Despite Leo's instruction not to wait up for him, I find myself checking the time on my phone consistently. Leo's a grown man and also a Beta, he has immense strength, so I'm not worried about his safety, I'm more concerned about what he's out doing.
The time changes to 5:00am, another hour has gone by.
I pick up my cellphone, dialing my mate's number for the 15th time, and again I'm immediately taken to voicemail.
"Hey Leo, it's me again. I'm just calling to see when you plan to come back home." I lay in bed staring at the ceiling for sometime until my eyes finally give out.
"Amira, wake up. The Luna wants to talk to you. " I wake up to my younger sister hovering over me with concern on her face. "What is it?" I ask, "Are you okay, Mira? You've never slept in this late before."
I pick up my cellphone to check the time and see that it is past 5pm. "Oh my goodness!" I jump out of my bed, rushing into the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. I'd slept for 12 hours. The entire day is wasted.
When I enter back into my bedroom, my sister is nowhere to be found. I remember that she had mentioned that the Luna wanted to speak to me. That was over an hour ago, it's rude of me to keep her waiting that long.
I make my way over the kitchen in search for her. I find the Luna seated at the grand table with the Alpha. I wonder if I'm to be punished for having disrespected him yesterday.
"Alpha, Luna" I bow respectfully and stand waiting to hear what I was called for.
"I told you to call me Bliss remember? I'm not that much older than you Amira. I want us to be friends." That was one of the last things I expected to leave her mouth. Friends? She wants us to be friends?
"Of course Bliss" I answer, "Good. Take a seat", the Luna pulls out the seat beside her and pats on the bottom of the wooden chair, urging me to sit down.
"Thank you" I slowly make my way onto the seat. I'm a bit frightened. The atmosphere was odd, her kindness was making me nervous. What was most uncomfortable though was the fact that the Alpha hadn't uttered a word. He'd been sitting silently this entire time, his face void of emotion.
"Amira" she calls to me. I turn to face her, to find her holding a perfectly wrapped gift box.
"Here." She tries to put the gift in my hands but I'm reluctant. It's not my birthday. "What is this for? " I ask finally taking the gift and resting it on my lap. "I heard about what my mate did to you and I want to apologize, actually we want to apologize, don't we ?" The Luna stares at the Alpha impatiently waiting for him to speak in agreement. He looked pained, I can tell his pride is getting in the way of him apologizing to me directly, but he musters up enough humility to say "I'm sorry. I apologize for laying my hands on you. I wouldn't want anyone doing the same to my mate, so I understand that I was wrong and hope we can make amends."
My mouth slightly hangs open in disbelief that Bliss had persuaded her mate into apologizing. As I nod in acceptance of his words - that I hope are sincere - I watch Jaxon leave. Bliss moves to stand closer to me as we're left alone in the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, his exterior is tough but he has a good heart" Bliss adds, "I'm sure he does, all of that is in the past now. No need to apologize. I take partial blame for what happened anyways. " I say politely.
"How is Leo? I heard about their fight." She asks me, searching the room with eyes expecting him to be nearby. I was embarrassed to have to say that I didn't know since I haven't spoken to him in almost a full day. "I haven't really spoken to him..." I started to say as we're interrupted by laughter.
My mate strolls into the room alongside Cora. It takes me a moment before I'm able to take notice of Cora's attire. She's sporting my mate's white dress shirt, the one he'd been wearing when I last saw him yesterday evening. He'd replaced his top with a basic black tee, while holding his suit coat in his hand. She isn't wearing much underneath either, to top it off they both reek of alcohol. He spent the night with her I'm sure.
When Leo's eyes catch mine I don't say a word to him, just look between the two of them. Leo stands stiff, his mouth opens and closes. I'm sure he's trying to find a way to explain where he was, and why Cora is partially naked and in his clothing.
"It's not what it looks like" Leo says taking slow and cautious steps towards me.
"I'm going to go for a stroll around the garden. Cora you should join me" Bliss says quickly, extending her hand for Cora to grab. Cora, hesitantly takes the Luna's hand, I can tell she doesn't want to join the Luna for walk, but seeing the Luna's disappointed look tells her she should follow. "Call me if you're in need of anything, Amira" Bliss says to me. "Jaxon wants to speak with you once you find some free time" she says to Leo before leaving, dragging Cora along with her.
I stand in silence, my eyes blurred with emerging tears. "Amira, please let me explain. I know what you must be thinking" Leo continues to walk in my direction, but this time I retreat. Keeping my distance from him. If he comes near me, the mate bond would make me forgive him.
"Were you with her all this time?" he was reluctant to reply "I was, but it's not what you think. We drank with some friends last night, she threw up on herself and she asked if she could borrow my shirt, that's all." I could tell he was telling the truth. His eyes show both fear and remorse. Plus, knowing Cora's behavior, she likely planned this because she knew it would hurt me. "I don't like it when you spend time with her" I say bluntly. I wasn't angry anymore, just hurt. My head hung low, I couldn't dare to face him. I was embarrassed by my confession.
"We're just friends" He says trying to reassure me of their relationship. "Imad and I are just friends, he's like a brother to me, but you've made it clear you don't like him around me."
"Any male wolf would show concern about their female spending time with an unmated wolf. I know how men think Amira, I just want to protect you." He's standing directly in front of me now. His hand reaches to face, but I jerk it away from him.
"I know you've been with Cora romantically - and in other ways - it's not fair that you feel threatened by my platonic friendship with Imad, when you spend time with a woman you've slept with on serval occasions." I'm surprised by how composed I am when talking about this topic. I didn't say it to be rude, I know he sought comfort from her when he couldn't find me, and I was to blame for that.
