Chapter 29: Risk asking

Benjamin’s POV

Mina’s behaviour had surprised me. She had not said a word throughout the entire meeting until the very end. Her questions were strange but what truly shocked me was seeing how disturbed she looked. I could tell that she was trying to hide her emotions but her voice and her eyes failed her. She spoke with a voice that, despite her best efforts, quavered under the weight of her apprehensions. There was clear panic written in her eyes and her lips trembled at her every breath. I had not realized how unsettling this whole thing with Alpha Miller could’ve been on her. She was still new to our world and I had, perhaps, overestimated how much she could handle.

When Christopher Reese told her that he couldn’t remember the tattoos precisely, she quickly retreated into her own thoughts. Without a word, she got up and waited for me inside my car. There was something going with her and a part of me blamed myself for introducing her to such chaos.

“How many of your men are staying?” I asked Christopher who was waiting on my instructions.

“A dozen, including myself. Nothing more.”

“Your brother can’t stay here.” I said still resentful of his prior actions towards Mina.

“I’m sorry but he has to, Alpha. He’s our head warrior and a lot of the men undercover are under his command. They respond better to him.”

Anger and disgust rose up inside my throat like bile at the thought him staying in my pack and near my mate. He was arrogant and didn’t respect my authority. Therefore, he was a threat.

“I’ll keep him in check, Alpha. He won’t be an issue.” Christopher said reading my disapproving mood.

“We’ll see about that.” I grunted. “You and your men will follow my Gamma. He’ll lead you to where you’ll be staying.”

I could tell he had more to say but I was impatient for this conversation to end. I wanted to go back to Mina and check up on her. I swiftly cut him off before he could ask anything else, promising him that we would talk after I had made contact with his Alpha.

I hurried back to the car expecting Mina to spill everything out but she stayed quiet, completely lost in her own thoughts. She didn’t notice me getting in the car and remained unfazed by the roaring engine as I turned the car over. I called out to her plenty of times but to no avail. Defeated, I decided to simply drive us back. She was sitting next to me, silently, with her arms crossed over her chest. She was so close and yet, she seemed so far away that even my wolf mewled over her frigidness. I thought back to what she had heard about the unrelenting killer rogue and also remembered everything she had learned in the last few days.

She must’ve been terrified. I was sure of that. *‘But there’s something else…’* I couldn’t help but wonder about the questions that she had asked Christopher. They were almost too specific. *‘How did she know to ask about the tattoos? And the hands?’* It seemed as though she already knew the answers or, at the very least, knew what to look for. It was possible that there was something more to all of this and maybe, it could’ve explained the leeriness forming within me.

*‘Okay now! Don’t be absurd, Benji! Mina has nothing to do with this.’* I tried to reason with myself. The rogue Alpha had come for me, my family and my pack. She was a non-factor.

When we arrived at my house, I leaned over and placed my hand on her thigh to pull her out of her thoughts. She looked down at my hand then finally raised her eyes to me.

“Hey.” I smiled to her. “Are you okay?”

She hesitated for a few seconds before she shook her head, chuckling lightly.

“Yeah… I’m sorry Benji. It’s just been a crazy day.”

I agreed with her but I knew full well that she was holding back her true feelings. I didn’t want to badger her with more questions because I wanted to believe that she would open up to me on her own. We still had a relationship to build and a bond to maintain and I intended on making her trust me and love me.

“Why are we here?” She asked me, finally noticing her surroundings.

“You’ll be staying here from now on. With me.”

“Why?”

“Because the River Creek men will be at my parents for now. It served as the pack house in their time and it still does. They have the rooms and the space.”

My house was smaller and less suitable to host such a large number of guests. I built it that way knowing how much I hated sharing my space. I needed some sense of privacy. Even with my open doors policy, most of my place remained peacefully inaccessible to most in my pack.

“But what about my stuff?” She asked me concerned.

“I’ll have them brought to you.”

“And what about Roxy?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Roxy is going to stay with Ryan for now. Well, frankly, maybe for good.” I laughed knowing how pleased my best friend must’ve been about that.

“Am I going to have my own room?” She asked, unsure of herself.

“Mina, we slept in the same bed last night.”

“I was drunk last night.” She responded instantly in a dry tone.

“Wha- Are you serious, right now?” I flustered as her need to distance herself was beginning to increasingly bother me.

