***Dweight's POV***
I heard her approach before she rounded the corner so it gave me a few seconds to prepare myself. Hillary had been with my Pack for longer than I have been alive and she was a friend of my mother’s. Her floral scent drifted in a second before she did and the look on her face was one of pity which instantly made me straighten up and clear all emotions off of my face.
My worry for Kelly can’t be seen. It just wasn’t normal for a wolf to pine after a mated wolf, especially not another Alpha’s mate. I could feel my wolf bristle at the thought and in turn my agitation grew.
‘How is she?’ I shrugged
‘Fine I guess. She’s taking a bath.’ Hillary scowled at me
‘Be a little more compassionate Dweight. You’re acting like an ass.’ It felt like she had slapped me and a growl bubbled from my chest.
‘What do you want me to do Hillary?’
‘I want you to go in there and speak to her.’ I felt my heart rate pick up at the thought and only got angrier. She was supposed to know me better than anyone else and she was also supposed to lecture me on how a taken mate is none of my business but here she was, pushing me toward Kelly knowing full well that I’d only make things worse.
‘Are you insane?!’ I snapped
‘What the hell is wrong with you boy?’ She yelled back
‘What the hell is wrong with me?! You’re the one that kept pushing me to meet this girl and a fat fucking lot it did me and my pack!’ A tendril of hair fell over her eye and she swept it aside with an impatient stroke of her hand.
‘If you weren’t so damn stubborn then you might have made a difference earlier!’ She snapped at me and my temper was reaching boiling point. This wasn’t my fault!
‘In case you forgot, I was busy going through some shit!’ We were up in each other’s faces by now and I was pretty sure the entire pack could hear this argument
‘I was going through that shit right along with you boy! Now simmer down and get out of my face so I can go speak to that lovely girl in there.’ She growled and I turned, punching a hole in my new bedroom door before stalking out to go for a run.
I was half way to the territory line when I ran into Liam. He didn’t say a word; just fell into a steady jog next to me until we reached our usual changing spots.
‘You ok man?’ I growled and yanked my shirt off a little too roughly before I sank down and punched a shrub bush, grabbed the brush and started pulling it out. I growled, pulled a few more times and threw it in the general direction of the house.
‘Can you believe her? She was going on like Kelly’s problems are because of me.’ A searing pain erupted from my chest at the thought.
‘You know what I usually say Dweight; whatever happened, happened for a reason and maybe we don’t know what that is yet but she is here now so that’s all that should matter.’ I took a deep breath, held it and quickly ran what he said through my head again before releasing the breath.
‘What if she's right?’ I sighed and ran my hand through my hair feeling defeated
‘She might be right.’ I shot him a look, ‘She might be wrong.’ He shrugged.
‘The point is; your mate is here now so what are you going to do about it?’ Panic washed over me like a wave and it felt like I was drowning in it.
‘She’s not my mate.’ I bit out through stiff lips and even as I said it, I could hear the lie in my own voice.
Liam folded his arms and stared at me for a few minutes. I knew that look. It was a ‘you’re being an idiot’ look that he usually donned when I said something stupid. Leaning against the nearest tree I looked at him and knew this was why he was my Beta.
‘I know you said it before but how long have you known?’
‘Since Daniel came looking for her.’ I arched my brows.
‘You didn’t think of filling me in on that?’ He chuckled and shrugged
‘It’s a mate thing. Now we only have to work on a way to get her marked removed.’ I nodded remembering how close I came to causing her pain. I can’t leave her alone and it was becoming physically painful not to take her.
We were quiet for a few minutes and the crickets resumed their usual chorus in the background.
‘After all of this shit, I want to do something nice for her.’ I finally said and Liam thought for a moment
‘Get the Pack to put the mess hall together for a games night. We haven’t had one of those in years.’ I felt a smile spread across my face when I pictured her sitting between everyone, laughing and playing games.
‘Yeah ok, I’ll do that.’ He reached his hand down and I gripped it before he pulled me to my feet.
‘Please don’t tell anyone about her being my mate. I need to figure out the details first and I don’t need anyone egging me on.’ He grinned and nodded.
‘Sure Dweight just don’t wait too long man.’ I grinned and nodded.
‘I’m going for a perimeter run. I should be back in an hour or so.’
‘Do you need some company?’ I shook my head and took my shoes off.
‘No, I’ll join you as soon as I’m done.’ He turned and jogged back as I relayed my message to everyone except Hillary and Kelly.
Surprise game night.
Everyone was excited and I couldn’t help but wonder why we hadn’t done this in so long.
