The Lost Goddess, A War On Mates

Chapter10

I was beginning to worry about Aeris. She still has not woken up and it has been four days already. We had requested special permission from the Alpha to not go to winter training as to take care of her and he begrudgingly approved it. All three of us sighed out in relief when he approved it. We have kept watch over he nonstop since that day. Basil had finally finished setting up all our phones as well for when she was awake. I hope she liked the gift. It would always keep us in contact. It would put me at ease knowing she could reach me, especially now after what we saw was happening to her body. I cringed at the memory of cleaning her and putting her to bed. None of us know what to do anymore though on leaving at eighteen. With the way the pack is treating her and how Lucas is going overboard it is unsafe to wait another three years. Heading back towards my room I notice Lucas is walking in front of me. He is about 20 feet ahead. Scrunching my nose up in disgust I watch what he is doing. We are quickly approaching my door and he stops in front of it. He looks conflicted, ’Good, feel some regret bastard.’ He runs his hands through his hair and puffs out a breath. He knocks. No one answers so I walk up.

“Do you need something, Alpha” I spat venom on his title.

“Oh, um, I just wanted to know if you had seen Aeris after the other day…she is not in the pack hospital, and I cannot seem to find her anywhere. I figured you two are close?” He clenched his teeth when mentioning how close we were. Jake thought hard about what to say. Something felt off.

“What could you possible want with her, you beat her to the brink of death Lucas.” He went wide eyed at that and started to ramble.

“I did not mean to do that I was angry and hurt. I, I, I can fix this! Please I cannot have her hating me! Do you know where she is?” He kept rambling nonsense and I watched his body language. He seemed more stressed and even scared she could have died. Suddenly Jake’s eyes widened, and he had a humorless smile.

Interrupting Lucas, “No f*****g way, you love her…” Lucas stopped and stiffened at that. Jake was right. His eyes narrowed. “You have a sick way of getting a girls affections Lucas. I would not say any woman I have met threw themselves at abusive assholes. I will make something extremely clear. Even if somehow by a miracle of her good heart she did not despise you after this, I would keep her from you for her own safety because pricks like you do not change. Plus, she is not your mate and will not be used for simple s*x to you until you find a mate. Do I make myself clear, little Alpha?” Jake was seething and Lucas could not keep up with his own feelings. He nodded and ran off without realizing Aeris was behind Jake’s bedroom door.

Letting out a huge sigh of relief everything made more sense now. Why Lucas always beat her worse than anyone. He wanted to stop his feelings. ‘i***t, that is not how emotions work.’ I thought to myself. Walking into my room I lock the door behind me and look to the bed. She still laid in the middle of the bed resting. Jake climbed in and held her to his chest. She needed to wake up soon. His anxiety was shooting through the roof at the idea of her never waking up. Nuzzling into her neck he heard the tiniest groan. He stilled himself and hitched his breath. His heart was hammering out of his chest as he gently pulled away from Aeris. She has her nose scrunched and her eyes were shut tight.

“Hey, little love are you waking up?” He mumbled to her and moved hair out of her face. Groaning again her hands slowly came to her face and rubbed her eyes. Tears welled in Jake’s eyes out of happiness. She opened her eyes, and they were glowing along with her hair.

“Woah, that’s new…” he whispered and stared into her eyes. He could not look away it felt like she was peering into his soul to see his every right and wrong. After a few minutes she took his face then leaned in. Brushing her lips near his she whispers, “I missed you, Jake. I missed Basil and Adrian too.” He nodded slightly transfixed on her lips. She reached behind him and ran her hands through his hair and pulled him into her mouth. It was sweet and slow. Their lips move in sync, and she gently nipped his bottom lip. The kiss went on until they needed breath. With slight pants she moved her hands from his hair to his cheeks, she pulls away and leans their foreheads together.

“Thank you for saving me, Jake.” She smiled and he melted. He pulled her into a hug and nestled himself into her neck. Cuddling her until Adrian and Basil arrived.

“Aeris you are awake!” Adrian yelled and ran to the bed. Aeris pulled away from Jake with her eyes and hair still glowing and he jumped back. She looked at him shocked and saddened looking down.

“Thank goddess Aeris, we thought you would never wake up.” Basil dove in for a hug. When he started to pull away, he looked into her eyes and just like Jake he could not look away. Aeris shifted to her knees and reached up and pulled Basil in for a kiss. It was just as sweet and endearing as the kiss with Jake, but she opened her mouth and flicked his tongue every once and a while. She nibbled on his bottom lip and sucked on it slowly running her tongue across it. She pulled away from Basil who now looked hazily at her with swollen lips.

