The Rising Moon Pack

Chapter 26

Matt POV

It had been an absolutely crazy day.

I had woken up that day, heart aching, missing Bella, but by nightfall I was cradling her in my arms again. I was confused, but I felt so lucky. I had always just assumed I was destined to be alone after she died, with the slim chance of finding a second chance mate. Never did I guess that my second chance mate would be my first mate in her best friend’s body. Well, not literally. Bella did have her own body, but I would have to wait until she shifted to her own form to see it for the first time.

We spent the evening catching up, eating snacks and watching bad movies together. Maria was truly stunning, and I wondered how I hadn’t felt the mate pull for her before. After all, I was the future Beta Male for Rising Moon. I saw Maria almost every day, yet until I saw her in the pack hospital, I had had no idea. I listened to Maria as she snored gently into my chest, and decided I wasn’t going to ruminate over it. For whatever reason, Maria was now mine again, and I would live out the rest of my days trying to make her happy. I snuggled into her, her heartbeat a rhythmic lullaby, and drifted off to sleep.

When I woke, it was dark outside. I couldn’t see Jake anywhere, but the blanket wrapped around us told me he must have been here at some point. I yawned, and gently wriggled Maria off of my lap. I needed to pee, but I wasn’t going to wake her if I could help it. She put up little resistance, and I chuckled quietly to myself as she rolled over, using the blanket to roll herself into a cinnamon roll. Her red hair, pinks cheeks and ruby red lips contrasted against the earth toned blanket, and I stared at her for a moment before my bladder reminded me I needed to go, fast.

I shuffled across the soft carpet and opened the bathroom door. I cringed as the light hit my face, temporarily blinding myself.

“Argh, ow!” I grumbled.

“Whoops, sorry man. Did I wake you?” A deep voice echoed around the bathroom, making me jump.

“Jake?” I asked, blinking rapidly to get used to the light.

“Yeah, who else?” He laughed, and the sound bounced from wall to wall.

“Sorry man, I didn’t know you were in here!” I apologised, backing out.

“Nah,it’s fine. Is Maria ok?” He asked me, and as my eyes adjusted I saw he was in the shower, washing his face.

“Uh, yeah. She’s fine. I just needed to pee.” I admitted, shyly.

“Go ahead! I’ll turn so you have privacy.” Jake offered.

“It’s alright,” I said, “we’re both grown men, and it somehow doesn’t seem fair that I get to eye up your d**k in the shower but you don’t see mine.” I joked, laughing.

Jake laughed again, water trickling down his abs. They glistened in the bathroom light, and I shook my head to clear the fuzz that was gathering. I definitely wasn’t bisexual, but I did feel a weird connection between us that I couldn’t place.

I turned away and made my way over to the toilet. I’d fallen asleep in my jeans, and they left red ridges in my hips from Maria sleeping on me. I rubbed them slightly, and groaned. I felt achy and stiff from being sat upright for so long. I stretched out before unzipping my pants and relieving myself. When I had finished, I turned back to find Jake had switched the shower off, and was getting out. I handed him his towel, then turned to the basin to wash my hands.

“So how did it go tonight?” He asked me as he dried himself off.

“It felt comfortable.” I admitted. “When I woke up today, I had a broken heart. But today, it was put back together in record time. I have you to thank for that.” I said, looking him in the eye.

He shrugged gently. “ I couldn’t take her with me, knowing that half of her destiny stayed at home.” He replied.

“So you don’t mind that you have to share her?” I asked him.

“No.” He said firmly. “ I know I technically mated her first, but you were mated to Bella before I ever knew she existed. That part of her will always be yours.”

“So what are we gonna do about this situation?” I asked, tentatively. I was afraid he would ask me to reject her, or ask me to reject my Beta role.

“That is something we can discuss with Jase. There has been talks of becoming sister packs, or maybe even merging and having two alphas to lead one pack. One for the north, and one for the south. But this is all just a theory right now, and definitely something to be discussed with Maria and her family. Once all this s**t with Kate is done, we will prioritise working this out.” He smiled at me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He heard me, and broke out into laughter.

“What?” He asked.

“ I thought you’d ask me to reject her… or reject my pack.” I answered him, relieved.

“ Both of those things are decisions I can’t make for another person.” He looked me in the eye and stated. “Of course, those would be the two easiest routes to resolve our problem. But, I could never make you chose between your mate or your pack. More to the point,I wouldn’t want to. The mate bond is sacred, but the pack bond is even stronger. This is your home, and so is Bella.”

