My Mate's Secrets

List of Questions

*Through Oliver's Eyes*

    With the hot water pouring over me, I felt each muscle relax as the drops made their way down to my feet and the floor. Often after training I stood for a few minutes in the hot steam, letting it take away any remaining tightness or strain. 

    And after the last twenty-four hours, I f*****g needed it. 

    It had been days since the Elders visited and I still couldn’t get my parents to talk to me about Salt Creek. Eventually, I had waited for everyone to leave the offices and tried to log into the computer files that logged all the information about pack incidents. But some of the more serious incidents were protected with passwords I didn’t have and I couldn’t find any files that gave me more information than I already had. 

    By the time I had given up with the computers, I realized I was late for May’s party. When I got there, it was well into the night and everyone was hammered. I had done a lap on the first floor to see if there was anyone sober enough to talk to and to find Nick or Ace. The first person I saw was Elliot, but he was slumped over on the couch, looking quite dazed. I asked if he was okay and he was able to respond, so I left him to the pair of girls who sat down on the remaining couch space. 

    I had turned and seen Emily dancing with her friends. I smiled as I watched them lost in their own little world. She was blocked by bodies, but her dress left her shoulders bare and her pale skin stood out among the crowd, as well as her hair, which swayed when she moved to the music. They all looked a bit drunk, but then again, I was very late and this was nothing new for parties in the pack. 

    Next I went to the kitchen, where I was just in time to see Ace and another girl leaving through the back door. I had decided to check the second floor for Nick, and if I couldn’t find them, I’d just leave and apologize to him later. 

    Upstairs I had found most rooms occupied until I ran into May coming out of the bathroom. I wished her a happy birthday and made some small talk, but she was clearly drunk and in the middle of things with Nick so I said goodbye. I thought it was a waste of a night until I made it halfway down the stairs and had run into that i***t holding onto Emily. 

    I slammed my fist into the shower wall as I remembered his gross hands on her. He had made excuses and tried to talk to me like we were friends, all the while Emily was trying to get away from him.

    The last straw had been him raising his voice at me and mentioning that she wasn’t my mate. Odin had hated that. I flexed my hand under the water as I remembered the feeling of my fist colliding with his face. He had fallen backwards down the stairs from the force. Emily was drunker than I had thought and started to fall with him, but I grabbed her before she could. I had stepped over the asshole’s body at the bottom of the stairs and carried her back to the pack house. 

    She had relaxed and snuggled her face into my shoulder as I walked. Passed out, she didn’t say anything until I had gotten her back.

    I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off. Since she was in my bed, I got dressed in my bathroom and stepped out to get her some coffee. 

    To my surprise, she was sitting up in my bed, staring at me with wide eyes as I walked out of my bathroom. I watched as her eyes moved from me, to my wet hair, around my room, down to my green tshirt on her, then back to me. 

    Suddenly she flopped her head down into her hands and let out a long groan. 

    “Oh my Goddess. Oh fuck.” 

    I wanted to laugh but didn’t have the heart to, so I took a seat on the sofa by the window. “Relax Red, nothing happened.” 

    “I’m still embarrassed,” she mumbled into her hands.

    I shrugged even though she wasn’t looking. “What are friends for, eh?” 

    She slowly picked her head up and glanced at the clock by my bed. “I missed training,” she said. 

    “Yep. I told everyone Ruby had told me you were at her house.” 

    “Ugh. Thank you. Uhm… but… why am I in your bed?” she asked, blushing furiously. 

    “Well when I brought you home, you were quite… intoxicated. So I brought you to this floor so your floor wouldn’t notice.” 

    I hoped she wouldn’t ask why I didn’t just put her in a guest room because I didn’t have an answer for her, but she just c****d her head and looked at me. 

    “And my dress?” she asked, plucking at the sleeve of my tshirt. I had to admit, it looked damn good on her, especially with her messy hair falling in long waves over her shoulders. 

