Oops! Still Your Mate

Chapter Twenty One

Ivy was walking past Zeke's inner chamber, on her way to her grandmother's apartment when her feet paused. Her heart pounded against her chest as she drew closer to the locked door.

Lucas's voice met her ears in a whisper but with a sharp tone. It was the sharpest she had ever heard him speak. She didn't need to see his face to know that the always present teasing smile on his face was absent. She couldn't hear Zeke's voice - even when she was confident that Lucas was speaking to him. Instead she heard a voice overlapping Lucas's voice - one that sounded so similar to the pack's doctor.

The words came in broken sentences. “It’s wolf fever,” Her heart thumped at that. Wolf fever? Really?

“Wolf fever?” Lucas shrieked. “It can't be,” he said. She heard the other party mutter something she didn't quite catch.

“Two weeks before it starts showing to the pack,” The person said and she placed her hands on her mouth.

“You know what to do, Zeke,” Lucas said and clicked his tongue against his teeth.

She heard footsteps approaching the door and she fled. With a pounding heart, she pushed open the door of her grandma's apartment and found the old woman sitting on a high stool, waiting for her.

“Ivy,” She called.

“Grandma,” Ivy breathed out and walked over to the fridge to take a bottle of water.

“What's wrong?” Grandma said, eyebrows furrowed into a frown.

“It's nothing,” She replied, placing the bottle on the desk.

“What did you see?” She pushed.

Ivy's mouth hung open. “How did she know?” She thought and looked away.

“Ivy…”

“It's nothing really,” Ivy groaned and walked past her.

“No dinner?”

“I'm not hungry,” She threw back.

“You would really leave that boy and accept the rejection,” Grandma sighed.

“As if,” Ivy rolled her eyes and slammed the door of her room close.

The next morning started mechanically, she moved past her chores with the face of someone who had lost something dear. Tessa was scarce and Lucas was nowhere to be found.

She attended to the children with a forced smile and it seemed like the pups could understand as they stayed away from her. During noon, the pack's doctor approached her and asked her to take a break as she seemed to be in a bad mood. The only thing she could feel was how close the doctor's voice was to the person in Zeke's room.

“It's you,” She muttered, more to herself than the doctor.

“Luna?” He called curiously but she had already gotten up and walked off.

The words haunted her. Wolf's fever. Every wolf knew what that meant. A true bond. She and Zeke were bound for life and the chance of having a second chance mate was little to none. Instead of being scared of the fact and the burdens that came with the bond, she found herself feeling even more determined to keep the bond.

After the noon break, she returned back to the clinic. On her way to the clinic, her eyes caught the kitchen staffs running around in the kitchen so she walked there.

“What's wrong?” She asked as she made herself known.

“Luna?” Someone said and bowed.

Her eyebrows creased into a frown as she noticed the staffs looking giddy. “What's wrong?”

“It's nothing, really?” The kitchen head said and Ivy raised an eyebrow. “Alpha Darius gave us a new instructions on what to prepare for dinner after we had finished cooking what's on the menu, now we have limited time.” She sighed and explained.

“Alpha?” She clicked her tongue.

“I mean, yes,” the woman shrugged.

“Should I help?” She rolled up her sleeves.

“No, no,” Murmurs arose around the staff. “It's okay, you're needed by the pups,” She replied.

“Alright, don't stress yourself.” She sighed. “Can I borrow someone?” She asked and the lady nodded. “Take a cup of milk to the alpha,” She instructed.

“You mean alpha Zeke?”

“Who else?” Ivy rolled her eyes and stepped out. “don't tell him I send you,” she added.

Later that evening, on her way to the dinner hall, her eyes caught Zeke's eyes across the crowded corridor. She felt a jolt of emotion run through her before she looked away. Wolf fever huh? He looked almost the same. Almost. She didn't stop to tease, didn't make a comment, she just walked past like none of this mattered.

Dinner was awkward with Darius trying to chat with her and all. Her eyes flickered to Zeke, more times than she could count but he was never looking at her. He was concentrated on the plate before him. Lucas sat beside him and she could feel his eyes rising up in panic at any small inconvenience Zeke had, it served to buttress her point.

After dinner, Darius requested to have a chat with her but she lied about having abdominal pains and escaped to her room.

Her back hit the bed as her eyes captured the words pasted on the wall, just above her bed. “Do not trust easily.”

The orange tongues of the burning flames that engulfed Zeke's parents home popped up in her inner mind, leaving her unsettled.

No one saw the pain, the regret, the trauma. They just saw an Alpha doing his best for his pack and yet his uncle is still acknowledged as an alpha. They saw the man with the smiles, the caring man.

This wasn't about winning anymore. Even if she didn't know what it was about, she knew she was long past the point of winning. She didn't want to win, she wanted to…

But that was something she wasn't sure of yet.

Even if it felt heavier and more important than winning.