I nodded quietly as I thought over the options to myself. I couldn’t bare to live without Maria or Bella, I had done a year of it and it almost killed me. Yet, I couldn’t reject my pack either. My mom and dad were here, my brothers, my friends. Neither was really an option, and I was grateful Jake wasn’t asking me to choose. I knew Jase was also sensible, he would make a decision based on the well-being of everyone involved, not a selfish one.

The door opened, and Maria peeked around, her wild corkscrews untamed, her big, green orbs blinking in the light.

“Do we all just have meetings in the bathroom now?” She joked, tiptoeing across the cold marble tiles. Jake reached out for her, and she wrapped her arms around his waist before looking up at him adoringly. I couldn’t help it, and I felt a pang of jealousy. I watched silently as Jake held her tightly and sniffed her hair.

“You good, buddy?” He turned to me and asked.

I blinked rapidly, clearing my mind.

“Sorry, it’s just weird, having to share.” I mumbled, ashamed.

Maria left Jake and held her hand out to me. Jake watched, amused. I took her hand gently, and I calmed down as soon as the sparks danced across my skin. She closed her eyes, and before I knew it they opened, but this time they were different.

My jaw dropped and I let go of her hand.

“Matt?” A sweet, shy voice that I’d recognise anywhere spoke.

I looked from Maria back to Jake. He nodded encouragingly, and I shook my head in confusion. I backed away from Maria, and dropped her hand. My back pressed up against the cold basin behind me, but I needed more space. The room started spinning, and I began to panic as the lights flashed around me before blinking out completely, leaving me alone in the icy blackness.

Jake POV

“s**t, s**t,s**t!” I yelled as I watched Matt’s eyes roll back and his body begin to sway.

“Maria, move!” I shouted, rushing to catch his body before his head hit the solid ground. I wasn’t fast enough, and the ground seemed to shake around me as his head connected with the marble tile.

Maria started screaming and crying, frozen in fear. I knew she hadn’t meant to scare him, but I could only imagine how she was feeling right now. I made a snap decision and linked Noah.

“Noah, get help! This is an emergency. I need doctors, nurses, Jase, literally f*****g anyone right now!” I shouted through the link.

“What? s**t okay I’m on it!” His voice sounded fuzzy, and I knew I’d woken him.

I grabbed a towel from the rail and folded it, holding it against the wound on Matt’s temple. Maria was shaking violently,sobbing. I knew she was scared, but right now I needed a Luna.

“Bella!” I shouted, and instantly her eyes turned silver.

“Bella, I need you to calm Maria. I need you to heal him.”

She nodded, and kneeled beside me. The door burst open, and a frantic Noah rushed in.

“Oh, f**k!” He cursed as he registered the blood all over the floor. Omegas filed in behind him, several rushing from the room to get doctors and Jase.

I looked to Maria, her breathing had steadied and she was focused. I placed her hand over the towel, and she shakily started humming her healing tune. Tears still fell from her eyes, but she didn’t pause once to wipe them away. I took Matt’s wrist and felt his pulse. He was still here, but there was no sign of him regaining consciousness.

Jase rushed into the room with Dr Jenkins.

“Matt!” He yelled, crashing down next to us. Dr Jenkins started checking his pulse, taking over from me. I took the opportunity to run into the bedroom and grab a pair of sweats from the drawer, and a white T-shirt. I slipped them on effortlessly,and returned to my spot in the bathroom beside Maria and Matt. I sat back, and hugged Maria’s waist as she sang, leaning my face against her back. I could have sworn that I could hear her heart cracking and breaking through her broken sobs.

The song came to its end, but Matt still wasn’t awake. The bleeding was gone, as was the cut. But no Matt. I looked to Dr Jenkins, Noah and Jase.

“Pack hospital, now.” I commanded, and even though Jase was an alpha who couldn’t be commanded, he was the first to move.

“Omegas, clean this room, please. Move Alpha Blue’s belongings to a fresh room, along with Luna Maria. Make sure she is comfortable. The room next door to Beta Noah’s should be fine. Can someone stay with her please! She’s in shock.” He told the listening omegas.

“I’ll stay with her.” It was Cassie.

“Thank you, Cassie.” I told her gratefully.