    “There was a drink stain on it. And when I brought you in here, you rolled off the bed and threw up in the toilet for a while. When you were done you seemed a bit better so I gave you something else to put on.” 

    She ran her hands over her face and then through her hair. 

    “Oh my Goddess, I am so sorry.” 

    I smiled at the memory of holding her hair and rubbing her back as she puked her guts out. But then I turned serious. I got up and went to sit on the end of my bed. 

    “Em, do you know that guy from last night? Do you remember the end of the party?” 

    She squinted her eyes as she thought hard, and then she sighed and nodded her head. “Yeah, he’s a senior at school. He always flirts with me but he just likes my rank.” 

    “Did he drug you? You can tell me, I won’t tell anyone else, but I need to know, Emily.” Because if he did, I was going to kill him. 

    “No,” she sighed. She leaned back against my headboard, playing with the ends of her hair. “I just drank too much. One too many shots. I realized I was too drunk and was on my way outside when I ran into him.” 

    I mentally swore at myself for not noticing. It had only been about fifteen minutes between when I walked in and when I stormed out with her. 

    “Thank you for not telling my parents. Although my mom is gonna be pissed I ruined the dress, it was new. Oh s**t, my mom’s jacket. I think it’s still at Nick’s. f*****g Eric! He’s the one who spilled the drink on me,” she groaned out in one breath. 

    I made a mental note of his name. 

    “I’m sure she’ll be able to get the stain out and I’ll tell Nick about the jacket. But about this guy, do you want me to do something about him?” 

    “Nah. He’s usually harmless. Just an annoying guy, and next time I won’t be as drunk.” She gave me a small smile. 

    “He better not be involved in a ‘next time’. If he is, I will not be as nice.” 

    She nodded and then c****d her head to the side again. “Did you… punch him?” 

    “That was me being nice,” I said with a grin. 

    She giggled. “Thanks, Olly,” 

    “Anytime,” I said as I reached out to squeeze her hand. But I froze mid-reach. 

    “Get to the hospital right now. Room 1.” 

    Room 1 was the hospital room reserved for Mom or Dad when they were seriously hurt. And since it was Mom’s voice that carried the mindlink, that meant my dad was the one in the hospital bed. 

    “What? What’s wrong?” Emily asked, moving quickly to get out of the bed when she saw my eyes glaze over. 

    “My dad is in hospital,” I stated, still sitting on the bed. I heard the statement come out almost as a question, like I couldn’t believe it. 

    Emily pulled her hair up and quickly put it into a ponytail. Weirdly, I noticed the way the different shades of pink and rose and cinnamon and ruby shined in the sun peeking through the shades.

    “Okay, so, we go to the hospital then,” she said calmly, tossing me the jacket hanging by my door. 

    I moved slowly, and by the time I had shrugged it on and made it to the bottom of the stairs, she was by my side in jeans, boots and a jacket. I hadn’t even noticed she left. 

    “Oy, Olly, get your head together,” she hissed, punching me in the shoulder. 

    That brought me to it. “Yeah, you’re right. Thank you,” I replied, blinking a couple of times. We took off running together and made it to the hospital in a few minutes. 

    The hospital looked relatively calm, and there were no emergency mindlinks going out to pack members, so there couldn’t be an attack or a huge issue. The waiting room near room 1 was filled with the ranked wolves, huddled together, talking seriously about something. Emily squeezed my hand and then moved to join her parents. 

    I burst into the room, ready for the worst, but was greeted with… nothing. There wasn’t even a hospital bed in the room. 

    I spun around and saw Asher and Aurora huddled on the chairs in the corner. 

    “Oliver!” Aurora called out as she jumped up and ran into my arms, tears falling down her cheeks. Asher tried to act tough, but I could see he was terrified, and when I held out my other arm he speed walked into it and buried his face into my shirt next to his twin’s. 

