Collen POV 

"I will contact you after my wedding in two weeks to talk about the job. I want to accept but I won't go out of the country until after my wedding and honeymoon." I looked at the man, Jason, I have been traveling with the past two weeks for a big job he wants me to do. It's a job that will take a while to do, all over the country and out of the country so I need to make sure I can work it out with him because I can't and won't miss my wedding and I also want Xavier to travel with me.

"It's going to be real tight time wise but I think we can do that." 

"Great! In a month I will have my office contact you and we'll set up a time and date to go to Italy for the location of the casino. I look forward to doing this job, I'm honestly surprised you wanted me to do it for you." 

"I saw your work, the building you designed for Alan's restaurant, I had him give me your information because I saw what you can do and he gave a glowing recommendation and I'm glad I called. This is going to be amazing." 

"Yes I know and yes, it is. Xavier is going to love Italy, he doesn't know I plan on taking him with me when I go."

"Be like a second honeymoon for you both. Want to have dinner before we head out to go home?" He asked and I nodded, we went to dinner a lot after we would discuss the work before we would leave to go to the next location. 

"Yes, I can't wait to go home." I said and I felt my personal phone vibrate but I ignored it, it would be rude answering a personal phone call while doing business, even if it's going to dinner. I give all my focus to whomever I am meeting with until we part ways. 

"What are you in the mood for Mr. O'Brian?" He asked and I laughed, he and I got along well and I told him to just call me Collen but he still at times calls me by my last name.

"Italian since Italy is on my mind." I stated and we got into the rental car and I drove us to a small Italian restaurant.

"Table for two please." I told the woman at the entrance, seating people. 

"You two make such a handsome couple." She giggled and Jason smirked but I rolled my eyes at him.

"We're not together and I would appreciate it if you didn't make assumptions about people who walk into this restaurant. Now, a table for two." I glared at the woman and she gulped and grabbed the menus nervously, dropping one of them. 

"Your waiter will be with you shortly." 

"Good, make sure he keeps his comments to himself about two men eating together like it's never been done before." I said and she nodded and about ran away. Jason couldn't hold it in any longer, he laughed when she was gone. 

"That was classic." He said after he calmed down. 

"I hate when people assume things about someone when they have no idea of the person's lifestyle. She could have said that to two straight men and well if they were homophobes, who knows what they would say or do. I'm just saying, don't assume. It makes an ass out of you and me." 

"Hey that's clever, I hadn't realized that's in the word itself." 

"My brother in law Skylar told me that once when I was a teenager and it just stuck in my head. My family are real close and I have a lot of people who raised me into the man I am today. If it weren't for them, especially my papa, pushing me and helping me, supporting me, I would have given up a long time ago. Here, I have a photo of all of us." I got my personal phone out, ignoring the ten missed calls and went to my gallery and pulled up a photo of the last time I went home.

"Wow! That's a lot of people. Those kids look so much like the men in the photo. You look happy here, relaxed. Something I hadn't seen from you on this trip." He handed me back my phone and I looked at the photo. 

"Mm yes, this day was perfect. This is the day I told my family I'm getting married." I smiled at the photo, missing my family. 

"Hello, my name is Dan, can I start you gentlemen off with a drink?" A teenage boy asked us, with a notepad in hand and a genuine smile on his face.

"Sure, I will take a sweet tea with lemon please." I said and Jason agreed and Dan took our orders since we had time to look at the menu.

"Is everything done with the plans for the wedding?" Jason asked.

"Yea, the last thing was my dad and papa were going to L.A. to show Xavier what they found for a honeymoon. We told them they could plan it so I'm sure that's why they keep blowing up my phone. It's like seven in L.A. so they probably went to dinner with Xavier and wanted to tell me they came to a decision on where Xavier picked." 

"You can answer it, we're pretty much done with this trip and the day." 

"No, they know I will call back when we part ways. I never answer my phone and if it was an emergency, they would call my business phone which they hadn't so I'm sure it can wait." I felt my phone vibrate again and sighed, this is getting annoying. 

Our dinner came and we ate, talked about the trip to Italy and what there is to do and see there. It was a nice dinner, Jason is a good guy and has a good head for business. 

"Alright, this is it until Italy. Have a wonderful wedding and an even better honeymoon. Be safe traveling Mr. O'Brian." He shook my hand and I said goodbye and we parted ways. 

I got my personal phone out and saw I now had twenty five missed calls and like thirty text messages. I sighed and called papa.

