Chapter 4

Leo's pov

" Leo! "

He freezes upon seeing me, calling my name in horror making me instantly regret my decision, of showing up unannounced.

I knew he wouldn't be happy with that decision even while making it, but the horror in his tone is something I never expected, bringing another fact in to limelight that whatever it is.. That I must have fucked up really bad this time.

His mom lightly taps on his shoulder to bring him back to his senses. " Leo have been waiting for you, what took you so long? " She asks him scoldingly, with her tone more serious but still with some softness to it.

He looked at her intently, like a kid who got accused of having a candy he didn't eat, making him look adorable Snapping from my  thoughts," No! It's okay, I didn't inform him beforehand so the fault is on me." I say directing my gaze at him apologetically. He just glares at me in return.

Goddess...Save me.

" You can sit here and chat but I don't think it is very comfortable here. " She suggests looking around, scanning  the state of the room to check if there's anything that is not in order but everything seemed to be perfect.

My mate decides to speak for the first time till he's gotten here.

"No, I will take him to my room." He tells her looking pointedly at me and starts making his way towards the stairs, I give his mother a grateful smile before I follow him up the stairs, on reaching his room,he slows down his steps making me do the same, he grabs the door knob and looks over his shoulder to see if I'm following or not before going in.

I enter his room following him, I don't know why, it makes me nervous, the fact that I am currently in his space with him and his scent embracing me instantly at a time, making heat rush to my neck after starving for it for the last twenty four hours.

Inside of the room is colored in pastels unlike the rest of the house, it looked spacious and cozy, his bed is neatly made but one corner of the room is filled with laundried clothes which needs to be folded, making them little out of place in the tidy room. Seb opens the windows to let more light in and stands leaning on the desk beside them,with his hands folded facing me, giving me a chance to look at him properly.

Taking in his full form, his eyes looks tired, resembling my sleep deprived ones, a little red making me and Rex sigh in distress, his hair looking a bit messy, his tiny freckles on cheeks shining more in the light giving his face a flushed look, he is dressed in his usual attire, a baggy shirt and jeans but in simpler ones.

He clears his throat making me look up at him.

Shit! I got caught checking him out... again.

"Hi" I start awkwardly not knowing what to say first.

" Hi?" He repeats after me with an amusing tone, narrowing his eyes at me. I should've started better.

"Dad asked me to check up on you." I lie as an excuse as to why I am here. Hoping this would calm him down a bit.

" Is that why you are here ? " But he counters in return with an unwavering tone that made it little scary.

" I also had some work at hand here, so I thought... I would visit you while I am at it. " I finish praying internally this makes up for a better reason.

"Okay" He states after a few minutes of silence, with void of any emotions in his voice.

I give up.

"Look! Sebastian, I'm sorry about that day-"

"No" He says out loud curtly cutting me off, now it is my turn to look at him in pure astonishment.

In the three months of knowing him, I've heard Seb speak in many tones , the soft one he used with me , the polite one when he is talking to the elders, the friendly one while speaking to the ones of his age, the fussy one when he is frustrated about something and the fond one he used with his family, but never this loud tone, I didn't even know he is capable of going that loud.

" This has nothing to do with that day or with you... I'm just tired and I just need some time for myself, away from everything and everyone." He averts his eyes from mine while saying the last sentence making it clear to me that the everyone essentially referred to me.

I've prepared myself to face all his moods before coming here, his anger, his lectures, his moody tone but the furiosness in his voice is not something I've prepared myself for, I don't think I ever could.

The fact that I don't even know the entire reason behind only increases uneasiness inside me. It Scares me.

I keep examining his for any minute expression that would give away something but he looked too out of it to show any. He looks genuinely tired not much different from what he said, but there's something else to it, he looks sad.

"Something is bothering you. What is it?" I ask him voicing out my thoughts.

My question catches him off guard, he looks up at me with a surprised look, he squints his eyes several times  in attempts of looking at me clearly, then he clears his throat and folds his hands again before answering.

