"She's mine." I'd growled at him through the mind link.
"I never said I was going after her. I just want you to know where I stand. If she wants me, she'll come to me on her own." He'd pointed out before heading in the opposite direction to close my circle around the rez.
As much as I hated the words he'd spoken, none were truer. If Bella wanted Paul, her best friend as her lover, she could very well go to him and I would step back but I'll be damned if I don't fight for her. There's a fine line of being gracious and giving up. I'll never give up unless I know the fight has been won. And even then, I'd probably still vie for her attention. I have no real issue with her having a male best friend but it does make things a lot more difficult when said best friend has a crush on your girl.
That's what I have a very big issue with.
I'm a possessive, aggressive, dominant man and I don't share what's mine. Bella is mine. I want her and need her for the rest of our lives.
All of this sucks though because he didn't say a fucking word until the morning after we had decided to start trying to get pregnant. Everyone in the pack knew we would be trying soon. Why didn't he say something before now? What the hell was his angle? Or did he just have really poor timing?
Bella continued to stay quiet throughout the whole lunch break and when I stood up from the picnic table and crumpled my trash to throw away, she stood with me. Fat tears rolled down her pale cheeks unchecked and she looked up at me with those beautiful big eyes of hers. My heart plummeted into my stomach. She was going to choose Paul over me. I could feel the little fissures cracking their way through my heart as she walked closer to me with that heartbreaking look of defeat on her face. I took a small step back when she tried to touch me and a sob ripped up from her throat and realization crossed her eyes before she threw herself into my arms, clinging to me like a limpet.
"Sam, no! It's always you. It's always going to be you." She cried softly into my chest where she pressed her nose until it was squashed between us. Her slender arms wound around my ribs as my arms came up to circle her shoulders and I leaned down to kiss her hair as her words filled me with satisfaction. The fissures sealed quickly as if they were never there and I silently berated myself for allowing doubt to cloud my mind.