6: Rumors

Emily POV

As Easton and I head back towards the building, I feel Hannah trying to mindlink me. ‘Em, where are you? I want to introduce you to my mate!’

I reply back, ‘I was in the back garden on my bench. I’m walking back towards the building now. I have someone to introduce you to as well.’

‘Ohmygod don’t tell me! Did you find your mate?!?’ She squeals over the link. ‘I’ll meet you at the pool.’ I reply with a soft laugh before closing the link.

I glance at Easton and tell him Hannah is waiting by the pool for us. He smiles and says, “Ryan just told me he’s waiting for us there. I told him I found my mate but I didn’t tell him we already know our best friends are mated to each other.”

I grin and I’m glad we’re on the same page. “I can’t wait to see their faces when they realize. Be prepared though because Hannah will probably scream with joy.” I tell him.

He stops walking and I feel like my heart nearly stopped. “I almost forgot. I have to call my sister real quick because she wants to be the first to know.” He says. At least I can breathe again.

Easton takes out his phone and I hear it ringing before he holds it up and I see he’s video calling her. I hear an excited voice whisper, “Easton! Did you find your mate? Let me see!”

“Why are you whispering?” He asks. She shushes him and tells him the baby is sleeping. He smiles and I don’t miss the sparkle in his eyes when he softly says, “Yes, Megan, I found my mate tonight. I’d like you to meet Emily.” With his last sentence he pulls me closer to his side and turns his phone so that I’m on the camera.

I see her jump before she whisper squeals, “Emily! I’m so excited! I’m Megan! You’re so perfect I can’t wait to see you in person!” Easton turns the phone so she can see us both and I reply that it’s nice to meet her as well before Easton says, “We’ll let you go now before you wake the baby. You can get to know her another day.” and ends the call.

He puts his phone back in his pocket and starts walking with one hand on my lower back and the other hand stretched across his body to hold my hand. I enjoy the contact, but surely that can’t be comfortable for him.

“She seems nice.” I mention. Easton smiles and replies, “She’s the youngest. She found her mate kind of quickly and they just had their first pup a few months ago.” I hum in response as I think of my sister’s words from earlier. My parents were over the moon when she found her mate, and my brothers even seemed happy for her. I have a feeling I won’t get the same treatment when I get home later.

My thoughts are interrupted as Easton lets go of my hand and moves his hand from my back to the fingers of the hand he just released. I looked up and saw we were approaching the pool. Hannah saw us and sure enough, she screamed as she ran over to me. “Em, I’m so excited! This is great! I told you it was our night!” She exclaimed.

Her mate wasn’t far behind her and she turned to introduce us, “Emily, this is my mate Ryan from Silver Springs, Ryan, this is my best friend Emily from Blue Moon.” Ryan extends his hand as he says, “Nice to meet you Emily.”

Easton grabs Ryan’s hand before I can and I see Ryan grin. He turns to Hannah and says, “This is my best friend Easton from Silver Springs. It appears that his mate is your best friend.” Hannah’s eyes get so wide I’m surprised they don’t pop out of her head.

“As in, the future Alpha Easton?” She asks. Ryan answers first, “Yep.” I see Hannah quickly hide a worried look before she looks at us and smiles. “Nice to meet you.” She says to Easton. “If you two can excuse us for a few minutes, we need to catch up real quick.” Hannah quickly says as she grabs my hand to drag me away.

She rushes us to the restroom and quickly checks under the stalls. When she knows we’re alone, she whispers, “Emily what are you going to do? Have you heard the rumors about him?” I frown at her because I have no clue what she means.

She continues, “He’s a ruthless womanizer! He has a revolving door of women, and not only that, he’s extremely cold and harsh to those around him! They even say the women in his pack aren’t allowed to work or do anything without their mate’s approval. It’s like the 1950s! Crap, what am I gonna do since that’s MY mate’s pack too?” I can hear the panic in her voice.

“Hannah, I’m sure those are just rumors. He’s actually been quite nice so far. Now, let’s go back out there and we can talk to them some more. Plus, we’ll have to figure out how we’re getting home tonight.”

I try to ignore Hannah’s words, but I feel anxiety building up as we walk back to our mates. If I still won’t have freedom in Easton’s pack, do I really want to go? Especially if he has jealous ex-girlfriends, or worse, jealous current girlfriends. How have I never heard these rumors?