Introspect [The Mating Games #3]
Day 5 Part 3

WENDELL ZERONE

Where the fuck did you learn to play chess? Wendell asked his wolf in a stupefied tone. And without me realising, too?

There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, was all his wolf replied back in a cryptic tone as he made his next move.

Technically, they were still losing but at least now it wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as it was before. Now, they were only a few pieces behind their opponent who was actually breaking a sweat now in comparison to how relaxed and confident he had been in the first half of the game.

Now shut up and let me concentrate. If I don’t, then we surely won’t stand a chance of walking away today with a badge, his wolf instructed him with a light growl.

Yes, boss, Wendell chuckled as he sat back and continued to allow him his wolf to take control, making move after move.

While they were able to knock quite a few of the opposing pieces off the board, there wasn’t enough for his wolf to save them from. About halfway into the time that they were allotted for this task, Troy and Wendell had no choice but to accept their defeat.

“I’m going to have to ask you both to see yourself out of the palace,” Heather approached them, speaking in very hushed whispers. “Most people are still very much engaged in today’s task so please try to make as less noise as possible.”

They both nodded, but their expressions were tense. With the board removed, Wendell turned to glance at his mate.

As they connected eyes, Troy shrugged and sighed, as if to say, what can you do?

There wasn’t much that I could do, his wolf answered.

We were already losing so much, Wendell agreed as he rose to his feet, following Troy as they walked out of the grand hall. Thanks for trying.

“It’s very unfortunate that we lost that one,” Troy sighed from beside him as they stood outside the palace, at least half the day remaining for them to spend together. “But it’s only the first one and I’m confident that we’ll do well in all the others.”

“I hope so,” Wendell groaned, rubbing a hand down his face in frustration. “I never imagined that I would fail a task in the Mating Games. I always hoped that my mate and I would earn the full set of eight.”

“Just how you didn’t imagine that your mate wouldn’t be a man?”

“Yes, I guess so,” Wendell chuckled but couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable now that the disagreeable topic had been brought up. As the familiar, uncomfortable feelings from the previous two days washed over him again, he couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably from foot to foot.

Troy smiled but couldn’t bring himself to say anything. That made Wendell feel even worse.

“We’ve got the rest of the day together,” Troy murmured, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Since we’re already at the palace, I was hoping that I would be able to meet your parents.”

That sounds rather nice, his wolf hummed, not at all clued in on what Wendell was feeling right now. As our mate, Troy will now be a part of their life nearly as much as he’s a part of ours. I don’t see the harm in everyone meeting him sooner rather than later.

I do, Wendell exhaled, Troy’s words ringing in his ears.

What?

I don’t think now is a good time for Troy to meet mum and dad, he tried to deny but the words felt wrong. Everything felt so wrong now that Wendell wasn’t sure what would be right.

Why do you say that? his wolf continued to probe in question, clearly not onboard with his human’s feelings and desires right now. Don’t tell me you’re still bothered about the fact that our mate is a man.

I’m not, Wendell denied but, in the moment, he wasn’t sure whether he was lying or not. What he did know, however, was that something didn’t feel quite right.

These past two days, Wendell had come to the understanding that he was not the person that he thought of him. He had also come to the understanding and reality that going forward, his life wouldn’t be as simple and straightforward as he had previously thought and hoped it would be.

What he hadn’t come to terms with, however, was the label that he would slap on himself. Troy had been luckily enough to comprehend his feelings and natural inclinations many years ago; while he was still young and growing into the man that he is today; that Wendell was blessed to have as a mate.

More than the notion of being gay – something which came as a shock to him at first but now, didn’t matter nearly as much – Wendell struggled with the fact that from the first moment that he laid eyes on Troy, it was as if a flick had been switched inside of him.

One moment he went from believing his mate to be a female, and then being certain that it was most certainly a male.

How could everything had changed for them so quickly? How could he have changed his inclination toward the opposite sex so quickly?

Had his whole life up to that fateful moment been a lie? What else about him was a lie?

Despite all the conflictions emotions, thoughts and feelings that were whizzing around his mind and entire body, not for a moment could Wendell bring himself to regret or despite being granted Troy Christian as a mate.

How could he when already he viewed him as his better half? His significant other?

The thing that he had yet to come to terms with was his sexuality. Not only the question of it, but the way it would affect his life and the day-to-day happenings of it going forward.

“Meet my parents?” Wendell was finally able to echo in response, struggling to swallow the words that he had just uttered.

“Yes,” Troy murmured in a quiet voice, having been watching his mate for several moments now while he had been stuck in deep thought. “I was hoping that I would be able to learn more about you, and what better place to do that other than your home? Especially since we’re already here.”

“You’re right,” Wendell gulped in confirmation, though couldn’t bring himself to meet Troy’s eyes.

How could he when he wasn’t yet ready for his family and his mate to meet? And he wouldn’t be until he came to terms of this new way of life that had greeted him.

While his brothers would be indifferent of his mate, though probably would favour Troy more over a female as it would mean that they now had another brother to torment, Wendell wasn’t quite sure if he would be able to say the same about his parents.

He knew that both his mother and father were looking forward to grandchildren and stepping down from the Beta position. With the way had things had changed for him in the span of only a few days, he was certain that at least one of those things would be impossible now. Of course, there were other alternatives but that would was something that he hadn’t come to terms with yet. After all, he was still taking baby steps around all of this.

The latter, he wasn’t quite sure about. How could he when in all of history, there had never been a Royal position filled by mates of the same sex?

However, that was something he would deal with when it came time to cross the bridge. For now, he needed to focus on coming out to parents. Something which he believed to be extremely difficult as he had only recently come out to himself.

Coming out to his parents with Troy in the same room was not something he looked forward to. Especially since he wasn’t the least bit confident of which way they would sway in their reaction.

If they reacted negatively, then he feared that their relationship with Troy would forever be tainted.

“I don’t think you meeting my family right now is such a good idea,” Wendell spoke in a quiet murmur as he came to a final decision. He all but had to force the words out of his mouth as there was no other way for him to vocalise his innermost feelings.

“Why not?” Troy prompted in a quiet question, his face all but emotionless.

“I haven’t spoken to them yet.”

“What would you need to speak to them about?”

Even though the answer was on the very tip of his tongue, Wendell couldn’t bring himself to say it. Not when it risked hurting the feelings of his mate. More than Wendell had hurt him already.

“Don’t worry about it,” Troy retracted his offer after a few moments, having watched the various reactions and emotions wash over his face as he had struggled to formulate an acceptable response. “We can just head out for lunch. Maybe we can try a different diner today,” he smiled but Wendell could very well tell that it didn’t reach his ears. Not even in the slightest.

With that, Troy turned around in search of a steward that could arrange a car to take them into town where they would enjoy lunch.

At the sight of his mate walking away from him, even if just for a few moments to make travel arrangements for them, Wendell felt sick in his stomach. His heart was beating rapidly for all the wrong reasons and he feared that if he opened his mouth, the pained whine of his wolf would sound aloud for all to hear and make their own personal judgements on.

But Wendell couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when he was going through such inner turmoil that made him feel like he was being torn apart from the inside.

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Layla Knight

19.06.2021

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