Liam's POV
A sort of day before Celeste's crash (A/N: It was in the middle of the night.)
Sitting in my new office, my dad's old one, made me feel disappointed in the way my life had suddenly plunged lately. Nothing seemed to fit the right way in my life anymore. This isn't supposed to be how our lives were supposed to go.
Dad and Mom were supposed to grow older and then step down when I had found my mate. Samantha was supposed to be my innocent, gullible, little sister and find her mate. I was supposed to be in the office, ruling my pack with my mate and parents standing beside me until they die from old age.
But no. No, Dad had to personally check out a rogue problem and be murdered. Mom suffered through her loss of her mate in the most painful of way, living. She did the best she could until she stepped into a depressed, just not-feeling state that scared the heavens out of me. Samantha shouldn't have gotten pregnant... at least not without even meeting her mate. And I wasn't supposed to be in this office, running my family's pack, without my family.
"Liam, I know it's only been a month, and you haven't had proper time to grieve over your father, but this pack needs an Alpha and Luna. You and your sister have to step up and show your pack there's still hope," my grandmother, Marcie, told me as I sat in my office thinking about my terrible, screwed up life.
I sighed and looked at her old, wrinkly face that had always been smiling throughout my life. Now, changed just like everything else in my life, there was a permanent frown.
"There will be a meeting tomorrow where we will both attend and accept the titles of Alpha and Luna. Until I find my mate, Sam will have to cancel her trip," I said, knowing Sam would thank me for it. When a werewolf hits the age of eighteen, they go on a trip to random packs in hope of finding their mates and it also keeps us packs united in a sort of way. Lending your own pack members to other packs and trusting that pack to keep them safe is a big issue with any pack, big or small.
"Is that absolutely necessary?" She asked. "Your sister has already been through enough, and now you want to take away the only chance of finding her mate as well?" I couldn't help but snort at her.
Now that our parents are mostly gone, with only a matter of time until Mom relapses without Dad, Samantha is my priority. Besides, without her, I wouldn't be able to be strong. And if she found and stayed with her mate in some far away pack, I would waste away.
"Well, I really don't want to go on the stupid trip anyways, so stop trying to speak for me, Gran," Samantha grumbled angrily, stomping into the office in her Hello Kitty shirt and combat boots. I smiled at her sense of style. That's probably one of the only thing that gets me to smile or laugh anymore.
"And, if it's really meant to be, then my mate will find me some other way. My place is here, with my family, as Luna." I looked at my little sister with pride and astonishment. How did she grow up so fast?
I then looked at her confused, "You were so excited for the chance to meet your mate before. What's wrong?" She looked at Gran, then at the ground silently.
"Oh," Gran said standing and heading out of the room, "I see how it is. I'll see you tonight at dinner, then." When the door was closed and locked behind her, Samantha sat in the chair Gran had abandoned in front of me.
"I'm scared," she said shakily, "With the pregnancy and what happened to Mom and Dad, I don't feel like me anymore. How can my mate fall in love with me like I am?"
"What are you like, Sam?" I asked not getting it. Even in her slightly depressed state after the funeral, her mate would be lucky to have her.
That question brought the waterworks. She let a few tears loose while I just stared. She's always acting so confident and OK lately. I stood up and pulled her up for a hug. She's the only one who makes me want to be strong. And now she's crying into my shoulder heavily.
"Tell me what's wrong, Sam. Please?" I asked pulling her away from me. She looked at me through wet eyelashes.
"Even if I do find my mate on the trip, he won't want me, Liam. I'm pregnant with a pup that's not his. He could think I didn't wait for him, or he has someone else, or I'm not good enough for him, or-"
"Sam. How can you think like that? This pregnancy isn't your fault. You weren't even aware that they even touched you until you got sick. And I'll kick his ass if he throws that back your face, mate or not," I threatened, holding onto her shoulders tightly. My wolf was clawing to come out just thinking about what had happened.
"Hey, it's OK, Liam. I'm OK," she tried to reason with me but I knew she was lying to both of us.
"I wasn't there to protect you," I whispered to her lowering my head in defeat. "I should've been there."
"Hey. Promise me you'll help me raise this child. I can't do it alone and I'm not holding a grudge against an unborn baby and having an abortion or giving it up because it's still part of me. You'll find your mate and have your first child with her, but mine will grow up without a father figure until I go on my trip, so be there for us, please." If only she knew how wrong she was, but I wasn't going to leave her when she needed me most.
"How do you know you won't find your mate by going on the trip?" I asked after nodding along with her words.
She blushed and looked bashful for once in her life. "I- I had a dream and I think it could be real. I was running with my wolf and saw my mate's wolf at this beautiful lake. Then, before we could do anything, I saw a woman, a really beautiful woman, appear and tell us we would meet when the Goddess deems it right, but we would have to wait for a little longer. I asked if she was the Moon Goddess and she laughed and shook her head and poof, no longer dreaming on the couch."
