Chapter 7 SECRETS
Sianna POV
Hailey: Where's your boy at? Something is up with your boy, Sianna! You might want to call him now.
Me: My boy is fine, Hailey. He is on a mission.
Hailey: This shit can't be real. Your mate could be better for you.
Me:????
Me: Hailey? What are you ranting about now?
Hailey: You might want to consider more options. Protect your heart, Sianna (heart emoji).
Me: Curtis has my heart. He's my one and only. I know you think I should give my mate a chance but there's no way that he's better than Curtis.
Hailey: Don't rush into things. I am looking out for you. Go and see your mate.
Me: Hell no! Why are you cheering for my mate all of a sudden?
The perplexity of Hailey's text message racked my brain all morning. She hadn't replied to my last text. I didn't call Curtis because he could have been on a mission and unable to take my call anyway. I didn't want to appear like the insecure girlfriend.
I felt confident that our relationship was going well despite the lack of attention. He was sweet, caring, and attentive most of the time. Until the elite training had him out of the pack frequently.
Today was Saturday and my day-off so I was helping out at the clinic voluntarily with my mom. She's the pack's chief doctor who supervised four other doctors in our pack, and on duty at the clinic. She has to ensure that all the nurses and doctors were adhering to the pack's and medical standards.
I was bandaging one of the new comers who joined our pack from being a rogue. This one entered the premises yesterday after being on the run from other strays that preyed on them.
She was raped and had escaped with scratch marks and bites on her legs and arms. She had black and blue rings around her wrists and ankles from the chains that they kept on her. She was not able to walk unsupported.
She winched when I helped her to stand using the underarm axillary crutch walking stick. They banged her up very badly but with our care she had started to heal. She was traumatized and plagued by nightmares as a result of being their sex slave.
That type of ordeal gave me a bad kind of goose bumps. Only females could go near her because in the presence of men, she had panic attacks. I applied the ointment to disinfect the wound and wrapped her up with new bandages.
She was a teen and lost her family while they were on the run from an abusive pack. She was an omega and very timid to even look me in the eye. I smiled at her as I cleaned her up.
"Our pack is one of the best packs out there, and even though we are large our Alpha tries to ensure that all of us are treated fairly so that we have a great life." I tried to calm her fears. "I see that you are assigned to be in the kitchen." She said nothing but I pressed to make small talk. I hope to taste your cooking soon."
"I'm Sianna and......." I glanced on her document for her name, ".....you are Samantha." A smile was all I could get out of her. "Just remember to be respectful at all times and address the upper heads by their titles and you should be fine."
I sat up on the chair looking over the bandage satisfactorily. "I know you will do your best in your new job. Don't over exert yourself and if the wounds still hurt please request a day-off."
She nodded and practiced to walk a few steps. "The procedure is to ask for time to see the doctor and they will write a note permitting you from work."
"Thank you." She whispered but my wolf hearing barely caught it. "Call me Sammy."
"Well Sammy, I am here on Saturdays if you want to talk when you get your break" I always over extend myself even when I am busy. My dad said it was my primary weakness. I saw that she managed walking just fine with the crutch. "Rest here for tonight. Someone will be with you tomorrow afternoon with living arrangements. Take good care of yourself."
She smiled faintly. I was happy at her progress. In no time she should be up and good. I went to the next patient and took up the file that was on the table. It needed additional information from this one. It was a guy and he too was a rogue that joined us last week.
"Hi Matthew, I am Sianna. I am one of the volunteers for today and I need to complete your file by asking you some questions. But first, how are you doing today? Are you in pain?"
His grey eyes gave a quick roaming on my figure. His rubbed his bald head and appeared to be blushing. "Just the headaches as usual from the nightmares that I have. I came to refill the prescription." He was trying to look anywhere else apart from my face. "You can call me Matt."
Concerned, I checked his pupil, temperature and pressure. "Alright, a doctor will have to do that but let me get a few information so I can send the request in."
I opened the folder again and looked at the missing slots. "I need the last six places that you lived as a rogue. We know that rogues do move around but it's good to know your history."
He understood and explained with sorrow in his voice. "I basically moved through four packs hoping to settle. I was not welcomed to any of them because they still carry the prejudice against rogues. I have had to fight for survival more than I could count." "What made you become a rogue?" I sympathized.
"I was demoted from a warrior to an omega because I lost my parents as a child at age ten. I was thrown into foster homes where someone in the household always had a problem with the foster kid. In one of the homes, it was their legitimate child who bullied me, or the father who didn't need an additional mouth to feed because the system hands us over to whichever household that they deemed fit." His sorrowful story was similar to others.
He seemed lost in his past as he continued. 'I don't cause trouble but trouble follows me wherever I went. I hope this pack is truly different."
"We are." I assured him. "You are just 18 years old. You still have much to offer. Would you like to try out for one of the warrior position? You would also have a job placement base on your skills."
"Yes, but where do you work?"
"I do part-time at a café in town but this is not about me, alright?" I assessed the paperwork before stating, "I will need the name of those packs and the timeframe of how long you spent there and when you left."
