Tasting All My Mates by Alexis Dee

164-You Left Me Shattered

“Why my baby?” I opened my eyes and saw a lady holding my hand and crying. I looked down and

noticed the scars on my hands.

“Why would they do this? Why punish my innocent, Enya?”

It was then I realized that lady was none other than my mother. But how was that possible? My mother

died a long time ago. Her voice was also echoing a lot. As I stared at my hand, I fathomed I was just a

little kid.

“My innocent daughter!” she pulled me in a hug while crying hysterically. “How will she live a happy life

when she is cursed to have broken mates? Why so many mates? Why did the ancestors punish my

daughter?” she was crying and holding me tight against her chest.

“It will be all fine. We will make sure the mates behave well with her. She will date them and choose a

better one,” the owner of the voice was my father. I turned my face while still squishing into my

mother’s; chest and watched my father look so concerned for me.

“You don’t understand. Every time a mate will break her heart and reject her, a part of her will die.” As

my mother explained why she was so concerned about me having so many mates, I understood what

had frightened her.

“What?” my father looked shocked. “There has to be a way to protect my daughter.” he was now my

mother in the eye with hope-filled eyes.

“There is none. She will have to find her true fated mate among them and for that, she will have to

reject others, and then it will be the same thing.” My mother’s cries intensified as she explained there

was no hope for me.

“Unless—- she then suddenly stopped crying and whispered, “he forgives her,” as she said that, my

body felt goosebumps.

“Who?” my father’s voice sounded from afar.

“Thiago!”

I heard a voice,

“Babe!I am Thiago. Wake up.” it was Thiago waking me up.

“Ahm!” | groaned, forcing my eyes open and finding myself in the car with Thiago holding me close and

Lazlo gently patting my cheek to wake me up.

“She has a high fever,” Lazlo commented. They were so concerned about me. I even felt Thiago’s heart

beating like a drum in his chest.

“She is waking up,” Lazlo straightened up when I raised my face from Thiago’s chest.

“Babe! Look at me,” Thiago cupped my face, and I bet the shocked look was due to the fever I was

having.

“We need to take her to the hospital,” Thiago’s voice was filled with terror when announcing that.

“Yeah! You are right. Let— ” Lazlo had gotten out of the car to jump into the driver’s seat when I shook

my head at the idea.

“I just want to rest,” I requested, unable to keep my head up and resting it back on Thiago’s chest. It

was just sad, because every time I opened my eyes, I remembered everything Maynard had done to

me. The way he told them all my secrets and got me in jeopardy and frightened me now.

“But Enya! you have a fever. Please, just go to the hospital, and then we can go home,” Thiago was

softly brushing his fingers through my hair and calming me down. I didn’t argue back with them

because I was indeed not feeling well.

I closed my eyes and slept throughout the ride to the hospital. The doctor did some check-ups before

calling us all in.

“She has met a rejection just a few hours ago?” she inquired while writing down the notes.

“Yes! Maybe three hours ago,” Thiago answered, still holding me close to his chest. “Usually, the

rejection causes pain, but her body had turned extremely weak after the rejection. May I know the

cause of it?” she questioned again.

“Her mate had been cheating on her,” Lazlo replied under his clenched jaw. From the looks of it, it was

pretty clear that he was mad at Maynard.

“Oh! He had already weakened her a lot. But it still doesn’t explain why her body is so fragile right now.”

The doctor seemed confused. “You two are unaccepted mates?” she looked at Thiago and Lazlo.

They have told her the truth in order to get a good diagnosis.

“I am accepted,” Thiago answered, and Lazlo lowered his face sadly.

“Then it is good. Usually, it is very hard to find mates that soon. It would be a lot better if her other mate

accepts her too. It is fine if you don’t want to, but it seems like you care for her. If that is possible, it will

help her — and –” she was definitely hiding something.

“Tell us, what will happen if he didn’t accept her?” Thiago was the one who asked that question. It was

weird thinking I will accept all my mates at once. I would not want to hurt Thiago because I know even I

won’t be comfortable if he has multiple mates.

“She is not looking well. If you want her to regain her strength, she needs to be accepted and taken

care of.” The doctor explained in clear words why she was demanding Lazlo too accepts me.

“Let’s say somebody else had rejected her too, but she hasn’t accepted the rejection yet. What will

have happened if she will accept his rejection, too?” I don’t know where it emerged from, but Thiago’s

question seemed valid.

Why didn’t I think about Corbin?

“That should happen. From what you all have been telling me, she has several mates. If they kept

rejecting her, she wi—- she will di–e,” the way that doctor said it made Thiago and Lazlo let out a gasp.

I was shocked too.

So there it was. Having too many mates at once was never a blessing for me. It was a curse!

And then I remembered that dream.

My mother was talking about this. It was a distant hidden memory in my head. I have been punished for

something, but for what? what could a toddler be punished for?