Having Two Mates {2017}

Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

"Hailey, honey, can you hear me?"

Following the sound of the voice, my eyes slowly opened to meet my mother's concerned ones. She was hovering over me like any worried mother would, only, as she acknowledged that I was awake, her eyes lost their warmth.

"Good, she's alive." Another voice spoke. My eyes wandered over to find a tall man in a lab coat scribbling on a clipboard. "I'll step out for a moment."

As the door closed shut behind him, my mother pulled away with a sigh. She ran her hands through her hair a few times before burying her face in her hands, laughing.

"Why now? Why?" She started to sob.

It was weird, seeing my mother cry like this. This version of her seemed so foreign to me. She was, for lack of better words, a mess. Her hair was always kept neat but in this moment, it was out and unruly. Her make-up which was usually soft and natural was now nowhere to be seen. When she looked at me again, I could see the sleepless nights and stress taking its toll on her.

"Mom," My lip quivered. "What's going on?"

Her hands cupped my face and her mouth opened to speak but no words were coming out.

"Mom?" I grabbed her hand. It was cold and trembling.

There was a knock on the door allowing my mother to slip from my grasp and compose herself. Entering was my brother with two cups of coffee in his hand.

"We brought coffee," He forced a smile.

"We?" My mother questioned.

Jared looked behind him before excusing himself and slipping his head out of the room, beckoning someone inside. The other seemed to refuse so Jared took it upon himself to drag them in.

"It'll be fine," Jared shoved Nathan into the room.

When Nathan and I's eyes locked, I felt my heart palpitate a bit. It was strange, it also kind of hurt. I didn't dare show that I was in pain in front of my mother, she was worried enough as is.

"Have we met before?" My mother asked, trying to come off intimidating.

"N-No ma'am we haven't. I'm Nathan." Nathan replied. He kept his arms behind his back but I could tell he was wringing his hands nervously.

My mother cocked her head to the side, "Nathan?"

"Yes, Nathan Evers."

"Evers, huh?" My mother said. "You wouldn't happen to be Eric's son, would you?"

Nathan shifted, "I am."

"You look just like him," My mother said to herself.

"I'm not him." Nathan said quietly.

My mother stifled a chuckle.

"Uhm, well Nathan is a good friend of Hailey's and just wanted to see how she was doing." Jared spoke up, saving a very awkward silence.

"A friend?" My mother raised a brow.

"My mate to be specific." I blurted. I slowly looked up at my mother and was met with a look of shock. I immediately looked back down at my hands.

"I see," My mother fell back into her chair.

"Ah, I sense tension. Nathan, why don't we get lunch?" Jared started pushing Nathan towards the door. "Lunch sounds great, right?"

Nathan, unsure of what had gotten into my brother, followed his lead. He bid my mother and I goodbye, my mother didn't respond, and exited out the room.

Once they were gone, my mother spoke again.

"Is he really your mate?" She asked me.

"Yes, all signs say yes." I replied.

"Does Alex know?"

"I-I haven't found time to tell him. Some things came up and I thought it'd be good to wait it out until I was sure."

Yeah, because if I told him then, it may not have gone as planned. However, truthfully, I'm not sure how Alex would have reacted. Would he get angry like my dad? Or would he be oddly calm like everyone else?

"You should tell him soon." She says. "Before things get complicated."

"Complicated?"

"Hailey," She sighed. She was looking at me now. "I didn't want to throw this all on you now but I want you to listen to me right now."

She grabbed my hands gently. That's when I saw it. I finally saw how scared my mother actually was. It was a lot to take in without making it obvious I saw but whatever this was, it was serious.

"Your dad and I, I'm not sure how to easily say this but, we're not entirely human. In fact, not at all." She says.

"What?"

"Jared, he's human." She says. "We thought he was just a late bloomer but after he turned eighteen, we knew for sure. And after today, we know who those genes got passed to."

"Mom,"

"Your father is a werewolf and I'm a vampire." She says, tears falling slowly. "Which means you're a hybrid of that."

I pulled my hands away slowly. A thousand questions flooded my mind but no words could come out. How was I to respond to this? Was this even real?

"We were hoping this wouldn't happen, your father and I." She says, fighting tears. "Nothing good ever comes from these kinds of things so please, please be careful."

Before I could say anything, she rushed out of the room, sobbing.

***

Later that night, I decided to take a walk around the hospital. Since I was declared dehydrated and still in an unstable state to function, I had to stay the night. The only plus was that I could leave in the morning if everything looked good.

"Dehydration?" I questioned aloud. "If it was dehydration, I'm sure I would've been on an IV drip only."

Seemed right since it's happened before. However, this time it was more than an IV drip. There were more wires and a heart monitor as well. Could the reason being be because of what my mom said earlier? Was I a hybrid cross between a vampire and a werewolf?

"Please take care of her." I heard.

Ahead of me, my mother and Nathan were standing beside a tall window. My mother wasn't looking directly at Nathan but he faced her direction out of respect.

Not wanting to be caught, I stood off to the side.

"I'm putting my trust in you, Nathan." My mother says firmly. "I know it's a lot. It is a lot to ask of you, you are just a kid. But like any parent, I just want her safe."

"I understand."

"You too, I want you safe too." She adds. "She may not be at the level to protect herself fully now but when the time comes for her to, let her. She can get stubborn sometimes but be patient."

Nathan then says, "What do I do when they show up?"

There was a long pause. It allowed me to wonder who they were.

"Let's hope I'm still around when they do."