Bloodlines: Fated Mates (Book 6 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Matt! I’m at your door. Can you please let me in?

Matthew Asgrim sucked in a deep breath, his eyes popping open in annoyance. He’d been in a pretty deep sleep. He groaned. Why are you here this late? It had to be close to 11 pm. Or later. He had a final in the morning that he’d spent most of the night studying for. He hadn’t seen her in a few days.

Jarrod broke up with me. Even through mind link, it was said with a sob.

Matt rolled his eyes in annoyance at both her and Jarrod but didn’t bother telling her what he thought. She already knew. They’d discussed it more than once. Be right there.

He got out of bed, not bothering to pull on any clothes. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen him in just his boxers before, and he frankly didn’t care at this point. He was too tired. He walked over to the door and opened it.

Aria immediately walked in, practically knocking him over in her rush to get inside his dorm. She was sobbing, tears streaming down her pretty face. She brushed at them and took a shuddering breath.

Matt shut the door and turned back to her, his arms crossed over his bare chest as he looked at her, a slightly disapproving look in his eyes. Not that he intended to tell her what he thought. She already knew, and she didn’t need to hear that right now. Not when her heartbreak was so fresh.

“Don’t even start with me, Matt,” she said through her tears, glaring at him.

He lifted a brow at her, his gaze softening. “I wasn’t going to. You already know what I think. There’s no point in me telling you again.” He moved his pillow up against the headboard and sat back against it. He knew exactly what she needed, what she’d come to him for. “Come here.”

She slipped off her shoes and crawled onto his lap, straddling him, her legs resting on either side of his waist. She placed her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him and letting her cry.

“Why did he break up with you?” Matt asked her after a bit. She’d calmed down some, from her initial sobs though her face was still buried in his neck. He knew the familiarity of his scent was a comfort to her.

“Because he didn’t want a long-distance relationship,” she said, with a small sigh.

Matt snorted. “That’s the excuse he gave you?” He was calling bull on that one. He could guarantee he knew the reason why, and it annoyed him that Jarrod had given her the dumb excuse he had. If Matt could, he’d go beat the crap out of the human for hurting her, for making her cry.

“I was stupid,” she murmured, another tear trailing down her cheek.

“No, you were lonely,” he said with a sigh. He was too.

“Yes,” she agreed.

“I need to get some sleep, Aria. Unlike you, I still have an exam tomorrow,” he reminded her, his arms loosening from around her. That was the only reason they were still here. For him to take this last final.

“I know. Can I stay?” She hadn’t moved and he sighed to himself. He’d expected her to ask. She did this every time she went through a breakup.

“Yes. But we’re not sleeping in this position. Go change.” It wasn’t the first time she’d stayed in his bed overnight, though it very well might be the last, as this was their last night away from home.

She slipped off his lap and grabbed one of his shirts out of his already packed suitcase, then began to strip off her clothes, dropping them over a chair.

Matt watched her strip. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen her down to her panties, though never any less. Tonight, she was wearing a black lace thong, and he watched her bend over to pull off her jeans. That was what caused him to look away. He didn’t need to see anymore. She may not be his mate, but she was still a beautiful female, and he was an unmated male werewolf. He really didn’t need to be turned on when she was about to crawl in bed with him. Not tonight.

Matt scooted down onto his back, then pulled the blankets back so she could crawl in with him. She walked over and laid down, then snuggled up against him as he wrapped his arms around her. It was the way she liked to sleep, wrapped around him like he was her lover. “What am I going to do with you?” he murmured against her hair when they’d both gotten comfortable.

“Comfort me,” she whispered against him.

He chuckled. “And pick up your pieces.”

“Yes,” she said solemnly.

“Did you have sex with him?” Not that it really was any of his business, but she would tell him. She always did. He had a feeling that was why Jarrod had really broken up with her. The males she dated all seemed to have one thing on their minds. Sex. With the beautiful she-wolf currently wrapped up in his arms.

“No, I wouldn’t. But he wanted to. He asked me all the time.” She sighed, resting her hand on his bare abs. “He was jealous of you.”

Matt snorted, not the least bit surprised by that. “Every boyfriend you’ve had has been jealous of me.” And why wouldn’t they be? He was the one who she came to when she was hurt, the one whose bed she slept in, the one whose body she wrapped herself around. He could almost guarantee he was the only male she’d slept with. That would make any male jealous.

She didn’t respond to his comment and Matt closed his eyes. He couldn’t blame them for being jealous. He and Aria had always been close, but she wasn’t his mate, and he would never consider a relationship with her. He would never touch her that way. Those guys had been more intimate with her than he ever had.

She was beautiful though, and a small part of him had been disappointed that she wasn’t his, but he’d gotten over that years ago. She was more of a sister to him now, always coming to him when she broke up with her latest fling. He wasn’t sure how many nights she’d spent in his bed, crying her eyes out over this guy or that one. He’d stopped lecturing her a while ago.

She’d never had sex with any of the males she dated though, and that honestly surprised him as much as she threw herself into a relationship. Those males were dumping an amazing female simply because she wouldn’t spread her legs for him. Not that it mattered. Whoever her mate was, he was a lucky male as Aria Remington would dedicate her heart and soul to him. But if he ever hurt her... not that it was likely.

She snuggled further into his neck, and he realized she was deep asleep already. Go figure. He was the one that needed to get up early and she was out, wrapped around him like a sloth. He supposed he was her tree. Her constant the entire time she’d been in school. The one male who didn’t dump her because she refused to have sex with him. Human males were annoying in Matt’s mind. And he knew, more than likely, Aria would end up mated to one, as that seemed to be a trend in the Remington Family. They all mated humans. All but Noelle.

He probably could have sex with Aria if he really wanted to, and he was well aware of that. He wouldn’t though, wouldn’t take that from her. She was still a virgin as far as he knew.

He’d seen the way she looked at him occasionally, seen the desire for him in her eyes. Sex with Aria would be just straight out a bad idea. They’d both regret it. Maybe not right away, but at some point.

He truly didn’t know why she put herself through this crap over and over again. She had a mate out there somewhere, a male who would always be true to her and who would treat her like the Princess she was. She put herself through heartbreak because she could never do anything half-heartedly. She always threw herself fully in and then she suffered afterwards.

Matt hadn’t bothered with dating his entire time in college. He didn’t see a point in it. He might change his mind down the road if he couldn’t find his mate right away but for now, he chose not to. He wasn’t a virgin though. Occasionally he would find a female to satisfy his needs, but not often and he would never commit. They tried though, mesmerized by his blonde hair and blue eyes and his heavily muscled frame. Matt was in excellent shape. But he wasn’t interested in dating. None of them were his mate and he really didn’t see a point.

He had no desire to get into a relationship with a female who wasn’t his mate. He knew his wolf, Caspian wouldn’t like it. He didn’t even care for the females Matt bedded as it was.

Matt wrapped his arms tighter around Aria and took in her scent as she lay cuddled up against him. She was a comfort to him too, and soon he was in a deep sleep.