Rising Sigma

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

[Leon's POV]

I found it difficult to sleep, the guest suite we had been given was plush and warm, but my mind was racing. Iodine occupied my mind - she hadn't been scared off when I told her I wasn't ready, even if I hadn't divulged the details behind that yet. That alone made me more certain that I had been given a blessing by the Goddess. 

It was long overdue.

However, life was never without complications. If I was the mate of an Alpha, I'd be leaving my pack and becoming the Lune for Bright Phoenix. If I didn't know how to broach the subject of my hesitancy with my Goddess-given mate, how was I expected to inform my Alpha that I could no longer fulfil my duties to him?

It wasn't my place to worry about who would replace me, no wolf was truly irreplaceable within a pack, and I hadn't even taken the Beta title officially, it still belonged to my father. I could at least help them with the task of finding a successor for him. 

I tried to think about that, but my mind would wander back to that spark in my palm, how it flooded through my veins. The way my name sounded like both a curse and a prayer in one from her lips. I felt like a lovesick pup from the barest time spent in her company. 

How did anyone get things done after they'd found their mate? I couldn't ask outright without telling people that I'd found her either. 

I managed a little sleep before Marwan yanked my covers from me. "UP AND ATOM!" He yelled, and I already dreaded the passing of each minute because it was a minute closer to leaving. I groaned at him and scowled. How he'd already woken up and looked freshly shaven, I didn't know. The Alpha looked smart in a loose shirt and jeans, his thick braids tied back. 

"Tell him to hurry, we have to get breakfast in us before we leave!" Rachel yelled from the ensuite bathroom. 

Tell them we're staying. 

We spoke to her, I held up my side. We... have to leave. It will only be temporary. 

Get her phone number. Speak to our mate.  And with that, my inner wolf left me be. I was planning on getting her number anyway so I didn't mind a little. 

"You heard your Luna. Up." Marwan threw the cover back at me and I begrudgingly sat up. It took me very little time to pull on my jeans and a tee, and I gave the mirror a cursory glance, finger-combing the worst of the sleep from my hair. 

"Brush it properly or don't bother. My hairbrush is next to the sink." Rachel said from behind me. You'd think I was incapable of neatening up. "Marwan? Want to get there before all the good stuff is gone? Julius already went downstairs and he linked me something about speaking to the resident Gamma?"

Our Gamma wasn't usually an early riser, but I hadn't even thought of what happened last night spreading beyond the Bright Phoenix pack ranked wolves and myself - at least not yet. I froze a second, and as soon as Rachel and Marwan left I linked the Alpha.

"Hey man, say you forgot something in the room, I need to talk to you, it's important." I stared at myself a moment in the mirror. 

It was scarcely a minute but he came back in with his arms crossed and a curious look on his face. 

Well, here went nothing. 

***

[Iodine's POV]

My exhaustion had won out over all the thoughts that buzzed in my head, but come first morning light I practically jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to ready myself for the day. I had my toothbrush in my mouth when the Gamma started knocking on the door. He had a distinctive knock. 

"In the bathroom. Is breakfast going well?" I linked him. 

"I might have... inadvertently found out some gossip." He linked me right back. I narrowed my eyes and spat out the toothpaste. 

"How so?"

"Gamma Julius was already at breakfast. From your, ah, mate's pack." I groaned and bid him to come into the room and shut the door. It would only be suspicious if I made him link me through the door if he was spotted. I left the bathroom and sat on the edge of my bed. It might have been nice to figure things out myself before gossip started spreading through the packs. I didn't tell Yven that Leon was, according to his own words "not ready", so it might have been nothing to do with that. I had a gut feeling though.

Yven smiled at me hesitantly and cleared his throat. "So, ah..." He pursed his lips. "How to put this delicately."

"Do I look delicate?" I blinked, training my face neutral. 

"Right. I'm sorry my Alpha. But my fellow Gamma told me that he'd been confused by something the Moon Goddess told him at the last full moon. So I offered to help him interpret it."

He did have a way with words that made me want to listen, I had to give him that much. "Go on."

"Well I helped him, then he confided in me that things were tense in the Gryphon Wing pack, because of the son of the Beta." He looked at me with such pity. 

"So my mate causes tension?" I clarified. "And you know why?"

"Ah.... No. I didn't want to appear nosy." I laughed at him and Yven managed to look offended at the accusation for a moment. "Nosier." He corrected.

"Well the reason will come out sure enough. And you should trust me that I'd always put the pack before myself, so don't worry, Yven." He looked at me with a faraway look and snapped out of it after a few seconds. 

"Goddess preserve us, it's like your father never left us." He smiled softly. "By way of an apology for any worries I caused, would you like me to help with the paperwork on transferring you mate's pack, if, or when it comes to that? It's rather more difficult with ranking wolves."

"I haven't spoken to him about it yet, but yes. Thank you." I bowed my head. "Make sure there's pancakes left downstairs, and have Alpha Raphael meet me before he leaves, I can't have him take our head chef before we have a suitable replacement. But I will assure him that we bless the blossoming bond between our packs, and that I and Beta Wesley will personally escort his future Luna across the territories when she can be released."

Yven bowed his head in return. "Yes, my Alpha."

Duty started early every day. I was thankful that for the most part, we were on the same page here at Bright Phoenix.

***

[Leon's POV]

"So..." Marwan ran a hand over his braids, grinning widely. "Damn."