“Thank you for caring for me, Basil.” She whispered breathily caressing his cheek. He nodded unable to speak.

She looked to Adrian who was a few feet away. He refused to look at her and so she stood up on weak legs.

“Adrian, did I do something wrong?” she reached out, and he looked up at her pleading eyes. They were even more stunning. He fell into a trance as well. He walked to her and held her waist. He leaned down and kissed her hesitantly. She gently pulled him closer by his hair and licked his bottom lip. He opened his mouth, and they danced a slow and sensual battle between tongues. She gently nipped his bottom lip and pulled away.

“Thank you, Adrian, for supporting me.”  Smiling at the three boys she yawned and laid back down into the bed leaving three confused boys in her wake.

Looking at each other as Aeris’ hair and eyes stopped glowing as she laid down, the guys seemed confused.

Mumbling Adrian starts,” What the hell did we just do!?”

“I mean I liked the kiss. I am unsure why we all got a kiss though?” Jake shrugged and seemed nonchalant.

Basil still seemed hazy, “She was even more stunning, did you see her eyes!” Both Adrian and Jake rolled their eyes at Basil.

“I just think this is a bit wrong. We are all twenty and she is fifteen. Obviously, something is happening to her too. People do not just start glowing…” Adrian started to pace.

Jake nodded, “I agree something is going on, but we did nothing wrong it was one kiss that she initiated. It also did not seem to mean anything s****l to her. She thanked each of us. Maybe this is a part of her development from her species?”

Adrian stopped pacing and looked interested,” Then does that mean she will start just glowing randomly or did we trigger something? Also, we really need to figure out what exactly she is before something we cannot stop happens.”

Basil looked shocked,” What could happen that we could not help with.”

Adrian rolled his eyes, “We have no idea what she is. She could come into extreme power or shift into a creature. For all we know she is a dangerous weapon waiting to develop or she needs special care during certain portions of her life that could be life threatening if she is not cared for properly.” Jake sat listening and nodded at all the information being tossed around.

“Okay, we will just start doing some research into what we know. She has piercing red eyes but is not a vampire and glowing hair. That narrows it a bit. We need to come up with a plan to leave this pack. It is a danger. Oh, we need to watch Lucas closely. He is in love with her, in his own sick way, he is trying to woo her. I doubt it will work but I do not want her hurt again to the extent of the other day.” Adrian and Basil nodded scowling at the mention of Lucas. Each boy climbed into bed after using the bathroom and getting ready. It had started to become a habit for all four of them to sleep together. Each gave Aeris a kiss on the cheek and then went to sleep.

Three weeks later Aeris was finally starting to look healthy again. She only put on five pounds from the boy’s force feeding her, but it was enough to notice a difference. Her hair and eyes did not glow again after that day. In fact, when the boys asked Aeris about why her eyes glowed, she had no idea they had glowed. Nor did she remember kissing them. The boys looked at each other shocked and confused but went on about life like it never happened. Deep in each of their hearts something new was planted for Aeris though. Aeris was able to rest during the whole winter break thanks to Jake telling the Alpha that she was still recovering.  When the new year rolled around Aeris was bored and ready to go back to school.

Getting up that morning I went down to the kitchen to see Fran cooking.

“Oh Aeris, I hope you are feeling better dear?” She smiled at me, and I sat on a bar stool.

“I feel okay, not great though. I am in a lot of pain.” I semi-smiled and laid my head down.

“Why are you in pain?” Sitting straight up I saw Lucas looking at me with concern. I had to blink and rub my eyes to make sure he was real.

“Um, you fractured some of my ribs and broke one…” I mumbled looking away. I saw his fist clench tight. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. When nothing happened, I looked up to see he was trying to say something. He was clenching his jaw and shifting from foot to foot.

“I am sorry about that; I think we started out on the wrong foot and I could not figure out how to fix it. Would you be able to give me a chance to fix our relationship?” He cringed at his own words. I felt like they were sincere but was terrified of him. I had no trust for him.

“I can try…” He broke into a huge grin at that. ‘Wow he is handsome when he smiles.’ It made me look away and hop off the stool. I felt compelled. Before he could stop me, I waltz right up to him and hugged him. He stiffened and I nuzzled into his chest. He seemed to relax at that and put his arms around me and nuzzled into my neck. We stayed like that for a few minutes when I pulled away smiling. He seemed at ease but sad without the hug. I waved goodbye and headed out the kitchen door to the trail for school.

Fran looked at Lucas with a smirk. Lucas felt dizzy in a good way and noticed Fran smirking, “What is so funny Fran?” He was amused by her and liked her motherly attitude.

