Chapter 27 Heartache
Dravik's pov
“So what are we going to do?” Brandon asks.
I could hear the tension in his voice.
The council has kind of been on my case since my mate died. With the dynasty I control, they couldn’t fathom why I hadn't taken a new mate. It is one of the reasons they were all in when I announced I wanted Auren added as part of the contract as my wife.
“If they find out the girl is still half mated to someone else, they’ll demand you return her,” Garrick adds, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “And with how obsessed they are about you producing an heir, they’ll slap a female on you immediately. We have to do something. Fast.”
I stay silent. A dynasty like mine unsettles them. A powerful Alpha without a visible future unsettles them more.
They never cared that I have brothers or a sister. Half siblings sure……but still.
They fear what happens if I fall because of my reputation and what my wolf possesses. Garrick’s wolf Skoll, is strong……sure, but he doesn't have my abilities. If he is to take over, the enemies will swam in before they even blink.
I move toward the window, my hands clenched behind my back. Outside, the snow falls heavier now. I watch as Hope and Auren throw snowballs at each other, running and laughing.
Auren actually laughs…….that has been a long time coming.
Seeing her this free made something in my chest ache. She seems unburdened and free, like she had forgotten the hurt she has gone through.
“When are they coming?” I ask, still watching Auren. She is a sight to behold.
“In two days,” Brandon replies.
Two days.
No way am I going to solve the issue of her half mated thing in two fucking days!
“We have to—”, I stop, the sentence dying in my throat as I see Auren suddenly collapse to the ground, her hands flying to her chest.
My heart stops.
That’s the only way I can explain it.
I am moving before I can even form a thought. The office door slams shut behind me as I sprint. Snow crunches under my boots and wolves scatter instinctively as I drop to my knees beside her.
“Auren,” I snap, panic clawing its way into my voice. “Auren, look at me. What the fuck happened?”
Her skin is pale……Too pale.
Hope kneels too, “Relax. She’s not dying. She is just not used to this and is out of breath”. She rolls her eyes, “talk about an over reaction”.
I wanted to smack her on the head.
“She’s right,” Auren pants. “I’m okay, I just need to catch my breath.”
I realize how this must look, the way I had ran out like …. I climb to my feet, forcing my voice flat.
“That’s enough for today then. You’re going inside. Now!.”
She nods without arguing and lets Hope help her up. The doors close behind her. Hope turns on me immediately.
“You overreacted,” she says, folding her arms. “You’re smothering her. I was just trying to get her to have some fun and now you have ruined it.”
“I’m protecting her.”
“She doesn’t need a cage,” she snaps. “She’s not always going to be injured or thrashing about in pain, she needs to live. You’re turning into an over protective mate and if you keep hovering, she’ll never be up to the fitness standard of our wolves here.”
Her eyes soften, studying my face. “But this isn’t just about her being out of breath, is it?”
Of course she sees it. She is my only sister and maybe that's why she is always the one that could tell when I had something bothering me.
“There’s something else?,” she presses.
“Yes,” I admit.
“Want to talk about it?”She smiles.
The smile reminds me of when she was small and up to her knees in naughtiness.
“No, not until I confirm and know more”, I return her smile to reassure her. “Nothing to worry about”.
She signs. “I may be the baby of the house and you might have raised us after mum and dad died, but it’s been a long time since I was a kid, big brother. Maybe I can help”.
She looked so cute offering to help that I ran my hand through her hair, scattering it even more.
“Hey!” she swats my hands away, scowling. “I’m serious”.
“Just look out for her when I’m not around, okay?” “Yes, Your Highness,” she mocks, turning toward the hospital. “I’m off to my important pack duties.”
I roll my eyes. She knows my take on her so-called “important pack duties”.
“Now you!” I snap at Shadow. “What was that about? Don’t you fucking do that again”.
“I'm sorry. I panicked when I saw her fall. And You will be angry if I didn’t do anything”, he moans. “I needed to make sure she was okay.
This is the second time since I brought Auren to the pack, that Shadow has lost control because of her. I usually have more control over him than this. I need to lock him more tightly or he will scatter my plans.
I find Auren in the bedroom, curled on the bed with the duvet tightly covering her upper body. I know she has changed out of her clothes and I couldn't help but wonder if she is naked under there.
“I’m okay , I swear,” she mutters when she sees me. “Good.”
She hesitates. “Are you mad?”
“No,” I say, then correct myself. “Yes. But not with you.” I added as she stares at me with her big brown puppy eyes.
She is getting comfortable looking into my eyes and I enjoy it. She sits up from the bed and the duvet slips revealing she is wearing one of my tees which earned a groan from shadow.
He is enjoying his scent on her.
I look away.
“I-I just wanted to feel the snow since it has been a long time,” she stutters. “I I wasn’t trying to run.”
Even her stutter makes me hot.
“I know. Hope told me.” I move to the couch, trying to put some distance between us.
She nods and leans back, pulling the duvet down to her waist and crosses her leg. I can tell her legs were naked and the tee was the only thing she is wearing.
Fuck.
I could make out the indentation of her full breast under the tee and I wanted to rip the duvet away from her, pull the tee up and bury my head between the two perfect globes. The thought was getting harder and harder to ignore and I know Shadow has something to do with it but thankfully hurting her is the one thing holding me back.
“Come on, a little taste won’t hurt”, Shadow rumbles in my head as he sends me images of my head bent between her legs.
I slam them away.
“Dammit. We should just go ahead and kill the damn Eron and be done with this”, Shadow mutters.
The idea is tempting as hell, because that is afterall the fastest way to end a mate’s bond.
Eron’s death would solve everything……fast.