"So, let me get this straight. You want my Truth Seeker to train yours? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yes. Please. You know I wouldn't ask this of you if it wasn't that serious."
"Why? Isn't your Truth Seeker already experienced?" Perez asked.
Luke sighed, resting his forehead against the steering wheel. "She is, but I want her to be able to tell mates, like your Truth Seeker."
It went quiet on Perez's end. Luke also kept quiet.
"Did you find your mate?"
"No! What? No! I mean, no," Luke panicked, looking outside his car to see if anyone was eavesdropping.
"Are you sure? I mean, why would you want your Truth Seeker to be able to tell mates?"
"Because. Look, are you going to help me or not?" Luke was already sweating with nervousness, he didn't need hundred questions from Perez.
"Just because I like you, then I guess I'll ask my TS. But on one condition," he said.
"What is it?"
"Don't you want to come over? You could spend the week here to help your TS adjust? Please?"
Luke sighed, running his hand down his face. "You know I have a Pack to run, Perez."
"But we haven't seen each other for so long, please. I miss you."
Luke looked ahead, seeing Tamera headed his way. "Fine."
"Thank you thank you! You won't regret this, I promise."
Luke smiled, touched at Perez's enthusiasm. "I know."
They said their goodbyes, with Luke's spirits up. Tamera opened the passenger door, and slid in. She sighed, leaning her head against Luke's shoulder. "There's progress. The rescue team reckon they'll be done by tomorrow."
Luke was relieved. At least he would leave when Rolus was safe.
That thought eased some of the worries he had.
"When are we leaving?" he asked, his arm coming up to wrap around Tamera.
She shrugged, sleepy.
Luke sighed once again and leaned his head against hers.
They ended up napping.
________
The only reason Luke awoke from his nap was the sound of sirens. He shook Tamera since she was too deep in sleep.
"I'm up, I'm up. What's going on?" she asked whilst running her eyes off sleep. She looked outside and saw the emergency vehicles pulling up.
"I have no idea. Let's go check," he said, opening his door to get out. He met up with Tamera, who was still rubbing her eyes, but then realization dawned on her.
"Oh shit! I think the rescue team is done. I have to go," then she took off, running to the building.
Luke rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing what to do. He wanted to go see Rolus for himself, but something was holding him back. He was about to step forward, but then stepped back and turned back around to go into his car.
He gripped his steering wheel tightly when he saw Rolus and Sierra carried on stretchers. He banged his head against the steering wheel, his will to climb with Rolus in the ambulance stronger than ever. When he felt the will too strong, he started his car and sped off the site.
He needed to confirm whether Rolus was telling the truth or not, otherwise he would die with worry for nothing if it turned out that Rolus was lying to him.
The thing of Rolus being his supposed mate was messing with him. He was so sure that if he hadn't learnt that Rolus was his mate, he wouldn't care this much.
The first thing he did when he returned to his Pack, he called Mia to tell him about the opportunity to better her abilities. She was ecstatic at first, before she learnt where they were going.
She only agreed after Luke told her that he thought he found his mate, but needed her to help him confirm. After that, she was still apprehensive, but her excitement had not dimmed.
After confirming the details of their departure, they parted ways. Luke went to find Peter, Shanell and Macey. He had to explained to them the situation at hand. Peter would understand since he's already told him that he found his mate, but the others would have questions he wouldn't be able to answer.
When he rounded them up in his office, he sat down to ground himself.
"Are you alright?" Peter came to his side, touching his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I need to leave tomorrow for a week." Luke held up his hand when Macey tried to protest. "This is important."
Before Peter could say anything, Luke's door opened.
"What's going on in here?" Tamera asked, coming to stand by Macey and Shanell.
"Luke's leaving tomorrow. For a week," Macey replied, as if telling on Luke. Luke rolled his eyes in return.
"Why didn't you tell me when we were together?" Tamera asked, a frown decorating her face.
"It's a spur of the moment thing," he supplied.