Maria was rooted to the spot on the floor. Matt lay motionless in her lap as Noah, Jase and I prepared ourselves to carry him to the hospital. I kissed Maria’s head gently as I lifted Matt onto our shoulders. Jase and I stood shoulder to shoulder, and Noah stood supporting Matt’s lower body. She didn’t even make eye contact with me as his body moved, her eyes stayed glued to the spot where his head had lay. She was covered in his blood, it caressed her milky white frame brutally, a fearful reminder of what had happened.

I nodded to Cassie, who approached Maria quickly and quietly. She placed her arms around Maria and began brushing her hair back from her face gently with her fingers.

“Come, Maria.” She said gently. “We need to let the Omegas clean this up.”

Maria nodded, tears silently streaming down her cheeks.

We began our march to the clinic, our expressions grim. We moved quickly and quietly, to not wake the rest of the pack. It was easily 4am, and pack training started in an hour. Besides the night staff, there was no one around. We made our way quickly across campus to the hospital, where a bed was waiting for Matt.

We placed him down on the bed, and I brushed his floppy brown hair back from his forehead to inspect the damage. Maria had healed him beautifully, not a mark was left. I felt guilt wash over me as I stared at his face. If I had been faster, maybe if I had warned him, maybe he wouldn’t be here right now. I cleared my throat to rid myself of the lump forming, and looked up to meet the gaze of Jase and Noah.

“You okay?” Jase asked me quietly.

“Yeah. No. Actually, I don’t know.” I admitted shaking my head.

“What happened, man?” Noah asked curiously.

“We were in the bathroom. I was in the shower, and he came in to pee. We were talking about his future with us, and with the pack, and Maria joined us. Matt was a bit jealous, so Maria tried to link him with Bella. But we didn’t warn him about the change. You know it’s freaky the first time you see it!” I confessed, “but I didn’t think anything of it, cos, you know… Maria was never dead to me. So when Bella spoke, and Matt heard her voice, he basically passed right out. I wasn’t fast enough to catch him, and he hit his head.” I said, guiltily.

“Hey, this is not your fault man.” Jase reassured me. “Matt has always been a very sensitive, emotional person. It honestly doesn’t shock me he reacted like this. He always was a little bit of a drama queen.” He chuckled.

I smiled weakly in response. Dr Jenkins entered the room, clipboard in hand.

“Right, men. We’re going to have him scanned just to make sure he has no more trauma to his head or the rest of his body. It’ll take a few hours. You are all best off going back to bed, I will link you Alpha Jase if there is any improvement.” He told us.

“ I wanna stay.” I told him.

“What about Maria?” Jase asked me.

“Cassie is taking care of Maria. Someone needs to be here with Matt, and she’s in no fit state right now.” I reasoned.

“Boss, you haven’t slept. You’ve had barely any sleep since we got here!” Noah interjected.

“ If it’s cool with Dr Jenkins, I’ll nap right here in the armchair.” I turned to Dr Jenkins, and he nodded.

“That’s absolutely fine, Alpha. I will have a nurse bring a blanket and pillow by.”

I turned to Jase, and Noah. Jase looked oddly proud, but Noah was still shaking his head.

“Noah, go back to bed. Check in on Maria, tell her what is happening, and I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Fine. “ he muttered.

He turned and left the room quickly, and Jase started laughing.

“He’s like your annoying little brother, isn’t he?” Jase asked me.

“Yep!” I chuckled. “He wants what’s best for me, even if he doesn’t realise that I know better than him sometimes.”

“You love him, don’t you?” Jase turned serious, gesturing to Matt.

“I don’t know.” I answered,honestly. “It’s weird. I definitely have a connection to him, I do care. But I don’t have the desire to have s*x with him. So I guess in a way,I do love him. But it’s not romantic.”

Jase nodded at me. “So it’s just a bromance then!” He declared.

I laughed again. “ A bromance? What the f**k is that!”

“Oh you know. Like you’re best friends with someone, but you love them more than the average best friend. You have a connection with them that no one else has with you, but it’s not romantic in anyway. Like a brother. That’s why it’s a BRO-manse.” He explained.

I smiled, deep in thought. He was right, Matt and I definitely had a connection, but it wasn’t romantic. We shared the same sense of humour, and I felt protective of him. He felt familiar, like a brother. The smile turned to sadness as I finally realised the feeling I couldn’t place.

Matt felt like Wyatt.