The Alpha who Loved Me

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

(Darek’s POV)

After telling Michelle to put the Luna’s med room in lockdown mode I made my way to the southern border of our territory to see what was going on. When I arrived I saw Eric, my second in command as Warrior head, standing there in just a pair of shorts his shoulder length brown hair was loose and blowing slightly in the breeze. Stepping up next to him I looked out across the stream where the rogues were gathering.

“State your business here.” I boomed out in my Gamma voice.

“We will only deal with the Alpha.” Someone said.

“Tough you’re dealing with me.” I roared.

“Who are you?” A different voice said.

“I am the Gamma and Warrior Head of this pack, so I say again state your business here.”

“We’ve come for the girl.”

Fuck. I thought they were here for Ava. I did my best to control my facial features trying not to give anything away. “I have no clue what you are talking about.”

“I don’t believe you. However, I’ve been instructed not to attack just yet and to just give a warning. You have two weeks to hand over the girl or we will attack.” With that the rogues turned and went back into the trees at their back.

Releasing a breath I looked over at Eric and sighed at the expression on his face. “Not here.” Was all I said before turning and making my way back to the packhouse. Taking out my phone as I walked, I dialed Rafe’s number again hoping this time he picked up.

“Hello.”

“Rafe we have a problem.”

“Michelle told me there were rogues at the southern border.”

“Yes, there was, they came here to give a warning.” I replied and glanced over at Eric. “I’m going to have to tell Eric what’s going on.”

“Understood. Matt and I are heading to the airport now we should be home in seven hours.” Was his reply before hanging up the phone.

Placing my phone back in my pocket, Eric and I continued to walk back to the packhouse in silence. When we arrived, I glanced at Eric and said, “Go get changed and meet me in my office in ten minutes.”

Eric nodded his understanding and head for the stairs. Turning down the hallway I made my way to the clinic at the back of the packhouse and then towards the Luna’s room. Once outside the door I fished out my phone and opened the security app I had on there. After a minute I heard the steel door on the other side slide back into the wall. Knocking three times, which was the all clear signal Michelle and I had agreed on in situations like this, I walked into the room. Looking around once I got pass the door I only saw Ava sitting up in the bed and Michelle nowhere to be found. “Michelle.” I called out. Hearing rustling behind me so I turned around.

Behind me Michelle was standing against the wall with a syringe full of some kind of liquid. “What the hell?” I asked with a chuckle.

“I couldn’t be too sure who as coming through the door.” She replied with a shrug as she placed the cap back on the syringe.

“I knocked like we agreed on.”

“Doesn’t mean you weren’t captured and forced to bring them here.”

“You’ve been watching too many movies gorgeous.”

I heard a throat clear and turned to look at Ava who had a confused look on her face. “Hi Ava.” I said walking over to her.

“Umm… Hi” she replied with a slight hitch in her voice letting me know she wasn’t comfortable with me.

“I’m Darek, I’m sure Michelle already told you who I was, but I figured I’d introduce myself also.”

“Yes, she told me you are her mate and that you’re also the Gamma and Warrior head.”

“That’s right. I’m currently acting Alpha though because Rafe isn’t here.”

Her eyes got wide when I said Rafe’s name and she started to tremble a little. “Ava, are you okay?” I asked.

She shook her head and started breathing heavy like she was going to start hyperventilating. “Ava.” Michelle said, coming over to her side. “Calm down for me please. Remember what I told you, you are safe here. No one can hurt you anymore.”

“Why am I here?” she asked.

I started shifting side to side not exactly sure what to say. We couldn’t exactly tell her that she and Rafe were mates because she doesn’t know that yet. Michelle gave me a look that I knew all too well so I excused myself and left the room, knowing Michelle would be able to calm the situation down.

I glanced at my phone and saw that it’d be a little bit longer than the ten minutes I had asked Eric to give me, so I rushed upstairs to my office. When I reached it, I pushed open the door and saw that Eric was there waiting for me as I expected he would be. Going over to my desk, I sat down in my chair and leaned back motioning for Eric to have a seat across from me.

“So,” Eric said. “Care to tell me what the hell that was out there?”

“Rafe found his mate.”

“Are you serious?” Eric said with a giant smile on his face. “That’s great news, where is she, when did he…”

I held up my hand to stop the stream of questions that was sure to be never ending. “While yes its great news there are some problems.”

“Such as?”

“She is the daughter and sister of the former Beta’s from the Lotus Grove Pack.”

“The ones that were banished a little while back?” he questioned.

“Yes, the reason they were banished was because they were abusing her, and from the scaring found all over her body it has been going on for a while.”

I noticed Eric start to ball his hands up into a fist. “Ava, that’s her name, is currently in the Luna’s medical suite and has been there since Rafe came home from Lotus Grove. She has been in a coma; she woke up today right before the rogues showed up at the border.”

