Mythical Mates

Nine

“Cora!” Brie screamed. She didn’t respond, nor did her feet stop kicking. “Cora, stop! We have to go back!” Why wasn’t she listening? “I’m sorry Brie, but I can’t do that.” Cora replied. Angry, Brie used all of her willpower and forced Cora to the back seat. Cora growled in the back of her mind. “Give me back control.” Brie ignored her, turning around. “Brie, please don’t do this.” Brie fought as Cora would momentarily regain control. “Why not? Why are you fighting me? We both want to save him, he’s our mate, isn’t he?” Cora grew silent. Brie was growing tired of her ignoring her. She paused when she heard distant growling. Her ears perked up to listen. A familiar cry rang through the trees. “s**t! Angie!” She ran, following the sound of her voice. The area was starting to look a bit more familiar. She must be close to the border. In the distance, she could see Angela as she fought with an enormous gray wolf.

Angela pawed the wolf with her claws. The wolf howled and lunged at her with his sharp canines. She dodged and kicked at his head with her back legs. While he was stunned, she tackled him to the ground, growling furiously as they wrestled. She couldn’t get a clear view of his neck. Her eyes widened as she saw another wolf pouncing on her. Its mouth agape aiming for her neck. She didn’t have enough time to move. She flinched as Brie threw her body into the incoming wolf. There was a loud c***k as the wolf’s head was slammed into a rock. Angie looked back at the wolf writhing beneath her. He tried to bite her, but she reared up on her back legs and slammed down on his chest. The wolf howled out in pain, whimpering. Angela did it again, hearing the sickening sound of his ribs breaking.

“Angie! Behind you!”

Angela turned as two black wolves charged for her. Brie ran to catch up, but she wasn’t fast enough. Her heart raced as she watched the wolves charge at her. She’d used up too much energy. All they had to do was bite her and she’d be finished. Was this the end? A bang rang through their ears, making them whine and crouch down. When she looked up, one of the wolves was crawling on the ground, whining as a deep pool of blood soaked through its coat. The other wolf turned toward the sound, but was shot in the head. It dropped to the ground, dead. Both girls froze, too shocked to react. The leaves rustled as someone made their way through the bushes. Angela’s heart skipped a beat. “Daddy?!”

“Angie?” Charley rushed to his daughter as she shifted back to human. She tripped and fell into his arms. “Oh Goddess, I’ve been looking all over for you. Are you okay?” he examined her and winced seeing the cuts and a deep gash on her leg. “Did you get-”

“No! I got this when I was running. There are a lot of sharp rocks and trees around here.”

“Charley?” Brie called, still in wolf form. She slowly made her way over.

“Aw, Brie, thank the stars you’re alright. We’ve been up for days looking for you two. Where did you go?”

Brie glanced at Angela. Angela turned away, staying quiet. “We found a cave outside the border. We were hiding until it was safe.”

“But it’s been days. Why didn’t you come back?”

“Brielle made a risky mistake and got hurt.” Angela interrupted. “We were exhausted, so we stayed away until she was well enough to travel.”

“Be that as it may, you should have commed someone. We thought you two had been turned.”

“By we, do you mean my parents?” Brie asked hopefully. “Are they alright? Is my dad okay?” It was brief, but she noticed a slight hesitation. “He’s not…one of them is he?”

“No, no, he’s fine. Though he did suffer a great deal of damage. He isn’t as sturdy as he used to be. But rest assured, he is recovering graciously.” he held onto Angie. “Can you carry her on your back?”

“What?!” Angela exclaimed, pushing Charley away. “I can walk fine, I don’t need her.”

Brie scoffed. “Fine by me. I don’t have the energy to lug you around anyway.”

“Goddess, are you two still at each other’s throats?” Charley asked, “You’d think after all the time you’ve spent together, you’d have learned to get along.” Both girls turned away. Charley removed his clothes and shifted. “Hop on, Angie. Let’s get you two home.”

As they made their way out of the forest, Brie took a deep breath of familiar air. It was cloudy and humid, but she felt calmer being home. As they made their way to the packhouse, Brie couldn’t help looking around for signs of the chaos that took place a few days prior. Some of the sidewalks were still stained with blood. “Shouldn’t the entrance to the forest be boarded off? What if those rogues come back?” she asked, seeing how everyone was still walking around as though nothing had happened.

“Don’t you worry about them. You’re daddy set up a system while you were away. Ain't no rogues gonna be crossing over into our territory.”

“What kind of system?”

