DYLAN ||
Three days later
Waking up this morning was one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do. For the past three nights, sleep did not come easy — in fact, that shit barely came at all.
Maddox was right — I shouldn't have opened the door to memories of my childhood because nothing good could have come from that and nothing good has come from that.
Now I have a vague sense of why I'm so fucking terrified of those cells. That same fucking presence, that damn voice nagging in the back of my head every single day of my life — had to be that presence in that memory of my childhood.
The last day that I saw Bennett alive.
Throwing the blanket back, I drag myself out of bed as I feel someone pulling on the pack link.
"Yeah?" — I open the link, answering whoever it was and hoping they didn't have bad news to share.
"Alpha?" — I heard Hunter's voice flitter through the link and thankfully it did because it pulled me out of those debilitating thoughts as I sigh in preparation for what he could tell me.
"Yes Hunter, any updates?"
"Ummm.. yes, but I'm not sure what you're going to think when you learn what they are." — He hesitates before actually finishing his statement and I frown.
Walking to my closet, I grab a pair of jeans and a black t shirt out and begin to get dressed for the day, not even bothering to take a shower because I was feeling far too depressed to go through the entirety of that shit.
"What is it, Hunter?" — I question after pulling my shirt over my head and then walking over to grab a pair of shoes from my shoe rack.
"You're probably going to be pissed, but we weren't able to complete the mission, Alpha." — His admittance brought my actions of putting my shoes on, to a screeching halt.
"What?! Why not?!" — I exclaim, grabbing my shoes again, slipping them on and rushing out of my bedroom.
"I would rather tell you in person Alpha, we're almost inside of pack territory." — Hunter states quietly and I scoff.
"This better be good Hunter because with the way that I'm feeling, I swear I will rip your throat out!" — I yell again before cutting the link, slamming the door to my bedroom.
Damn it!
I sent Gabe, Hunter and ten of my best warriors on a very important assignment about two weeks ago. They were supposed to be scouting out the closest rogue camps and finding out any information that could be useful.
Like the camps positions, locations, how many fucking rogues we're dealing with, what their training is like, anything — They were supposed to find out anything that they could, but these fuckers actually cut the assignment short and now are on their way back to the pack? Seriously?!
For them to take it upon themselves and end such an important assignment that I trusted them to lead, pissed me off.
Storming down the stairs, passing my parents and uncle Jake, I make them aware of the situation at hand and they quickly join me as I wait outside for the wolves that I had the nerve to call my pack leaders.
_____
It didn't take very long before I could smell my warriors returning. As soon as they were in eyesight, I start to walk over to them, but I was stopped by my father grabbing my arm.
"Calm yourself son," He whispers harshly. "Don't make a spectacle in front of so many pack members. It's your duty to be the voice of reason and you must hear your men out first before you decide on a course of action."
Leaving no room for argument, I nod to him before looking back at the scene in front of me and as my warriors emerged from the tree lines, I sniff the air, my stomach beginning to roll uncomfortably.
There was an odd feeling in the air — well more like an off putting feeling and as I try to fight through my nausea, I see a few of my warriors dragging something behind them.
My frown returns full force as I watch the scene in front of me unfold pretty quickly. Wanting to confront my men, I take a step forward before feeling my Dad's hand on my lower back — I feel him tap my lower back with one of his fingers and my entire body tensed under his touch.
The urge to stand completely still, stopping all further action taking precedence over everything else.
I didn't like my lower back being touched and it had absolutely nothing to do with my fragile sexuality at this point but because there was just something about that area that was always a no go for me.
And knowing what he does about the points on my body that I like to call off limits, my Dad removes his hand and quickly apologizes for his actions, which in turn makes me sigh heavily the moment that he does.
Continuing to watch my men close the gap between the treeline and the packhouse, I narrow my eyes as more of what they were dragging, comes into view.
Once they were close enough, I took a step forward to see a man on the tarp. His leg had been wrapped, but I could see the blood that stained his bandages. His lower body was barely covered by a blanket and his eyes were closed but I could feel his warmth — I could feel the life still within but he was weak, very weak.
"Alpha." My men greet me and I nod in response before my eyes travel down to the man on the tap once again.
"Who the hell is that?" I ask, gesturing towards the issue that seemed to be the reason why they had to cut such an important mission short.
"His name is Roman." Hunter answers truthfully and his heart rate spikes when he notices my Dad and uncle Jake studying the large man on the tarp as well. "He's m-my mate."
My eyes widen at his admission and I go to say something about it, but Gabe quickly cuts me off.
"And we don't have time to explain what's happened as of yet," Gabe interjects. "He's lost a lot of blood, we found him stuck in a human trap and he needs medical attention like now."
