Requital

CHAPTER 17

Timber

Out of all the things I could have stumbled upon this morning my second chance mate wasn't one of them I would have preferred. Any attack on our lands would have been better. Gods why is this happening to me? Having one love in a lifetime was enough for me. To top everything off she's pregnant with one of her mates yes mates baby plural. She has multiple mates. That's only heard of in one other kingdom. Is she from Creatores? A god trying to torture me with a fake mate bond? No that can't be right. She seems clueless to what she really is. If I'm right she could and would have healed her other mate rather than drag him here for help. This all makes no sense to me. I can't love another after Ophelia I just cant. "Thank you for helping us" the women say, "Can you please take us to Lorcan?" I'm confused as to why she hasn't asked me about our bond yet. Maybe she's so caught up with the injuries to her other mate she hasn't noticed. "Yes I will take you to our medical hut where the others have taken him." I say, I wont meet her eyes even though I feel hers boring into the side of my face. This is all just to much, my stone heart is cracking. When we finally reach her mate she goes to take off towards him but I latch on to her shoulder and stop her with my hand. She jumps and jolts to a stop to stare at me. I think she notices now, i***t. "Let the team do their work." I say. We all watch as my gargoyle brethren work to get him healed and stable. After a while they step away from him. His breathing is steady and he is fast asleep. They walk over to us and one of them , Iago speaks. "He will be fine. He just needs rest for a few days. We will continue to monitor his healing process. We will be back in a while to check on him" he says. "Thank you" the women says her eyes brimming with tears, "I am forever grateful and indebted to you." Huh, she's beautiful, sweet, and wholesome. These qualities I haven't seen in any god I have met. Maybe I must be mistaken of her origins. She rushes up to her injured mate. At his bedside she takes his hand in hers and kisses his palm. I need to distance myself from this women she reminds me so much of .. "I will leave you here for a bit so I can arrange you a place to stay" I say. "Wait" she says, "What's your name?" "Timber" I say. "Mine is Deianira and this is Leith." She gestures to the mate that's standing. "And this is Lorcan" she hugs the mans hand in the bed closer to her chest. "Thank you so much again for helping him, us" she says. "No thanks needed" I say, "It is our duty after all." Before she can say anymore I turn and leave without another word....

After giving them space and getting them a room arranged for a few nights I head back to them to let them know. Once I enter the hut the first think I see is her injured mate sitting up in the bed, wide awake. He looks at me and says "Thanks rock man, I really appreciate it. Thought I was a goner there after a while." Rock man? Okay then, I'm also very surprised he's up so fast. He must be really strong, mates help healing processes also, well supposed to anyway. "No thanks needed. We help all people, would have done it for anyone else" I say. There's an awkward pause before he speaks again. "Well thanks anyways." He smiles this goofy smile. I can see why my mate is so taken by him. Wait no not mate I cannot have a mate. "Can I speak with you Deianira." I blurt out and they all sit up straighter. "Alone" I say and she looks to both her mates before looking at me and nodding. She gets up and a gesture for her to follow me. I take her to on a stroll around our grounds. Not much to see here really. Everything is dusty and its scorching but she seems to be paying attention to every detail with a smile on her face. She seems fascinated why? If this wasn't the last place I felt close to Ophelia I would have left a long time ago. she stops mid step and says "I felt something yesterday when you touched me, what I have felt with the others. Tell me we are mates aren't we?" "Yes" I say "but Deianira you must know I can never mate you." She's so shocked she doesn't respond. I continue, "Its nothing to do with you. You seem like you would be a great mate I just cant allow myself." "That's it?" she says "No explanation just the it's not you it's me?" "I don't know you so why do I owe you any explanation" I say. She looks at me with so much anger I flinch, "Your just like him, Tarkik." She says and she turns back the way we came to her mates that want her. Who is Tarkik? Better yet I don't care to know. It's better this way. I would never disrespect my deceased wife, ever. I give her time to cool off before I head back to them to show them the way to their sleeping quarters. Entering the room once more I find her asleep beside her mate in the bed. They are snuggled up together with his hand cradling her stomach. Longing and another sharp pain in my heart hits me. Memories flash before my eyes making me distracted so I don't see the fist flying towards my face before it's to late. Leith her other mate punches me with all his might, so hard I stumble. "You hurt her" he says. "She cried herself to sleep because of you. I don't know what you did but know this. She's been through more these two weeks than you could ever imagine. She's lost a father, a mate, the only home she's ever known, and she's progressing so fast with her pregnancy that she hasn't had any time to process anything at all. She has to travel to the under and find answers but before we get there she stumbles upon this asshole who cant accept the greatest blessing right in his face." "She told you?" "She didn't have to I feel it in here." He says pounding on his chest. "If all you will do is hurt her let Lorcan heal and stay out of our way. You don't deserve her. You don't deserve this family. That little girl inside her deserves all the love in the world and if you wont love her or her mother disappear and never make your presence known to her." A girl?! I drop to my knees, tears flowing down my scarred face. History is repeating itself. What if I cant protect them like I couldn't my other love, my other child. That's what I can try to do. I straighten, I may not be able to be her mate but I will be her protector. I lock down, wipe the emotion of my face so this Leith wont see. I don't give him a response, I turn and park myself right at the huts entrance. I will watch over them all night and every night hereafter. I will protect Deianira and her mates. I will protect the little one growing inside her because that's what Ophelia would want me to do. Second chance mate or not.....