Alpha Unknown

Chapter 19

Val

I could tell Lucas didn't want me to go back right now, but at some point, I had to. I couldn't stand the thought of having to close the Cafe after my mom and then myself worked so hard to build it and keep it open. We met up with Damien and Dy in the kitchen and met the Delta, Aaron and Gamma, Chad. Everyone I met was really nice, but I still felt very out of place. Dy was talking to me about wedding dress shopping and wedding plans, when I looked across the way to see Damien and Lucas looking at each other but not speaking. I waved my hand at Lucas, and asked "are you OK?"

"Oh, sorry baby, we were linking back and forth," he said.

"Linking?" I asked

"Yes, sorry I forgot that you haven't been able to do that. Anyone in our pack once they're of age and get their wolf can link with each other. So, I can hear Damien in my head, and we can carry on a conversation, even when we are in wolf form."

"Oh, I guess that's convenient when you're in wolf form, especially," I said.

I thought that would be nice, but a little strange. I was kind of sad thinking about all the things that I wouldn't be able to do more than likely. I didn't realize that Lucas had got up and walked over to me and whispered in my ear " are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just thinking", I told him.

"Let's go see James and get that done with." He said.

I groaned, "Oh all right."

I really didn't want to go see the doctor, but I knew Lucas would feel better. We walked outside to Lucas' SUV. He opened the door and I slid inside. I didn't fight with him about opening the door anymore, since I was getting used to it. It was just a few minutes' drive to the doctor’s office.

When I walked in the door, the secretary looked at me, funny, and then saw Lucas walking in behind me. "Oh Alpha, how can I help you?" She said.

"James is expecting a patient for a follow-up," he said.

"He's expecting you. Go ahead and head back to his office." She answered.

We walked into Dr. James' office, he was sitting behind his large desk, with files stacked in various spots. He stood up as we walked in, "Hello Val. How are you feeling today?" He said.

"I feel fine." I told him.

"Well, let's go check you out anyway." Dr. James said

We walked over to the exam room, and he checked my blood pressure and heart rate.

"Well, everything looks fine. You were cursed prior to this, is that correct?" He asked.

"Yes, apparently." I said, still confused by the whole thing.

"Would you mind if we did blood work just to make sure everything looks OK?" He asked.

"If you think you need to," I responded.

"Great, I'll send one of the nurses in." He said "Alpha, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yes", Lucas said, "I'll be right back", kissing me on the forehead.

Lucas

James asked me to step out from my mate, which made me uncomfortable. "James, she's going to think something is way wrong with her, with us stepping out here." I told him.

"I don't want to alarm her, but you need to understand I don't know what the extent of the damage is from the curse. Has she had any changes since you mated?" He asked

"She can feel the mate bond from what she has described. I don't think that she has heard her wolf speak or anything like that." I said.

"Okay, I'll see how her blood work looks and we'll go from there. One more thing, have you guys talked about marking her?" James asked.

"No, not yet... This is all new to her," I told him.

"It will obviously. It will make you and Gavin stronger, but it could help make her stronger, it could do nothing, or it could hurt her. " James said. "I'll try and do some research and see if there is anything out there about curses and werewolves."

"Thanks James." I said, walking back to my mate, who was raising an eyebrow as I came in.

"Did they come in and get your blood?" I asked Val.

"Yes!" She said, holding out an arm that was bandaged.

"Okay, let's go." I said, holding out a hand. She grabbed it and those wonderful pleasure sparks shot through my hand.

I could feel her anxiety and tension through just holding her hand, and exponentially through our bond. I opened the car door and helped her in, and then turned to her to look at me. "Are you okay baby?" I asked.

"What did he say? Am I dying or what?" She asked.

"No, no, no. He just wanted to know if I had noticed any differences or if you had since we mated", I said.

"Oh okay." She said, looking down.

I pulled her chin up to look at me and wiped away a tear that had started to fall. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked as I pulled her to me.

"It's just a lot, and I feel like I'm broken. I'm not used to feeling that way. I don't want to be a burden if I don't have a wolf, which seems pretty important around here. I don't want to be treated with kid gloves, I just want to know what to do and what is going on. Now I don't know anything, I'm broken, and I feel like a burden." Val cried as she buried her head in my chest.

I held her until she calmed down a bit, and then said, "why don't we go back and we can talk in private."

"Okay." She said, which I could barely do since she said it into my chest. I kissed her forehead and helped her slide her legs into the SUV.

My heart was sinking, thinking about her feeling so down. I needed her to know how amazing she was, that wolf or not, I still loved her, and that she definitely was not broken.

We got back to the packhouse and went up into my office. We sat down on the couch, and I pulled her over to hold her.

"Baby, I want you to know I love you whether you have a wolf or not. I loved you before that was even a possibility," I told her.

"You are not broken and are incredibly strong and I know that you are very capable of taking care of yourself. I know you have done that for years and it is a lot to take in. I will make sure from now on that everyone includes you and let them talk directly to you. Okay?" I asked

"Okay." She said.

"But you can't get mad if they ask me what I've seen and I'm honest about it." I told her.

"Fair enough, I suppose." She said, still brooding.

"What's going on in that pretty little head?" I asked.

Val

I felt so lonely and not lonely all at the same time. I was human one day, and a wolf the next. The kicker is I knew absolutely nothing about werewolves, and nothing about being one, certainly. I wished I could feel like I could do something, and right now I just feel lost. I definitely did not like feeling like no one wanted to talk to me about myself of all things. "What's going on in that pretty little head?" I heard Lucas ask

"So how can I be strong enough to help you in all of this?" I asked.

"By being the person, you are already, " he said. "I don't want someone different than the person I fell in love with. Wolf or no wolf like I said. He said.

Leaning down and kissing the top of my head. We just sat there for a little bit, before he cleared his throat. "Baby, I have to attend to some things" he said.

" Oh yeah. You do have more than me to worry about," I said.

"You are my first priority, but I have been neglecting a few things around here. Why don't you call Max and see if he's seen any activity around there? Maybe Heather too, and see if she can help you with the Cafe until we can figure something out?" He said.

He pulled me into his lap.

"If you want, I can see if Dy is free and you can take my credit card and get some new stuff for you to wear, and maybe look around for stuff to update the bedroom, for us."

"I'll make some calls, and then maybe getting out of the house would be good. What do you mean update?" I asked.

He smiled." Well, it will be your room too, so I want you to fix it up how you want." He said.

I hadn't thought about leaving everything behind. I didn't want to sell mom's house, but I guess we'd have to figure it out.

"Okay. Sure, you trust me with that? " I giggled.

"Yes absolutely." He said, kissing my lips. He held my lips to his, and then licked my lips to gain entrance into my mouth. I grabbed his neck and pushed my tongue into his mouth to taste every bit of him. He grabbed the back of my head to try and hold me even closer. We broke apart, both breathless as there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," he growled. Making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

Damien entered and stopped squarely in his tracks. "I can come back" he said.

"No, you're fine. Can you see if Dy is available in a little bit to go shopping with Val?" He asked Damien.

"Yes, I will right now." Damien answered, and a second later he made a wince like something just hurt his ear. "She'll be down in 15 minutes." He said,

"Damien and I have stuff to work on, okay? Can I have Dy meet you in our room?" Lucas asked

"Yeah, that would be fine. I'll go see what I can find out." I said before giving him a kiss.