So I sigh, nodding my head. "Ok, let's get him to the pack hospital and I'll ask my questions there."
_____
After instructing two of my warriors, Lemetri and Valen to bring all of their gear to the pack storage facility, the rest of us rushed Roman to the pack hospital.
My family, Gabe, his mate, Avery and I sat on the other side of the hospital room watching Roman be hooked up to all kinds of machines after coming from his three hour surgery to save his leg.
Kyle, our pack doctor said that Roman had silver poisoning and it was lucky for him that Hunter and Gabe found him and got him into the hospital when we did because a few more hours and he would have died from his injuries.
That entire thought simmered my bubbling anger because I would have hated to see Hunter go through the pain of feeling his mate die.
Hunter was standing next to Roman's hospital bed, gently stroking his face after pulling all of his brown hair into a bun on top of his head to keep it away from his face.
"Hunter," Hearing me call out to him, he turns around and smiles softly. "What happened? How did you find your mate?"
His soft smile turns into something embarrassingly happy at that point. "It was day six of the mission, Alpha. We gained vital information about that rogue camp that you wanted us to scout. None of the wolves in that camp had became a full version of what a rogue should be, they still held majority of their humanity."
"We found out who their leader was and we were planning on paying him a surprise visit. We took a different path that morning because we wanted to throw any neighboring rogues off to our scents and this new trail would give us better access to the security measures of that pack, but the path we took just so happened to lead us deeper into the woods..."
Looking back at Roman, he sighs as he tucks a stray piece of hair behind his mate's ear. "I felt the pull first, it was strong. Crazy strong and Knoxx told me to follow it. To trust it and I did,"
"I found Roman in his true form stuck in what had to be a human trap for mountain trolls or something. I mean it was huge." Giggling, he continues. "He roared at me at first, but stopped immediately after our eyes locked. I knew that he could feel it too, I've never felt so happy and so in love at the same time. It was crazy," Hunter then grabs his mate's hand and gently strokes it.
"He shifted back and there Roman was in all his damn glory. He was beautiful and he was all mine," Taking a deep breath to shake away the tears, he continues. "We figured out how to get him out of the trap that he was stuck in with Gabe and Lemetri's help. The tarps and the silver protectant gloves that brought so that they wouldn't touch the silver on the stupid thing, did the trick."
Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he clears it before continuing and I stay quiet, wanting to hear every little detail.
Squeezing his mate's hand as if to search for reassurance, Hunter continues. "Roman screamed the whole time, but my touch seemed to calm him down a little bit. I remember the moment that I thought he was going to pass out from the pain and he grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me to him,"
I frown as an embarrassing blush crept up his neck then as if he was reminiscing on some kind of memory that I surely didn't want to hear about.
"My mate kissed me, like nobody else was around, like nothing else mattered, like his pain didn't matter. He just wanted my touch," Frowning as I listen, Hunter gazes lovingly down at his mate. "Like he just wanted me."
Then he looks back at me and I sigh as my shoulders slump.
"I'm sorry that we cut the mission short Alpha, but I had to get Roman back to the pack. He was hurt badly and there wasn't much any of us could do. None of us are doctors or medically trained. Valen tried the best that he could but we couldn't wait. We stayed for an extra three days out there to wait until Roman was strong enough to travel, but he never got any better."
"He wasn't healing like he should. So I made the decision to leave with Gabe's help and it took us these last five days to get back here. I didn't know Roman had silver poisoning but thank Goddess that I found him when I did and we were able to get him back here alive." Finishing, he whispers his last words.
Observing that he needed comfort, I slowly stand up from my seat to walk over to him and he finally notices me when I place a hand on his shoulder to offer my support.
I wouldn't skin him alive for this one.
And when I smile at him, Hunter cautiously returns it with his own."I'm happy that you've found your mate Hunter and the information you all were able to get will help in any further missions."
I tell him before looking down at Roman, sleeping peacefully on his hospital bed. "He's abnormally large for a wolf."
A chuckle leaves Hunter and my gaze travels back to his to try and understand what I'd said that was so funny.
Responding carefully as Hunter gauges my reaction, he says, "Roman is not a wolf, Alpha."
My frown returns tenfold as I stare back at the man next to me. "What the hell is he than?"
Bending down to place one last kiss to his mate's forehead because this would probably be the moment that he died, I brace myself for the truth that was yet to come and when Hunter said those four words that should have been so fucking simple, I freak out.
"Roman is a Lion."
It was at that moment, the second that he uttered his mate's true form — that my comforting hand left his shoulder as my gaze hardened before I stormed out of Roman's hospital room.
_____
Pacing the lobby, I look to my Dad who had so graciously followed me out of Roman's hospital room.
