Introspect [The Mating Games #3]

WENDELL ZERONE

“That hurt,” Wendell groaned as he picked himself up from the floor for the second time that morning, rubbing the sore spot on his bottom that he had landed on.

“Sorry,” Troy apologised as he rubbed his own ass. “I didn’t mean to run into you there.”

“That’s fine,” Wendell was quick to deny, suddenly feeling terribly that his mate felt the need to apologise when the both of them were partially at fault here. “I also knocked you over on your ass so sorry for that.”

“Let’s move past the apology,” Troy chuckled but the sound was far too strained for it to be anything near natural or genuine. “I’m assuming you were looking for me?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “And I’m assuming that you were looking for me?”

Troy nodded in confirmation and while his response should have made Wendell feel good, instead, it made him feel the exact opposite. Instead of feeling relieved that Troy was looking for him just as Wendell had been looking for him, he couldn’t help but feel like something wasn’t quite right.

“You look like you have something on your mind,” Wendell hummed thoughtfully, completely unaware of the box that he was opening up.

“I do have something on my mind,” Troy confirmed, turning around to begin walking down the corridor that he had just come down.

At the sight of his mate walking away from him, Wendell felt sick in his stomach. He felt like bending over and emptying everything that he had eaten for dinner the previous evening. Not looking to embarrass him like that, he gulped and took off in a jog after Troy, determined to close the distance between them.

“Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?” Wendell asked as they fell into step together, turning another corner as they walked aimlessly around the maze.

If Wendell wasn’t so wrapped up in his feelings right now, he would have focused on the fact that they were in the middle of a task right now.

“Are you going to finally be honest with me?” Troy countered, sparing him a brief, blank look before turning to face the front again.

What did you lie about? his wolf growled at him, visibly angry at his human not for upsetting their mate.

I don’t know. I don’t remember lying about anything.

Well, whatever it is, you better fucking fix it. And quick because this task isn’t going to last forever.

“I don’t understand,” Wendell frowned as he glanced over at Troy. “What have I not been honest about?”

“I think the question is, what have you been honest about?” Troy countered, visibly trying to hold himself back from being getting too angry.

“Troy,” he groaned as he came to a stop, refusing to take another step with this rain cloud hanging above their heads. “If you don’t tell me what’s wrong, how am I supposed to fix it?”

“I’m surprised that you even want to fix it,” Troy snorted but regardless of his words, he turned around to face Wendell which gave him hope that maybe things weren’t as out of his reach as he had previously thought them to be.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” Wendell continued to insist.

“Why did you walk away from me yesterday?”

“What?”

“This might not be the best time and place for this conversation but all of yesterday and even today, I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened between us,” Troy started, exhaling deeply as he took a pause. “When you walked away from me after I told you that we needed to talk,” he made sure to clarify when Wendell didn’t say anything in response.

“You’re right. I don’t think this is the time or place for us to talk about this,” Wendell gulped around the words. While on the outside he came across as cool and collected, he felt like he was drowning on the inside; barely able to keep his head above water.

“First you want to fix things and now you don’t want to talk?” Troy threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “Make up your fucking mind!”

“I agree that we need to talk but I don’t think now is the time for it,” Wendell denied in the hope that they would be able to drop the topic now and return to it later. Or rather, they would forget to return to it later and instead, just move forward from it.

It was wishful thinking on his part but a wolf was allowed to hope.

“If we don’t talk now, then we’re just going to keep putting it off,” Troy said, the voice of reason between the two of them.

“You’re right,” Wendell sighed, reaching a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Mostly because he couldn’t believe that so many things were going wrong at once. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Okay, since we’re on the same page now, how about you tell me what the fuck you were thinking yesterday?” Troy all but demanded, bracing his hands on hips as he stared at Wendell, an expectant brow raised in his direction. “Why did you walk away from me?”

“Because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to talk yesterday,” Wendell gnawed on his bottom lip, forcing the truth out of his mouth regardless of how uncomfortable and vulnerable it made him feel. “I’m not one-hundred percent sure, but it came as quite a shock to me that my mate is a male.”

“Let me guess, you never thought you were gay before?” Troy guessed, hitting the nail right on the head.

To confirm, Wendell nodded his head and sighed.

“I’ve never questioned my sexuality before,” Wendell told him in a small voice, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to another. “I’ve never thought of myself to be attracted to the same gender, let alone gay.”

“I understand that this is really difficult for you,” his mate began. “I went through the same thing when I first realised that I was gay.”

