Chapter 43: Rejecting A Wolf

"Stop," Tom raised his hand to rub his throbbing temples. "Just what is going on?"

"I just wanted to give you a heads up, " Nick told him earnestly. "This will be the first time you actually talk to her."

"Mhm," Tom mumbled, "I know, but you killed my excitement."

"Good, too much enthusiasm might scare her." Tom glared at Nick.

"You just said she wasn't reacting! So how am I going to frighten her exactly? What exactly is your problem?" Tom asked, flabbergasted.

"I'm just trying to make sure you don't go 'hey, I'm your mate,' to a woman who will be super resistant to mates at the moment." Nick glared back at Tom and said righteously. Tom sighed in defeat.

"Okay, fine," Tom relented. He was going to do it behind Nick's back anyway. He thought she at least had the right to know, so he proceeded to distract Nick. "I received another report."

Tom went on and told Nick about the report, and then he voiced his concern about everyone in the pack. Nick listened while his face twisted into displeasure.

"You know I won't abandon you and run with your mate. If we have to leave we leave together. Don't assume I don't know what you're thinking." Nick scolded Tom like an elder, but his heart hurt.

Tom pulled Dillion and him out of the gutter, made a safe place for them to live, and even now, he was willing to shield their retreat. To a friend like Tom, who had witty charms and a smart mind. Nick can't say if any others would do what Tom has done.

Though the pack was newly formed officially, they were a band of misfits under the shelter of the ex-council member's umbrella. If the pack knew what Tom planned to do, they would shield him so Nick could take him away.

Tom saved a lot of people, and today, most of those people followed him to build this place. It might be small, but it was united. Nick knew what Tom's concern was. Most of the people here were breaking the council's rules one way or the other.

"I'll let you have some time alone with her, I'll be back in fifteen minutes." Nick pondered a bit before he informed Tom. Tom nodded in response, and Nick turned and walked away.

Tom only turned when Nick was out of sight. He took a deep breath and went into the room.

Closing the door behind him, he grabbed a chair and pulled it to the foot of the bed. He studied Aurora's body language silently before he spoke.

Her messy hair, expressionless face, skinny taunt body, and dried lips. She looked wretched. It wasn't fair that she looked this way.

It was only as he silently watched her did he realize she wasn't completely sitting up. When he thought about it, it made sense as she was still injured.

"Hello Aurora, my name is Tom Walker. It seems you and I are mates." Tom told her. He was prepared for no reaction or a big reaction.

What he wasn't prepared for was her raising her head and uttering words to him.

"Did you kill him?" As he stared into her eyes, he felt a chill. It was empty and dark, but within that darkness, something was there.

He wanted to look closely, but she repeated the question again in the same dull tone from before.

"No, a half-lycan needs a special type of silver to be killed," Tom answered her question.

"Oh," she bowed her head once more and ignored him. Tom didn't expect she'd ask this.

"You don't mean you want to kill him right?" Tom blurted out his thoughts. "That's impossible, you don't have a wolf anymore, let alone the strength to kill a half-lycan and evade the council."

"Who said anything about evading?" She quietly asked stunning Tom into silence.

"You're willing to throw away your life just to kill him?" Tom asked pursing his lips in displeasure.

"I am willing," Aurora told him making Tom enraged.

"Do you have any idea how strong a half-Lycan is? Do you even know what that is?" Tom's chest heaved up in his attempt to calm himself as he asked her in a strained tone.

"I don't know." She simply answered as if it weren't a big deal. Tom sighed and dropped his head in his hands.

"That thought of yours is dangerous, what if you fail? Do you have any idea that the council has no bottom line when it comes to half-lycans? And you the mate of one there's only one way this will go." Tom angrily told her. "You should care for yourself more!"

"Since you know so much why don't you explain to me why I should continue to suffer for other people's choices?" Aurora said in a frigid tone.

"Aurora, just calm your mind. Even if you had your wolf, you'd never be able to kill him." Tom looked at her and said.

"He raped me, he killed my wolf, he killed my friend, he took my family, he took my pack, he took my sanity and you want me to forget it." Aurora smiled widely as she raised her head once more allowing Tom to look into her empty eyes once more. "I will not let it go!"

"As your mate, I can't let you take this risk," Tom said and Aurora chuckled humorously. Tom ignored that chuckle and began to explain in detail what he knew and what was going to happen.

After he was done talking, the pair sat silently. Tom even told her about his first mate and what happened to her.

"Do you understand now? The council won't stop but I can assure you I will save you from them." Tom broke the silence and said to her.

"I am not your mate," Aurora said but Tom shook his head. He noticed her eyes seemed to have a bit of life in them. When Aurora heard Jace was alive, of course, she'd feel inclined to live.

She felt like Tom breathed life right back into her when he explained everything. He gave her the best news she possibly could hear then dosed her in cold water when she heard the council had him. As Aurora was deep in her thought Tom spoke again.

"I know you think it's impossible, actually it is impossible but there is no denying what I feel, what my wolf feels. Aurora, you and I are mates and I promise to do good by you." Tom proclaimed.

"Even if what you said is the truth, I don't have a wolf to confirm what you say," Aurora told him and he smiled sadly with a nod.

"It's okay if you don't want to be my mate, I won't force you to accept me. But that won't change the facts or what I am willing to do for you." Tom said before he closed his eyes with a slightly pained expression making Aurora feel uncomfortable.

"I don't want you to sacrifice anything for me," Aurora told him. "The troubles that will come knocking are mine alone. "

"You haven't given up on that idea? Aurora you can't win, you can't kill him and you'd be used like a breeder." Tom stressed.

"There is a way to win. " Aurora said, "There's always a way."

"Then tell me, how are you going to win with those broken limbs?" Tom angrily asked.

"By the time they come, I will be fully healed," Aurora said as she raised her head and stared at the ceiling.

"Lycans will walk the earth once more," she mumbled blankly, stunning Tom. Tom told her everything she needed to know about the council's obsession. But he didn't tell her about the prophecy about lycans walking the earth again.

'Maybe she just said it figuratively.' He thought to himself but Aurora's words made him have a gut feeling that somehow those words were the truth.