Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Fox

“Shit, man, it’s been over a month.” Stone stated the obvious.

“Oh has it, I hadn’t noticed?” I snapped, chugging the last of my whisky and sliding my empty glass to the bartender.

“How much longer can you keep this up?” He asked, eyeing me sideways. I knew I looked horrible. I had permanent bags under my eyes, I was losing muscle tone and energy, and my senses were so dull it was almost comical.

“For as long as I have to.” I grumbled.

“Have you heard anything?” He asked.

“No.” I grabbed the fresh whisky glass off the bar and downed that one, too.

“Have you felt anything?” Stone asked another question. I slammed the empty glass down and Stone winced as the ice clattered loudly against the glass.

“I feel her all the damn time.” I admitted.

Every waking moment I feel Marigold’s presence. Sometimes it was stronger than others and that’s when I knew she was thinking of me, too. I didn’t know how it worked, but somehow I always knew when she was using her magic. Like earlier today, for example. All the sudden I felt my fingertips begin to tingle like when your hand falls asleep, and I knew it was my mate. It killed me not knowing if she was safe or not.

“She’s got to be feeling it, too.” Stone mumbled. I knew that she was. I could feel her weakening as well, especially at night when I laid restless in my bed,

“This sucks, man.” Stone added.

“Hence the whisky.” I grumbled, throwing back another drink.

“Hey, Alpha! How about a dance?” A blonde she-wolf by the name of Renee threw her arm around my shoulders. I glared at Stone who was hiding a smirk behind his beer bottle.

“Not now, Renee.” I growled. Renee pouted her pink lips at me, batting her ridiculously long eyelashes,

“Oh, poor Alpha, let me help you with all this stress.” She purred.

Renee and her band of blonde bimbos have been throwing themselves at me for as long as I can remember. I’ll admit to a casual rendezvous here and there when my wolf, Hunter, was getting edgy, but I never let it go anywhere. Renee and her friends didn’t take the hint. They were persistently trying to land themselves the position of Luna and as my chosen mate. Even before I met Marigold, that was never going to happen.

“I said not now.” I let my alpha tone slip out as I forcibly removed Renee’s hand from my chest. She bowed her head in submission and sulked away.

“If you told the pack about your mate, things like this wouldn’t happen.” Stone said.

“Yes, Stone, it would, and you know it.” I replied.

“Okay, true. Renee will probably never let up. But, she might at least be a little more subtle about it.” Stone shrugged.

Just then I felt a shocking wave of electricity shoot up and down my spine. I slammed my hand down on the bar and hissed in pain.

“Fox! What is it?” Stone jumped off his bar stool and put his hand on my back as I leaned over the bar top.

“Alpha?” The bartender walked over to us, looking concerned.

“Somethings wrong.” I forced out between my clenched teeth.

“With you?” Stone asked.

“With Marigold.” I gasped, clutching my chest as pain ripped through it.

“We need to get you back to the packhouse.” Stone grabbed my arm and dragged me off the bar stool.

“No, I need to get to Marigold.” I argued, stumbling to my feet.

“You don’t know where she is and you’re in no condition. We need to get the packhouse and talk to Clara.” At the mention of Clara I knew Stone had a solid plan. I nodded and let him assist me to the car. He drove us back to the packhouse.

Clara had a small cottage all to herself in the woods behind the packhouse. She was the pack healer, but everyone in my territory knew she was really a witch. The Council laws forbids us from interacting with other species, but the pack had been protecting Clara for generations. She helped my great-great grandfather secure this land and protect the territory borders from hunters, ever since she was granted a home and protection within our pack. In exchange, she is our console and healer.

“Clara! Clara, are you home?” Stone banged his fist against Clara’s front door. She yanked the door open, her black hair blowing around her in an invisible wind while her hazel eyes glowed fiercely.

“Get the Alpha in here.” She ordered. As usual, she already knew what was happening. I stumbled through the door, using the wall as support. Stone and Clara helped me to the couch.

“Something’s wrong with my mate.” I forced out of my clenched jaw. Clara knelt down on the floor, leaning over me as I lay on the couch. She placed her hand on my forehead and closed her eyes,

“Your mate is fine.” She said, opening her eyes,

“You are not feeling her pain, you are feeling your own pain, Alpha.”

“What?” Was all I could manage to say.

“You’re feeling the pain of your severed mate bond. By the looks of it, it’s been weakening you for some time now. Something caused the bond to snap.” Clara attempted to explain.

“You don’t mean that their bond is broken?” Stone asked hesitantly. Clara quickly shook her head,

“No, not at all. Think of it as a rubber band being stretched between two places. At some point, the rubber band’s tension becomes too much and the band snaps back in one direction. Something caused the tension between your bond to become too great and it snapped backwards.” Clara stood up from the ground and walked into her kitchen. A moment later she returned with a teacup.

“Drink this, Alpha, it will help subside the pain.” Clara handed me the cup. I slowly sipped the herbal mixture, trusting Clara’s solutions with my life.

“What would have caused this snap?” Stone asked.

“It could be many things. Only the two mates will truly know.” Clara said. I felt the effects of the tea working immediately and my strength began to return.

“Is Marigold feeling this?” I asked, concerned for my mate.

“Not to the extent that you are. The werewolf mate bond is the strongest bond of all the species. Your mate, she’s magical?” Clara asked.

“She’s fae.” I answered.

“She’ll be able to manage her own pain quite well, then, you don’t need to worry about her.” Clara took the tea cup from my hands and disappeared into the kitchen, again.

“Do you think Renee caused this?” Stone asked, helping me stand.

“I can’t imagine the mate bond is that jealous.” I sighed. Clara’s laughter came from the kitchen doorway.

“Dear Alpha, the mate bond is the most jealous thing in the world,” She smirked,

“I would say that both bonds feeling the sting of jealousy would be enough to cause a snap.”

“Both bonds? You mean…..” I started to feel the heat of anger swirl in my stomach,

“Marigold was being hit on, too.” Stone finished my sentence with an amused expression on his face.

“Stone.” I warned him to shut up.

“I’ll leave you two alone to work this out for yourselves.” Clara shook her head at us and vanished in a puff of smoke.

“This was all your idea, Fox.” Stone reminded me as I exited Clara’s cottage.

“If you don’t shut up, I swear to the Goddess, Stone, I will remove your tongue.” I threatened him,

“My bad, man.” Stone raised his hand in surrender as we walked back to our car.