Alpha Mate

Chapter 7

Morgan Pov

After seeing Calum for the first time since I was in the infirmary, my heart couldn't stop racing. It had been a surprise he had let me go to the kitchen, even if he still required an escort for me. Perhaps he was trying to seem like a better mate after such a terrible first impression. Even so, my freedom had been short-lived.

Just as Calum ordered Xavier, I was brought directly back to my room after finding something to eat. It made me want to hit my head against the wall even more that I was starting to consider my room. I ought to have some claim to it if I were to spend every second of each day there.

It had now been over an hour since I ran into Calum downstairs. I had requested to stop by the nursery to grab Lilian, but Xavier refused to go against his exact orders. He was probably already concerned that he still wasn't in the clear after I had gotten past his security. Instead, he had sent a request for her to be brought back to the room.

Lilian and I were toying around with some children's books on the bed. I had at first tried reading to her, but she soon grew impatient, wanting to flip through the pages much quicker. As much as I hated the situation we were in, I knew I would look back on this uninterrupted time with my niece as a blessing. Once I was able to live beyond this room, there was no telling what would happen. For now, I could just appreciate that I could be Lilian's rock during this short period of time.

Having her spend time in the nursery during the day helped keep her distracted. She still smiled and giggled with me when we played, but there were times she would become unappeased and discontented. Deep down, she really missed her mom and dad. At least, I didn't have to explain to her everything that had happened. She was still too young to understand anything besides the fact they were not with us.

I didn't look up immediately when the door opened. Usually, it was only the maids who came in and they wouldn't speak to me. When I lifted my head, however, Calum was standing in the doorway. His presence had me too stunned to ask what he was doing here. The fact that he was here now after I had run into him downstairs could not have been a coincidence.

This entire week I had wanted to see him, if only to beg for an explanation. Why didn't he want me? Now that he was standing in front of me once again, I couldn't decide whether or not it was better when I was ignored by him. After going so long without seeing me, him being here couldn't have been a good sign.

"I need you to come with me," was all he said. There was no hello, no sign of emotion, and no explanation of where he wanted to take me. My palms grew sweaty and my heart raced so loud I was certain he could hear it. His distance, though it had frustrated me, never caused me to worry. Now he was here in front of me, yet still chose silence. It only left me more confused about my fate.

I stood from the bed and bent down to pick up Lilian. She whined a little, but there was no way I was leaving her there alone. When I had her, Calum turned and stepped back into the hallway. I took cautious steps after him, following him down the same stairs we had been at earlier in the day.

Part of me knew that I shouldn't have left the room without demanding an explanation. There was good reason to follow without questioning his intentions or where he planned for us to go. He could've been taking me to see his real prison cells after the way I had talked back to him. It's something Leo would have done if I had spoken to him that way. He may be my brother, but he was also an alpha, meaning that he had the power to teach me a lesson for undermining his authority.

It didn't help that his expression revealed nothing to me. His tone had been perfectly even with me in the room and his features hadn't given anything away. There was no tension in his muscles that showed he was upset with me and angered from our previous conversation. Despite not knowing what he had in store for me, my instincts were telling me that I would be safe with him. He may not be affectionate with me or even want to be with me, but he was still my mate. I knew deep down that he had no intentions of harming me or Lilian.

It wasn't until we approached the foyer of the pack house that my nose detected familiar scents. It took only milliseconds for me to register who those scents belonged to. Though Calum had been leading me through the house, I couldn't hold myself back after recognizing the scents. I ran past him into the foyer, meeting the expectant stares of my brother and his mate.

Erin's eyes instantly welled with tears at the sight of her daughter. I couldn't imagine how she had survived being apart from her so long without knowing how she was. It wasn't until was enveloped by their embrace that I felt my eyes begin to water as well. It had only been a week, but being near them made me realize just how much I had missed home.

When I stepped back from their embrace, I began handing Lilian over to Erin, knowing how much she would want to hold her again. This proved to be more difficult than I expected as I realized that Erin had lost much of her right arm during the attack. She was missing her hand and entire forearm. There were still bandages covering where her elbow had been. I helped her adjust her hold of Lilian onto her left side.

"Erin, what happened?"

"When I left you to fight, I found one of our guards struggling against a rogue. As I was helping take him down, I was blindsided by another one. He took a good chunk out of my arm, injuring it so badly it wasn't going to heal on its own. When the doctors examined it, he said it had gone too long without receiving medical attention. They had no choice to amputate it since it never would've healed properly."

As wolves, our bodies' natural healing process was faster and more capable than a human's. However, we can't grow our limbs back. Amputation was a lot less common in packs, but there were still occasions it became necessary.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. The only thing that matters is that our family is alive. You have no idea how scared we were that we lost you two. When we returned to the safe room to find that you weren't there, our whole world stopped at the possibility you didn't survive the attack. It was a relief when Alpha Calum called to tell us he had you and Lilian safely in his pack."

