For Their Happiness (9 page)

It was funny thinking back on it.  I was upset b
ecause my pet, a pug named Bella
, had been hit by a car and died not long before the trip.  Trent picked up on my depression and when I tried to make him feel better, he didn’t know why he was sad.  We played until I had him laughing again, but then I would think about my little Belle and it would make me sad again; in turn making Trent sad.  The two of us went in circles like that the whole trip; me getting depressed, Trent following my mood, me cheering him up, then the depression again.  Daddy had finally tried to explain what was happening and though I tried to understand, I was too young then to really get it.
  The King had said it had made our visit very interesting.  At least between my dad and the King’s O
mega, a little girl’s feelings wasn’t able to
spread too far.

Though I didn’t quite understand everything that had happened, I knew I had caused it somehow.  That was when I started backing away from my friends and pack mates.  Becca was the only one who wouldn’t let me go too far from her.  She had always been closer to me than the others, but I didn’t realize until I tried to let her go just how much I meant to her.  She was outgoing, but she told me one time that I was the only one who actually understood her.  She valued me because I saw her
as more than
the bubble brain she appeared to be to others.  It’s not
t
hat they made fun of her.  It was the opposite actually, she was friends with everyone, but I was the only one that
took the time to
know
her and it had meant a lot to her.

“What do mean ‘an infection
’
?
  How can she have an infection?
” 
I was brought out of my musings when
I heard Trent
talking to
someone.  I still couldn’t hear anyone else or respond in anyway, but his voice would always be able to reach me.  “What can we do?”

I wanted so badly to know what was happening when I felt the sensation of floating again.  I guess my curiosity was picked up on by Trent
.

“Bolton thinks you have an infection, and looking at the state of your arm I agree.  We are going to take you to the hospital, love.  Hopefully the humans can help you as to where this messed up pack cannot.”

I felt bad for the Diamondbacks.  It really wasn’t their fault I was more human than wolf.  Yes, I got a bad feeling about them, but this was not their fault.  Again
, as was the usual lately,
I felt bad for causing all of this mess.

I started losing awareness.  It would seem as
time would have passed each time I would hear my wonderful mate’s voice.  I felt weaker and weaker, and each time I would hear him I would have to struggle to hold on to whatever he would say.

Then it started getting easier again.  I was able to stay with him for longer periods of time.  I cherished those times.  I didn’t really understand how much I was missing by denying myself my mate.

“I really wish you would wake up.”  He said at one point.  “When you left to go on this trip, I didn’t like it.  I didn’t know why; I knew every wolf needs to go at some point.  I guess it was my wolf trying to tell me you were mine.  For as long as I remember, I always felt better by being near you.  I thought it was just you being an Omega
.  I don’t know how I could be so blind.  I don’t deserve you.”

I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you, I thought.

“Crystie?!”  Trent said, excited.  “Come on, baby.  Talk to me again!”

Had I said that out loud?

“Yes you did, honey.”  He answered.  “Come on, Crystie.  Open those beautiful eyes.”

I tried, and slowly but surely I opened my eyes the handsomest pair of blue gray eyes I had ever seen.  I had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the light, but never turned from Trent.

“Hey.”  I croaked.  I started coughing from my dry throat, and Trent nearly kicked his chair over; standing so fast to be able to go get me some water.  He came back quickly and helped me sip the water through a straw.

The door to my room burst open and everyone came rushing in.  My parents were there along with Becca, Billy, and Jazzy.  Jerry came in afterward followed by Ryan, Bolton, and Nikki.

It took several minutes with everyone taking turns to hug me, some like my parents and Becca
were
crying, and welcoming me back to the land of the living.  I came to find out that I had slipped into a coma for a week and a half.  At one point they thought I wasn’t going to make it.  I had gotten an infection where the bone had broken through my skin.  The Starlight pack doctor, though very competent, was not used to having to use antibiotics since werewolves didn’t get infections.

Through all of that, Trent stayed by my side, not letting go of my hand.  He had the biggest grin on his face and his eyes looked all teary as he never took them off of me.

“Can I speak with Crystie for a little while, alone?”  He requested.

They all either hugged me or patted my leg as they said goodbye.  When they all left, Trent pulled his chair back over to me and sat down.  Taking a good look at him, I saw that he was tired.  He had dark circles on the bags under his eye
s.  His clothes and his hair were
disheveled, probably from getting what little sleep he had been getting in the chair he now sat in.

I reached out hand palmed his cheek in my hand.
  “You need rest.”  I said, still somewhat weakly.  I was already g
etting tired from the visit with
everyone.

“I will, I promise.  I just wanted to talk to you.”  He said.  As exhausted as he seemed, I could still see and feel the love coming from him.  “So…How did I get so blessed as to have you as a mate?”

“I think you’ll hate me when you find out what I did.”  I told him softly.  I knew I had to tell him everything.  Confess to him my knowledge of our being mates.  I was so afraid of him leaving me.

“I could never hate you, Crystie.”  He said sincerely.

“Trent, I knew we were mates.”  I started but began coughing.  He helped me sip on the water for a minute before asking me to repeat what I’d said.

“I’ve known we were mates since my sixteenth birthday.”

“Why didn’t you come to me?”  I cringed at the hurt in his voice and eyes.  “Do you not want me as a mate?”

