Second Best

11

For the next few days, Akela was pampered, fed and tended to as if she was a treasured guest.

The Alpha family had given her full freedom to roam the territory, but Akela felt scared. What if she went too far? What if she crossed the borders and got lost?

"You're worried again," Zion observed.

Akela was sat in the living room pretending to read a book, but in reality worrying about never seeing Kira again.

She nodded.

"We'll find a way to get Kira here, don't worry. Dad was saying about setting up a trade agreement, just to get a reason to meet Alpha Preston," Zion smiled.

Akela looked up and her spine shivered as their eyes met. Slowly she was getting used to his unusual voice and the human expressions of his face.

For a long time, they were simply sat there, looking. Soft tendrils of Akela's soul reached out to sense him. His tail was slowly wagging, and she felt his intense joy at just breathing the same air as her.

She was so at peace with him.

It hadn't taken long to realise that while Abel could charm the socks off a penguin, Zion went out of his way to make sure she was comfortable and happy. 

"Would you go with them?" Akela asked.

"Huh?" Zion uttered.
He had been so completely lost in daydreams about the girl in front of him he wasn't sure what she was asking.

"Would you go with your dad to the north to find Kira?" Akela clarified with a small smile.

Zion smiled back. It looked so weird on his wolf face, but Akela decided in that moment that she liked it. He looked so genuine. As if every emotion altered his whole being.

He shook his head.

"I stay on Connor turf... I can't run with the wolves and I can't hide among humans," he shook his head with a slight frown.

Akela nodded. She had been a new girl in too many packs to pretend she didn't know what it meant to be stared at. Or mistaken for Kira. Or be called "The other one" because Kira was the outgoing twin.

They were quiet again. Zion fiddled with the sleeves of his jumper before he looked up at her again.

"Do you think... I mean... You don't really think we're both made for you do you?" he observed.

Akela nodded.

"How is having two mates going to work?" she asked with a slight scoff.

Zion shrugged and looked at the floor.

"Well... I figured... with me being a halfie... I might not be made for anyone," he mumbled.

"So you think I'm Abel's? And you're extra?" Akela asked, not able to hold back a small smile.

Zion nodded.

"I've dreamt of my true mate my whole life. Just one. My one," she said.

Zion nodded as if bracing himself for bad news.

"I was told... My mum always said... That there was one. My one. Who would complete me and make my heart sing," Akela muttered.

Zion sighed heavily and nodded.

"I don't want two mates. There is only one of me, and I don't even know if there's enough of me to keep one man happy, never mind two!" she said quietly.

Zion gave her a look through his eyelashes. Akela couldn't take her eyes off the sadness in them. in the link between them, she felt his exact emotions. He was trying to hide how his heart longed for her, but Akela sensed it, and she had to fight back a warm tenderness.