“What the hell did they do to her?”

“The last beating that her brother gave her, Matt was able to intervene, but not before her brother had smashed a hammer into the middle of her back paralyzing her. While her wounds have healed, and Michelle has been working diligently to recover the use of her legs she is still paralyzed.”

“They should be dead not banished.”

“I agree, but Rafe left the matter up to their Alpha, he was more focused on bringing Ava home and away from the men that have been her tormentors.”

Eric was silent for a minute before he got up and started pacing around my office. When he stopped he turned around and faced me. “Why wasn’t I notified about the situation?”

“Rafe didn’t want anyone to know that he brought his Luna home, one because of what just happened. If people knew that she was here or about her it would have been harder for us to play dumb about who they were talking about. And two, the pack would have bombarded her as soon as they found out she was here, regardless of her being in the hospital.”

Eric continued pacing and as he did he said, “While I understand the reasons it is still slightly annoying that I wasn’t brought into the loop, I am supposed to be your second in command as warrior head and if I don’t know all there is to know about our people, I don’t know who is vulnerable and who isn’t.”

Eric’s words left me speechless, this was definitely something I would need to talk to Rafe about because Eric had a point, if he didn’t know about what was going on in the pack then how could he effectively protect everyone should he be the one left in charge. “Rafe and Matt are on their way home, after they get here, I will talk with Rafe about including you in our meetings. Because you’re right, you can’t effectively protect the pack if you don’t know all the secrets as well.”

“Thank you Darek. I don’t expect to be kept in the loop about everything, just the things that concern the safety of the pack.

“Understood, now remember no one is to know about Ava, she doesn’t even know that Rafe is her mate yet.”

“How is that possible?”

“She was seventeen when Rafe and Matt found her. Her eighteenth birthday was a few days after she was brought here, but she was in a coma through it.”

“Oh.”

“Michelle is with her now. Right before I came here to talk with you Ava asked why she was here. When she did Michelle gave me that look of hers that says she’ll take care of everything.”

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(Michelle’s POV)

“Why am I Here?” Ava asked us quietly. Making my heart break a little bit for her. Glancing over at Darek I gave him my I’ve got this look. He understood and excused himself.

“Ava,” I said trying not to sound dismissive. “I know you have a lot of questions. But the most I can tell you is that you are safe and you are meant to be here.”

I could tell that Ava was thinking really hard when her eyes got really big as if she remembered something. “What’s wring sweetie?” I asked.

I could tell she was nervous to tell me what she was thinking. So I reached for her hand and started to rub soft circles on the back of it. “You can tell me.”

“After Marcus attacked me, I was laying on my mattress and there was a man there while the Luna was treating me.”

“Yes, that was Rafe.”

She nodded as she remembered. “He told the Luna that I was his bride. At the time I didn’t think too much of it but now…” she trailed off.

I nodded my understanding. “Yes, do you know why Rafe was at your pack that night?”

Ava shook her head no and looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Rafe was there because years ago. His father and the former Alpha of your pack made an arrangement. The arrangement was that should your pack ever need any of our resources or help they would form an alliance through marriage. If your pack needed the resources Rafe was to marry a daughter from one of the three families. If they never needed the resources then it was agreed an alliance would still be met through marriage once Rafe turned twenty-five providing he hadn’t found his mate.”

“So I’m guessing Rafe is twenty-five.” Ava stated rather than asking.

“Yes he turned twenty-five the weekend before he came to Lotus Grove.”

“And seeing how I’m the only female from the top three families. But that doesn’t make any sense either.” She said confused.

“Why doesn’t it make any sense sweetie?”

“Because I’m adopted. Randolph and Maureen found me at the orphanage three weeks after I was born, and claimed to have fell in love with me the moment they saw me.”

“It doesn’t matter that you were adopted, even though they were despicable people towards you the Beta family still claimed you as their daughter.”

I watched Ava sigh and close her eyes. I could tell she was still nervous, but hopefully when Rafe got here things would be alright. “Hey, I’m going to go get you something to eat it’s almost dinner time. I’m going to start you out on soft foods for now since you haven’t had anything but a feeding tube the last two months. Is there anything that you want in particular or that you’re allergic to?”

“I really would love some eggs and toast.” She said hesitantly.

“How do you prefer your eggs?”

“Over medium.”

“No problem, over medium with wheat toast coming right up.” I said with a smile. Getting up I walked towards the door. Turning back I looked over at Ava. “Ava sweetie, I hope you’ll come to be comfortable here. I really want to be your friend.”

“I would like that.” She replied, smiling for the first time.

On that note I left the room and headed to get dinner for her. I meant what I said, I really hoped that she and I could be friends. But more than anything, I hoped that she could love my brother as much as he obviously already loved her.