She then put a hand on her stomach and smiled sheepishly at me. "I'm not so sure what will happen if I find my mate so soon in the pregnancy anyways, so I'm kind of OK with it. I'm praying I have this child before we meet, so he won't know till I tell him the whole story. I don't want him to overreact or freak out or get the wrong idea."
I smiled at her and concentrated my hearing until I heard the baby's heartbeat. It was strong, but so frail at the same time. I loved children and we had plenty in the pack, but I knew I wouldn't treat this child the same. It would be my own flesh and blood and I could already imagine the fun we would have, boy or girl.
When we have children, you're going to spoil the shit out of it, my wolf snidely remarked.
I'm not having children with you. I have a mate for that, I remarked and he shut up after growling at me. Then, after Sam told me she and I both needed to sleep, I left the office for my bedroom, occasionally meeting pack members that bowed their heads respectively to their Alpha, me, and went on their way without speaking.
I finally made it to my room and was ready to sleep by about ten at night. It was early, especially for werewolves, but I hadn't slept well all week, not to mention my wolf's weird antics that I needed to be somewhere, doing something important, keeping me awake most of the nights, tossing and turning.
As I fell asleep though, my wolf was oddly content in my mind. When I finally let my thoughts stop and sleep overtake me, I vaguely heard my wolf whisper in my head, 'Soon.'
Sharing a human body with a wolf's is always difficult. The animalistic side comes out too quickly with stronger emotions such as anger, panic, pain, or love/lust. In that time, the wolf sharing the body can have instincts take over, and without time to shift, they take over the human body and a human may do the same once in the wolf's body.
That's what happened when I felt a rogue enter my territory after midnight, waking from my sleep when I heard shouts in my head.
As an Alpha's duty, one of them is to be able to focus and calm your pack through their minds and be able to help them even if you are not close by. The connection, called a 'pack link' to others, let's our thoughts be connected together so we may establish peace and contentment with the weaker pack members. Each member, no matter how small, may block their thoughts and only let certain ones through to a specific mind.
I was, unfortunately, bombarded with three people calling out to me, in my mind, and a panicked patrol wolf, who was patrolling the pack borders, calling for Sam to come to the southern borders for immediate assistance with a car accident.
There were way too many voices in my head at once I couldn't make sense of. So, I rose from my bed and, as I was getting dressed, shouted, 'Everyone needs to stop what they are doing before you wake the whole pack up! What the hell is going on?!'
Immediately, there were five different voices trying to tell me what was happening. I focused on the most familiar, Sam, and told her to give me a report and for everyone else to stay where they were and secure the borders.
I'm with Jake right now. He said he was patrolling the northern side and a car came for him, speeding, and he jumped out of the way just in time. Whoever was driving swerved to miss him and ended up crashing into a tree.
Who? And why would they come from the Starlight Pack?
I don't know. Jake just pulled them out, Sam gasped and I felt her sorrow and panic.
Who is it? I asked running out of the room with my Beta, Jordan, following closely behind me.
A woman and her daughter from what I could tell. The mother threw herself over the child and took all the damage. The kid's just knocked out, but the woman is severely wounded. Samantha gulped. She's lost a lot of blood.
That's when I reached the road. The car was smashed on the passenger side and the metal twisted at odd angles. Screaming brought me out of my shock over the car and instantly reminded me of the people who were previously inside of it.
"Alpha," Jake said, holding a little girl, that couldn't be more than four, back harshly as she screamed for her mother. He looked to be struggling.
I allowed my wolf to assess the situation and saw the little girl had blood soaking her pajamas, but had no real wounds. Then I followed her gaze to a sight that rocked my world.
A beautiful, blonde young woman was laying down with her head in my sister's lap. There was blood soaking some of the strands that made my stomach roll, but I looked over her quickly. Sam was trying to stop the bleeding in a gash to her side and little incisions all over her body and clothes.
Then, simultaneously, I heard her heart fail just as I reached her face, seeing that this dying angel was supposed to be my angel.
The little girl changed her screaming over my shocked state to, "I can help her! Let me help! Listen to me! I can help her!"
I noticed, before I spoke, that her hands were glowing and her blue eyes shining, but not from her tears or the moonlight. I felt immense power radiating from her and Jake was losing his hold on her. This small child was making a 200 pound, warrior sweat.
"Let the girl go. Sam step away. I think the girl can save her," I said watching the girl run up to her mother and swatting Sam's hands away.
I walked up to them and watched the little girl wipe her snotty nose on the arm of her shirt before holding the sides of my mate's face in her hands and began to heal her.
A golden light seeped out of the girl's hands and looked as if it was traveling inside my mate's skin. It started at her face and shot down to the worst wound, her side, while healing every mark along the way.
"How can she do that?" I heard Jordan whisper amazed.
I shushed him and kneeled by Sam, who was watching with wide eyes. The girl was still quietly sobbing, asking her Mommy to wake up for her. My mate's heart was beating slowly, but she was alive and that was enough to keep my wolf from freaking out despite all the blood.