“He made a deal with some wayward witches. Placed a barrier around the pack area. At least our people will be safe.”

“Witches?!” Brie exclaimed. “Is that even safe?! Why would he do something so risky? How do we know if they can even be trusted?” she noticed Angela stealing glances at her. She expected her to be just as dumbfounded, but she wasn’t. In fact, she looked a little uneasy.

“Hey, don’t you worry about that. That’s alpha business. I’ve known your daddy for a long time. He ain't the type of man that’ll do something that would put his pack in danger.” Brie stopped walking.

“I am an alpha. At least I will be when daddy steps down. And as the future alpha of this pack, I deserve to know.” They held eye contact for a while before his mouth turned up in a grin.

“Yeah, that’s for sure. I can see the dominance radiating off of you. Too bad it ain't enough to force me to obey just yet. Look, if you’re so curious, how about you ask your pops when ya see him? That okay with you, Ms. Alpha?” he chuckled and continued walking. Brie frowned but gradually followed. The gate to the pack house opened and they stepped inside. The guards stood alert as they usually did. Charley nodded at them as they headed toward the infirmary.

Brie looked around. It was awfully quiet today. Usually the packhouse grounds were swarming with people rushing in and out, heading for class or goofing off. After the traumatizing ordeal a few days ago, she would have loved to see things return to normal. At least then she could try to convince herself it was all a bad dream. “What about Everet? Is he still…out of it?” Angela slid off Charley’s back and rummaged for a pair of pants in the clothing bin.

“We don’t exactly know what it was that got everyone all amped up, but with a few days of treatment, most of them do seem to be recovering.”

“B-But when I talked to the doctor, he said that a lot of the people who were infected were…dying.” Charley shrugged.

“Who knows what really happened? Those lousy doctors say anything to keep you hospitalized and pumped with drugs. It’s how they make their dough. For all we know, those bastards likely died from some other disease. With you kids going, who knows where, doing, who knows what, who knows what type of ailments are spreading around this place. Ain’t like many of you use condoms.”

“But us wolves aren’t septic to human viruses. If whatever it is, is actually affecting our kind, then it should be treated as a big deal and should be looked into." She looked at Angela. “Back me up here, Angie.” Angela turned away and continued getting dressed. Charley opened his mouth to speak, but smiled as someone approached.

“Ah! Doctor Esan, good timing.” Charley greeted the doctor with a friendly shoulder grab. “Would you be so kind as to ease our young alpha’s worries? She’s concerned about the well being of our pack regarding this ‘virus.’ I told her it was nothing to worry about. Surely nothing to get so hysterical about.” The doctor turned to her.

“There is nothing to worry about,” he said plainly. “All patients infected are gradually recovering.”

“But, doc, what about the s**t you said last time? What about the…the brain s**t? Those parasite-like things.” she searched his face, pleading for a legitimate answer. It unnerved her how unbothered he was. Dr.Esan was a brilliant doctor, therefore the pack always kept him busy. She was used to seeing him tense and tired. Considering all that'd happened, she hadn’t expected him to be so calm.

“After thorough examination, I’ve come to the conclusion that Everett’s behavior was not due to a virus, but a stroke.”

“A stroke?! How would that even happen? He’s 19!”

“Although It is uncommon for most people under 65 to have a stroke, it is very possible. Considering the physics of werewolves, the stroke was likely due to blood blockage to the prefrontal cortex during transformation or caused by his head injury.”

Brie was fuming now. She marched up to him. “Esan, are you really going to stand there and tell me all the s**t that’s happened was due to a f*****g stroke? Are you kidding? What about the people in black, the eyes, t-the biting and feral behavior?”

She was so angry she wanted to punch him, but she couldn't. Up until now, Esan had always been kind and honest with her. Why was he lying to her now? “And if it was just a stroke, why would you shoot those wolves back in the forest? Wouldn’t it have been better to contain them?”

“They were trying to kill you. I couldn’t let that happen.” Charley countered.

“Though it isn’t an immediate life threatening condition, those who are bitten may develop an abnormality that deforms the brain during transformation resulting in the stroke.” Dr. Esan added.

Brie huffed, almost laughing. It took everything in her to force her anger down. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. “You know what? Forget it. I’ll just go talk to my dad. He’ll tell me what’s really going on.” Brie turned to Angela, a scowl on her face. “For someone who had so much to say about my pack, your silence speaks wonders about who you’re really looking out for.” With that, she stormed off.

