Finding My Luna (Sequel to ICBTAM)

Chapter 2- I'll be fine

I'd once again woken up before Rafe and I decided to take a shower. I let the hot water wash away the nightmares from the night before.

I had been told that the dreams were just a construct of my anxious mind reflecting all my fears in my unconscious state. The fears that my wolf would never come back, fears of what happened out in the woods, fears of what I'd become. I couldn't really argue with the doctor who'd said it, I mean they should know what they were talking about after all, right?

I got out of the shower and wrapped a large towel around my body, adding another one to my head after using it to dry my hair to a certain extent. 

I walked out of the bathroom quietly entering the bedroom but the point was moot. Rafe was awake. He watched me walk around. 

I could tell from his eyes that he wanted to talk about the previous night, about the nightmares. He wanted to make sure that I was alright, but he also knew that I didn't want to talk about it. 

He and many doctors had talked to me about stress, and how it was bad for the baby. They said that I needed to talk through what was going on, talk through what was on my mind. They believed that talking through it would help ease some of the stress and tension. 

I'd tried talking at first but it hadn't really helped, so I'd decided on keeping quiet. 

Rafe got out of bed, his bare feet padding across the floor toward me. His pajama pants hanging low on his hips and his messy bed head was incredibly sexy. He stopped right in front of me, his hand reaching out for my cheek. 

I craved his touch but I also feared it because I knew what would be missing. 

His hand lightly caressed my cheek and he leaned in kissing my lips. 

"Good morning, Katarina," he said slowly. 

"Good morning," I breathed. 

He spun me around, pulling me close to his chest. His arms wrapped around me and his hands rested on my stomach. 

"How's he doing in there?" Rafe whispered in my ear.

"We don't know if the baby's going to be a he," I pointed out. "But the baby is doing just fine."

I could feel him smile slightly against my neck as he left small kisses up to my ear. 

"I've gotten some news on Nolan and the group of rogues," he said quietly. 

I went stiff in his arms. If stress wasn't a good thing, then I was fairly sure Rafe shouldn't be mentioning the person who started all of this. The person who betrayed me and set me up to lose my wolf, and attempted to kill my mate.

"He's used a witch to escape to another world. We're working with our own witch to track him over there. I was going to take Ty with me. I can have someone stay here with you, make sure you have everything you need, stay out of trouble-" his words died off as I stayed silent. 

"Katarina?"

"What?"

"Are you going to be okay with me leaving?"

I wasn't entirely sure about that. I needed him, but seeing him was also painful. Being with him was painful. Maybe some time apart would be just what I needed, some time to reflect on us and everything going on. 

"I'll be fine."

"As long as you're sure. And remember, no working." Rafe's voice was firm. His same stance that he'd had since we found out about the stress. 

"Rafe, I'm perfectly capable of doing my job here in the pack. And if you're not going to be here to run things, then what am I supposed to do?"

Truth was, I wasn't as effective at my role without my wolf I could still do the technical stuff, paper work and all that, but the rest was now beyond me. That didn't mean that I wanted to stop working though, and what else was I supposed to do all day while he was gone? I'd pretty much exhausted all my options. I'd taken walks around the pack, met people that wandered into the pack house, I'd done anything and everything to keep the boredome at bay. There was nothing left for me to do.