"Unbreak the broken. Unsay these spoken words. Find hope in the hopeless. Pull me out of the train wreck."

~James Arthur, 'Train Wreck'

~~~

*Landon's POV*

"I'll give you a ride home," Ryland offers when he get back to his house.

"No!" I quickly shout a little too loudly, not ready for him to know that I don't live with a pack. "That's okay. I can call my brother."

Ryland looks like he wants to argue further but swallows it down, his honey eyes swirling with disappointment. Guilt fills my stomach. The poor guy has to put up with hearing his new mate just wants to be friends, and I can't even provide him the courtesy of being kind and honest.

I know he said he's okay with being friends, but how can he be? It's in our nature to want to be with our mates in every way. Hell, all of my instincts are furious with me for agreeing to be friends when all I want to do is feel his legs wrapped around me.

And yet, the thought of being with someone else makes the feeling of guilt triple, and I know I can't be what Ryland needs.

Still, if he wants to give being friends a shot, I'll do it. He seemed terrified at the prospect of me rejecting him, which leads me to believe he faced a pretty painful rejection already.

Roman.

Ryland said his name back at Joan's house, but neither of them elaborated on who he is. Although I have a pretty solid guess that he's the wolf that rejected my honeybee.

I pull out my phone, wincing when I see dozens of missed calls and messages from my family. I clear them out of the way and quickly send a text to Enzo.

{Me}

Can you come pick me up? I'm at the Crescent Sun Pack

{Enzo}

What the hell, Landon?! We've been looking everywhere for you!

Why are you at the Crescent Sun Pack?

{Me}

I'll explain everything later. Text me when you're here

I stuff my phone back into my pocket and face Ryland.

"My brother is on his way to pick me up," I tell him. Ryland nods slowly and sits down on one of the couches in the living room. I choose to sit on a plush chair next to the couch.

"You have a brother," Ryland says, more of a statement than a question.

I nod my head. "Two. And one sister."

"What are their names?"

"Enzo and Xander are my brothers. Enzo is the eldest, and he's married with two daughters. Xander is the youngest, he's only seventeen. Ophelia is my twin sister, but we just call her Lia."

Ryland's eyes light up. "You're a twin?" He asks excitedly. I can't help but grin at his child-like excitement over something as mundane as me having a twin.

"Yup. We don't look much alike besides us both having blonde hair and blue eyes. Although, my parents always say we're basically the same person. Our pack used to refer to us as demon spawn when we were children," I laugh. Ryland smiles wider, sending a satisfied tingle through my body at the knowledge that I'm the one who made him smile. "Lia and I were always getting into trouble, running around pack grounds and playing childish pranks on anyone and everyone. It got to the point where we weren't allowed to leave the house together unless Enzo went with us. He's the stereotypical responsible older brother."

"It must be nice to have such a big family," Ryland smiles, although it doesn't fully reach his eyes. "Kai and I have been pretty much on our own for years."

"You have?" I question, completely shocked. "What about your parents?"

Ryland rubs the back of his neck nervously. "That's a conversation for a different time. I think we've covered enough heavy topics for one night. I don't want to look back on the night we met and only remember that we talked about sad shit."

I chuckle and nod my head. "Fair enough." My phone buzzes with a message from Enzo, letting me know that he's parked right outside the pack. "My brother is here," I tell Ryland.

"I'll walk you to the gates," he offers, standing up from the couch and following me to the door. My initial instinct is to turn him down, but I bite my tongue. I've pushed him away a lot already, and we only just met. Letting him walk me to the gate wouldn't hurt.

There's an awkward distance between us as we walk with our hands tucked in our pockets. We don't say anything, letting the sound of crickets fill the silence. My brother's car is parked a few yards away from the gate, and I notice the guards eyeing him suspiciously.

"It's okay, guys," Ryland calls out to the two wolves standing guard. "They're with me."

The wolves visibly relax at that and resuming tending to their business. We stop at the entrance, Ryland's eyes darting between the ground and my face.

"Er... we don't have a mind link because we haven't mated, so...." he stretches that last word out. "Can I have your number?"

His awkward demeanor actually manages to make me smile. He reminds me of a teenage boy, asking his high school crush out on a date. It's pretty cute, actually. I hold my hand out, and Ryland's almond eyes widen before he snatches his phone out of his pocket and places it in my awaiting palm.

I program my number in and hand the device back to him. He smiles at me and takes a step forward before his smile falters and he steps back.

"What is it?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

Dirt kicks up as he shuffles his feet, looking down at the ground. "Would it be too much if I wanted to hug you goodbye?" He mumbles shyly.

I hesitate for a moment, but really, what is there to think about? Friends can hug, right? I step towards him, holding out my arms. The biggest smile I've seen from him spreads across his face, and he doesn't waste any time closing the distance between us and throwing his arms around my neck. My arms settle comfortably around his waist as I hold him close.

Almost instinctively, my nose finds the crook of his neck where his honey and vanilla scent is the strongest. I breathe him in, the sweet scent soothing my nerves and making me relax into his embrace. He does the same to me, breathing in my scent and nuzzling his head into my neck.

The blare of the car horn startles us, making us jump apart. I shoot a glare in the direction of the car. Ryland chuckles, sounding a lot more relaxed than he was just a few minutes ago.

"I'll... see you later," I say, keeping my eyes on his dark honey ones as I slowly walk backwards.

"Goodbye, Landon," Ryland waves at me, his smile still present. I'm not sure which made my heart flutter more. Hearing my name on his lips, or seeing that adorable smile as he waved goodbye.

Whichever it was, I can already tell being just friends is going to be a challenge.