Chapter 43

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*Corey's POV*

"This isn't normal, right? This isn't how people come out." I actually felt nervous as I held onto Jayden's hand, pressing it to my chest.

We had not returned to Inferno yet despite having been back in town for a couple of days. Jayden was stuck at my side because I still had not had a moment to talk to him about who the person in his pack was, so refused to let him return to Inferno without me. When I was drawn away by our pack leaders, he was with Kaden or my friends.

Our friends figured my watching him so much was because he was my mate, but Kaden seemed to know more. By how he was suddenly ways right beside Jayden when I was away, I figured he had not known before either. I was glad to have him.

"You're not just anyone, Beta," Cole, Sean's father, replied. He was our pack's current Beta.

Right. How annoying.

I felt a light jab and tilted my head at Jayden who had poked my side with his free hand. He gave me a small smile that made me feel calmer.

"Yeah, it will be over in a minute. Just inform the pack that you've found your mate. We've all had to do it. Some later than others," Ian said, looking at Sean.

"It's not my fault Izzy decided to take a break from the pack the moment we made our connection," Sean frowned.

"It's a hundred per cent your fault. What, are you getting dementia?" I looked at him, confused that he even said that. Had he forgotten our entire childhood?

He ran his tongue along his teeth when the elders chuckled, and I held my breath as a heaviness weighed in my chest making me turn to Jayden.

"I don't want you to come with," I said.

Jayden's brows rose in surprise.

"What?" Ian asked.

"They can meet him as they see him around. I don't want to put him on the spot in front of everyone."

Jayden began shaking his head, but I could feel how relieved he was despite him about to refuse. He would hate the attention that came from being on that stage but was willing to do it anyway so I would not be alone. I did not want him to be that uncomfortable though. It was better to introduce him to my pack slowly.

'Jay, it's okay. I can do this by myself. Besides... I'm still dealing with the way Finn looks at you. If we add any more people, I might not be able to control my wolf.'

'Add people to what?' he asked, confused.

I stared at him. It was hard enough dealing with one person who clearly liked my mate. I did not doubt there would be more, if there was the option to keep him from other people entirely, I would have done it. It took active work to remain rational around him. The mate in me wanted to keep him to myself, there was a constant urge to mark him just so it was clear we were mated.

"People that are too comfortable near my mate." I frowned.

Jayden became flustered. "H-he's just a human."

"That's more annoying," I muttered. Humans didn't understand when it was time to back off.

"Corey," Sean began, but the office door was pushed open drawing our attention to one of the pack administrators as he stepped inside.

"Beta, it's time."

Jayden's hand pulled from mine, and I looked at him surprised as he stepped away from me.

"Y-you said I didn't have to come."

I laughed. I knew he had not wanted to step on that stage. I glanced at Kaden who gave a sharp nod that made Jayden's brows furrow in confusion, but before he could ask about the look I shared with his best friend, I headed out of the room with Ian, Sean and Cole in tow.

It was customary in our pack for it to be announced when one of the leaders found their mates, so the pack would be aware.

I had not been nervous about it when I was holding onto Jayden, but the further away I got from him, the more worry began to set in as the concerns I had mentioned to Sean back in the forest returned to my mind. I bit the inside of my cheek wondering if it was best not to say anything.

When I introduced Jayden to my parents, my mom was happy, my father seemed caught off-guard, and though he did not outwardly say it, it was obvious he was shocked. He awkwardly congratulated me on finding my mate and then did not address it any further. He was kind to Jayden, but did not ask me any questions about us like my mother did.

Maybe I could pretend to have another mate... No, I wouldn't hurt Jayden anymore than I had. Nor could I imagine hiding how I felt about him. I just wanted to be with him.

What if they were disappointed? What if they reacted the way I had? What if people began to walk leave? What if Jayden blamed himself for that?

"Corey?" Sean's hand falling onto my back drew me from my panicked thoughts. "You okay?"

"No, I'm worried..." I mumbled.

Sean gave a sympathetic smile as he squeezed my shoulder. I knew we were both thinking about the conversation we had had in the forest, and he was silently reassuring me.

I inhaled deeply as I glanced down the hall back toward the office before stepping onto the stage. The hall was filled with hundreds of members of our pack, and I ran my eyes over the buzzing crowd of faces. Familiarity rushed over me as I had done many addresses to them in the past couple of years, more and more as Sean and I were prepped to take over from the current Alpha and Beta.

The looks I received were the same as they had always been, admiration, respect and earnestness as they waited to hear what I had to say. There were some cheers as soon as I stepped on the stage. They had an idea of why the assembly had been called, it was not an urgent matter, so I was surprised most of our pack members had voluntarily come just to listen to a mate announcement.

I settled into my confident Beta persona as I leaned into the mic and greeted everyone with a grin, which I knew people loved. The greetings back made the floor beneath my feet vibrate, again surprising me at how many of my pack members were excited to hear about my mate.

