Tour

RORY

I focus on Ophelia’s hand in mine. How exactly am I supposed to do this?

When I healed the baby fawn—~if~ ~I even healed it—I wasn’t trying to. It just sort of…happened. Is this something I can control?~

“Aurora?” Ophelia asked. I opened my eyes to look at her. “Are you okay? You look a little pale, child.”

Before I can reply, I’m interrupted by the beta and gamma marching into Ophelia’s room.

“It’s time to go,” the gamma says. “The alpha told us to show you around the pack.”

The two of them are staring at me, clearly waiting impatiently for me to get up.

“What are your names?” I question, standing up from Ophelia’s bed, stumbling over air as I make my way over to them.

“I’m Ace and the beta is Lucius. I’ll tell the alpha that you’re still unwell,” Ace declares.

“Why?”

“You can barely walk,” he replies, steering me back into the bed without touching me.

“I’m not a sheep,” I mutter, frowning at his attempt to herd me into bed. “And I’m not unwell. That’s how I normally walk.”

I flash the wolves a sweet smile as I herd them out toward the door.

Lucius gives me an unwavering glare, paired with his scowl, and Ace seems amused by my actions.

But both reluctantly walk out the door, leading me through the halls, despite their snickers at my slips.

As we make it outside, the sun hits my skin fiercely, knocking me on my behind before I can even blink.

Disregarding my estimations of their expressions, I slouch in my position by the entrance of the hospital.

“Are all humans this…clumsy?” Lucius sneers.

“What is she doing on the floor?” a familiar voice roars, his footsteps on the ground like a beater of a drum as he marches over to me.

I look up to meet his eyes, which are filled with fury and confusion. But it soon quells as he glimpses my shy smile, and he sighs.

“She can’t even walk. She’s like a toddler,” Lucius says, insulting me, but immediately regrets it as Everett’s scowl returns, directed toward his Beta. “She’s fallen at least ten times from her hospital room to here.”

“I can’t help it,” I mutter, staring at Everett’s face.

He’s the most gorgeous man I have ever seen, his broad muscled shoulders and chest showing his value of physical strength.

He’s double my size, making me feel as if he could squish me between his thumb and forefinger. His shirt clings to his abs, so defined that they bulge through the material.

His dark features are complemented by the sapphire of his eyes. There’s so many emotions in them, full of longing and doubt and frustration and serenity.

How can so many conflicting emotions be displayed all at once?

“I’m sorry, Alpha.” The need to apologize overwhelms me, as if I needed to apologize just for being myself. But he looks disappointed in me. Disappointed that I’m his mate.

I would be too.

His hand reaches out to mine, and as if they were made to lock with one another, my small one fits with his large one.

The sparks diffuse throughout my body just at the touch of his rough skin on mine. He tugs me toward him and onto my feet.

His expression appears as conflicted as his eyes; he squeezes my hand but attempts to look away from me.

“I have work I must do,” he declares, dropping my hand and hurriedly turning back the way he came. And my hand is left with this lost feeling, the vacancy of its other half making it grieve.

“He’ll do what’s best for the pack,” Lucius tells me as he notices the dazed expression on my face, staring after the way the alpha went.

My eyes snap to his, my heart dropping as if I’m missing the biggest part of myself.

He’ll never mark me. He’ll do what’s best for the pack, and he’ll eventually reject me.

Lucius and Ace begin to walk ahead, expecting me to follow behind, which I do but in a stumbling manner.

“Will I get to go to school?” I ask innocently, and I hear an instant chuckle from both of them as a reply. And they don’t choose to respond with their eloquent words.

“I’m eighteen. I want to finish school,” I say.

They slow a little so that they’re strolling on either side of me, and I’m presented with their amused faces.

“You could be luna of this pack, and you’re talking about school?” Ace questions with the quiver of humor in his voice.

“Yes,” I state with certainty and furrowed brows toward both of them. But it receives another laugh and a roll of the eyes from Lucius.

Whilst Ace points out different buildings, such as the school, the library, the bank, among many others, I attempt to listen and simultaneously not fall over again, which I think I’m doing well.

It just takes a bit of concentration.

When we arrive at the pack house, they had clearly mind-linked the wolves to clear out of here, maybe to not see the embarrassment that is the alpha’s mate.

I guess he can’t introduce me as anyone if he doesn’t know what place he’s going to give me.

Ace and Lucius lead me to an elegant building that stands a bit apart from the others. This must be where the leaders of the pack stay. We walk into a large foyer space, and they have me sit down in a waiting area.