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(Rafe’s POV)

After what felt like the longest flight ever, Matt and I were finally home, I turned the car down the road that led to the gates of the driveway. When we were within range I hit a button on my keychain and the gates swung open. Making my way down the long drive towards the packhouse, I glanced over at Matt, he had his eyes closed and his head was leaning against the window. “Matt.” I said.

Matt opened his eyes and looked at me then looked around to see where we were at. “It’s good to be home.”

“Yes it is.” I replied.

“Where are you going first?” Matt asked me as I pulled the car into the garage.

I looked at my watch and saw that it was just pass one in the morning. Ava was hopefully asleep so I figured I should go talk to Darek first. “I want to talk to Darek.”

Together Matt and I got out of the car and grabbed our bags from the back. “Meet me in my office in ten minutes.” I said as we went into the house.

The door that leads to the garage is off of the kitchen, when Matt and I entered we saw Michelle digging around in the fridge looking for a late night snack. I chuckled softly to myself, my sister doesn’t have the best eating habits since she is the pack doctor and is being called upon at all hours.

“Michelle.” I said gently.

“Ahhhhhh.” She screamed dropping the container of hummus that was in her hands. “Rafe my do you always do that!”

“Because it’s funny.”

“Grow up!” she said smacking me on the back of the head then slid her arms around my waist giving me a big hug.

As I wrapped my arms around her returning the hug Darek ran into the kitchen, eyes on alert. When he saw that it was just Matt and I, I could see the relief in his eyes. “I see how it is I leave you alone for 1 second and you’re wrapped around another man.”

I laughed, but Michelle just turned around and glared at Darek, “If that’s how you’re going to be, hey Matty come here.”

“Hell no!” Matt said putting his hands out in front of him. “I’m staying out of that s**t show!” he added with a chuckle.

“Aww, Matty didn’t you miss me?” Michelle asked him with a glint in her eye as she sauntered over to Matt.

At this point I was in tears from laughing so hard at the look on Darek’s face, I couldn’t help it. Darek wasn’t happy though, with a small glare at me he walked over to Michelle before she reached Matt snatched her up and threw her over his shoulder. Michelle, let out a small screech then started giggling, “Put me down you animal!” she said in between the giggles.

“Darek.” I said before he got too far. He turned around and looked at me. “My office in five minutes.” With a nod, he continued to carry Michelle out of the office.

“So,” Matt said. “I guess I have time to take a shower now before heading to your office.”

I smiled and nodded at Matt, “Yeah, I’m going to do the same, see you in my office in half an hour, hopefully their lust is at bay by then.”

“I doubt it.” Matt replied with a chuckle before heading to his floor.

Forty-five minutes later after I had, had a hot shower and brushed my teeth, I was sitting behind my desk talking with Matt when Darek decided to finally show up. “Oh look who decided to grace us with his presence.”

“Hey,” Darek said, “I would have been here fifteen minutes ago but Michelle had other plans when I stepped in the shower to clean up.”

I made a gag sound. “You really have to stop telling me what you and my sister are doing behind closed doors.”

Darek gave me a smirk then sat down next to Matt. “So, I take it you want a briefing on what happened tonight.”

“Yes.”

“Well this all happened shortly after I was ba-.” He started saying.

“I swear to the goddess if you mention the fact that you were balls deep in my sister again, I am going to make you run forty miles every single day for the rest of your f*****g life.” I growled.

I heard Matt snicker, I glared at him and he immediately tried to hide the humor on his face but was failing miserably. Looking back at Darek I saw he was still grinning at me. “Continue.”

“So anyways, after we were done Michelle was telling me about how she had camera’s installed in the Luna’s room that would notify her if there was any movement or noise emitted in the room. In the middle of telling me this she got a notification on her phone. That’s when she saw that the Luna was waking up. She ran out of here to get to her, about ten minutes after that I got a mind link from Eric telling me there were rogues at the southern border of the territory.”

I continued listening to what Darek had to tell me about the events that took place. Thanking the Goddess that I had made the decision not to tell anyone that Ava was here, if more people knew about her then it would have been harder to hide her. When Darek was finished talking I looked over at him and saw he was trying to think about how to word what he was going to say next. “Darek just say what you need to say, so we can all get to bed.”

“Eric brought up a valid point when I was telling him about the situation with Ava and her family.”

“And that would be?” I asked, encouraging him to continue.

“He said that he should have been notified about the situation. He said that as my second in command as Warrior Head he needed to be aware of the situations all of the members are a part of , because if he didn’t know what was going on how can he effectively protect the pack if he was ever left in charge as Warrior Head.”

“He’s right.” I said. “Have him come see me in the morning after training, I will go over everything that we know about Ava and answer any other questions that he may have. For now though, you two get to bed, I’m going to go see Ava.”