“Oh, nothing Lucas, it is just a funny sight to see the next mighty Alpha swooning over an innocent hug from a girl.” She giggled at him turning red. He did not realize he had been that visibly affected. She smelled nice and he did not feel the mate tingles, but he felt at home. It reminded him of how he felt while eating dinner.

Which reminded him he needs to fire whoever was cooking the last few weeks because dinner has become inedible.

Cringing,” Hey Fran, who normally cooks dinner for the pack?”

She raised a brow smiling,” You have no idea?”

Frustrated he sighed, “If I knew I would not need to ask you Fran.”

She laughed, “Well, you just hugged the head cook. She normally cooks for the pack but because she was out healing…” She gave him a glare,” We had a different omega do it who volunteered.”

Lucas paled, “Oh, so how long has she been the head cook?”

Fran smirked and beamed with pride, “Since her first day here. She is amazing really even our elite omega are not as good at cooking and cleaning as she is.” Fran continued to beam about Aeris and how she would make a great wife one day. That had Lucas thinking of marrying her.

His eyes widened, ‘Do I want to marry Aeris…’

‘Yes! Please keep little fire, like little fire lots.’ Adonis came forward bouncing with joy. It irritated me.

‘Oh, so now you show up, stupid mutt…’ I mumbled. ‘She would never trust me enough to marry me Adonis. She barely is willing to give me a chance to fix our relationship into friendship.’

‘Let me fix it, I am great with women!’ Adonis wagged his tail and nodded his head agreeing with himself.

Lucas shrugged and sighed, ‘Fine, you get one chance.’ Adonis beamed at that and pranced around. Lucas ran back upstairs to get ready for his school day. It is another long semester. Arriving to school I pulled up and waited for Aeris to get out of the wooded trail. It took another fifteen minutes before I saw her. She looked tired and frail.

‘Are you sure you should do this Adonis? She looks like she could break…’ Suddenly he pushed forward, and I could feel myself in the back seat just watching him.

‘I go and get little fire to be friend then mine forever.’ He preened excited. I rolled my eyes. He got out of the car and started walking towards her. When she saw him walking towards her, she froze. Adonis smiled and waved making her sigh in relief and relax.

“Hi Lucas, what are you doing out here? You drove right?”  He nodded and quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug. She stiffened but then relaxed as he purred. She wrapped her arms around us and snuggled in. It felt amazing.

Adonis growled out, “We walk together?” nuzzling her neck. She hitched her breath and nodded. He pulled away smiling brightly. “Good, I like being together.” He grabbed her hand and started walking. She blushed at that and followed behind him shyly. Lucas sat back amazed at Adonis. He was such a natural with her. When they walked into the building there were audible gasps from surrounding people. Aeris tried to pull her hand away a few times, but Adonis would just give her hand a squeeze and smile at her.

“We have arrived. See you later?” Adonis stopped in front of her locker and was smiling at her again with such enthusiasm.

Giggling, “Lucas we have most of our classes together. Can I ask you a favor though?” Adonis nodded eagerly, “Can you calm down with all the touching. It is much better than before because it is gentle and nice but…” She shivered at the memory, “I really do not want you touching me and getting the wrong idea. We are working on a friendship.” Adonis whined in our head and nodded sadly at her. She smiled and grabbed her notebooks. She waved and walked away to class. Lucas sighed and went forward, ‘Told you it was not easy!’

Adonis growled, ‘Your fault, she fears touch.’ It hurt Lucas but he could not argue with Adonis. It was completely his fault she was the way she was. Lucas heard the bell ring and started off his day.

Lucas was weird the entire day at school. It made me uncomfortable, but I figured I was not being beaten then it would be okay. He did not take it too far and I went home that night a little less exhausted. It continued like this for weeks. School was enjoyable. I still had loads of work at the pack house but pushed through. Midterms came fast and Lucas and my relationship has become like an acquaintance. I want to trust him, but I really cannot. He looks hurt every time he wants to take me out and I decline. The year floats by like this every day. Lucas pursues, I reject, do normal pack chores, training, schoolwork etc., and then repeat.

The school year ended and during the summertime I spent a lot of time with Adrian working on cars and training. I still was not fed properly but I was getting a bit bigger rations and eating the boys’ leftovers. By the time the school year started I gained another ten pounds. I felt healthier as well.  My new school schedule luckily did not have Lucas in every class. It became overbearing having him push for dates. I would catch him clenching his teeth and fists a lot. He had not hit me once yet, but other pack members still punished me. Most of my body healed up after the incident. Lucas was starting to scare me with his behavior, it seemed like a loose cannon with a lit fuse. School was the same as well, but I still had Mr. Steele for advanced art and coach for gym. I hope the next two years go by smoothly and Lucas can be okay with just being distant friends.