Fated Mate

The house door banged, and then a loud splitting sound followed.

“Billy, will you please calm down? Now look, you broke the door in half!” Joe grumbled.

Ash came out of the AA room to see what was going on. Billy was fuming, any madder and he would have turned wolf. Joe was standing by the door, attempting to fix it. Billy had slugged it so hard that it split in two. One of the halves was hanging loosely.

Ash turned and saw Billy march right past him without saying a word. He went up the stairs and into his room, this time he didn’t bang the door as hard.

There was a short splitting sound before a loud thud. Half the door was on the floor, Joe stood next to it, helpless. Ash was even more confused now.

“What’s eating him?”

“He had a fight with Ann.”

“It must have been pretty bad for him to break the door. What was it about?”

“Lee.”Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Ash became uneasy. He clenched his fists. His voice was cold. “What did he do to her?”

Joe was surprised by Ash’s reaction, but he answered him. “It’s what you did to her.”

He felt like he’d been doused with ice-cold water. Ash spoke like he had something stuck in his throat. “What do you mean?”

“Well, after Lee left when we were done with lunch, Ann got upset and said what you were doing to her wasn’t fair. Billy tried to defend you but it became one big mess. They started yelling, and then Billy stormed out. That girl has a potty mouth on her!” Joe stopped when he saw Ash was in anguish.

“But I don’t think she was really into seeing you. She was bruised up after she fell down some steps. She tried to cover it up with makeup and clothes.” Joe spoke fast, trying to relieve Ash’s guilt.

Ash was worried now. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, just bruises. She was grateful for the gift. But she didn’t really want it.”

Ash’s face creased. “Why, wasn’t the diamond big enough?”

Joe laughed. “The only reason she kept it was because I told her you’d get her a bigger one. She’s a simple girl Ash, extravagance isn’t her thing.”

Joe’s phone rang. When he checked the caller id, he smiled. It was Maria.

“Hi, hon…oh, Lee, what’s up?” He turned and looked at Ash who already had his eyes on him the second he said Lee’s name.

“Aha…I’ll give him the phone.” He put his hand over the mouthpiece and called out for Billy. Ash was hoping she had called to talk to him.

“Billy! Will you get down here already?”

Billy came out of the room and stood at the top of the steps. “What!”

“It’s Lee she wants to talk to you.” Joe held out the phone to him.

Billy flashed down, took the phone and went to the next room.

Ash was agitated, he felt jealous of Billy. He waited for Billy to be done so that he could grill him.

After a few minutes, Billy came out of the room with a smile on his face. This made Ash even more jealous and curious to find out what they were talking about.

“That girl is a diamond in the deep blue sea. She apologized for causing the fight and then got Ann and me to do the same. We made up. Isn’t Lee great?”

“Yeah she is. She looks out for her sisters, they all do,” Joe added. He was smiling, happy that the cold war was over.

“Now that Ash doesn’t want anything to do with her, maybe I’ll hook her up with Dave. Her rays of light and warmth will make him less moody.”

Ash didn’t like this, and he made sure Billy knew that. He growled at him and pulled his lips back exposing his sharp teeth.

Billy took a step back and raised his hands up, surprised by the hostility. “One man’s one-night stand is another guy’s lucky day. You don’t want anything to do with her, so what’s with the hostility?”

Before Ash could tackle him, Sabrina spoke up behind him. “Want whom?” Sabrina walked into the room. She had been listening. Since the guys locked her out of their minds, she had no other choice but to resort to eavesdropping.

“That’s none of your business!” Ash barked at her.

“Okay, answer me this, why do your clothes smell of a female human!” she held his shirt up with her pinky.

Billy and Joe smiled; the show was about to begin.

“None. Of. Your. Business.” Ash’s fists clenched tighter on his side, his knuckles turning white due to the pressure. His lips were drawn back even further. He was past the boiling point.

“I swear if I find that slut, I’ll suck her dry!”

In a second, Ash had his hand around her throat and pinned to the wall. A threatening rumble rolled off his chest making her whimper.

“Let’s get this straight. I don’t need nor want you anymore. The only reason I haven’t killed you yet is because I owe you. What I do, with whom ever I do it with is none of your business. Do we understand each other?”

“Ash, if you want her, why not be with her? Stop avoiding her. What’s keeping you from her?” Billy asked, concern coating his voice. Ash’s reaction had stunned him. It was the first time he’d seen Ash react in such a hostile way over a girl he barely knew.

“Baku.” Ash’s anger had dissolved. He sounded helpless, defeated.

The mention of that named killed the mood in the room. Baku had been a nightmare they hadn’t been able to get rid of. They were close thirteen years ago, but he disappeared after he murdered the Jackson family. If he knew Ash was happy and in love, he would do anything possible to take that away from him, and that meant killing Lee.

“I don’t think we’ll be hearing from him for another, ten or twenty years. Don’t let him stop you from living your life.” Joe tried to sound optimistic, but he too was worried.

“What were you guys doing at the apartments on Orlando Street?” Dave was at the door. He came in through the big gap Billy had made at the door. He wasn’t very interested in what happened to it, he had other things on his mind.

“We went to see a couple of friends, what is it to you?” Billy answered him. He really didn’t like Dave.

He gave Ash grief over turning him after his family was killed. If Billy had had his way, Dave would have been in the same cemetery lot number as the rest of his family. But Ash’s conscious wouldn’t let fate take its course. He wanted Dave to spend his new life with his daughter, but instead he had condemned him to a life of sorrow similar to his.

Dave didn’t want to be in his daughter’s life, he was too afraid that she would get caught in the centuries old feud if she were around him, around them. She was his only reason for living. But what is done is done. He didn’t have a choice but to live with it.

“Nothing.” Dave walked away, but Ash stopped him.

“Dave, who do you know in those apartments?”

“The only reason I asked is because I saw you drive away from that street. That’s all.” He turned and kept walking.

Ash knew he was hiding something, but that really didn’t matter at the moment. He wanted to figure out the best way to see Lee, hoping she would agree to it after he disappeared on her. He needed to see her, to touch her for one last time before he really disappeared. Baku couldn’t know of her existence, not ever.