The Alpha’s Fated Mate (5 page)

CHAPTER NINE

Seth

I froze and sucked in a breath as I felt butterflies go crazy in my stomach.
Whoa, what was that?
I dropped the milk back onto the counter and braced my hand on the edge of it as the other came up to rub my swollen belly. The butterflies went crazy again. And then I felt it.
Holy shit, the pups are kicking!

I forgot about the tea and coffee and my huge bowl of cereal and pickles, and waddled as fast as I could to Wyatt’s office. I couldn’t wait to tell him. He’d probably forgo work the rest of the day just to spend it waiting for it to happen again and again. I was due in two months and I could no longer deny Seamus’s vehement confirmation that I was going to give birth to a litter of five.

I skidded to a halt as I heard two voices come from the office. The door was slightly ajar and the sound of a gravelly voice from inside reminded me that Wyatt was meeting with Hayden and Gray this morning. Although the six packs had merged into one pack two years ago, some of the older wolves still only felt comfortable relaying their problems to the alpha of their former small pack so the alphas met periodically to keep each other informed of pack business.

I decided to let them finish up and return with my news later but something they said caught my ear.

“…Look happy with your new family.” The voice belonged to Hayden.

There was a pause, a hesitation, and then I heard Wyatt reply. “It’s hard when one partner is in love with someone else.”

“Are you sure?”

His voice was sad and resigned. “What I understand is that when you love someone you can’t just let them go, no matter who they’re having pups with.”

I slapped my hand over my mouth as I gasped and nearly doubled over from the pain that knifed through my heart. I’d suspected it for a while now but I hadn’t known for sure until now. Wyatt was in love with someone else, and he couldn’t forget them, even though he was having pups with me.

I tried to ignore the burning behind my eyes as I walked numbly and blindly back into the kitchen. Wyatt was in love with someone else. For months now I’d hoped that he would fall in love with me, had thought he might be starting to the way he cared and watched over me, tried to make me happy, but it was nothing more than responsibility and love for our pups that made him act that way. I picked up the milk and went through the motions as heart ached and felt like it’d been sliced open. I set the carton down as tears rolled down my face and fell into the mug of tea, the surface rippling with each drop that fell. I dashed at the hot wet tracks and forced myself to pull in deep breaths.

It wasn’t good for the pups if I got in a too highly emotional state. Seamus had stressed how important it was for me to remain calm and not get overly stressed. Too late for that. No, the pups were my most important priority and I knew that I had to do this for them. I couldn’t stay here any longer. I’d move out, I couldn’t return to my old home but I’d find another place, just for the remainder of my pregnancy and then I’d figure something else out. I wasn’t going to take Wyatt’s pups away from him, it wasn’t fair to him or our children when he already loved them this much, but I couldn’t stay here knowing that every moment he was spending with me he was wishing he was spending it with someone else.

Why hadn’t I known that sharing a life with someone who didn’t love you back could hurt so much? Cut so deeply that you felt like you were bleeding out with every breath you took.

I had to leave now, I’d stay with Gabby for a few days—I knew she’d like the company and the help with her new little girl—and then I’d find somewhere else I could stay at to lick my wounds. If I didn’t leave today I knew I’d find another reason to stay and things would just get worse. I couldn’t look at Wyatt anymore without hearing his words, without knowing he was looking at me and wishing I were someone else.

I shuddered and swallowed down my howl of pain as I forced myself to head to the bedroom. I’d pack the necessities. Wyatt could send me the rest of my things later. The memory of him coming over to help me pack the day I’d moved out of my house flashed to mind and I bit down on my lip as I tried to hold back the sob. I pulled out one of the duffle bags I’d brought here and began shoving in some clothes. I picked up one of Wyatt’s big t-shirts that I’d liked to lounge in before I’d gotten too big for it, and the sight of it in my hand pulled down the shaky barricade I’d erected. I broke down. Heart-breaking sobs silently racked my body as I crushed the t-shirt to my face. I cried silently for something I’d never have.

I pushed the t-shirt away from me and threw it on the bed as I dashed away the tears and walked from the room. No, I didn’t want anything from here. I held it together as I walked to the front door and out of the house. I held it together as I headed down the block and crossed the street. But when I stepped onto the road I couldn’t hold it any longer as the tears blurred my eyes. I turned my head as a car horn suddenly bleared desperately and then it went black.

CHAPTER TEN

Wyatt

“But you’re his mate now. He’ll come to love you in time,” Hayden said as he looked at me sadly.

I gave him a wan smile and shook my head. “You know for nearly a century I wished I would find my mate and now that I have, I—” I froze as I suddenly realized what I said.
My mate.
Seth is my mate
. How could I have not realized it? The way I’d been drawn to him, the heat that engulfed my body whenever he was near. I would never have propositioned a male wolf but that night at the hotel all I could think of was stripping him, marking him, claiming him. For months now I’d loved him, loved everything about him so how could I have not noticed? Not known?

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply as I searched for it.
There.
I felt it. Like the correct combination entered into the vault, everything clicked perfectly into place. I’d been looking for it for so long, for so hard, that I’d missed it when I’d found it.