“When did you realise that?”

“When I was sixteen. I’m twenty-five now.”

“Did you have just as much as a hard time as I’m having now?” Wendell forced the question out of his mouth in hopes that Troy would see that he was actually making an effort right now.

“I didn’t have that much of a hard time,” Troy shrugged. “All of my family and friends were very accepting. Nothing really changed for me other than the fact that I was finally being honest with myself. The hardest thing for me at the time was breaking up with my girlfriend of two years,” he paused to cringe at the memory. “She was absolutely heartbroken and that just made me feel like shit because I really cared about her. Just not in the way that I used to think I was, or in the way that she needed me to.”

Wendell nodded his head in understanding, unable to bring himself to say anything. Not only was it difficult to hear that his mate had been seeing someone else before him, it was worse having to hear that his mate used to date a female. It made him feel uncomfortable in a way that he couldn’t begin to comprehend, let alone explain.

It wasn’t uncommon for werewolves to casually date before meeting their mates at the Mating Games, but his mate’s past wasn’t something that Wendell wanted to particularly hear about.

“After that, I didn’t really date anyone but it was apparent to me that I wasn’t just bisexual like I had first thought. I was attracted to males and while that came as somewhat of a surprise to me at first, I eased myself into it.”

“How did you ease yourself into it?” Wendell asked curiously, wondering if he would be able to apply the same tactics to himself.

“I didn’t rush myself,” Troy shrugged. “I allowed myself to take things slow and let it all come to me rather than going to it. But that also means that I didn’t try denying the truth.”

“Like I’ve been doing,” Wendell sighed, finishing off Troy’s question.

“Yes,” Troy confirmed, refusing to beat around the bush.

“I’m so sorry for all of that,” Wendell apologised, a sincere expression on his face. “I know that I’ve been sabotaging us before we could even start which isn’t fair to either of us. Especially you. But I can promise you this,” he paused, exhaled lightly as he stared back at his mate, needing him to understand that he truly meant every word that rolled off his tongue right now. “I’m going to give this, us, everything that I have. We might need to take things slow because this is all new to me and frankly, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, but I’m promising you here, right now, that I’m going to give both of us the chance that we deserve. It just might be slower than you’re hoping for.”

“That’s all I ask for,” Troy murmured in a quiet voice, a somewhat complacent expression on his face. Wendell could tell that he wasn’t completed sated with his answer, it appeared that he was complacent for now. “Now that we’ve got that uncomfortable conversation out of the way, we should probably get back to getting out of this maze. We can continue speaking about all of this once we’re outside.”

“You’re right,” Wendell nodded as he turned his head left and right, glancing across the corridor of the maze that they were currently stood in. “How do you suggest we get out of here?”

“Let’s try this way,” Troy suggested, moving to turn right at the end of the hallway.

“Fair enough,” Wendell shrugged as he followed his mate. “It’s not like there’s any clues around here to guide us anyway.”

When they put their minds to it, it seemed that Troy and Wendell were able to work pretty well together. It was just too bad that they weren’t on the same page when they weren’t working together. After a few wrong turns, they were finally able to navigate their way out of the maze.

And in time, too, as the moment that they stepped out of the maze, the warning gong sounded to indicate that there was only ten minutes left for today’s task.

“Congratulations, you two!” Heather greeted them both with a wide grin and matching badges for the both of them. “Here are your winnings,” she said, handing them both their hard-earned badges.

Both Troy and Wendell smiled politely at the steward but once they accepted their badges, they were ushered away as some other couples were beginning to make their way out of the maze.

While they had been navigating their way out of the maze, things had been pretty neutral between them. The communication between them had been strong and clear but now, things felt unsure and muddled to him.

Now that they had completed today’s task, that meant that they would be able to spend the rest of the day together.

To Wendell, this was both a blessing and a curse. More so because of his nerves than his actual mate.

Wendell hated to admit it but the prospect of spending time alone with his mate, the man that was destined to be his for the rest of forever, scared him.

It scared him more than he could begin to explain but more than that, he found himself looking forward to the uncomfortable conversation that awaited him. Not because he was a masochist but rather, for the smooth sailing that would follow once it was over.

As long as he made it over the wave, he would be able to enjoy the gentle tide, but that also meant that he needed to survive this uncomfortable conversation.

And judging by the expression on his mate’s face, it was one that he would never forget.

-

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Layla Knight

13.06.2021