Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 125

Carter

I couldn’t stand to go home to a house without Briar so I stayed late catching up on everything I had put off while I was so caught up with Briar. Piles of reports, petty occurrences in the pack and tomorrow I'd be back on my same mundane boring rounds and I’d still be just as miserable as I was now. My stomach gurgled pining for food. I could just go home and feed myself. There were plenty groceries but I didn’t have it in me and the diner was still open. I hadn’t been in a while and I knew my sister would have something to say about that. Maybe she would even have some words of wisdom for my situation. I needed someone to confide in.

The diner was mostly empty when I strode in. My sister’s eyes widened with surprise when she saw me and she rushed over to wrap me in a hug. Though she pushed warmth within me all I could feel was the emptiness that Brair’s absence had caused.

“What finally brings you in here?” she asked steering me to my booth. As I sat, only ghosted memories of Briar sitting across from me filled my mind, making me just that more aware of the bleak chasm that resided between us.

“I’ll take a Jake’s special,” I said, unable to hide the grief in my voice. Her face faltered and she paused. I barely registered her voice as she called the order in to the cook. She bristled away to the lone waitress on duty and whispered with her a moment before she took Briar's place opposite me.

“What’s going on little brother? You avoid me for weeks only to show up looking like a kicked pup?”

“Briar moved out,” I said dejectedly. Something ghosted over her face before she took my hand in hers. She bit her lip.

“So Briar wasn’t just an assignment to you?” she asked.

Something niggled at me not to spread the word of what Briar was to me, that the way she said that meant she was up to something. So I shrugged.

“I liked her company,” I decided to be safe, I didn’t know why my instincts chose to be wary around my sister about my mate all of a sudden. 

“Playing house drove too close to home?” she asked.

“It’s not that,” I insisted.

A ghost of emotion flitted over her features and she bit her lip. Kenna set my order in front of me and I went straight to Briar’s favorite; the poutine. The taste was wrong, I could only describe it as loneliness disguised as sustenance. I pushed the food around on my plate.

“There’s someone out there for you Carter, it’s time you stopped chasing tail and settle down.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“I never chased Briar's tail, and I know exactly who is out there for me” I insisted letting her sit with that, before attempting to swallow another bite.

“Sure you didn’t, I get it, she’s gorgeous and sweet even but she’s not one of us. I think you got caught up in being her protector, it spoke to your wolf. Whatever her story was before she came here, you're not obligated to be her savior.” 

My fork stopped halfway to my mouth as I stared at her.

“You don’t know anything about her so how about you stop assuming you know the narrative going on between us.” My words were harsh and cold. But I wouldn’t let even my own sister try to belittle Briar’s ordeal or what she meant to me. Her face fell, surprise and confusion flooded her features.

“I see this is a touchy subject.”

“I came here thinking maybe you would have some words of wisdom for me, that I could confide in you. What do you have against Briar? She has done nothing to you.”

She huffed. “You went from 3 meals a day here to lunch some days . She clearly has been distracting you from everything else. When was the last time you visited mom or dad? They miss you. Your nieces and nephew miss you.”

I didn’t need this shit right now.

“I’m a phone call away, when was the last time anyone reached out to me? Maybe if anyone cared to know what was going on with me I would have told them. My nieces and nephews are always welcome at my place. You know that.”

“I wasn’t going to expose them to an outsider Carter,” she hissed.

My anger roiled inside me. My skin rippled and she pushed back in her seat, appalled.

“Maybe if you had paid attention, instead of drinking the koolaide you would have realized she’s not an outsider.” I snapped trying to keep my voice down. “She belongs to this pack in more ways than one,” I growled, leaning back in my seat and staring her down. She averted her eyes, as her body coiled in on itself. 

“Briar was never a distraction, being with her was exactly where I needed to be and now she’s not with me.”

She glanced up at me still in a submissive posture, trying to decipher my hidden meaning but it was obviously lost to her. I didn’t care to elaborate. Amber had gotten to know Briar spent time with her and trusted her with her kids. However, my own sister hadn’t  thought of Briar more than me wetting my dick with an assignment to make it real for her and kick her out of town when I broke her heart.

“I’m sorry Carter, I didn’t know what she meant to you, but she’s not a wolf so what future is that?” she tried to argue.

“Thats where you are wrong again. She's a wolf, and she's more wolf then the rest of you downing the koolaide Clyde pours, even without ever shifting.” I spat and stood.

“I’m so sorry Carter,” she said and I looked back. What else was she sorry for?

“At the fair I told Briar to back off because I thought you were getting too close to her, I didn’t know, I should have seen it.”

“You had no fucking right,” I snapped at her, tossing a few bills on the table, I shook off the threat of shifting and walked out not sparing her another glance. My mind became a place of chaos as I pressed my forehead into the cool steering wheel. No wonder Briar had shunned me, she was being warned against me right and left. I peeled out of the parking lot and gunned it for home. If I didn’t shift soon I’d become a liability.