“Wait for Alpha Everett here,” Lucius orders.

“Is this where you live?” I ask.

Ace nods. “Lucius, Alpha Everett, and myself live here. Other pack members go in and out, and we have meetings in the big hall-like room downstairs.”

The two of them leave me there, leaving quickly as if they would get infected with some human disease if they spent a minute longer with me.

I sigh, looking around at the space. It is quite nice, with comfortable modern furniture and large windows that let in a lot of natural light.

“This can’t be any worse than my last pack, who killed me,” I say to myself with a small chuckle.

It’s strange, knowing I have this world-changing gift.

They had killed me. They didn’t just try. They actually killed me. And now I’m here, alive, having found my mate.

I want to call Freya, or Eddie, to let them know I’m okay. But I never had a phone anyway. And as far as they know, I’m dead now anyway.

It’s not like I’ll ever see them again.

Everett won’t let me finish out my year at school, with my friends. I’ll be surrounded by pack wolves for the rest of my life unless he decides otherwise.

If Everett does accept me, he can protect me from Nick and Victoria.

But they did kill me. They slit my throat. And I don’t even have a scar for it.

They would be suspicious of that if they saw me. And they ~would~ see me, if I became the luna of this pack. They think I’m dead.

Maybe it’s better to stay dead, to start a life somewhere else, to make Everett reject me so I can leave.

But Everett…I can’t do that. He’s my mate. I already feel like I need him, and I have no idea who he is and what he is like.

But since he’s contemplating whether he should accept me, despite the mate bond, he clearly cares about his pack and the future of it, and I have to respect that. He’s an alpha.

He has a huge responsibility, and any decision affecting the pack has to be considered carefully and intelligently.

He can’t make decisions on the strength of the bond, even though I know he feels it. And it must take a lot of strength to not fall prey to it instantly, even though I wish he would.

I want to get to know him, and I know he’ll be distant with me, keeping me at arm’s length.

I look around at the empty room, wondering what’s taking Alpha Everett so long. Lucius told me to wait here, but I could probably look around a bit, right?

I get up, but of course I trip on the legs of the chair and slam into the ground, relishing in the lovely familiar ache it brings.

I’m so used to getting hurt and bruised, I barely feel some injuries. But this one hurts like a bitch. However, to be ignored. I need to go.

Is this against his orders? Technically, Lucius told me to wait, not Alpha Everett himself…

I will just say nothing about being his mate, so as not to anger him. It could make his decision easier, and I’m still not sure what conclusion I want him to come to.

I stroll through the long hallways, while several other pack members throw some glances my way. They are wolves and can smell I’m a human, after all. If only they welcomed humans.

How can I tell people what I’m doing here? Do I tell them I’m just some wolf’s mate?

That would only make them curious. Maybe I should tell them the alpha helped me when I was injured in rogue territory. He did, after all.

And perhaps that’s all I am to him, an injured little human girl who just needs to rest up before she’s sent on her way.

I come across a large mahogany door, with the word ‘Private’ embossed into it in a delicate golden filigree. My curiosity burns inside me, but I decide it’s probably best not to trespass into restricted areas on my first day. I file that room away for later and continue exploring.

Eventually, I find a room at the end of a long hallway, the door slightly ajar. I peek inside and I see a large suitcase sitting on top of a lush bed. I see a piece of paper folded neatly on top of it. It reads ‘~Aurora.’~

I blink. ~For me~?

I step inside, and immediately the scent hits me. It smells ~so good.~ My fingers run over the silk bed sheets, and I realize too late where I am. ~I’m in his room~. That’s his scent I smell. This is Alpha Everett’s bedroom. So why is there a suitcase with my name on it?

Suddenly, I hear a door to my left open and I turn to see Everett.

“I thought you were told to wait for me,” he growls. My jaw just about hits the ground.

He’s dripping wet, with only a towel around his waist. My eyes follow as beads of water roll down his distinct jawline, over his perfect body, down his abs…

My face is on fire.

“S-s-sorry,” I stutter. “I’ll leave right away.” I stumble back towards the bedroom door, desperate to escape. But I’m clumsy, and not very fast, even on a good day. Just as I get there, the door slams in front of me. Alpha Everett holds it closed with one arm as he leans over me, trapping me between him and the door. My back is pressed up against the wood, and I can feel the heat radiating off of his body.

His half-naked body.

I look up and I feel like I’m drowning in his sapphire blue eyes. I have to remind myself to breathe.

“Where do you think you’re going, little mate?”