Liam could smell the tequila from outside his office door.
"Fuck, I shouldn't have left her alone. Fuck, fuck, fuck." He muttered the word over and over again under his breath as he fumbled with his keys, suddenly unable to make his hands steady enough to find the right one slide into the lock.
"Alpha, mind if I help?" Dr. Norris was only a few years his senior and had graduated from high school when he had been in junior high. After that she had gone off to college and then medical school. Thankfully, for the pack's sake, just like her father, who had recently retired, she had returned to become the pack's only doctor.
Dropping his key chain into her hands he let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know what's going on with me Nicole. I can't think straight around her."
"But your wolf finally claimed her as your mate, right? You did say that?"
"Yes. But he hadn't in all the time before." He shook his head, still feeling as if something was seriously wrong, that he just couldn't quite put his finger on. It was like a bone that was dislocated that needed to be set. Something was out of place and it was driving him and his wolf both out of their minds with worry.
"Let me take a look at her Alpha. Maybe you're just stressed because of how badly that bastard beat her? To recognize her as your mate on the same day that another male-" her voice trailed off as the doorknob turned in her hand. "It would drive any mate into a fury." She pushed a long strand of dark hair back behind her ear as she entered the room, which was almost entirely dark. Only the light on the far side of the room was still on.
Doctor Norris wrinkled her nose and turned her head towards Liam. "Did you know that she was drinking?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows at him, her lips turning up into a small smile. "I mean, if anyone deserves to relax-" but he didn't answer her. Instead he was moving swiftly across the room, his eyes focused on the small figure who was curled up on the couch, a soft throw blanket pulled up over her shoulders.
"Charlie, Baby, are you okay?" In a moment he was beside the couch, kneeling in front of her, his eyes on the tequila bottle, which was half empty. "Charlie. Charlie." Liam's voice was growing more frantic by the moment, but as Nicole walked across the room she had been listening and both Charlie's heart rate and breathing sounded good.
" Liam, her vitals actually sound alright, and she might just be soundly asleep after all she's been through, but let's take her in to the hospital and I'll check her out. I want to examine her anyway after what you said she's been through." Nicole watched carefully as Liam bent and scooped his mate from the couch.
Charlie murmured and turned towards him, nuzzling her head against his chest, a small sigh escaping from her lips.
There was a memory in the back of Dr. Norris' mind that she felt trying to break through, but she couldn't quite grasp onto it. "I feel like there's something that I'm forgetting, that would help me with what's going on here." She said out loud, mostly to herself.
"Would your dad know?" Liam felt considerably calmer now that Charlie was cradled against his chest. The pack hospital was less than a three minute walk from the pack house and he followed quickly after the Doctor, stretching his legs to keep up. She was little but she was quick.
"I don't know. I don't even know what to ask at this point." She shook her head again. "When we get there I want you to take her to room 104. I'll start ordering some tests and then I'll come right in and start my exam." Liam nodded and after a moment of tense silence she sighed. "Go ahead. Get her to the room. Have the nurses put her in a gown and tell them to get started with a CBC and, nevermind, I'll text them. Just get her there. I can practically feel your stress. I'll be there in a few minutes."
He took off at a run, still holding Charlie comfortably in his arms, and Nicole pressed her phone to her ear. "Dad. I have this feeling I can't shake and I need you for a consultation. It's been a while since I've had a human as a patient. This patient just reminds me of something, like a fairy tale or a story you used to tell me? I know it has something to do with werewolf lore, I just can't place it."
"Okay, quick overview? I think it's her appearance but also her mate's behavior that are triggering something in my mind."
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone and when it was clear that her father wasn't going to reply she continued. "She has long-"
"Red or platinum hair?" her father finally spoke, interrupting her.
"Red." Dr. Norris, the younger, stopped walking and clutched her phone in her hand. She didn't want to have this conversation inside the hospital and she was nearly there.
"And she's gorgeous, right? Just about any werewolf male who sees her will fall in love with her?"
"I guess, so? I mean I've only seen her with her mate, and she was pretty much wasted, so I don't really know. But she is very beautiful."
"Look on her back, where her neck meets her body. I'm surprised you still remember the old stories that your mother brought with her from the Highlands. She told you those stories before she died and you were tiny when she passed away." Nicole nodded, forcing down any and all of the emotions that were threatening to rise up in her chest. "If there's a mark there, just at the top of her shoulders where they meet her neck, and if the mark look like the pleiades, and shimmers like Stardust, you'll know she is the offspring whose father was Fae and whose mother was-" his voice trailed off and she could practically hear him shaking his head over the phone.
"Do you remember the stories, Beauty?"
"They can't be real, Dad. It was just an old Wolve's Tale that mom told to me when I was tiny."
"If the story is true then when her mate marks her, her true identity will be revealed to her."
"What the Hell does that mean? What will she be able to do? Will she be a wolf?" Dr. Norris was standing at the edge of the trees now and staring at the brightly lit front of the hospital that was just across the other side of the street.
"Who even knows. But if her mother is who the legend claims? Then the question might not be what can she do, but will there be anything that she won't be able to do?"
A/N- I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you did I'd love it if you'd comment and click that little star button to vote for it.
This is Chapter Seven, but don't worry the entire story will be posted here in the next few weeks. This entire story is already up on Patreon for anyone who can't wait that long, along with many others under "The Alpha and The Red Head." And for those of you who want more stories, long and short, right this second and who want to read Patreon exclusive short stories, you may also want to check out the link below:
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Chasing Charlie
Werewolf"She unwrapped her legs from his waist and slid down his body, ignoring his murmur of surprise as she brushed his hands to the side. She knew how to take control and a part of her sensed that that was exactly what he wanted, even before he knew it h...