“I really do Trent; more than anything!”  I said quickly.  I hurried on to explain before he got any more upset.  “For as long as I could remember you had been with
Nikki,” He was about to cut in
, but I stopped him.  “I heard you when I was out.  You were the only one I could hear, but I heard what you said, and I am so sorry.  I caught your scent on my sixteenth birthday.  You had driven up to school with Nikki in the car and you both had sat there talking, and I had been thinking how good you two were together, and
though
you
both
were so in love.  I knew she would make a perfect Alpha female, already having Beta blood.”

“Then you got out of the car and I scented you on the wind.  I couldn’t bring myself to break you and Nikki up.”  I went on and told him the whole story, me losing my wolf, the loss of senses, the pain of not being with him; everything.  “I came on this trip to help me be able to deal with you two getting married.  It was just so hard.”

I was a little hopeful that I hadn’t ruined our mating when he kept my hand in his the whole time, rubbing the back of it with his thumb.

“Is that why you would never meet my eyes?”  He asked.

“Yes, I knew Alphas could tell their mates with one look into their eyes, so I avoided it.”

“What about your scent?  I remember catching the scent on the wind several times when we were younger, but I couldn’t pinpoint it.  I thought maybe my mate had died.  That’s why I chose to marry Nikki.  I hadn’t scented that perfect smell in a couple of years.”

“Once my wolf left, I got a cold.  It was just the common cold, but Mom didn’t know what to do.  Daddy remembered from when he was human, and helped me get better, and then I started taking vitamins and supplements to help keep me healthy, but when they got into my bloodstream, it changed my scent.”

He just sat there thinking for a while.  I was getting nervous as to why he wasn’t talking.  He still held my hand, but what if it was just an action he wasn’t really aware he was doing?

“Do you hate me now?”  I asked, not being able to take the silence any longer.

“I told you, I could never hate you.”  He said as he reached up and started rubbing his hand in my hair.  “I’m more mad at myself
than anyone
for not catching on. 
You’ve gone through all of this alone, and shouldn’t have had to.”

“But I should have given you the choice.”

“Well, instead of playing would’ve, could’ve, why don’t we head home and plan our mating?”  He smiled at me, and I couldn’t have been more happy
than I was at
that moment. 

I finally had my mate with me.

After two days in the hospital, I was going stir crazy.  I had only been let out of bed to go to the bathroom.  Trent had stayed with me, only leaving to shower and change once a day.  I had had no lack in visitors, though.  Everyone was pretty much camped out in my room until now.

I had been able to talk everyone into going back to the pack house to get ready to leave.  After speaking to my parents and Alpha Parker we’d all decided to just go home.  We had been having too much bad luck on this trip and didn’t want anything else happening.

My infection had pretty much cleared up with the IV antibiotics that they’d given to me.  I had not run fever since the day before, so as long as the fever stayed away, they would release me the next morning.

I felt lighter in a lot of ways.  It had been very freeing to have the secret finally out and not have to hide anything anymore.  Trent had sworn that he would help me find a way to get my wolf back.  I told him not to make any promises, but he was determined.  I think it scared him to think I was as fragile as a human, but I had gotten used to it.

Nikki and I had a conversation about me being Trent’s mate.  I had been nervous for nothing.  It was just as Trent had said, which it wasn’t that I didn’t believe him, it was just that sometimes men are oblivious to what a woman actually feels.  But Nikki truly didn’t want anyone.  She told me stories of the summer she’d spent with her mate, Travis.  She said no one would ever be able to compare to him, so she didn’t want to lead anyone on.  She was happy just to have her friends and serve her pack as Beta.  She actually thanked me for saving her from the Alpha position, and told me I had all the makings of a wonderful Alpha female.  She said an Alpha female is not a warrior of the pack unless needs are just that great, but she was more a mother of the pack; caring for everyone and putting the pack above all else.  She said I had been doing that my whole life; especially the past couple of years.  She said I had suffered more than any she-wolf should have to suffer for what I had thought was the good of my pack.  Nikki had made me feel so much better and more confident in what would be my new position.
  I would still be an Omega, but that would be paired with the responsibility of Alpha Female.

I was dozing off when the door opened to show Bolton, who had been left to guard me while Ryan and Jerry went to get everything ready, and a male nurse.  The nurse had a blank look on his face instead of the usual friendly one all of the other doctors and nurses had.  I looked at Bolton and he seemed to be regretting something, but I figured I would talk to him about it when the nurse left.

The big guy had black
hair
that was kind of a military cut, tanned, sun roughened skin, and dark brown/almost black eyes.  I got a really bad feeling from him, but let him do what he needed to do without speaking to him.  I was too worried about what was wrong with Bolton.

After the man put the injection into the IV port, he started removing the IV from my arm.  Alarmed, knowing he wasn’t supposed to be doing that, I looked over to Bolton
whose
eyes had welled with tears.

“What’s going on, Bolton?”  I asked; panic setting in as the man just watched me.  I felt light headed from whatever he’d given me. 

The tears in his eyes fell silently as Bolton backed himself against a wall, shaking his head.  “I’m so sorry, Crystie.”  He said brokenly.  “I didn’t have a choice.”

“Bolton what have you done?”

“I didn’t have a choice.  I had to.  I didn’t have a choice.”  He kept repeating that over and over again, and I could feel the self-hatred and regret coming off of him.  I knew he was telling the truth; that he hadn’t wanted to help whoever was doing this.

As I grew sleepier from the drug, I nodded to him.  “It’s okay.  I forgive you.”

The last thing I saw before I fell asleep was Bolton sliding down the wall, sobbing into his hands.

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