Chapter 74- Aftermath
Derrick’s POV
I lay in the grass beside Salara, basking in the emotions that I can feel coming through our mate bond. The sudden influx of feelings that do not belong to either me or Hunter is strange, but in a good way. I never thought it was possible to feel closer to Salara than I already have, but apparently I was wrong.
“Are you upset?” Salara’s soft spoken voice breaks through my happy thoughts, drawing my attention to where she lays to my left.
My brows raise in confusion, not sure why she would think that I would be upset. Daphne had that coming for a long time and I am more proud of my mate than I have ever been for standing up for herself. It was important that she showed the blood thirsty wolves that she can and will stand up for herself.
“Daphne had that coming and I feel nothing but pride after watching you put her in her place.” A husky chuckle rumbles up my chest. “Well, pride and arousal because watching you out there was a major turn on.”
Salara’s head snaps in my direction, a slight blush coating her tanned cheeks. She searches my face for something for a moment before she nods her head and turns her gaze back up to the sky. The morning sun shines down on us, keeping us warm despite the slight chill in the air from fall being around the corner.
“Does this mean that I don’t have to shift on the full moon now?” She rolls her body to the right and rests her head on her enclosed hands in order to face me fully. Turning to my left, I follow the same motions until we are looking into each other’s eyes.
“I honestly don’t know what this means.” I tell her, letting out a sigh. “Nothing like this has ever happened before according to my knowledge, so I don’t have any answers to the questions swimming around in that beautiful head of yours.” I rise up to a seated position and stare down at her. “We will need to get the Elders together and relay this newest development to them.”
Salara lets a tired yawn escape past her lips, her hand moving out from beneath her head to cover the yawn as it comes out. An amused chuckle tumbles from my lips as I reach down to pick her up from her spot on the grass. Her eyes close automatically when my arms wrap around her body and she turns her face into my chest to snuggle in deeply.
Leaning down, I place a loving kiss on the top of her head and pull her in as close as she can get to my body. Hunter perks up in my mind, over the moon with the way that things have turned out recently. After so long of hoping for things to be different between us, it feels surreal to finally be where we are right now.
A part of me still fears that it is all a dream and that I will eventually wake up to find that none of it has really happened. There is also the fear that something will come along and rip it all away from us. Henry is still out there with that witch and we have no idea if he plans on returning for his wife or not.
It is only a matter of time before Henry finds out that Salara has survived his bite, and I fear that is when he will come for her. There is an unhealthy obsession buried deep inside of Henry, and that obsession will cause him to do anything to get her back in his possession.
We sit in comfortable silence until the sound of Salara’s soft snoring penetrates through my thoughts and brings me back to our surroundings. Glancing down at my sleeping mate, I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face.
Her battle with Daphne must have wiped her out, and I am sure that her first transition into a wolf didn’t help matters either. I carefully rise from my seated position with Salara held tightly in my arms and make my way back towards the packhouse.
Salara stayed asleep in my arms all the way back to the packhouse, not even stirring when I stopped and spoke with Meredith in the kitchen for a moment before continuing on to our suite. She lets out a whimper of discontent when I lay her down on the large bed in our room, so I grab hold of my pillow and shove it into her arms to placate her.
She immediately pulls the pillow in towards her chest, inhaling my scent deep into her senses before she finally settles back off to sleep. After covering her with the comforter on the bed, I quietly move out of the room and back towards the living room so I can head back to the training grounds.
“There you are, dad.” Miguel says, walking out of the office that I keep in my suite for when I don’t want to be disturbed. “Where’s mom?” He looks over my shoulder in search of the woman that he has grown attached to in such a short time.
“She is taking a nap in our room.” I watch his shoulders sag in disappointment at the news. “Is there something I can help you with?”
Miguel moves his eyes from my bedroom door until he is meeting my gaze. “I wanted mom to come to my soccer game that starts in an hour.” He looks away from my face, fixing his gaze towards the floor at his shifting feet.
“What is going on Miguel?” I can tell that something is bothering my son, and I know it is more than Salara needing a nap in the middle of the day. He tries to shake off my question, but I give him my serious Alpha look, pulling my arms up to cross over my chest.
He lets out a breath of air, his body becoming more rigid by the second. “Some of the guys on the soccer team have been picking on me for not having a mother like they do. They say that if my own mother doesn’t want me, then why should they want to be my friend.”
Sadness and anger consumes me at learning that my son has been getting picked on just because his mother left us for her mate. Even now, her selfish action has found a way to affect our son in a negative way.
“I wanted to show them that I have a new mom that has chosen to love me and then maybe they will want to be my friend.” My heart aches for my son who has struggled to make friends, despite, or maybe because of, being the Alpha’s son.
Before I can tell my son that Salara needs her sleep after her fight with Daphne this afternoon, the sound of her sultry voice fills the spacious living room, and judging by the tone of her voice, she is not happy about what she just heard.
“You don’t want to be friends with people who are going to tear you down for things that are beyond your control.” Salara’s sweet scent wraps around me as she makes her way closer to where Miguel and I stand in the middle of the living room. Her steps are slow, showing just how tired she is.
Miguel immediately dashes over and wraps his small arms around her middle, making her wobble in place from the force of his hug. Salara envelops him in her arms, not complaining in the least about being woken up by our talking.
“I would love nothing more than to come watch you play.” Miguel lets out a loud squeal, pulling away from Salara to jump in place in front of her. “But-” Her voice halts Miguel in his jumping. “You have nothing to prove to those boys and I am only there to support my son and nothing more.”
A huge smile spreads across Miguel’s face as he launches himself at Salara for one more hug before he runs out of the suite with laughter trailing behind him. Salara stumbles in her spot, nearly falling to the floor before I am able to catch her.
“You need to rest.” Before she can argue, I pick her up bridal style and make my way back into our bedroom. She opens her mouth to protest, but I place a finger against her lips. “You have one hour to rest before his game, please don’t argue.” She nods her head in agreement, already halfway asleep before her head even makes it to the pillow.