    After giving them a strong squeeze I pulled them back to the chairs. I sat them down next to each other and squatted in front of them. 

    “How long have you been here?” 

    Aurora sniffed and Asher discreetly tried to wipe a tear from his eye. “I don’t know. Not that long. Mom ran past us in the hall and told us to wait in here,” he said. 

    “Has anyone told you anything?” I asked. 

    They both shook their heads. Aurora sniffed again and Asher reached out to clasp her hand. She squeezed back, giving him as much comfort as he gave her. They were very close and protective of each other. 

    “Well, there was no announcement of an attack or a security breach, so it had to be some kind of accident. And wolves don’t get killed by accidents, right?” I reassured them. They were the future alphas, which meant that as young as they were, my parents had trained them all their lives to think calmly and rationally in any situation. 

    I didn’t mention that I guess some freak accidents could rip someone’s head off. But then we wouldn’t be in the hospital so… 

    The door opened and we all stood up. Mom walked in, looking murderous. Her face softened when she saw us and the twins ran to her. She wrapped herself around them, but the rage in her eyes remained. 

    Definitely not an accident then. Odin tried to come through, ready to protect his family from any harm or danger. But I could think rationally too, and if Mom was in the hospital, the danger outside was gone, so I pushed Odin back. 

    When the twins calmed down I walked over, giving her the same kind of hug she had just given the twins, wrapping myself around her to share the burden of being hyperaware. I felt her tense body relax slightly in my arms. 

    “How is he?” I asked as we all moved back to the chairs. Mom did not sit. 

    “He’ll be fine. They’ll bring him in soon,” she replied vaguely. 

    “What happened? Was there a security breach?” 

    “I have no fu… I have no clue,” she growled. Her eyes darted to the twins and I saw her try to calm herself down. 

    The door opened again and two nurses and a doctor came in, rolling the large hospital bed. Dad was laying his stomach and while he didn’t look angry like Mom, he definitely looked unhappy. 

    “Turn me over,” he growled at the nurses. “I’m not gonna lay here on my face like a squashed bug!”  

    I heard Asher make a noise between a sob and a giggle. 

    “Alpha, your wounds need…” 

    “Put me on my side then!” 

    The nurses glanced at the doctor and then at Mom, but she only had eyes for Dad and the doctor finally sighed and nodded. 

    They rolled him onto his side, moving the tubes of his IV and heart monitor out of the way. 

    “We’ll be back in an hour to check everything but we’ll give you all some time,” the doctor said before they all filed out and shut the door. 

    Mom was at his side in an instant. I had never seen her this… concerned. “Xander…” she whispered, her voice wavering almost imperceptibly. 

    “I’ll be fine ma reine, I bet I’ll be out by tonight.” 

    He turned his attention to where we sat. He smiled, putting on a happy face for the twins. While werewolf pups grew up fast and, especially in my parent’s pack, were quite capable at the age of 13, they were still kids who got scared when their parents were injured. 

    “Hey guys! Come here,” he held out his arm. They ran into it, gingerly wrapping their arms around him. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry. Home in time for dinner,” he said as he kissed each head. They nodded but didn’t let go. 

    He chatted with them about their mornings before there was a knock on the door. Slowly, everyone else piled into the room. Uncle Ben and Uncle Mark each walked up and did some version of a fist bump, while the aunts and Emily gave him small hugs. After some small talk, it became obvious that the adults wanted to talk about what happened. 

    Emily picked up on the anxiety in the room and spoke up. “Hey Asher and Aurora, I was just about to head to school. Can you guys join me?” She knew she’d be filled in by one of us later.

    They looked unsure about the idea, but Dad gave them a smile and a nod. “That’s a great idea, thanks Emily. I’ll see you guys at dinner!” 

    We all waited for the door to close behind them. While my future position was unclear, it became an unspoken rule when I turned 18 that I was to be present at all ranked team meetings.

