My mate and my gift

Chapter nineteen: Mira

I had woken up in an empty bed, in an empty room. Matthew must have been gone for a while because the bed was cold. I had buried my head in his pillow, filling my nose and lungs with his scent, before taking a shower and heading down for some lunch. I could not believe I had been sleeping till past 11.

Now I was sitting in my own room with a canned soda, working on the last song for my album. Sascha had asked me to join her cooking class, but I had declined, excusing myself with being too full to cook. Truth was, I had hummed a melody to Matthew last night and it was still stuck in my head. It made the basis for my new track.

The hours passed in a hurry and I was just about to press the replay button to review my song when a sharp pain shot up my leg. I grabbed my thigh and fell off the chair. I pulled my knee to my chest, grinding my teeth in pain. Where was this pain coming from? I tried to focus on keeping me breathing even and getting on my feet when a second pain shot out from my neck and I curled up in a ball on the floor, whining. I started to panic. What was happening to me? The pain lasted for a few minutes and went away as suddenly as it had come. I lay on the floor, paralyzed for a moment.

I sat up and pulled my pants down, looking at my thigh where the pain had started. I could barely make out a small mark. I pressed down on it, but it didn’t hurt.

I got up and walked to the bathroom, turned around and looked at my neck in the mirror. Sure enough, a similar mark could be seen right underneath above my shoulder.

I ran out my room and pounded on Roxy’s door, shouting for her to open. I couldn’t conceal the panic in my voice.

Roxy flung the door open, half her hair tied up in a sideways ponytail. The other half she was still grabbing with her hand. “What?!” she said out of breath.

“This!” I said and pointed to the small mark on my neck. She squinted to see better and looked at me confused. “What is it?” she asked, almost annoyed.

I told her about the sudden pain in those places and how it had suddenly disappeared again.

She grabbed my hands and we ran to the alpha residence. On the way there, she had called Sascha and asked her to meet us there.

At the alpha residence, Diana was looking at the marks on my body. She frowned and looked at her mate.

“It has been a long time since I last saw this type of mark” she said, and I could detect concern in her voice.

“What is it?” Sascha asked. Diana looked at me with sad eyes.

“It is a mark you get on your body, when your mate is hurt with a weapon of silver”

My hands covered my mouth to prevent me from screaming.

“They look like puncture wounds” Roxy pointed out.

“My dear, are you mated?” Diana asked me, her voice gentle and beckoning.

I nodded and tears blurred my vision.

“It’s Matthew” Roxy explained.

Alpha Adal got up from his chair. “He is on patrol right now” he said and walked into his office.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Diana asked, still with no trace of anger.

“It’s still very new to us… to me…” I managed to whisper through sobs.

Roxy and Sascha explained how I had been avoiding Matthew after we found each other, and had tried to deny the bond, but had finally given in a couple of days ago.

Diana nodded and gave me a sympathetic smile.

A few minutes later I was sitting with a cup of tea in their kitchen when someone burst open the door. Two guys were helping Colin get inside. Alpha Adal came out of his office and guided them to the living room, where Colin was laid down on one of the couches.

He was covered in blood and had two big wounds on his collar and shoulder. His breathing was troubled, and he winced whenever he moved. Diana came in with a first-aid kit and ordered Sascha to go get towels, a bucket and water. Roxy went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

I was standing frozen in the spot, looking at Colin. If he looked like that, then I didn’t want to imagine what shape Matthew must be in.

Colin’s eyes met mine and his face confirmed my worst fear. Matthew was gone. I dropped to my knees and cried my eyes out. The pain in my heart was worse than any physical pain I had ever felt before.

Roxy and Sascha kneeled beside me and both wrapped their arms around me. Roxy was also crying.

Diana kneeled in front of me and took my face in her hands. “Dear child” she began, “before we give up hope, there is something you must do.”

I sniffed and nodded, hanging on the word “hope”

“Close your eyes and think of your mate. Only him.” Like I had been doing anything else for the past two days? I looked skeptical.

“Take a deep breath and see him before you.” She guided me, and I did as she said. I closed my eyes and pictured Matthew standing in front of me. He gave me that sly smile that made me knees go weak and nuzzled my ear with his nose. I felt myself smile despite the situation.

“Good.” I heard Diana say “Now, feel deep inside of you. Do you feel that pull towards him?” I tried to remember that feeling of being pulled towards him, even when we were far away.

