You Have Always Been Mine

Chapter 12 - Make me part 1

Ginny frowns. “What did you say? I can’t hear you from up here if you whisper like that.”

Okay, maybe this is not the best way nor time to broach the delicate subject.

He sighs. “I said I trust you to keep my secret.”

“Oh…” she hesitates, biting her lip. “Well, of course, if I really have to.”

“You must. I’m asking you. Please don’t give them another reason to torment me. It’s not going to be for long now anyway, but I won’t be able to tap into the pack’s mindlink until I’m of age so it’s going to be difficult to explain without telling everyone about the Moon Goddess’s visit.“

“Yeah,” Ginny huffs. “I guess so.”

They remain in silence for a bit until she clears her throat. “I better go in now or I’ll wake up late. I really can’t miss Biology tomorrow—”

“Oh yes, of course. Good night, Ginny.”

“Night, Max. Night, Mr. Wolf,” she smiles and turns to go but turns back as she’s about to step inside her room. “Ahm, Max?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad you have a wolf now. And that you told me about it. Before everyone else, I mean. That means a lot to me.”

His eyes soften and he smiles back at her. “Goodnight, Ginny. Sweet dreams.”

She waves at him and runs to her room.

Max stays in his spot until she has turned off the light before heading back home.

The next morning, though, Alpha Timothy pulls him from “Ginny Duty” to help out at the western side of the territory, where an emergency situation forced all able-bodied men to work together to find a temporary fix for the crack in a perimeter wall that holds most of the powerful river’s raging current away from the crops. A rogue attack at a neighboring pack destroyed a dam nearby that released too much water, adding to the already abundant waterflow. Things snowballed somehow, affecting more than three other packs in the area.

Luna Grace is driving Ginny to school instead while Max is working with the other men. Max’s mother Lettie will be the one picking her up if the work at the river wall is not yet done by the end of the day.

The job takes more than a whole week to finally be over, as more damages arise that need fixing. Max doesn’t see Ginny until a week later, too exhausted with the manual labor to do more than stand in the garden to look at her dark room and the empty balcony. The rogue attacks in the area made everyone wary, so Alpha Timothy and Luna Grace sent Ginny and her brother to a safe house near a human city for some time, just until everything was fixed and every warrior pulled out of their posts could return to their own duties and protect the territory again.

The relief of seeing Ginny again after almost two weeks nearly brings Max to his knees and it takes all his willpower not to run and gather her in his arms for a bone-crashing embrace. Everyone had gathered for dinner at the packhouse and he’s back sitting with the other staff while she, of course, is with her family at the alpha’s table.

She looks beautiful as always and his wolf whimpers with longing.

‘Yeah, same here, buddy.’

Later that night, he waits in the garden below her balcony, hoping to talk to her, but she comes back to her room late and doesn’t step out for a bit of fresh air. She must have been very tired from her trip because only a few minutes later, she turns off the light and appears to have gone to bed already.

He considers sending her a message but that seems awfully forward and counterproductive since she needs to wake up early the next day for school.

‘We’ll see her tomorrow,’ he tells his wolf. ‘Let’s just leave her to rest tonight.’

Max comes to pick her up early the next morning, but Luna Grace comes to the door instead, telling him that she will be driving Ginny to school since she needs to talk to the Principal anyway. He will resume his duties after school.

With heavy feet, Max turns away and goes ahead, to his own class, feeling too distracted to focus. It’s really hard to, with his wolf silently pining for their mate’s company, in addition to his own. He finds it rather disconcerting, dealing with two emotions at once, even though technically, they are two halves of the same whole.

Max is out the door before the bell even finishes ringing.

“Oh, hey, Max!” Ginny waves at him. “You’re early. I’ll be right there, just give me a few minutes, will you? I miss my girls.”

He almost growls with frustration, but nods and says nothing, waiting in his usual spot, several cars away from where their cars are parked. The group is loud and obnoxious as always and Max tunes them out, only keeping his eyes on Ginny. He doesn’t really get why she seems so fond of them; they really aren’t very nice. Ten minutes later, they finally let Ginny go, teasing her about a storm brewing in the horizon. Max knows they are talking about him, his expression getting darker by the minute.

He says nothing as he opens the door for her. He stays silent while driving, desperately trying to keep it together as her scent saturates the air inside the car. Goddess, he misses her so much but she doesn’t seem affected at all.

“Are you okay, Max?” she asks, frowning. “Are you mad at me?”

His grip on the wheels tighten as he feels his control snapping.

“I’m sorry I stayed longer but I did ask you for a few minutes. Are you late for something? I’ll talk to Dad if—”

Max pulls over to the side of the road.

“What—?”

“I missed you. Didn't you miss me at all?”