"Papa, what is going on? You and daddy have been blowing up my phone like crazy. I was in a business meeting/dinner." 

"Collen, you need to get home, now. Something happened and you're not gonna like it." He said, sounding uncomfortable.

"What happened papa?" I asked, sitting down on a bench in case the news is bad which by the way papa sounds, it is.

"Baby, Xavier, he should be the one to tell you so please, just get home, soon." 

"Papa, you're scaring me. What is going on?!" 

"Collen just get home, we can't tell you, it has to be Xavier. We're at your place." Dad said this time and hung up, without me being able to reply. I got off the bench, got into my car and went to the hotel to check out.

Once I was done with packing my stuff, I sat on the bed thinking what could possibly be so urgent that papa and daddy both sounded pained and panicked. Not being able to take it, I called Xavier. 

"Hey Collen." He answered and he sounds just like daddy and papa.

"Hey baby, are you alright? Papa and daddy said something happened, are you hurt?" 

"No, not physically I'm not. When will you be home?" He asked and I heard sniffing.

"Soon baby I promise. I moved my flight up for a couple hours from now, I'm about to leave the hotel. I'll be home soon, I love you Xavier." I said softly and he sounded like he was on the verge of crying. 

"I love you too, I'll be awake when you get here. Be safe, see you soon." He hung up, people really need to stop hanging up on me. I picked my bags up and left the hotel. 

Four hours later

After the plane landed I got my bags, got into my car I left at long term parking and sped all the way home. The whole flight I couldn't stop my mind from wondering what happened to my baby. I pulled into the underground parking and grabbed my stuff, went to the elevator and pushed the number to my penthouse floor. It seems to take forever when you're in a hurry.  The door opened and I walked in, seeing the lights were on and I heard crying. I followed the sound and found my papa, daddy and Xavier on the couch, trying to comfort Xavier. 

"Baby, what's wrong?!" I asked, getting on my knees in front of him, taking his hands in mine. He looked at me and I swear, it's like my world stopped by the pain in his eyes.

"I, I found my mate." He whispered so softly that I didn't think I heard him right.

"You what?" I needed to know for sure if I heard him right. 

"I found my mate. When we were leaving the restaurant we went to, he was walking in and I got hit with his scent and when he locked eyes with me, I imprinted on him." He said, sobbing slightly and I couldn't breath, couldn't move.

"But we're supposed to be getting married in two weeks, we marked one another." I said and he took his hand from mine and showed me his bare neck, my mark isn't there.

"What? Where did my mark go?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes and my heart shattering into a million pieces. 

"It was fading and when I met Titan, it disappeared. I'm so sorry Collen, I'm so sorry." He sobbed and I couldn't think right. I let his hand go and stood up on shaking legs and stumbled backward. 

"No this, this can't be happening. No, I don't believe it." I said shaking my head and wiping my face. Daddy and papa were crying silently and looked at me, I knew from their looks it was true. 

"I need, I don't know what I need but I...I can't…" I stumbled on my words and daddy got up and hugged me, I slowly fell to the floor in his arms, sobbing. He ran his hand up and down my back, trying to comfort me and it didn't do anything. My heart is shattered and the love of my life, if he can even be that anymore, is going to leave me to be with his mate. It's destiny and I won't stand in the way of his happiness. 

"Xavier?" I called his name and he looked at me, so heartbroken. 

"Go, be happy with your mate. I can't stand in the way of your happiness, you deserve this more than anything in this world. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy and finding your mate, can't get any better than that. I will always love you, Xavier." I said getting up, wanting to hug him and hold him again, one last time.

"I wish there was something I could do to make you happy, I hate seeing you like this. Please promise me you won't go back to the way you were before we met. Please don't close yourself off to people again. I know this isn't what we expected but it happened and gosh Collen I will always love you too. What we had is not going to disappear, when you look back on the last four years, be happy. I know it hurts like hell god do I but we have all those great memories and will have more. I'm always going to be in your life, even if it's just as friends." He said and cupped my face and kissed me softly, with tenderness and I couldn't feel his love anymore, this was a goodbye kiss and I felt my lip quiver and more tears falling. I broke the kiss and ran out of there, not being able to see him right now, not when my world is leaving me.

I called Jason on my way out, hardly able to see my phone and couldn't breathe right but I managed to get a voicemail to him.

"Jason, I'm sorry it's late but when you get this, call me. Let's make a plan for Italy, the sooner, the better."