“N…no.” He hangs his head, ashamed at his actions. “Will you watch her for a while? I’m going to go out and get her an apology gift, because she deserves it.”

“Alright, don’t wander into another woman’s arms when you’re gone.”

He’s quiet, knowing that he deserves his mother’s comments. “I’ll be back soon.” He leaves the room, grabbing his car keys on his way out of the house.

His first stop is the florist where he buys a vase of orchids, the second store he finds some nice caramel chocolates, and last but not he selects a stuffed wolf that he thinks Skye will like. When he gets home, Skye is awake, his mother is comforting her again. “Skylar,” he says nervously, “I’m…I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I messed up. I should’ve spoken to you and I didn’t, instead I decided to act like an ass. I got you some orchids, chocolates, and a stuffed animal wolf.” He hands her the gifts he had picked out for her. “I’ll leave you alone now, okay? You can come find me when you’re ready to talk.” He walks out of the room.

Skye

Skye watches as Sebastian leaves the room. She looks at Charlotte, unsure of what she should do. “Honey, don’t look at me,” Charlotte says, “this is your decision and your decision alone.”

“I d…don’t know w…what t…to d…do,” she answers.

“What are you feeling right now? Are you sad or angry or both?”

“I d…don’t k…know. I…is that n…normal?”

“It is. Sometimes it takes our emotions a while to catch up to our brains.”

“W…were you a…angry w…when y…you f…found o…out?”

Charlotte looks surprised. “You overheard me? I thought you were sleeping.”

“I w…was, s…sort of.”

“I was angry and hurt, I stayed for Sebastian’s sake not mine. You don’t have that problem though. You haven’t been here for long, so your boys will adjust to not having him around.”

She whimpers. “ I d…don’t w…want to b..be a…alone.”

“Then stay.”

“W…what i…if h…he d…does it a…again?”

“Then leave.”

“B…but h…he m…might n…not.”

“Then stay and decide if he will or not.”

She slowly stands up and walks out to the kitchen, where Sebastian is. “S…Sebastian?” she whispers.

He looks up at her, startled. “Skye?” he says.

“C…could w…we t…talk?”

“Yes, of course.”

She sits down next to him. “W…why?” she whispers.

“I…I’m an idiot. I’ve just been feeling overwhelmed and irritated by…by you. I know that’s a terrible thing to say and it isn’t your fault that I feel this way. I should’ve just spoken to you about it, but instead I decided to act like an idiot and screw everything up.”

“Y…you’re i…irritated b…by m…me?”

“No! I mean I guess maybe a little. Not you as a person, it’s just…I’m not sure how to word this properly…”

“I…is i…it b…because o…of h…how I b…behave? I’m t…trying t…to g…get b…better. I c…can’t h…help i..it. I c…can’t j…just c…change b…behaviors I’ve h…had f…for s…several y…years.”

“I know. I don’t want to feel like this. I feel terrible because of what I did to you.”

“A…are y…you g…going t…to r…reject m…me n…now?”

“No! Not now, not ever! I’m going to make this right between us, I promise. I’ll do anything to gain your trust again.”

“I d…don’t k…know w…what to d…do o…or how t…to f…feel.”

Sebastian looks crushed. “I’m sorry, Skye. I promise, I won’t do anything like that ever again. We can start over if that’s what you want.”

“O…okay.”

He lights up. “R…really?”

She nods. I h…have t…to make s…sure y…you w…won’t d…do it a…again.”

“Okay, I understand. Do you like the gifts I bought you?”

She nods her head again. “I’ve n…never h…had c…chocolate before.”

He grins. “I think you’ll like it.”

They walk to the living room, where they sit down and watch a movie together