"And what makes you think that? " He counters in a challenging tone but that didn't help in hiding the truth that lies in my question.

I just kept looking at him not saying anything hoping he would give in, thankfully it works.

" It's nothing, I just miss my family and Lyra is starting her year at a new school so it'd help mom if I'm here." He explains, his tone growing softer with every word he spoke.

"Okay." I reply agreeing with him, not that I am convinced but I know he wouldn't budge even I am not, I know better than to not meddle with his determination.

As he is about to say something, there's a knock on the door making both of us look in that direction, he walks across the room crossing me to open the door revealing his mother standing there with a coffee tray in her hands.

She hurriedly hands him the tray and closes the door. Seb carefully walks back to the table he was standing beside earlier, now very carefully with the tray in his hands. He places it down and takes out the two cups, turning them upright, he pours in coffee in both, a little extra in one cup, adding milk to both with two spoons of sugar in mine and with none in the other, just how he liked it.

I can't help the wide grin plastering my face while watching my mate. It always made me beyond happy and thankful whenever he does things like these which are specifically characteristic to me and how he remembered such little details about my likings like they are his.

He signals me to take the cup from his hand and settles on the bed beside still leaving lot of space between us, he starts sipping as I do the same. Silence blankets over us for the next passing minutes with neither of us uttering a word.

" Are you free tomorrow? " I figure it's my job to start a conversation.

" I have classes to attend. " He answers in no time and hesitation.

" I see! Isn't it longer from here to your university than usual, I can drop you if you want me to, I'm free- "

" It's fine. I'll manage, I'm used to it anyway. " He goes on with his cold tone.

"Okay."

And it's silence again.

" How long? "

He turns his head towards me, a little confused.

" How long are you going to stay here ? " I expand my question.

He turns his head to the other side, he stays silent as if he's thinking about what to answer.

" I don't know " He answer after few seconds of contemplation, still staring in the same direction.

The answer crushes all my hopes along with Rex's making both of us whine in despair. But I know it's my turn to be patient and understanding with his decision as he was with me all these while.

" But I will be available if you need help with anything in the pack." He assures me as if that was the only thing he thinks I'm worried about.

" I will inform Glen about that." I reply with an empty tone, he nods in understanding.

Placing the empty cup on the table, I get up from the bed , he looks up at me sitting still.

" I will get going then " I inform him not knowing what excuses I should make to stay here some more when clearly he isn't enjoying my company now.

" Yeah " He says in a whisper, I can sense the distress in his voice...is he sad that I am leaving. I laugh at myself internally, Even delusion has some limits.

As mates our lives are wired together for eternity, so fighting this little time apart would be stupidity, like dad said maybe it's better for both of us to spend some time apart.

I pick up my jacket from the hanger and started putting it on while Seb took his previous spot, leaning on the table as earlier.

I just stood there quietly looking at him until he raised his head to meet my eyes, his big brown eyes held a lot of emotions within them giving me a glimpse of the storm inside him. I wish he'd tell me.

He averts his eyes to the ground to dodge my intense gaze, a helpless smile graces my face as I turn around to walk to the door.

Every part of me aches in agony as I am reaching the door, warning me to not leave the room and our mate but I  know I shouldn't oblige. So I open the door swiftly...This is for us.

As soon as I'm out the door, the dwelling ache increases ten fold making me stop as Rex cries in pain begging me to go back to our mate, I haven't experienced anything like this ever. I know it's nothing serious but it is inevitable within mate bond when they have to stay apart, especially if it's against their will. The bond strain.

I turn around to and make my entry back to the room.

Before I know what I'm doing, I am already hugging him. His embrace soothing the ache instantly, his body goes rigid at first from the sudden action, but he relaxes into the hug eventually.

I make the hug tighter, needing it more than anything at the moment. I hoped he'd hug me back but Seb stands his ground, not giving in. He just stands there still.

I release him from the embrace and started walking away with a heavier heart than any step I took.