Mates usually couldn’t stand to be separated. They often couldn’t keep their hands off each other and certainly never passed up the occasion to spend their nights together. This was just another reminder of her humanity. Had she been a werewolf, this conversation wouldn’t have been happening. Her side of the bond was obviously weaker and it frustrated my wolf and I to no ends.

“Benji, I like you. But I just want us to take this slow. Please.” She replied softly, placing one hand on mine, caressing it with her thumb.

I had to give it up to her, she knew exactly how to calm me down, proving it for the second time tonight. Very unwillingly, I conceded to her request.

“There’s a guest room upstairs, at the far end of the hallway… It’s yours.” I sighed.

She thanked me and opened the car door to get down. She looked back at me as I stayed glued to my seat.

“You’re not coming?” She asked me wrinkling her eyebrows.

“No. I’m actually gonna go get your stuff myself. Make yourself at home.”

She seemed hesitant at first but closed the door back up and disappeared into my house. Mina couldn’t feel the deep power of our mate bond and, even though, I knew that she was mine, everything else was all too painful.

Amina’s POV

I felt bad for Benjamin. My detachment and stand-offish demeanour tonight had deeply saddened him. I could feel his pain from the look he gave me as we parted ways in his driveway. I knew that he was trying to make good on his promises and, before tonight, I probably would have been doing the same. But as the awful memories of Micheal re-emerged like a devil from his box, nothing else seemed more important. Suddenly, I was glad that Benjamin had left me alone.

Every fibre of my being was overtaken by anxiety as my worse fears slowly came to life. There was no more doubt in my mind. Even if, prior to today, I had never considered Micheal to be anything other than human, I was certain that Benjamin and I shared the same enemy. And while Christopher wasn’t able to describe the tattoos of the rogue Alpha, it didn’t matter much. I saw Micheal and he had seen me too. It wouldn’t be long before I ran into him again.

The minute that I heard Benjamin’s car drive off, I reached inside the pockets of my shorts to retrieve my cellphone.

“Hey, babe!” Roxanne picked up my call quickly. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever!” She dragged out her last words playfully.

I listened to her cheerful voice while trying to swallow the ball forming in my throat.

“I hear you’re being moved to my brother’s house! How’s that treating you? If it’s too much you could…”

“Roxy?” I cut her off trying to keep my composure. “I need to know now.”

“Know what?” Concern had made her voice go up two octaves.

“I need to know what happened between you and Micheal the night he left. The night I told you about him…about what he was doing…” I said shakily trying to contain my repulsion and anger.

“Mina? Why? Why would you ask th-”

“Just tell me!” I screamed over the phone.

“Why?” She yelled back almost immediately. “What’s going on? Where’s Benji? I’m coming over!”

“No!” I shouted in tears. Anger and hurt raged within me. “Just, please, tell me. I need to know. I need to know, now!”

“You have never asked me this before. Three years, Mina! You’ve never asked in three years! Why now? You’re scaring me, what’s going on?”

“I’m just…I’m dealing with some stuff. This whole mate thing with Benji… I need to close the chapter with Micheal first.” I lied through my teeth.

As much as I trusted Roxanne, I couldn’t tell her the truth just yet. I needed to figure it out first.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come over?” She asked whispering.

——————————————

***Three years ago**

“I’m going to kill him.”

Those were Roxanne’s last words before she stormed out of our apartment. She had come home from a night out and found me curled up on the floor of our living room, bruised and sobbing. And for the first time, I told my best friend about the horrors that my boyfriend had been putting me through for months.

She reappeared again, late in the evening, with her clothes badly torn and bloodied. I was still where she had left me as my body refused to move, completely exhausted.

She picked up the fleece blanket that we kept on the couch and covered the both of us with it as she laid on the floor by my side.

“It’s all over, Mina. He’ll never hurt you again.” She whispered to me as she held me in a tight embrace.

“Is he dead?” I asked in a worn out whisper, drifting off to sleep.

“He’s not who we thought he was…”

Her words vaguely echoed in my mind until they became nothing but distant memories.*

——————————————

Every detail of my past came crashing down on me since I saw him in the woods.

“I just need you to tell me what happened?” I asked in a feeble voice, weakened by the heaviness of my pain.

“Did you know that he was a werewolf too?”