There! It was faint, but it was there. I nodded, slowly at first but as I opened my eyes and looked at Diana, I was nodding my head vigorously. Diana smiled and stood up.

“He’s alive.” She stated. I allowed myself to believe her. She turned to Colin, who was now covered in bandages and breathing with more ease.

“Tell us what happened” alpha Adal said to him.

When Colin was done relaying, what had happened in the woods, my heart was racing, and I was both scared and furious.

A man stormed inside the house and I recognized him as the beta, Derek. Matthew’s father.

“Where is he?” he hollered, “Where is my son?” Alpha Adal took him by the shoulders and led him to the unoccupied couch, recapping what Colin had just told us.

His eyes shot to our small group sitting on the floor. “Who are you?” he said in a harsh tone “Why are you here?” Alpha Adal was just about to explain when Derek jumped up from the couch and stomped towards us. All three of us scrambled to our feet and took a step back when he stopped in front of us. He pointed a finger at each of us as he said “You have no business here! Get out! This is not something you can gossip about on your silly shopping sprees!”

My temper flared up. “I have just as much right to be here as you have!” I snarled in response.

He glared at me and I had no trouble giving him the very same look.

“Like hell you have! I am his father! Who are you?”

“I am his mate!” I growled.

He jerked his head back in surprise. “His m… he never told me he found his mate.”

He looked at me as if deciding whether I was worthy of his son or not. His gaze settled on mine, and I was still glaring at him. I whistled. “b***h got backbone, gotta give her that” he said.

I would have tackled him to the floor if Sascha hadn’t held me back. He laughed. “Well, at least we can use you to our advantage.” I snarled at him, but he ignored me.

“What does he mean, we can use Mira?” Roxy asked Diana

“The bond between a mated pair is more than just an expression. Once mated, both wolves can actually feel the bond, as a pulling sensation, that lets them know where the other is”

My jaw dropped. So that pull towards Matthew wasn’t just something I imagined.

Alpha Adal got up from the couch and took Diana’s hand. “Now, we know that Matthew is alive, but we don’t know if that will last. I have called the Council to the Event hall and we will discuss further action. Diana, Derek, you two come with me.”

Derek was almost out the door before Adal had finished talking. Before she left, Diana asked the guys who had helped Colin inside, to bring him home.

She turned to us and asked that we wait for further instructions – me especially.

I argued that I should be in the meeting, but she said I was too close to this.

We were all sitting in Sascha’s room. Vic had joined us and Sascha had told him what had happened.

“The Shadow pack has basically just declared war on us” his voice broke the silence.

It had been hours since the Council had gathered in the Event hall, and still no word from them.

My wrists were stinging, and I was gently rubbing them. They had taken on a dark hue like the marks left by the puncture wounds.

“Mira, what is wrong?” Sascha said and grabbed my hands before I could hide them. They all gasped in surprise and I bit the inside of my cheek.

“Is that…” Roxy began, but never finished. Tears filled her eyes and she was pressing her wobbling lips together, to prevent herself from crying.

“That’s it!” Sascha said and stood up. “We’ve got to go to the Council and let them know!”

I didn’t move. “Mira!” Sascha barked, urging me to get up.

“What’s the point?!” I shouted, “It’s not going to tell them anything they don’t already know!”

“We can’t just sit here and do nothing!” she shouted back.

I got up and struggled with my temper that was flaring up again. Had I always been this aggressive? I didn’t remember myself as someone who didn’t back down from a fight.

“You know what?” I said coolly, “You are right” Then I stormed out the door and towards my own room.

Only, I wasn’t going to my own room. Once I reached the stairs, I hurried down and out the front door.

I walked along the brick wall of the mansion, behind the benches and bushes, until I reached the back of the mansion.

I shifted and bolted for the woods. I reached the edge of the forest where we normally start our patrols when I heard someone call out to me. I turned to see two wolves running after me. I snarled when they got close. I was not going to let them take me back. Roxy trotted up to me and nuzzled me with her nose. “We’re not going to stop you” she said, “We’re here to help you”. Behind her Vic was rolling his tongue out of his mouth.

“What about Sascha?” I asked, suddenly slightly worried what the implication was that she wasn’t here.

“She’s going to talk to the Council, tell them our plan.” Vic explained

“Our plan? What is our plan?” I asked

“Whatever you’re going to do. We’re just going to tell them that we had to improvise” Vic said, and I could see a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

Roxy nudged me with her head, and we took off again.