I signed the last page of the documents after he gave me that information. I went into my mom's office and laid the file down on her desk as she peered at me over her glasses. I closed the door without making any noise. My mom wore them because she was colorblind due to a retina issue. "Is that the last one?"
"For now." I sat in the chair looking through the window into the other buildings across the street. Curtis hadn't called me last night for us to have phone sex. This was the first time that he failed to deliver on his promise.
He knew how I felt about making promises that people cannot keep. Don't build up my hopes and then leave me hanging. I wondered if he was injured but according Hailey's message, she implied as if he was up to no good. But how would she know that when she's at the mating ceremony?
Mom was immaculately beautiful. She was always in her white lab coat with her dark brown hair caught in a ponytail. She took up the file and looked it over. She smiled at my attention for details, and that I always completed the files for her. She claimed that I was her best assistant but that's because she groomed me that way.
"You should have been studying to become a doctor." She always reminded me of this futile objective but I dismissed it as usual.
"I hate too much blood. I might be a wolf but I have a human side." I didn't want to be scolded.
She glared at me solemnly and then a wide smiled graced her face. "The Alpha was asking about your studies. He assumed that you were either aiming to be a doctor like me or a lawyer like your dad."
I was beginning to hate this conversation. I remembered my uneasiness caused by the three notorious guys when they visited the care." Mom, I want to be me and do what I have a passion for." I sulked "You lived your life and it's time for me to live mine. Besides, I am still learning a lot from working by your side sometimes."
"Sometimes," She emphasized the word. Her phone beeped and she pressed the screen. "It's from your dad." She fell silent as she read the message, her azure blue eyes narrowed as she looked at me. "What's the deal with you and Curtis, did you break up?"
"Curtis and I are fine." I couldn't decipher what she was driving at. "What's going on, mom?"
"Your dad just discovered that Curtis attended the mating ceremony."
Immediately the memories of our last encounter came to mind and there had to be something wrong with what I was hearing. So this is what Hailey meant. Confused I stated "We both decided not to go. There's no way he would be there without telling me. Dad's got that wrong, mom!"
My mom sighed and placed her phone down again. "Your dad has access to all kinds of information concerning this pack because as the head of the legal team he has to be kept aware." She came over to me and touched my shoulder as if to comfort me. "It seems that Curtis is keeping things from you and now that you know this, please take your time with this relationship."
My eyes watered as the knowledge sank in. and my mom wiped a tear away. "Both of you need to talk and decide where this relationship is headed."
"He has a reasonable explanation." I replied as a shield for his character.
"Why don't you go next year?"
"I don't need to." I am not going to tell my parents anything right now. I needed to gather my thoughts and think about what all of this could mean. I like being prepared for the worst case but Curtis had the right to give me his side of the story. Jumping to conclusions not suitable for this situation so I will wait until he gets back home. Why did he lie? Why is he searching for his mate? Has he found her?
"Why not? Curtis is showing an interest towards finding his mate. You should do the same. You can't count on him with this type of behavior. What if he's found her?"
"Then ask Dad to find out." I snapped which evoked look of chastisement from mommy.
Maybe this was what Hailey was trying to tell me in her message. Didn't Curtis say that he's gone on pack business? He said his father called him away to assist with work. Why is he trying to find his mate or was there something else happening at the Crimson Hyde Pack? I felt like crying and I got up and left the office. "See you at home, mom."
I grabbed a cab and I began to think that I should get my own car now. I sat in the back of the taxi with the phone in my quivering hands. I wanted to talk to Curtis. My wolf sighed, urging me to get comforted from our mate.
As the cab stopped at my house, I paid the driver, got out and sat on my porch. I dialed his number without formulating in my head what I wanted to say exactly. It rang and he answered.
Curtis: Hey
Usually it's hi babe or hey cuteness but no endearment followed. "Curtis, are you okay?"
Curtis: Yes. It's going alright.
Me: Where are you?
Silence, what's up with stalling to respond to me? His breath came into the phone heavily before he spoke.
Curtis: I'm about to grab a shower and then huddle with the guys.
Me: Huddle?
Curtis: Yes, we have some things to talk about before the evening ends.
Me: Did you accomplish what your dad asked you to take care of?
Curtis: Yes, Sianna. Listen, why don't I call you back later?
Me: You promised to call last night and you didn't.
Curtis: Something came up. It was wrong of me not to get in touch with you. I'm sorry but you know how it goes.
Me: Right. Well then, don't let me keep you any longer.
Curtis: We will spend some time together when I get back. Please don't be mad.
Me: I'm not mad.
Curtis: Yes you are.
Me: No, I'm not.
Curtis: Alright, later.
The line ended and I sighed. I was mad as hell! I was clueless as to what to make of that phone call. Curtis was inattentive to the conversation. He always ended with love you babes, or I love you, but today he was not himself and came off as aloof. Overreacting is not warranted. Inwardly, I counselled myself. I am in total control of my emotions. I am going to handle this the way that it needed to be deal with. I could play a few scenarios in my head and come up with a solution to each for our confrontation.
He didn't mention being at the mating ceremony. He was being sneaky like a snake, and I hated everything reptilian. How do I trust him going forward? If he cheated, this would be over. I am not going to be a man clown.
I had to get the facts first. One way or another.