"Why are you going?" Shanell asked, sitting down on the table.
"I'm accompanying Mia to someone."
"To do what?" Tamera asked, joining Shanell on the table.
"To learn how to tell mates. I've arranged for her to meet with a Truth Seeker who can tell mates."
Tamera scrunched her face in confusion. "Why do you need her to tell mates?"
For a moment, the confusion was still there, then realization dawned on her face.
The others caught on. Peter squeezed his shoulder in reassurance. This encouraged him to explain. "I think I found my mate, but I want to make sure. Just to be careful."
Tamera seemed to have a lot to say, but refrained.
"Do we know the person?" Macey asked, excitement dancing in her eyes.
Luke considered not telling them, but decided against it. This was not worth keeping a secret anymore. "I think it's Rolus."
The silence that followed was deafening.
It was Tamera's laugh that broke the silence. It was disbelief. Macey pushed Tamera for her to snap out of it, even though she too seemed to find the situation funny as a smile danced on her lips.
"Rolus, huh?" Peter asked.
Luke nodded. "That's why I want to confirm."
Peter nodded in understanding.
"Wait a minute. When did Rolus find out?" Shanell asked, doing the math in her head. "That's like eight years, right? And it's not like you guys haven't been around each other. So he must have know all along."
"You're right. If I get my hands on that motherfucker, I'll fucking strangle him. You know what, I think I might just go to his hospital room and do that," Tamera threatened, her eyes changing colour.
Luke chuckled, holding his head. "No need to do that before I have confirmed everything. And please don't tell anyone until I say so."
They all nodded, but he could still tell they had questions. Luke dismissed them, but Peter stayed behind.
When the door closed behind the others, Peter went to sit in front of Luke. "Rolus."
Luke nodded. "I just need to confirm that he isn't playing with me."
Peter nodded. He looked calm, but
Luke could tell that he was far from calm.
Luke and Mia left early the next day.
______
It took about three days for Rolus to recover. It only took Sierra one. He only spent one day in the hospital, but then Zayn made arrangements for him to be transferred back home. Since he couldn't take his 'medicine' from the day they got stuck, to the day he recovered, he was weak.
Sierra wouldn't let him take his 'medicine' when he hadn't recovered.
So when he did recover, he was in a predicament with his wolf because his body was not strong enough to sustain both him and his wolf.
The medicine had worn off, and Sierra wanted him to wait a day before taking his medicine. So, he didn't get out of his room for the whole day, in fear of his Pack finding out that they were back to square one.
The next day, he was the first one to remind Sierra to give him his daily dose. When Sierra was done injecting him, she tidied up in his room. When done, they sat down on the couch since Sierra had told him she's got some information to share.
"I had someone do some digging for me. I think I found out who sabotaged us," she said, making Rolus look at her in disbelief.
"How?" he asked, feeling like his Beta was too resourceful. He felt like he really didn't know her at all with all her shady dealings. It was first her source that supplied them with the antidote for the Killex, then the source that helped them when they were going to Dangerous Valley Pack, and then the medicine that helped him with his wolf. Now she managed to find the person who blew up their building.
"I have contacts. But I'll go with you to meet my contact who managed to find out who sabotaged us. Tomorrow?"
Rolus nodded, a bit grateful for Sierra. Sierra went to the kitchenette to prepare some snacks for them.
When she came back, she switched on the TV, gave Rolus his snacks and settled next to him. They settled in silence and pretended to be focusing on the TV.
Well, at least on Rolus' side.
It wasn't long before Sierra spit whatever was on her mind. "I wanted to thank you for putting me first when we were stuck," she said, looking intently at the TV.
Rolus smiled, leaning back against the couch. "You know I'd put you first above everything," he replied. It was true. Even though they had their differences, Sierra would always come first. She was like a sister, or a twin sister to be more exact. He loved her more than anything. Well, of course not more than the Pack. The Pack came first.
And she knew. She knew that she was his everything, more so since he didn't have a family of his own, no mate and no partner.