With those final words, we all stood and left my office going in separate directions, as I walked downstairs and headed towards the pack hospital, I couldn’t help but feel nervous, Ava’s eighteen now, what if she doesn’t accept me. I don’t know what I would do if she rejected me. But I had to be ready for the possibility, with the way her life has been I wouldn’t be surprised if she was scared of me just simply because I’m a dominant male. Adding on my reputation didn’t help either.

When I reached her room, I took a deep breath and opened the door. She still took my breath away every time I saw her. It didn’t matter that she had been in a coma for as long as I’ve known her. She was still breathtakingly beautiful. Walking over to her I reached out and stroked my thumb down the side of her cheek. I’ve missed being close to her the last few days. I leaned down intending to place chaste kiss on her forehead when her eyes fluttered open. I held my breath waiting to see what she would do next my heart feeling like it was going to pound out of my chest.

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(Ava’s POV)

I was just dozing not able to sleep because I couldn’t really find a comfortable position. I was getting frustrated with the fact that I didn’t have use of my legs, all I wanted to do was flip over on my stomach and try to pass out. I was just about to press the button on the remote that Michelle had given me so I could get a hold of her when I heard someone open the door to my room. I could tell from the scent that it wasn’t Michelle. So, I closed my eyes again, and pretended that I was asleep. It was hard though because Annalese started to prance around in the back of my head.

“What the hell is your issue?” I asked her.

“Mate, Mate, Mate…” She giggled.

“What do you mean Mate?” I questioned.

It was at this time that I felt the person stroke my cheek almost lovingly. The sparks I felt as the person caressed my cheek sent a soothing feeling throughout my body. It took everything I had not to dip my head into the person’s hand. Deciding I couldn’t take not knowing who it was that was touching me I fluttered my eyes open to make it seem like I was waking up from sleep. What my eyes met was the man that was in my room the night that Marcus attacked me and his face was inches from mine. I could hear his heartbeat speed up almost as if he was nervous, I was about to ask him what he was doing but when I looked into his eyes Annalese pushed herself to the surface and made me say. “Mate.” And it came out almost like a purr.

The man chuckled and leaned back, “Yes, little one.” He whispered softly. “What’s your name?” he questioned.

“Annalese.” She purred out and I just rolled my eyes. “Really?” I said to her.

“Well Annalese, as much as I would love to get to know you also, may I please have Ava back?”

“I guess.” She said, before giving me control over my body again.

When the rush of her slipping back into the back of my mind had passed, I looked at him cautiously. “Hi.” I whispered.

“Hello, little one.”

I didn’t know what to say, he was apparently my Mate, but I wasn’t sure what to do. To be honest I was scared. Everyone that was supposed to love me in the past has hurt me. I watched him as he watched me so I was able to see when his eyes shifted from humor over Annalese’s enthusiasm to something softer.

“I’m not going to hurt you Ava. I know you don’t know me, but please allow me the chance to show you that I’m not like your father or your brother.”

I lifted my hand wanting to touch him. He seemed to understand so he leaned forward a little so my hand could caress his cheek as he had done to mine. The sparks were instant, and I watched as he closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. Removing my hand from his face I went to adjust myself into a sitting position.

“Do you need any help?” he asked.

“Yes please.” I replied a little frustrated that I couldn’t do something as simple as adjust myself.

Reaching over he grabbed the remote that Michelle had given me and pressed a button, when he did this, I felt the back of the bed start to raise up more. “Let me know when it’s enough.”

When it got to where I was able to sit straight up, I said. “This should be good. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome little one.” He replied setting the remote down again. I watched him as he went to grab the chair that was by the window and bring it over to the side of my bed and take a seat. “I’m sure you have lots of questions.”

I nodded. “I don’t know where to start though.”

“Start with the first thing that comes to your mind little one.”

“Okay, you’re Rafe right?” I asked and he nodded.

“Are you really as ruthless as they say you are?”

He was quiet a moment then he smiled the most brilliant smile. “I am, but only to those who deserve me to be ruthless towards them.”

“Do you really want me as you Mate?”

“What would give you the idea that I wouldn’t want you as my Mate little one?”

“Because no one will ever want or love me.” I stated simply. It was something that Marcus and my father had told me repeatedly since the night I had made the mistake of saying I just wanted to be loved and I had started to believe them.

I saw his eyes darken with anger and instinctively tried to back away from him, momentarily forgetting that I was paralyzed and in a hospital bed. I stilled, looking around to see if there was anything laying around that I could reach to help defend myself, but when I glanced back at Rafe I saw that the anger was gone from his face and regret had replaced it.

“Ava.” He said gently. “I don’t know what those poor excuses for werewolves told you or made you believe but just know this, I have been waiting for my mate since the day I turned eighteen, and when I first laid eyes on you I never wanted anything or anyone more than I wanted you.” He paused and reached his hand out taking my hand into his big grasp. “Please, just give me the chance to prove it to you.” He begged.