Charley scoffed. “Teenagers, sheesh!” he patted Dr. Esan on the back and the doctor turned to leave. When he looked at Angela, she was staring at him. “Now I see first hand what you’ve been forced to deal with.” he retrieved his clothes and pulled his shirt over his head.

“When you said Izacc made a deal with some wayward witches, did you mean…”

“That does not concern you, girly. Everything’s being handled.” She didn’t look very convinced.

“Don’t you think you’re being a little careless?” she asked. He stopped smiling, his face growing serious.

“What’s with you? Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course, I’m just worried about the pack. And listening to Brie-” he stepped closer to her, grabbing onto her shoulders.

“Since when did you start listening to Brie? Y'all friends now?” his grip tightened. “You two had a little heart to heart in that cave? Got you questioning yo blood now? Don’t you understand we’re all each other has left? Don’t let that girl manipulate you into forgetting that. We may be a part of this pack, but don’t mistake who your real family is.”

Angela stared up at him. She gripped one of his arms, and pushed it away. “I haven’t forgotten. I just hope you hadn’t either.” Charley stared into her eyes, then grinned.

“Why don’t you go get yourself checked out and get cleaned? You smell like roadkill.” he stepped into his pants and headed inside the packhouse, leaving her to her thoughts.

Brie stormed through the house. She couldn’t believe Charley. He’d always been pretty nonchalant, but not when it came to pack safety. Why was he being so vague? Did he really not trust her or was there another reason? And what was wrong with Angela? A few hours ago, she was barking her ear off with all her righteous melodrama, but the second Charley appeared she’d gone quiet. Was she afraid to speak out of turn with him? Considering how unbothered she was talking back to their Alpha, it didn’t make sense that she would fear Charley more? That is, unless they were both keeping something from her. She grumbled. “Cora, would you please stop that pacing? You're making me more pissed.” “I can’t, I’m worried about our mate.” Cora said back. “Oh,so NOW you wanna be worried? Where was this an hour ago when I wanted to go back and help him?” Cora went silent. She threw her arms in the air. “And then you keep ignoring me! What the f**k? I thought we were supposed to be partners, yet it seems like you keep going against me.” Cora whimpered in the back of her mind. “You don’t understand.” “Then MAKE me understand. Talk to me.” she waited, but silence only followed. “Screw you Cora. If this is how you wanna be, then don’t talk to me for the rest of the day.” she pushed Cora to the farthest corner of her mind. She didn’t fight it, which only made her more upset. She went to her father’s office and knocked. No answer. She went to the floor he shared with her mother. No one was there except the guards who wandered the building. “I’m looking for my father. Do either of you know where he is?” The guards looked at each other and it gave her a bad taste in her mouth.

“Alpha Izacc is being hospitalized in the medical ward.” One of them said.

Brie facepalmed herself. She’d forgotten that Charley had told her that. She thanked them and headed back down to the main floor. She gasped when she saw Hailey making her way out of the library. She was so happy to see her, she ran and wrapped her arms around her neck. She was happy to see she had been unharmed in all the madness. Hailey dropped the books she was carrying. “Oops, sorry!” Brie said quickly, kneeling down to gather them back up. “I was just so happy to see you. How do you feel?” when she rose, she looked into Hailey's face. The dark circles around her eyes had grown deeper since the last time they’d spoken. “Hails..are you okay? You don’t look so good.” Hailey met her eyes and put on a smile.

“I’m fine, just a little tired is all. I have a lot of homework to catch up on.” she tried to brush past her, but Brie grabbed her arms.

“To hell with homework, you look like you’re dying. You’re so thin now. Have you not been eating?” Hailey didn’t respond, but held her smile.

“I’m glad to see that you’ve returned okay. I was worried.”

Brie sighed and touched her face. Her normally soft skin was rough and oily. She held the books away as she reached for them. “I’m confiscating these,” she told her. Hailey’s smile twitched. “As your future Alpha, I order you to go get some rest. You’re killing yourself like this and I will not permit you to die over a few lousy classes. What would Everet say?” She noticed Hiley’s eyes grew distant. “Have you…spoken to him lately?” Hailey looked up and Brie could have sworn there were tears in her eyes. She backed away.

“I should go get some sleep. Welcome back, again.” Without another word, Hailey trotted off and out of the building.

Brie frowned. Was she behaving this way because of Everet? Was his condition worse than the doctor had told her? She placed the books in a closet so Hailey wouldn’t come back for them and hurried off to the infirmary.