Mateless

Chapter Four

     Bo's mom pulled away and gave me a sad smile. Bo cleared his throat and the sadness disappeared from her eyes.

     "It's so nice to meet you," she told me. "Honestly, I'm so glad Bo found you. He need some happiness in his life,"

     "Um…" I had no idea how to respond to that.

     "I'm Megan. Please, no Ms. Bowman," Ms.?

     "Oh, and who are these dears?" Megan looked over to my pack.

     "This is Noah," I said, gesturing, "Devin, and his twin daughters Hope and Destiny."

     "Aren't you two just adorable," the twins giggled as she smiled at them.

     "Come inside, you must meet everyone," Megan took my hand and pulled me towards the house.

°°°

Bo's pack was was on the small side, but apparently powerful. The third in command, Dustin, was a year older. His mate, Alayna, was my age and seemed nice. They didn't have a beta because they hadn't been able to replace their last one.

     The pack house was big and had a patio out back. Everyone had been relaxing on the patio, but now that it was nearing ten o'clock, people were turning in. Devin had brought Hope, Destiny, and Noah- who he was treating like he was his own son- up to the spare rooms Bo gave us, an hour ago for bed and didn't return.

     Soon it was just me and Bo. I was laying on the cushioned bench, next to the fire pit, staring up at the sky and Bo sat in a chair across from me, on the other side of the fire. I hadn't noticed at first, but he was quietly strumming a guitar. He looked so happy while holding the instrument and strumming it.

     After listening for a few seconds, I recognized the tune he was playing.

     "Taylor Swift," I tore my gaze from the sky and looked at him. He'd been strumming "Safe and Sound".

     Bo chuckled, in his mind he was surprised I got it. "It's my mom's favorite song. She made me learn it so she could hear it whenever she wanted." I smiled, but it faded when I thought of my mom. And my dad. Bo put the guitar down and looked at me.

     "I'm really the only family she has left," he said.

     "What?" I questioned, startled.

     "Mom didn't have any siblings and her parents died years ago," I had no clue why he was telling me this. "My mother and I, we both know what you're feeling."

     So that's what that was about. My parents.

     "No," Bo continued, "my father died of a heart attack when I was eleven."

     'Oh,' I thought in a small voice.

     "I had," Bo took a shaky breath.

     "You don't have to keep talking," it was obvious that he was still not over the death.

     "I had woken one morning and found him gone, still in his chair in his office," he leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees, with his head in his hands.

     "Mom was never the same. Always closed off, wanting to be alone. It was like she was never fully there, just a shell."

     "Bo, I'm sorry," I said, sounding as sincere as I could because I meant it. My whole life I'd had both my parents to love and be with. I understood how he must have felt when his mother started wanting to be alone and that feeling of rejection, but Bo lost his parents, metaphorically and literally, at such a young age.

     "Your mom didn't seem depressed," I whispered.

     "Yeah," he agreed, "today's one of the few times I've seen her smile and she did when she saw you."

     Me? Was it possible that I was the reason for Megan's smile.

     'Ah,' Bo chuckled, 'don't let it inflate your ego.'

     'Oh please, that's not gonna happen.'

     'Sure,' he grinned that lopsided, heart melting grin.

     'I could get used to this,' Kira commented.

     Looking back at the star filled sky, the blazing fire, and the peaceful, calmness of being with my mate, I decided that I could too.

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  -inarac