Chapter 30: Chapter 30

Chapter 30 My cramped leg was draining strength from me as I started to sink deeper into the water. Before I passed out completely for drowning, Kyle sprang into the water and dragged me out. I coughed violently and choking on water from my lungs. Slowly, I felt my consciousness return to me.

I opened my eyes and find droplets of water dripping down from Kyle’s blonde hair onto my cheek.

“Shit! You’re finally awake,” he collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath. I looked at him and around the area, curious where the other man had gone. Kyle snapped his fingers from above me. “Stop that. He’s gone.” I sat up after a short break and found Kyle’s white shirt on my body. “Oh. I saw you weren’t wearing anything, so I brought mine over to cover you.” He seemed unaffected, sitting with his upper body bare and elbows propped on the ground. The corner of my ears flushed.

“Don’t mind it too much,” Kyle said with a smile. “As you can see, I have no interest in women.

I nodded.

I wasn’t blushing because I was naked, instead because of what Kyle was doing with the other man.

I couldn’t help but glance at Kyle to find dark, red hickeys all over his body.

So, Kyle liked guys? I asked, “Was that guy your boyfriend?”

Kyle was stunned, then shook his head. “No. I don’t even know him.”

“What?!”

My eyes widened. I must have misheard. They didn’t know each other? Then... why were they having sex?! Kyle raised an eyebrow, then suddenly burst out laughing. “No need to be this surprised. We’re just taking care of each other’s needs.” Kyle got up and shook water off his body.

I stopped talking. It’s better to stay silent to things beyond my comprehensive. “Umm...” Kyle suddenly seemed weirdly sheepish about something. I raised my head to look at him, wondering what made him stutter. He sighed. “Do me a favor. Can you not tell Enzo that I’m gay?” I tilted my head. “Why?”

“It’s because... Well, I’m his Beta. I’m afraid he won’t trust me if he overthinks it. Plus, I’m not ready to come out to him yet.”

My eyes widened even more. His words made it hard for me not to overthink it. Did he like Enzo?

Kyle lowered his head to look at me and took a deep breath. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Then suddenly his tone was alarmed. “You don’t think I like Enzo, do you?”

“You don’t?”

“Hell no! I’m not gonna fight you for Enzo. He’s yours, forever. I won’t take him even if you give him to me.”

I frowned. I wanted to say that Enzo wasn’t mine to own and even if he was, I would never give him to anyone.

“Mainly because he’s not my type,” Kyle said as he sat down next to me and gestured to me with his chin.

I leaned over, eager to hear the gossip. “You wanna know what my type is?”

I nodded rapidly.

Kyle laughed, then gestured for me to come closer and whispered, “Enzo is too young. I like more mature men.”

“But that guy seemed very young.”

Even though I didn’t get a good look at the man with Kyle just now, judging by his voice and body build, he should be about twenty years old.

“Oh, him.” Kyle rubbed his neck, his mouth twisting into a grin. “I like his face. He had beautiful eyes and a good body too.” I raised my brows so high that they could have flown to the moon if they weren’t stuck on my face.

Kyle pulled a pack of cigarettes out from the jacket, lit one and took a drag.

I nudged him.

“What?”

“Why do you prefer older men?”

“Mature!” Kyle glanced at me, then reached up to push his damp blonde hair back, revealing his smooth forehead. Then he sighed, “... It’s probably because my first love was ten years older than me.” “Tell me about it,” I gently shove him at the shoulder. “Why are you so nosy? Does Enzo know his wife is such a nosy gossip?”

I glanced at him and decided to let it pass if he really didn’t want to talk about it.

I didn’t expect Kyle to look at me with wide eyes and say, “Wait. You’ll rat me out to Enzo right? If I don’t tell you my story?”

I opened my mouth and was lost for words. His imagination can run as wild as Enzo’s. No, ten times more outrageous. I laughed.

If he wanted to think so, I couldn’t help him. He flicked his cigarette. “Fine, I’ll tell you then.”

***

I learned Kyle’s story in a half-an-hour narrative. It wasn’t a fond memory. When he was in high school, he broke his legs and was forced to be absent from school. He didn’t have his wolf yet back then, so he couldn’t heal fast enough.

His family didn’t want him to miss his classes, so they hired a tutor for him, Raymond.

The two soon grew close and got intimate with each other.

However, when Kyle’s father found out about their relationship, he couldn’t accept that his son had slept his teacher. It was unethical. So, he beat Kyle up and forced him to break up with Raymond.

Kyle refused and even tried to elope with Raymond. However, the two didn’t last for a month outside before Raymond met his own mate.

Raymond abandoned Kyle without hesitation to be with his mate. And that’s when Kyle started to detach himself from the feeling so-called “love”.

“No deeper attachment can stand up to the mate bond,” Kyle said. His gaze slightly watery, as the white smoke rings obscured his face.

He sighed as he stretched out his body, then turned his head to me. “So, you’re lucky that you and Enzo are mates. You are bound to be together forever.”

Kyle gave me such an envious look, but it only made me feel absurd.

It was as if I suddenly understood why I hadn’t been able to accept Enzo completely.

Because we were each other’s mates, we had a strong desire for each other. And naturally we were so crazy about being together.

But what if those desires weren’t real? If I wasn’t Enzo’s mate, would he still choose me without hesitation?

Every time he looked into my eyes, he said with certainty that he liked me. But were those feelings really rooted in his heart if the layer of mate bond was stripped away?

Even so, affection is not the same as love. I panicked. I wasn’t sure. Did Enzo... really love me?