I held back a snort. We may have appeared physically safe in this pack, but my mental well-being had been put in danger. Not only did I suffer from the isolation of a prisoner, but the emotional pain my mate had put me through was enough for me to feel anything but safe here.

With Lilian nestled into Erin's good arm, I reached out to hug my brother once again. It was such a relief to have him right next to me. I would be lying if I said that I hadn't been worried about him during the time that I stayed here. I took a step back to explain what had happened.

"When I tried to make it to the safe room with Lilian, rogues were already sniffing around the pack house. They chased us off of the territory until we made it close enough to get the attention of this pack's border patrol. We wouldn't have made it, if they didn't fight off the rogues and take us in."

"Did you sustain any injuries?" Leo asked.

I nodded. "The rogues had left deep gashes in my calves. It took days for them to heal."

"I'm so glad that you're okay now."

I may have seemed okay, but I wasn't entirely convinced that everything was alright yet. Instead of telling him that, I tried to change the subject. "How is the pack doing?"

"As best as can be expected. We were trying to search for the two of you, but between Erin's injury and the damage to buildings, we didn't have the personnel to lead a full search team. Since the attack, we've had to mourn a a lot of losses and strengthen our defenses as much as we can. There were a fair amount of warriors that didn't make it and that did received some kind of injury," Leo answered.

"Then I'm glad to see that at least you're in one piece."

"Come on, sis. You know that rogues are no match for an alpha like me."

"Of course not."

Leo turned to his mate. "Here, let me hold her. Your arm must be getting tired."

"No." She shook her head. "I've been away from her too much already. I can do it for a while longer."

In Leo's defense, Erin did look like she was experiencing some discomfort under Lilian's weight, but it would take a lot to separate a mother and child once they'd reunited.

"Alright," Leo said. He briefly looked over my shoulder. "Thank you, Alpha Calum, for keeping our family safe and bringing us together again."

"Of course."

Leo turned back to me and Erin. "I think it's time we head back home."

When he turned towards the door, I took a step to follow him. I didn't make it any farther than that as a growl from behind stopped me in my tracks.

"Actually, Morgan will be staying here. With me," Calum said with authority.

It should've dawned on me that Calum would try to keep me here with him. He was my mate after all. When Leo had suggested we go home, I hadn't thought twice about it. It was natural to follow him. However, Calum had never made it known to me that he actually wanted to be with me. As far as I knew, letting me reunite with my family could have been where our journey together ended.

Leo stiffened. With his posture gone rigid, it was clear he was now in defense mode. "And why would she do that?"

"She's my mate."

Even my eyebrows rose at Calum's confession. He had never said out loud what we were to each other. I figured he was going to keep me a secret until he made up his mind. Perhaps I was right as he decided that he would accept me as his mate. But why? If we were to continue the same events as last week where he had me locked away, I didn't think I would survive here. I would've rather he make an official rejection so we could move on from each other.

I shook my head. I couldn't do it. My home would never belong with him. "Leo, please. I don't want to stay here any longer. I want to go back with you. Please?"

"He's your mate, Morgan. You're meant to be with him. I'm sorry, but I can't take you back with me. You belong with him unless you reject him."

"Reject him?"

There was a faint growl from behind me at the mention of rejection. I had been certain this whole time that Calum would be the one to reject me. It hadn't occurred to me that it would ever become my decision. I stood silent for a moment as I processed the new information.

"I can't pretend to know what has happened here since the attack, Morgan. If you need to reject him, you will always be welcome back home. But if he can treat you right, you should give the mate bond a chance. There was a reason you two were matched with each other," Leo advised me.

I didn't agree with the way Calum had treated me since we first met, but the decision to reject him seemed so final. I had wanted a mate so badly for the longest time. If I just gave him a second chance, perhaps we could work through it. If he could prove that he knew how to treat me better, maybe we could have a relationship as strong as Leo and Erin's.

"I'll stay with him."

"Ok, sis. If you need anything or he does anything to hurt you, I will always have your back."

"Thank you."

With the decision made, I said my final goodbyes to my family. I hugged each one of them before they left, knowing I would miss them so much. Since we would be neighboring packs, I hoped that we would still be able to visit each other from time to time. Once the three of them were out the door, Calum and I were the only ones in the foyer. I tried to wipe the tears out of my eyes before I turned to face Calum.

He was the first of us to speak, "We have a lot that we should discuss."

"We do," I nodded. Though I kept the tears from falling, I couldn't help the sniffle that came after I spoke.

"But we don't have to do it right now. I still have a lot of work to finish today and I think you would benefit from having some time to yourself beforehand."

I nodded again, unable to say anything else. As much as I had been on my own this past week, I did want to be alone after seeing my family.

"Xavier and Lucas will take you back to your room. Once I'm done with my work, I will come see you."

Though I despised that room, part of me was thankful to be taken to some place familiar. The promise him visiting me later provided a sort of additional comfort as well. His small promise to talk things through with me was a step in the right direction.