"You're being unfair. You hid from me until I became hopeless, it was natural for me to seek another mate." He says to my dismay. This was the first time I'm hearing he sought out another mate. His admission to seeking Cora in particular had my wolf growling "You were going to take her as your mate? Out of all females you've been with, you wanted to choose Cora? Why?" I was genuinely curious. What was it about Cora had he found special enough to want to give her such a title?
He seems to be in deep thought for a while before he responds "I don't want to upset you Amira. I know anything I say at this point will do just that."
I was so deep in my own thoughts that I completely ignored what he had said. "If we weren't mated, would you have taken Cora?" Curiosity was beginning to eat at me. "And I want the truth." I say silently. Again, I'm not angry. Just curious.
"Yes" He looks at me with stern eyes. His body was stiff, he was ready for whatever I would say back.
What he didn't expect was my acceptance. I just nod, accepting his truth. I'd rather he be honest with me than lie, so at least I'm fully aware of what I'm up against. "Thank you for being honest." I leave him dumfounded in the kitchen.
"Amira, wait" He sighs following me wherever I go. "We can't keep doing this" he says still following me. I walk around the pack house not knowing where I'm going. The place was ginormous, I'm sure there are rooms even the Alpha hasn't seen. I continue to walk, I was doing so to clear my head. I wasn't upset with Leo anymore, I'd asked him to answer me truthfully, and that's exactly what he did. I couldn't be upset about it.
I found myself heading to the attic where I would sleep sometimes if my chores had kept me in the pack house late. As I climbed up into the room I used to sleep in, I expected it to be empty, but I walked in to find Salma laying on the sleeping bag on the floor I used to call mine. The poor girl had been fast asleep until I came in. She looks surprised to see me, but even more surprised to see my mate, who is standing behind me now. Leo began to search the room, seemingly shocked at its existence.
"Beta, Amira" Salma bowed nervously. "Is there something you're in need of?" her hands were shaking. I feel bad for having barged in here, she probably thinks she's in trouble. I know because I was in her position not too long ago.
"It's alright Salma. I'm sorry I barged in here. I didn't know they'd given someone this room."
Her head shakes frantically. "It wasn't given to me. Please don't tell anyone I was in here." She whispers for only me to hear. She was uncomfortable with my mate being in the room.
Leo was still distracted by his discovery of the space. Once he notices our silence, he turns to Salma and ask "You sleep up here?" reassessing the old, dusty, and tattered room before staring back at Salma.
She plays with the sleeves of her oversized shirt nervously. She still thinks she's in trouble. I would too if I'd been caught sleeping in here and the Beta began to question me.
"I'm sorry Beta, it won't happen again" she says, her eyes beginning to gloss over.
"Salma, it's alright. You're not in trouble. We're sorry to have scared you." I saw bringing the young girl into my arms. She was the same age as my younger sister Salina. It saddened me to see her like this. She'd probably been working all day. When our people had been attacked by rogues, they took her entirely family. She was the only one to survive.
"Why don't we find you a more comfortable place to sleep Salma" Leo tells her, extending his hand for her to grab. He waits patiently as she decides whether she wants to accept his offer or not.
"I don't want to trouble you Beta" Salma says quietly. Leo smiles softly as he gently grabs her hand, leading us down the stairs from the attic.
"Do you think Salina would mind sharing a room for sometime? " Leo whispers into my ears. I shook my head. My sister has always been accommodating to others. "Not at all"
Salma was placed in my sisters bedroom to sleep for the night, while Leo and I walked silently back to our bedroom. Seeing Salma had changed my mood. My conflicts with Leo had distracted me from focusing on what was most important, seeking equality for people.
"Leo, I know we should talk about our fight, but I really do want to talk about getting proper care for my people. I know you hate the topic, but it's hard for me to watch the people that took care of me all these years suffer. If we're going to move forward as mates you have to understand that caring for them and my sister will always be a priority of mine." I silently pray that we wouldn't fight this time.
Leo sits up on our shared bed. He pulls me closer to him. I sit criss crossed between his legs. He grabs my hands and kisses both of them. "I'm sorry" he says to me.
"About what? Our fight? Leo, you don't need to apologize, I was stupid to ask a question that I knew would..."
Leo's soft kiss to my lips shuts me up immediately.
"Earlier when I admitted to being willing to accept Cora as my mate, it was only in the case that I failed to find you. I would not have mated her because I loved her, it would have been something of convenience. Cora and I are close, but our relationship was that of benefits, nothing more. I never loved her like I do you. It's Jaxon and I's job to be tough, we can't be leaders if we aren't stern and forceful of rules, but every Alpha and Beta desires and needs mates that are kind and caring. Cora's an amazing warrior, and I admire her strength, but my ideal mate was never a pack warrior. It was you Amira. You're so loving, thoughtful, and responsible. I couldn't ask for a better mate. Most times I feel I'm not deserving of you." Leo's words were so raw and honest. I'd never seen this side of him. My skin is tingling, It almost feels as though I'm dreaming.
"I-I- don't know what to say. I've been thinking I'm the one not good enough for you all this while. " I giggle as tears run down my face.
He wipes the tears off my face. "You don't have to say anything. I spoke with Jaxon and we're meeting with board members to discuss a change of rules in the pack. I'm sorry I haven't been listening to you all this while. It's bad of me to say I wasn't aware that things had been that bad for your people, despite all of your attempts to tell me. The fact is, I don't know a lot about what's going on in this pack. I hated that Salma was so afraid of me. The people we've placed in certain positions clearly have been abusing their power, but Jaxon and I are to blame for having been so dismissive and complicit to the abuse against your people. I promise changes will be made."
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Hello all,
Sorry it's been over two months since you got an update.
Sorry again, I know I need to do better, but I appreciate all of the new readers!
Love you all, and thank you for the continuous support.