"She's OK now, sweetie. She just needs to rest," Sam said quietly to her.
"No..." She was whispering now, her heartbroken voice nearly lost in the breeze. "She has to wake up and we have to go before they get us and Mommy gets taken from me. They'll come for us," the girl sobbed against her mother's chest. My wolf rose at that statement.
No one takes what's ours.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"M-Miracle," she said staring at my mate's face with such longing that it broke my heart.
"Miracle, look at me," I commanded using my Alpha tone. Once I held her attention, I held her hand delicately in mine and said, "We need to get your mommy to the pack house and our best healers will be with her. We need to make sure she stays healthy. You need to go with this woman," I tugged Sam's wrist until she was the one holding Miracle's hand, "to the room you can stay at with your mommy. We'll get your stuff out of your car and bring your mommy there safely. We won't hurt you or her, OK?"
Her wide, teary eyes met mine and she looked so exhausted and full of sorrow I felt sorry for her, "Promise?"
"Promise," I said and she tilted her little head, nodded at me, and said, "Please help her. She's all I got." Then she got up and left with Sam.
~
Holding my mate so close was as tempting as holding an angel from heaven.
'Our Heaven,' my wolf whispered hungrily for her. His emotions were jacking mine up from the normal calm I maintain to not lose control. But, now, she was here. Soaking up my attention unconsciously and without me even knowing her name.
"Alpha," Jordan bowed his head as he approached around the corner of the hall, "The room is ready for her. Sam wants to take a look over her before allowing her to rest and your grandmother wishes to speak to you this instant. I would be honored to take the new Luna to her room for you, Alpha."
"You will not touch her," my wolf snapped at him before I could stop myself. I've always held my emotions in check. Always. Never before have I lost control, but once the image conjured up that anyone besides myself (especially a man) touching her sent me raging on the inside.
Jordan bowed his head in submission to me and backed away from us slowly.
I took a few calming breaths and told him to go to my grandmother and tell her she would have to wait for a meeting because I would be tending to my mate. Once he left, my wolf settled down inside of me and I was at peace once again. Then I took my mate to her new room.
~
A week later, my mate still had not woken up and her daughter had not left her side for a moment. She wouldn't tell us anything about either of them besides their names. Miracle and Celeste. Being able to match a name to her face made my wolf extremely happy. Every time I looked at her, which was often since I haven't left her very much, sent a jolt of hope through my very soul that she would awaken soon as she looked to be getting much better.
Even though she was healed of her wounds, she still lost way too much blood. That and she seemed to be malnourished and sleep deprived. Her skin was pale and she had bags under her eyes, her hair looked dull and Sam mentioned half of it was dead weight on her scalp, and she was in the deepest sleep I've ever seen. She didn't move at loud sounds or someone touching her. Megan, my second healer to my mate under Sam, mentioned the possibility of a head injury inducing the coma state, but Miracle's healing canceled out that possibility, thank the Goddess.
She just needed to recuperate mentally, as did her wolf. She would wake up. It would just take much more time than I felt I could bear. I didn't even know her name, for stars sake. It didn't feel right interviewing Miracle about everything I wanted to know. I would just have to wait...
"It's been a week, sweetie. How about we get you all cleaned up for when your mommy wakes up, OK?" Sam begged Miracle but she stubbornly refused to get up from her chair by Celeste's side.
"I need to be here for her when she wakes up. I'm not leaving this room unless I have to pee."
I looked at Sam trying to negotiate with the stubborn little angel and decided to help her.
"Miracle, you need to take care of yourself. If your mother wakes up and sees you in the same dirty clothes you came here in, she'll be really upset and Sam said that's not good for her."
Miracle and Sam's eyes widened simultaneously. Miracle's was full of regret and Sam's because I had lied about what she said.
"Oh my goodness! Mommy's going to be so mad at me! I haven't brushed my teeth because I don't have a toothbrush, and she lets me pick my clothes but I still can't get them on right, and I don't want Mommy mad at me, and-"
"It's OK, Miracle. Go with Sam and take a bath. I'll watch after her until you get back." I felt bad about cutting her off, but she was ranting again and her rants could go on for days as I've discovered.
She nodded enthusiastically and ran out of the room with Sam chasing behind her, giving me a glare.
I chuckled and not two seconds later, heard a rough cough emit from my mate's perfect lips. I quickly rushed to her side and took her hand in mine and waited for something, anything, to happen. Open your eyes, say something, clench my hand, shake your head, move your legs your arms, DO SOMETHING! I pleaded in my head.
"Mate..." she mumbled and I called out for Sam or the only other healer aware of our situation. Mate... Could she sense me? Was she dreaming of meeting her mate? Would I be enough for her? I heard Megan and Jordan coming to the room when she said something else.
A name. A name sighed with a lovely curve of her lips that took the breath out of me. "Zachary..."