    “How the f**k did this happen?” Mom growled. She was slowly losing it. 

    “That territory was supposed to be empty. Ryan is rechecking it now,” Uncle Ben said seriously. 

    “Yeah, so I let my guard down. I didn’t hear him until it was too late,” Dad said. “When I heard and smelled him, I realized he was behind me, but he took the shot before I could do anything.” 

    “Shot? You were shot?!” I growled. Did they all know except me? No one else looked surprised.

    Dad nodded at me but everyone else carried on. “Well it wasn’t silver,” Uncle Mark said. 

    “Bird shot is still pretty lethal,” Uncle Ben countered. 

    “If you’re shooting at a werewolf though, you usually use silver,” Tizzy chimed in. 

    “Maybe he didn’t know you were a wolf?” Aunt Daisy suggested quietly. Mom nodded slightly at that. 

    “He was a human. I could smell him. But I was in human form. Which means he just decided to shoot a random man in the woods?” my dad said. 

    “We monitored that territory though. Multiple times. There were never humans,” I argued. I had forgotten today was when dad had planned to officially map out the new territory we had acquired for the pack. It just pushed our current border out past another mountain, but we needed detailed documents on it. 

    “Patrol found him quickly and killed him. It would be helpful if he was still alive but patrol isn't used to attacking enemies that die so easily. I guess since he’s human, we could use fingerprints or dental records?” Ben suggested. 

    “How did you get here?” I blurted out. 

    “I managed to link patrol before I passed out.” 

    “Passed out?” 

    He nodded. “One of the pellets nicked my heart,” he said casually. 

    Mom was pacing. And growling. She paced quickly back and forth along the side of Dad’s bed as the conversation happened, like a guard blocking her mate from everything else. 

    As she moved to walk back towards the head of the bed, Dad reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist, visibly wincing as he pulled her to lean on the bed. 

    “Ma reine, I’m okay. I’ve been shot before, this is nothing,” he said trying to calm her. 

    I tried not to look too shocked. He had been shot before? What the f**k? 

    She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. Everyone remained tactfully silent and expressionless at their private moment. 

    Some of the concern was gone when she reopened them, but the rage was still there. “Ben and Mark, take the body to a police station far away. We need to find out who it is. Take the gun with you, maybe they can do something with it. Izzy, meet up with Ryan and do an extended perimeter search, make sure there are no more out there. Daisy, make the usual rounds for information and let everyone know they need to be on alert. But do it discreetly.” 

    They all nodded and turned to carry out their assignments.

    When they were gone I turned back towards the bed. 

    “You’ve been shot before?” I asked. It felt like recently I was racking up a long list of questions for them. 

    “Yeah, right after I got here,” he said. I saw a small shudder go through Mom and he turned his attention to her. 

    I decided that any further conversation about it could wait. I walked over to the bed and put my hand on his knee, not wanting to make Mom move. 

    “I’m glad you’re okay Dad,” I told him sincerely. Honestly, I don’t know what I would do if he wasn’t. 

    “Me too, bud,” he said, moving his leg slightly under my hand in acknowledgement. 

    “Is there anything you guys need me to do?” I asked them. Mom seemed too absorbed in memorizing every detail of his face, so Dad was the one to answer. 

    “You can join the perimeter search. Just be back to spend the day with Asher and Aurora when they get out of school. I’ll be out soon, but you know…” 

    I nodded and made my way to the door. Before I shut it behind me, I turned back to the bed. 

    Dad had pulled Mom onto the hospital bed with him and she had curled herself into him. Her nose was tucked into the crook of his neck as he rubbed her back and kissed her hair. I could see him whispering to her but couldn’t hear what he was saying.

    I would have smiled at the sight, but I noticed she was shaking slightly. And that was alarming. She usually didn’t fall apart. She never dwelled on danger once it had passed. It was obvious he would be fine, but she wasn’t. 

    I walked out of the hospital with even more questions about them.