Fuck!
I had to tell him. I should have told him I loved him when I realized it myself. I should have told him I didn’t expect him to love me back straight away but that I wanted him to try, to build a proper life with me and our pups. I stood up and realized that Hayden and Gray were looking at me.

“Sorry, I need to cut this meeting short, I’ve got to—”

“Go,” Hayden said as he and Gray stood. “Go find your mate. We’ll pick this up again later.”

I nodded and slammed out of my office, heading for the kitchen. Seth usually brought me my coffee around this time of day and then we’d chat or he’d just sit on my lap, cradled in my arms, while we talked and laughed about nothing. But he wasn’t in the kitchen. There were two mugs on the bench and a bowl of cereal and pickles next to it, and I couldn’t help wrinkling my nose at the sight of it. His cravings were bizarre but I’d buy him a lifetime’s supply of the two if it made him happy, I’d even make it for him. I’d keep him pregnant too if that’s what he wanted. We’d already poked around the topic of having another litter. He’d grumbled about me keeping him fat and confined to the bed but I’d seen the joy and happiness in his gray eyes at the prospect.

I’d been working on a secret project and I couldn’t wait to tell him about the plans I’d made for a big adjoining room to be built onto the house. The room we’d settled on for a nursery had been okay when we’d both thought he’d be having triplets but for five pups? It was going to be a tight fit. I followed my mate’s scent into the bedroom and entered with a wide smile hoping that if my little omega didn’t believe I was his fated one then I could start convincing him otherwise with my hands and with my mouth. Sex had become trickier now that he was due in two months but we’d discovered that we both were very inventive and I had another idea I couldn’t wait to try out. I’d have to tie him up again too to make sure he didn’t squirm so much, for the safety of the pups of course. I grinned as my cock pushed against my fly, hardening with every indecent thought that flickered through my mind.

I stopped as I saw the clothes strewn all over the bed and the bag in the middle of it. Dread filled me as I stalked over to it and picked up the t-shirt of mine that Seth used to wear around the house. It was wet. I breathed in the salty scent of tears. My instincts went on high alert and my wolf prowled within me, urging me to quickly find our mate. I ran out the room. Following his scent, I pulled open the front door as I saw Hayden run towards me. His face was white with fear.

“Seth was hit.”

****

“Fuck! Please,
please!
You have to be okay, you have to…” I pulled in a deep shuddering breath and slammed my fist into the wall as jerky sob broke out. I slammed it again ignoring the pain that shafted up my arm, and squeezed my burning eyes shut as I imagined my little mate, out there all alone and hurting and bleeding on the road. Why had he been crying? Why had he left he house? Why hadn’t he seen the car coming towards him? The questions swirled in my mind like a riptide, pulling me down and threatening to drown me as the minutes ticked by and I waited for news on him.

I wouldn’t be able to come into the pack medical house again, wouldn’t be able to smell the harsh astringent scent of disinfectants and antiseptics without feeling the harrowing fear come over me.

“It’s going to be okay, Wyatt. Seth’s strong and I know your pups are too. His body will protect them,” Gabrielle, Seth’s best friend, said from behind me as she laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. Her mate, their little girl, and the other alphas were in the house, with other packmates coming in and out to show their support and offer any help they could give. The wolf who’d hit him had been the first one to call for help, he’d come over and offered his life up and I’d nearly taken him up on the offer but Hayden and Gray had calmed me down. Had recounted the situation as others had seen it. Seth had ignored the lights and hadn’t seen the car. He’d turned too late.

I shuddered as horror racked through me. If the driver hadn’t slowed down to turn the corner, if Seth hadn’t tried to move away at the last second…

My mind rang with the long keening sound my body wouldn’t let out.

I had to trust that Seamus knew what he was doing, how important it was that Seth and our pups live. Seamus had had over two centuries of experience and I had to trust that he and his assistants would do everything possible to save my mate.

I need you, mate, please don’t give up. I can’t live without you.

I turned and faced the small she-wolf. Her eyes were as red as mine and although worry bled from every pore, the whole house drowned in the harsh, stomach churning scent of it, I saw her determination to offer support. I knew I surprised her when I pulled her into a fierce hug but then she was wrapping her arms around my waist and holding on.

I breathed into the soft cloud of her hair and inhaled, smelling the scents of her young pup. Pain ripped into me at the terrifying fear that my own pups wouldn’t make it. That Seth wouldn’t. The knowledge that I’d nearly lost the one thing I’d been searching my entire life to find nearly destroyed me. Shudders racked through my body as the knowledge crashed over me.

“I love him, Gabrielle,” I whispered brokenly against the top of her head as I squeezed my eyes shut. Tears escaped nonetheless and left small puddles on her hair. I opened my eyes as I felt her stiffen and push away. She didn’t step back though, instead dropping her head back to look up at me in astonishment, her red eyes wide.

“You do?”

Why does she sound so shocked?
I frowned and ignored the hot tracks on my cheeks. “Of course I do, he’s my mate.”

