The Girl He Marked by Laila Callaway novel Chapter 3

Callie's POV.

Nate and I agree on Tuesday to meet.

Ben watches with a frown on his face as I pack to stay over at Nate's. He hands me a huge hoodie of his.

'What's this' I ask him.

'For you to sleep in. You don't need any of that silk or lace shit, you can wear your brother's hoodie.'

I give him a deadpan look.

'You can't be serious.'

Except, we both know that he is.

'Ben, I am not wearing your hoodie to sleep in,' I tell him firmly and shove the hoodie back at him.

My brother huffs and leaves the room. I breathe a sigh of relief and subtly slide in a silk nighty.

What my brothers don't know, won't hurt them.

Honestly, you'd think I was sixteen years old, the way they treat me. They also act like Nate isn't my fated mate, that he isn't the one man destined to love me unconditionally.

By the time Nate comes to pick me up, Ben has managed to accept the fact that I am staying over at my mate's house tonight.

I'm surprised he hasn't called Rixon for backup.

It's crazy, really. I'm going to be living with this guy one day, how are they going to react when I move out

'I would invite you in, but Ben is on one today and I'm not putting you through that, you don't deserve it,' I tell Nate as I walk straight out of the house and shut the door behind me.

Nate laughs and shrugs. 'Alright.'

He holds my hand as he drives us over to his house. We tell each other about our days.

I silently wonder when we should move in together. Most mates do it within the first week of the meeting. But not the ones that I know.

Myra and Jayce didn't, I don't think. Lexi and Rixon didn't. The only ones I know who moved quite fast were Alena and Elijah.

When we get to his house, Nate shows me to the guest room, where I leave my bag. It's lovely, but I wish I didn't have to stay in it.

I wish I could share a bed with him, but I don't want him to experience first—hand, how horrible my nightmares can be. Hopefully, if I have one tonight, he will sleep through it.

I help Nate make dinner for us. We laugh and joke around, whipping up a delicious lasagne, if I do say so myself.

Although, I'll admit, I'm hungry and biased.

The evening passes quickly. We sit outside in the garden with a blanket, looking up at the stars and sharing whimsical thoughts.

The nerves start building as I get ready for bed. Nate kisses me goodnight and goes down to his own bedroom. I look at the three meters between his door and mine. Not far enough to hide anything I shout or cry during a nightmare.

An anxious pit forms in my stomach as I climb under the covers. I close my eyes and pray that I don't have a nightmare. I don't want to have to explain things to him yet.

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The morning comes and I feel alarmingly well—rested. I use the en—suite and get ready for the day.

Once I'm dressed and presentable, I cautiously venture out of the spare room. Nate is already downstairs, and the smell of bacon wafts up to the landing.

I rush down, my stomach rumbling.

Nate looks over his shoulder at me from the stove.

'Morning, beautiful,' he greets me. 'Did you sleep okay'

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

I didn't have a nightmare.

'Yes, I did, thank you,' I reply. 'Really well, actually.'

Nate serves us up breakfast and comments on my abnormally chipper mood. Not that I'm not usually happy around him, but he jokes that I'm on a sugar rush without the sugar.

What he doesn't know, is that I'm so happy that I had my first night without any nightmares.

This is great. This means we can share a bed.

Maybe a mate is the cure

I hope so.

'Can we do this again' I ask, surprising Nate.

He smiles, surprised but happy.

'Of course! Do you want to stay over tonight'

'Are you sure you want to see me again so soon' I check and he chuckles.

'Of course, I do. If I had it my way, you'd never leave.'

He says the words so casually, as he clears away our plates. I stare after him, stunned into silence.