Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 138

Lana

My phone rang, and I scowled at it. I dropped my book on the coffee table when I saw it was Briar. I rolled over to my place on the couch, digging my elbows into the cushions.

“Hello?”

“Hey, I hate to ask, but I need some girl talk,” her voice was hesitant. Not like her. It was unusually tight. Now that was new. Briar didn't ask anyone for shit.

“What's up?” I asked.

“Bish, just get your lazy ass over here,” she snarked.

“Stop calling me out!” I sassed back, glancing down at my comfortable position and the pitbull eyeing the potato chip crumbs on the blanket I was snuggled in. She had a point, but I wasn’t ashamed of my standard position on the couch or my lineup of snacks.

“I just got back from Carter’s and my head's a mess,” she said with bewilderment.

“Shit!” I said, rolling off the couch and stuffing my feet into shoes.

“I’ll be right over,” I let her know, grabbing my bag.

“You're the best,” I heard her sigh.

“Be there in fifteen,” I said, and her relieved sigh let me know tonight would be a doozy, so I grabbed a bottle of tequila out of the cabinet before I grabbed my keys.

When I got there, Briar was on the porch smoking a cigarette. I plopped down in the other chair and handed her the bottle. She snorted and took a swig before passing it back to me. I took one myself before I glanced over at her. Her mood was withdrawn, like a deep settling weight that had once been on her shoulders now rested in her lap. She stared down for a long moment before she glanced her pretty turquoise eyes up to mine.

“Carter showed me what he is, what you are, what apparently I am,” she said, taking a hit of the cigarette. “I just don’t know what to do with all this information.”

I passed her back the bottle, and she took another swig.

“What do you want to do with that information?” I asked tentatively. This was a big fucking deal.

She bit her lip and took another. “I should be running for the hills…but I need to know more,” she admitted.

“If you have questions, I have answers,” I glanced pointedly at the camera. Briar nodded and stood. She made her way to her bedroom, chucking off Carter’s hoodie and tossing it on the dresser.

“So we are wolves. I guess I get it from my father?”

I nodded, taking another drink and handing it back to her. 

“Your mom raised you like a human, a wolf wouldn’t hide what their child was from them,” I informed her.

She took a long chug before she plopped down on the bed, passing it back to me.

“My life is a fucking mess,” she admitted.

I nodded in agreement as I flopped down beside her.

“You’re not scared of us? I hedged.

She shook her head. “I have always been an enigma, I never fit in no matter how hard I tried and now that all makes sense,” she said, hugging her pillow. “I just don’t know what to do where Carter is concerned, or of how drastically this changes my life,” she said. I could feel the desperation in her voice.

“Carter loves you,” I said truthfully

“How do I know you’re not just saying that because he’s your friend too, or that this soulmate shit hasn’t gone to his head? He said Creedon was my first and we all know how well that went for me.” I could see the tears welling in her eyes as she knocked back another swallow.

I thought carefully how to word this as her teary eyes met mine.  

“Look at his actions, not his otherness, Briar. Has he ever given you any reason to doubt him before? What Clyde wanted you to believe. If you feed into that, you let Clyde win. He's a monster, and he will give you up to Creedon on a silver platter if he thinks he can gain anything from this. Everything Carter did has been to prepare you for the eventuality that Creedon will come for you. I won't lie, Mazzie and I had our reservations until we met you, until we saw how different he is with you. We thought he got sidetracked by his assignment, but it has been clear as day that he kept you away from anything in his power that could inhibit your healing. Even if that was us…”

Briar took another swig and passed the bottle to me.

“He’s been sleeping on my doorstep every day since I left him,” she admitted, but I already knew, I could smell him near the front door every morning I came; he usually followed us on our run through the trees until his turn toward home approached. He knew I saw him that first day.

“How do these fucking bonds work? He said Creedon didn’t reject me back so he’s literally sucking the life out of me.”

“So how do you feel around Carter?”

“In the beginning, I thought it was just his kindness, I needed someone and he was willing to be that for me…then things changed. I felt safe with him, I couldn’t control what that did to me, I fell in love with him.”

“How do you feel about him now?”

“As pissed as I feel I should be, he’s a victim, Clyde has been using him and that pisses me off to no end. Carter said he had to obey or die, I guess when those are your only options, you try to rationalize things to make them okay, he tore up the check Clyde gave him for watching me and that's going to get us into trouble” she looked down at her hands.

“Fuck,” I said grabbing the bottle and taking a swig.

“That’s what I thought,” she said, taking the bottle from me for another drink. She handed it back and flopped backwards on the bed crushing her pillow to her chest.

“How do I fix this mess of a life I’m living,” she said with a sigh

I took a drink and flopped down beside her, careful to keep the bottle upright.

“One goddess damn obstacle at a time…but tonight we have tequila.” I told her seriously and passed her the bottle.”

She sat up on her elbows and took a swig before passing it back to me. We were half a bottle down. My ears perked up hearing the soft clink of nails on the porch.

“Your man has taken his post; if you don’t want him to hear, keep your voice down,” I whispered. She sighed. “Y'all can hear that well?

I nodded, and her eyes widened.

“Yup, I heard all the ways he made you moan that night y’all stayed over,” I added without shame.

Her jaw dropped. I grinned and handed her the bottle.

“Bet you’ve been doing nothing but fantasizing about his dick this last week,” I teased quietly.

She rolled her eyes but blushed.

“Look, Briar, Carter may be my friend, but you and I have something only people with our kind of experiences can understand. I would never vouch for someone for you if I didn’t completely agree they were worthy of you. That they were a safe place for you. Like you said, he’s been used, even if he doesn’t realize it yet. I get you need time to process, but you may not have the time you need to do that. Don’t be stubborn like me, it’s not worth it, your soul knows what it needs. She took another drink and passed it back, contemplating.

“I’m just so scared,” she admitted.

“You have a right to be,” I let her know, and she spent the rest of the evening asking me questions about being a “wolf” until we both passed out hugging each other. She stirred in the night, nightmares evident as she thrashed about. I knew that all too well; some nights I did the same when Mazzie worked overnight. It was always better sleeping in Mazzie’s arms, apparently, I was no Carter, I needed to get them back to where they were; however, I understood what Briar was going through. Carter had lost Briar’s trust, and gaining that back wouldn’t be easy even if he had just bared his soul to her.