"Get this shit under control, Dylan, I don't want any more issues to come to my pack." — He warns through the link and I nod to him before glaring at Hunter as he and Gabe run into the lobby as well.
"Hunter, your mate is a feline shifter!" I growl, continuing my pacing.
"Alpha, calm down." Gabe reprimands and I glare at him as well.
Goddess forbid that Gabe and I got into another fight because of a power struggle.
My Dad was never happy with the outcome as more often than not, Gabe would put me on my ass every single time that we faced off.
"Calm down?" I repeat, shocked that he would even tell me to do that. "Calm down? This can't happen, Gabe! We can't have two feline shifters in the pack! This is a nightmare!"
This is exactly what I was scared of.
My Dad and uncle Jake have mentioned their take on how bad feline shifters could be — How terrifying, how angry, how much chaos seemed to follow their every step and now not only do I have a feline shifter as a mate but my Gamma does as well.
And not only is my mate locked in a fucking cell but now we have one laid up in our pack hospital.
"Come on Alpha, it's not that bad," Hunter rolls his eyes. "My mate isn't like yo—" He starts but with one look from me, he promptly shut the fuck up.
Looking around the lobby quietly, I suddenly find the floor interesting as I continue my pacing, my nerves almost getting the best of me because I didn't want my family to know who Raiden was to me just yet until I could figure out a way to tell them the truth.
"Alpha, I know that you're freaking out because of your bond with Raiden, but Roman isn't like him. I swear." — Hunter pleads through the link.
"You don't fucking know that! You just met the behemoth! He could for all you know be a murderer worse than my fucking mate!" — I didn't mean to call Raiden a murderer, but I've been so fucking stressed that it just slipped out and I regretted the moment that it came out.
However, the threat in my voice and the unnecessary name that I just called Hunter's mate was enough to piss him off as Hunter found the balls to speak up against his claim.
"I don't care about his past Alpha and I won't let you force him to leave." — Snarling his response, Hunter holds his ground, the action catching my attention.
Which was the dumbest decision. Who the fuck did he actually think that he was? Gabe?
"Whatever Gamma Hunter just said to you, Dylan, you need to put that in check, his stance looks a little like a challenge." — My Dad's voice floods the link once again and I sigh.
Having no choice, I stalk towards him, stopping once I was in front of him, our chests mere inches away.
"Mind your tongue Hunter and don't forget who you're talking to, I'm the Alpha and I have a right to protect my pack." — Growling my frustration, I force out enough of my aura to make him whimper and quickly bare his neck to me.
Wanting no parts of an Alpha on my ass right now, he rushes towards submission, giving Maddox and I what we wanted from him and as I look at him from head to toe, nodding my approval — his submission pleases my wolf enough to rest the urge to ripe his throat out from his blatant disrespect.
"You can't exactly kick the Lion out now that he's mated to Hunter," Gabe explains and I scoff because we were no longer speaking through the link. "That would mean that Hunter would leave too."
Rolling my eyes, I continue to pace the lobby, the thought of Hunter actually leaving the pack, hurt my heart.
"Do we even know anything about these feline shifters? What if Roman being a male Lion means that he won't mesh well with pack life? What if he wants to lead? What if his instincts take over and he challenges Dylan for his position?" My Dad questions, pulling another discreet eye roll from Hunter, that doesn't go unnoticed by me.
"Well, I don't really know about that." Hunter mumbles.
"This is a lot to swallow," Uncle Jake interjects. "First the Leopard with all the chaos he's caused and now a Lion with a background we know nothing about? I mean why is he even by himself? Don't lions have packs of their own?"
Apart of uncle Jake's question had a good point behind it — why is this Lion shifter alone?
"I can ask him all of this the moment that he wakes up, I promise," Speaking up again, Hunter vows to keep his given word. "We will get all of the information from him then."
So I shrug, unsure of what to add in on this fuckery because Gabe, my Dad and uncle Jake seemed to have the issues under control.
"I guess that's the best that we can hope for, we can't exactly get the answers we want while the giant feline is unconscious." I growl, apparently joking in the eyes of everyone else as laughter fills the lobby.
All except mine, Gabe and Hunter's of course.
Hunter was busy trying to discreetly glare at me, still not going untouched by me because Hunter was many things and subtle was not one of them.
Unlike my situation with my mate, Hunter had two things going in his favor — His mate wasn't ambushed and captured and nobody forced him to lock Roman away.
This honestly was the best outcome that everyone could have hoped for and until the big hairball wakes up, I'll try to do everything in my power to make sure that Hunter and his mate aren't subjected to the pain that I've been dealing with everyday for the past two weeks.
_________________________________
Rewrite of the original Chapter 7 and honestly, I kept a ton of the same information from the original, I just made it make a little more sense with how it was set up in this chapter.
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