Page 70 of His Bullied Fated Mate

“She’s fine. Just been tired is all. She's been running herself ragged. nothing a little sleep won't fix. Thanks for stepping in.” I hung up and stared at the stairs. I couldn'thelp but wonder why she hadn't mentioned it. Even if it was something simple, she could have said something.

Maybe she just had a sudden headache, and Advil wasn’t helping. Or she was asking for something to help her sleep.

I brushed the thought off and headed up to bed. I pushed the door open and found Janella fast asleep. Ever since the other night, we'd been sharing a bed.

I brushed some of her hair back and felt my stomach twist up, feeling like there was something she wasn't telling me. I tried to brush it off, but the gut feeling stayed.

I woke up early and made breakfast. Janella came down a little before I was getting ready to leave. She looked pale, and I suddenly wondered if maybe she was sick.

“How are you feeling?”

She froze as she reached for the coffee. “I’m fine.”

“You just look tired, and Philip called last night and said the ladies at the infirmary were asking how you were feeling. I didn’t know you stopped there.”

She shrugged. “I’m just getting a cold, I think. Nothing serious. I forgot I even stopped there with everything else I did yesterday.”

I watched the way she fidgeted and realized she wasn’t telling me the truth. I crossed my arms. “Oh? And what are your plans today? Resting, I hope.”

She nodded. “Yeah, not even going to leave the house.” She threw me a smile before she took her coffee into the living room. I watched her climb onto the couch, throwing a blanket over herself. She grabbed a book and sank into the cushions.

I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t believe her. My gut was telling me something was going on, and I needed to figure out what. It was clear that she wasn't going to tell me either.

So, when I left the house, I stopped and parked a block away. I sat in my car and waited. An hour went by, and nothing happened. I started to wonder if maybe I was being paranoid. Maybe it was a new part of the bonding issue, as if the answer and the horniness weren’t enough. I could have just been letting my head get ahead of me.

But then I saw her coming out of the house. She hurried into her car while she was talking on the phone. My stomach clenched up.

I followed her. I knew it was wrong, but I needed to know where she was going. What was she hiding from me? Who was she talking to on the phone?

Janella drove over to the infirmary, and I stayed parked inside. I wondered if maybe she decided to come in and help this morning. Or maybe she decided she needed something for her cold. Or was there something going on?

My head was spinning with ideas, and I rubbed at my eyes, knowing I was going down a rabbit hole.

I watched her get to the door. I expected her to say her good mornings to the gals working the front, but then I watched her take a clipboard with papers that they gave to patients.

Janella was inside the infirmary for about half an hour before she slipped out. I expected her to head home. But I was once again surprised when she didn’t go to her car but headed around the corner into the downtown strip.

I sat and stewed in the car for a moment. My mind is going everywhere. Was she sick with something serious? Whywasn’t she telling me? She was planning to leave when this was all done? Even after we were getting along so well?

A thousand questions went over and over in my head, and the more I sat, the angrier I started to get. I had done nothing but open up to her. I’d been offering her every chance to grow and settle her roots here. So why was she still holding the truth back from me?

I got out of the car, slamming the door shut. I headed down the sidewalk, searching through the windows of the stores. I kept walking until I found her checking out of a small boutique.

I pulled my phone out and called her. She grabbed the phone, looking a little surprised, before answering. “Hello?”

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“I'm lying on the couch resting still.”

I ground my teeth together and hung up. I watched her pull her phone from her ear and stare at it for a second. She shrugged and shoved the phone into her purse before she turned. I watched her freeze as soon as she saw me.

I stood waiting as she slowly made her way outside. She had several bags in her arms, and she still looked so pale. It was clear that something wasn't right with her.

“This looks worse than it is,” she said as the door shut behind her.

“What are you hiding?”

She stammered for words. “I..”