"Yeah."

"Are we telling Rachel yet?" I appreciated that he asked, though I quite honestly expected that he'd been linking her while we talked. "I don't have to yet. But sooner rather than later, you know."

"Can we wait then?"

"Sure, man. She's going to be upset there's not a Beta Ceremony to plan, but I think the alternative will make her happy." He smiled mischievously. "Get much sleep then?"

I didn't answer him, instead shooting him a pointed glance at the guest bed I'd woken up in. 

He held his hands up in mock surrender, "Fine. Don't tell me. I'm getting breakfast. I'll tell Rachel you wanted to know something about... shit."

"You forgot your phone." I helpfully lied for him. He couldn't lie to her with any grace. If I wasn't around in any future, he was going to have to learn.

"Yes. That was it. I owe you." To remind himself he pulled his phone out of his pocket and jogged out the room and around the corner. 

I took a deep breath, I could go down, get breakfast, ask the Gamma or Beta for her mobile number seeing as the Alpha would be busy today, when honey and cinnamon caught my attention. I looked down the hall and my heart hit my sternum. While the Alpha of Midnight Desert was a few strides ahead of her, and flanked by his Beta, I could see her all the same. 

Our eyes met and I forgot to move. How had the swarthy Alpha managed to form a coherent sentence when faced with his mate? I was in shambles. "Feeling unwell?" She smiled cordially at me. "You're looking rather rough Beta Leon."

"I didn't sleep well." It was the truth at least. 

"That's terrible. Is there anything I could do to help?" She waited until the other two wolves were starting down the stairs before moving closer to me, dropping her voice to a whisper. "I wanted to talk to you properly."

"What about?"

"Can I come in? No pressure, I remember what you said." If she was holding back like I was, she was a far better actor than I ever could be. Moon Goddess spare me. 

I nodded and stood aside. I noted she was about half a head shorter than me, and dressed in a black turtleneck shirt that clung to her body and a red knee length skirt in the same style. 

Iodine sat herself by the window, she held her hands on her lap, with a tighter grip than was necessary given how relaxed the rest of her body language was. I sat myself on the end of the unmade bed, I couldn't trust myself to not sweep over and pull her into my arms. 

It was confusing. I didn't feel ready at all. I wasn't. But I wanted to be, I wanted to do most, if not all of the things that a ready wolf right to. She cleared her throat and I quit my staring. "Yes?"

"How about we just talk? Did you enjoy yourself last night?" I nodded at her. "You didn't sleep well, was the bed not comfortable?"

I wanted to say - " I couldn't stop thinking about you." instead, I said "It was fine." 

The longer she looked at me, as if hoping I might extrapolate on the point, the more I wanted to show her what thoughts had been racing through my head. 

Ask her why she seemed relieved that we weren't ready. If we can't speak, then we can at least listen.  My wolf knew how much I struggled with talking at the best of times, it was nice to have a friend in your side. He'd be desperate to go for a run as soon as we hit Gryphon Wing lands, and I think he deserved it after the weekend.

"Last night. You were relieved I didn't want to rush into... business." 

She bit her bottom lip and smiled gently. Her eyes raked over me. "Personally, I want to know whoever I fall into bed with. Fated mate or not. The Moon Goddess gives us the free will to accept or reject, but what's wrong with waiting? We're supposed to have a whole life together, I don't see the point in rushing."

I smiled back at her. "Can I get that in writing?"

Her laughter was like music to my ears. "Would you like to know something though?" I tilted my head slightly and nodded. "I didn't think it would be this difficult."

I swallowed roughly, it would be easy to cross the room in a few strides and capture those lips with my own. I felt like a coiled spring. "You're telling me."

"You know what I want to try doing?" I couldn't help but immediately think of the many ways that statement might end that ended with far fewer clothes on. She caught that and bit her bottom lip again. "Well, other than that sort of thing. I'd like to go on a date, around humans. Pretend that there's no such thing as fated mates, that I could go about this like most people in the world."

"Like in movies." I added. She nodded encouragingly. "We could go to a cinema?"

"It's a date then. I should give you my number and we can arrange it later." She pulled a slimline, ancient flip phone out of a pocket she was half sitting on. I was mildly shocked at that, because I expected that she'd at least have a smartphone. Iodine noticed my attention to it, "I don't have time to use it like anything other than a phone."

She passed it to me, having already tapped out a new contact for me, having left the number empty. I carefully pressed the physical buttons, which shouldn't have felt so odd, and pressed the call button so that I could quickly have her number myself. My phone vibrated loudly in my pocket and I ended the call before it went to voicemail. "Uh, I prefer texts."

"Me too. I'm not always able to talk, though if you are of a mind, evenings would be better." I handed the phone back to her. 

With that, I checked outside the room and gave her the all clear to leave without being noticed. "Thank you. For... not making me feel ridiculous." I whispered just loud enough for her to hear. 

In a flash, she leaned up onto her toes and pressed a quick, chaste kiss on my cheek. Even the brief touch of her lips felt like a firework. As she moved away I trapped her into the doorjamb, only stopping myself when I poured a mental bucket of ice water over myself. 

Her breath caught in her throat and she glanced expectantly up through her eyelashes. "Finish what you start next time." She grinned impishly, giving me a wink, and slipped gracefully out of my arms. It was going to be a very long drive home.