"As you know, this is an announcement that I have found my mate," I spoke.

A single shout from the crowd came, asking me where she was, and I felt my heart creep into my throat as more yells agreed.

"You will meet them in due time. They won't be joining me on stage today. My mate is a little crowd-shy." There were cheers at that, which made me chuckle. "I think organically meeting us as we walk around the pack will be better, we look forward to speaking to you. I hope you'll be as accepting of them as you have been of me all my life."

"Them?" someone's voice came from the front.

It made everyone hush down a little and I felt my heart race as the room went noticeably quiet, with speculative whispers preventing complete silence. The hall suddenly felt very hot and small, despite it being vast, the ceiling high and aircons blasting.

I cleared my throat, for the first time in my life feeling vulnerable in front of my pack as I tensed my hands on the wooden podium in front of me. There were heads turning as people whispered to each other, I could make out some of the shocked whispers, some denials, some muttering about how there was no way.

A pull from the side of the stage made my head turn, I was smiling before I even realised it as our eyes met. Jayden looked like he was trying to appear brave and supportive despite the worry clear on his face, his eyes slightly glassy.

I wanted to walk off just to hug him, but first...

I cleared my throat.

"My mate is male. I am bisexual. I... I've been afraid of telling people about this, about him... I've been afraid of being rejected or harming our pack. However, I have faith that you'll accept me, and other members of our pack, as we are. I know we've struggled a bit in the past with acceptance, but we've grown a lot as a pack in the past few years and so, I feel comfortable and safe letting you know.

"I hope if anyone has been hiding their mate like I considered doing just seconds before stepping onto this stage... that you'll feel secure, assured and protected enough to be with them openly when you feel ready.

"My mate's name is Jayden. He's amazing. I hope you'll welcome him with the same love and respect you've always shown me. I know when you meet him, you'll love him too." I couldn't help but grin as I thought of him and looked back over to him. "Thank you."

The weight that lifted from my shoulders was replaced by a wave of ice washing over me when some people actually got up and walked out. I had expected it but still felt my heart drop at the oncoming walkout, yet after a couple of people walked out, I was shocked to hear clapping.

I felt someone tug me into a hug and just leaned into it, letting out a heavy breath. I had never hugged Sean that long, but it was comforting as he muttered that he was proud of me. I looked behind him to see Jayden smiling at me from just behind the curtain, his face wet with tears. The walking out hurt, but seeing him numbed it.

'Thank you.'

Ian and Cole had joined Sean and me on stage.

Looking back at the crowd once Sean let me go made me realise Jayden wasn't the only one crying and I returned to the podium.

"Thank you, everyone. I really, really appreciate this," I coughed, trying to hold back my own tears at the shouts of assurance.

They seemed to realise my mate was somewhere nearby as some shouts came for him as well, but none urging him to come out onto the stage. I was proud. I chuckled, wiping the few tears that managed to escape as I leaned back into the mike.

"My mate likes gadgets if you're thinking of gifting him anything," I joked. There were yells from the crowd that made it obvious they knew I was just trying to get gifts for myself.

The conference lasted a few more minutes before I headed off stage, drawing Jayden into the tightest hug I could without hurting him. He chuckled into my neck as he returned the intensity. Despite him being so much skinnier than me, his hug felt like it was engulfing me.

"Hey, Corey. Did you say the pack would love Jayden too? Does that mean you –"

"Whoa, Izzy, I forgot you were here," I cut her off.

She gave an offended gasp, pushing me and I laughed as it didn't even make me stumble.

Kaden's phone going off barely drew my attention until I heard the voice on the other end.

"You went to Galaxy before coming home and didn't even tell me you're back in the city, Alpha?" Joe spoke, his tone dangerously serious. It even slightly scared me.

"Uh..." Kaden seemed at a loss for words.

"I'm sorry, Alpha. It's my fault," I spoke up. "We were kept busy by the mate announcement."

"Ah. Okay... How did it go?" he sounded worried.

"Really well." I grinned at Jayden who smiled back.

"Jay?"

"Yeah, it went well," he confirmed.

"I'm glad to hear that, Jay. I expect the two of you back for dinner. Corey, you come too."

"Alpha Joe –" the line was dead before I could finish speaking.

"You didn't tell your mate's dad you were back in town?"

"Dad?" Kaden, Jayden and I spoke at the same time before Kaden tilted his head.

"Well, yeah, he basically is. Not a good way to start off with the in-laws, Corey." Kaden shook his head at me in disapproval, as though he had not gone two days without visiting home despite being so close by.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and he held up his hands while Jayden's arms tightened around me.

"You're lucky I don't want to move right now."

Kaden smirked before it broke into a smile as I hugged Jayden back to my chest, feeling him chuckle as he squeezed me.

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