Chapter 42

A few days had gone by since James and I last spoke—more like since we last argued.

It made going to work and running into each other around the house majorly awkward. It was like he and I had reached this strange stalemate.

Neither one of us wanted to speak to each other about what happened...Especially, it ran the risk of starting another fight.

With that in mind, James and I tried to go about our own lives while delicately dancing around one another. It left me feeling horribly upset and irritatingly confused. I knew I should have just approached James on the topic so the two of us could simply move on.

But something was holding me back. A feeling. A thought. A possibility that I may not be able to handle the answer once I have it.

I wish I still had that same confidence when those articles from the press conference first came out. With a feeling like that, I would have marched straight into James’ office and demanded that we talk things out like two civil adults.

Yet, that worry still lingered in the back of my head. So, I was left to wallow in my own thoughts, feeling guilty and none the wiser.

‘I shouldn’t have acted so immature with him,’ I thought defeatedly to myself.

I admit to acting a bit childish when it came to dealing with the whole Ben and James situation. I was genuinely surprised to have run into Ben after all these years. Honestly, the guy looked great and I was happy to hear that he was accepted into one of the most elite colleges in the area.

I’d noticed James’ shift in demeanor when we were in the car and concluded that he was jealous. I was eager to see how far I could push him, mainly because he was someone who always remained perfectly composed and collected.

I was sort of anticipating for him to be nothing more than a little irked. It never occurred to me that James would actually become enraged and severely possessive.

Granted James and I have been gradually growing closer recently, but there was still this odd disconnect between us. At times like this, it was exceedingly difficult to understand what sort of feelings the man shared for me.

While, yes, our marriage is solely based on a single piece of paper that we both signed—legally, he and I were a married couple. However, there was never a clear emotional foundation for our relationship.

James has always known how I felt about him...But what about him?

He’d never given or shown any indication of feeling the same for me in the past until recently.

The more I let my mind dwindle on the matter, the more my head started to hurt.

I reached for my phone and decided to call up Emily for a second opinion as to what I should do.

Thankfully, she answered after the third ring.

“Mia!” Her exuberant voice filled the speaker. “How are you?”

I let out a tired sigh and sat down. “I’ve been better. How about you?” I asked. “Are there any new projects coming up for you?”

“Funny you should ask,” she hummed. “I’ve got a short photoshoot coming up in a few weeks. It’s just a weekend thing, happening in the next city over.”

I was glad that Emily was still keeping herself busy. It made me wish I had more going on than what James’ hand-made schedule had for me.

“So, tell me what’s bothering you,” she insisted.

I let out a laugh. “What makes you think something is bothering me?”

“Any time you call me with that particular tone of voice, I can tell that there’s something eating away at you,” Emily pointed out. “Now, spill it.”

I briefly recounted the situation to Emily, explaining both the run-in with Ben and then the strange conversation that happened between James and me.

“What’s really bothering me is what James said,” I told her. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

“What did he say?”

“‘You’re mine’.” He looked thoroughly disgruntled and greatly ticked off.

A short pause went by when I thought our call had been dropped. “...Hello? Emily?”

“I’m still here,” she said breathlessly. “Mia...”

It sounded like she was having a hard time finding the words to use. Part of me was sort of glad that I wasn’t the only one who was struggling to make sense of this ordeal.

“Mia, are you...Has he...Are you and James mates?” Emily questioned weakly.

My heart slammed into my rib cage, nearly knocking the air from my lungs. I let out a series of harsh coughs and fought to catch my breath.

“W-What?!” I stammered. All the blood left my face as my eyes remained wide in alarm. “No. I mean, I don’t...I don’t think so. I can’t be. You know that I have no way of knowing.”

Of all the people I’d come across in my life, Emily was one of the few that knew about my disability regarding my wolf’s inactive nature. She never made fun of me or treated me any differently. But it remained one of those subjects that was considerably off-limits.

But she understood where my distress was coming from as she went on to speak. “But James’ wolf is active. If anyone would know the truth, it would be him,” she said.”

This had only proved my disbelief in the possibility even more. Surely, if this were the case, then James would have come out and said something by now...Right?!

The man may have been controlling at times, but I never thought him to be manipulative in a sinister sort of way.

“I’m sorry, Em. I just find that idea to be a bit too far-fetched,” I admitted.

“But why?”

“Because if it were true, James wouldn’t have kept something that detrimental from me,” I insisted.

This time it was Emily who’d released a long sigh. I could tell she was becoming just as flustered as I was. “Mia, what you need to do is talk to James and get this whole mess squared away,” she told me.

“You’re right,” I said. “Believe me, I’ve been wanting to...I think I’m just worried about what he's going to tell me.”

“But what if it’s something good? What if it turns out that the two of you are fated mates?” She asked with a hint of hopefulness in her voice.

I let out a snort and shook my head. “Then fate has a cruel sense of humor. How could the universe see it fit to pair James with someone like me?”

Even though I’d gone through many changes over the years, deep down, I don’t think I would ever see myself as James’ equal.

But Emily was right. I needed to find courage and ask him.

‘James wouldn’t keep something this big from me,’ I thought.