She frowned. “Everyone here in this room knows that just because two wolves force mate through pregnancy it doesn’t mean that love is involved.”

I fixed her with a steely glare. “It wasn’t a force mate. He’s my
destined
mate, Gabrielle.”

“Destined…?” I frowned as her fist shot out and slammed into my shoulder. “
Why the fuck didn’t you tell him so?!”

“Gabby!” Kenneth called worriedly as he rushed to her side and pulled her against him. I could see he was fearful of my retaliation. No one assaulted an alpha and got away with it.

Gabriele, however, didn’t seem to care. She pushed out of Kenneth’s hold and came up close, her narrowed eyes flashing blue fire. She continued to glare at me before breathing out a deep sigh and looking so painfully sad. “Why didn’t you tell him? He’s loved you for two years and spent the last three months believing you were in love with someone else. He’s in there right now, all alone thinking that he’s in love with someone who’ll never love him back. He’s been in so much pain and—” she let out a soft sob and then she was turning into her mate’s arms and crying brokenly against his chest. His eyes met mine over her head and I saw the sympathy in his eyes.

Fuck, what have I done to us? Seth had been hit when he’d tried to leave me. Because he thought I didn’t love him. Couldn’t love him.

My little mate had been in love with me the whole time, for two long years. Why hadn’t I seen it? Why hadn’t I understood the looks he shot me sometimes when he didn’t think I was looking had a deeper meaning? I’d believed this entire time he was in love with someone else and he’d been believing the same thing. How had we wasted so much time and gotten it so wrong?

I spun around as I heard the door open and the doctor come out of the room.

“How is he?” I asked. My voice came out in a low menacing growl but Seamus wasn’t fazed. He looked tired but gave me a reassuring smile.

“He’s stabilized now. We’re lucky. He came away from the hit with only bruises and a few broken bones. The pups are okay but we’d like to keep him under observation for a day or two.”

I nodded and pushed past the old wolf as I stalked into the room. The fear was acidic as it bubbled up at the sight of him so small, broken and bruised in the big bed. His arm was wrapped and the other wrist as well and it looked like he’d broken his leg. I rushed over to his side and let out a broken sob. My wolf howled and whined, wanting to scent him and make sure he was okay. I’d failed in protecting him and I’d never forgive myself for it.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered as I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. The side of his face was bandaged up and I could see the yellow bruising rising from beneath the gauze. I pushed back the errant lock of hair that always kept falling in his eyes and brushed a kiss to his lips.

I leaned back and sucked in a breath as I saw his dark lashes flicker and then he opened his eyes and looked up at me. He gave me a small exhausted smile.

“Wyatt?” His voice was small and shaky; slightly confused as though he didn’t understand why he was lying there in pain.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and crushed him to me as relief crashed over me making breathing hard. I heard Seth’s cry of pain and hurriedly laid him back down gently. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t—I needed to hold you so much. To make sure you’re really here.” I cupped the side of his face and stroked his cheek with my thumb before sliding my hand down to his hand and holding it in mine. I didn’t want to ask but I had to. “What were you doing out on the road, love? Why was your bag on the bed and your clothes strewn everywhere?”

Something flickered in his eyes and then he looked away. His hand went slack in mine.

“You were trying to leave me, weren’t you, mate?”

“Don’t call me that,” he whispered brokenly.

“Don’t call you what? Mate?”

He nodded. “A mate is someone you’re in love with, someone you’re destined to be with. Not someone you forcibly bond with through pregnancy and circumstance.”

“Then I’ll keep calling you mate.” I touched his chin and turned his face towards mine. I wouldn’t let him look away as I looked down at him with every emotion I felt for him vulnerably clear in my eyes. “I love you, Seth, my destined mate. I loved you even before I realized you’re the one who completes me, the one I’ve been searching nearly a century for. I should have told you but I was—” I swallowed and hesitated, but I had to tell him. “I was afraid. I didn’t want to force you to love me when I thought you were in love with someone else.”

A myriad of emotions flickered over his beloved features. Shock, disbelief, love, confusion. “Someone else? Why would you think I’m in love with someone else? I’ve loved you ever since I saw you.”

“That night at the hotel. You told me you were in love with a paragon.”

He gave me a shaky smile. “I was talking about you.”

I pressed a kiss to his hand as the knowledge filled me. “I know that now. And now? Do you still love me?”

His brows drew together and I could see he still had a hard time believing I loved him, that he was made for me and I him. “Do you really believe I’m your fated mate?”

“I do and I loved you even before I realized it. I can’t go through nearly losing you again, mate. This time I’m going to lock you in the house and never let you leave my side ever again. You’re mine and I’m yours, and I love you and our pups with everything I have.” I looked at him and willed him to believe me as my heart hammered and fear spread through. I’d nearly lost him once, was I going to lose him again because he didn’t believe me?

And then I saw it. Those gray eyes I loved so much reflecting everything back at me.

“I love you, Wyatt, my mate.” His smile was tentative, full of love and so sweet I wanted to laugh and howl.

Instead, I slanted my mouth over his.