Chapter 10

“Take the antibiotics, change the bandage, and you should be fully healed in about a week,” the doctor says and starts to collect his things, and I watch him as he does so.

My mate stayed by my side the entire time, which made me quite nervous, as he has an intense aroma that makes my heart beat a bit faster than usual.

“You almost killed us!”

“It was not wholly my fault.” I argue back. “It was a complicated situation.”

Suddenly, my mate’s brother, Henry, walks into the room and observes the doctor, most likely confused by his presence.

“What happened here, Sebastian?” Henry’s eyes turn to my bandaged head.

Sebastian. My mate’s name is Sebastian. I could go on and on about how perfect it sounds. Through all this time, I never thought to ask my mate his name, which seems very odd by now. I suppose his name could be anything that my imagination can come up with and I will still find it utterly flawless.

My mate, now known to me as Sebastian, lets out a low grumble.

“Henry, not right now.”

“Hey! Don’t be in a bad mood. You’ve finally found your mate, who has a bandage on her head.” Henry looks at me funny. “What happened to her head?”

Sebastian rolls his eyes and sighs. “I will tell you later. Just please give her some space.”

“You’re here.”

“Because she’s my mate.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll go.” Henry backs out of the room and disappears further into the house.

I wonder what it is like to have a sibling, someone to bicker with and laugh with. Sebastian and Henry seem to understand each other in some way that I will never be able to wrap my head around, and it fascinates me. The Moon Goddess has been with me for as long as I can remember, but I cannot relate her to a sibling.

“Excuse me,” I pipe up and catch Sebastian’s attention. “Can I see my grandmother now?”

“I’ll have her brought here. I don’t want you moving around too much and passing out,” he says, giving me nothing to argue over. “Henry, please command the guards to collect Evangeline’s grandmother. She lives past the small stream north of the territory,” he calls into the house.

Without warning, Sebastian grabs onto my hand, immediately sending soothing sensations through me. “Does that help with the pain?”

I bite the inside of my cheek as they begin to heat up, showing colors that I cannot imagine. It is too difficult to answer his question, so I blurt out something unrelated.

“How is it so easy for you to kill people?”

“I knew you would not let that go,” he mutters. “Did you know that you scared me to death when you almost got yourself killed?”

“You didn’t answer my question.” I stare into his emerald eyes, trying to take my mind away from his hand, which still holds my own.

“Every decision I make is for the good of my pack,” Sebastian explains. “It’s my job to keep everyone safe, and I will not risk their safety on a couple of rogues.”

I nod, though I do not understand how it feels to be in charge of so many people. What an immense amount of responsibility, and it all rests on his shoulders.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he says.

It does not take me long to answer him back. “I wanted to help those people, though I did not plan on getting hurt. Did I upset you?” I ask him, sounding oblivious to the entire situation.

“Your life is precious, but you put yourself on the line without thinking.”

“Me and those men, we are not equals, are we? We can’t be because I’m an alpha’s mate and that places me above them, right? It is frightening how I could have been in their place. The gun could have been pointing at my head, but it wasn’t because we’re mates. I may not understand what the alpha has to do, but I don’t think a title should place me above them. I was called a rogue, and I’m sure it was because I am one. Just like those people. My life is not more precious than theirs. If anything, two lives should be worth more than one. Either way, the gun still pointed at me eventually.”

Sebastian slowly stands up and looks down at me with amusement, pride, shame, or is it guilt? I am too distracted by his body towering over me and his hand that is held out for my use. I reluctantly place my hand in his before standing up myself. He leans towards my ear, and I expect him to whisper to me, but instead, he softly places a kiss on my cheek. The brief action sets my cheeks aflame. I am speechless, forgetting that he is still a stranger to me.

“Your grandmother should be arriving soon.” He does not let go of my hand as he leads me through the house and towards his office.

“Why are we going back to the office?” I ask him as he continues towards the two grand gray doors at the end of the hall.

He swiftly opens them up and lets go of my hand when we get inside. I watch him as he searches through the drawers of the large desk.

“What are you looking for?” I question and sit down on one of the chairs facing his desk as if an appointment has been made.

Sebastian answers briefly, “Papers.”

“For what?” I ask him nosily as he pulls a thin stack of white papers out of a drawer and places them on the surface of the desk.

“For you to join my pack.”

“Join your pack?” I repeat as if his statement is now my question.

He glances up at me, and I feel his eyes study my body, seeming to do everything so smoothly like it is natural.

“Where’s the restroom?” I ask quickly and rush out of the room after Sebastian tells me it is just down the hall.

I close the door behind me and suck in a deep breath, needing to talk to someone in particular.