Mutt ~GxG~

Chapter 23

Leah and I walk into Sophie's dad's hospital room where he sits upright, typing up some documents on a macbook. He looks up and I'm shocked by how much he looks like Sophie, she's basically a carbon copy of him. Apart from the very obvious stitches on the back of his neck, another set of stitches began at his shoulder blade but was hidden from view by his hospital gown.

"Hello sir, my father did most of the paperwork earlier but I would like to ask you some questions, if that's okay?" Leah says brightly.

"Who's she?" He asks tiredly, motioning towards me.

"I'm- uh, Sophie's friend." He glares at me, suspicion evident in his eyes at my hesitation.

"She's also my mate." Leah cuts in, saving me a significant amount of embarrassment. His face softens.

"Bridgette, right? Sophie's spoken about you." I see Leah look down and pull me closer to her by my waist. I blush at the action.

"Why's she speaking about my mate?" I hear her mumble jealously. I giggle a bit as I hear her.

"Aww are you jealous?"

"Shut up." She grumbles. Sophie's dad clears his throat.

"You were going to question me?" Leah nods frantically and fumbles around her jacket, taking her hand off my waist. I take the time to really admire how she looks. Her hair is tied up in a high ponytail with a black scrunchie, she's also wearing a white tee and a pair of black skinny jeans. Her jacket is mint green and made out of what seems to be denim. She pulls out a small notebook from one of her pockets.

"Yes, um." Leah takes a deep breath before writing something down. "Could you explain exactly what happened when Jackson Leventis attacked you?" Sophie's dad sighs.

"I was patrolling with some of the others in my herd when he crossed the border. We weren't worried at first with the contract and everything but he asked if we were scared, we of course said no and he kind of... snapped. He went to attack one of the others but as their leader, I jumped up in front to protect her." Leah furrowed her brows and stared at her notebook before she relaxed again, a smile reemerging on her face.

"Thank you for the information. Do you mind if I ask who else was with you?" He nodded.

"No, not at all. Well first, on the patrol was Jason Whittborne, he'd recently found a good grazing spot, a nice field that he reported to us and had us check out, it's a bit away from the border. I also had Davina Wiles with us, she's the one I jumped in front of."

"Would it be okay if I also asked for their accounts?" Leah asked. Sophie's dad sighed again before agreeing.

"I'll have to make some calls first so no one freaks out, but sure."

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

"Are you Ms. Davina Wiles?" I ask sitting down. Leah follows close behind me.

"Doctor." Davina corrects. Leah nods.

"Of course."

"What happened the day of the attack?" I ask leaning forward. Leah scribbles something in her notebook.

"A patrol always consists of a stronger deer who would defend the others in the patrol if necessary, a healer and the person who called upon said patrol. Any others may also join but these are the bare bones. I was the healer for the patrol. We had just made it to the area Jason found when we heard rustling. Callum noticed it first, he pointed it out and a lion shifter emerged from the bushes. He said something along the lines of 'Aren't you scared? A lion amidst deer, predator among prey.' I was rather confused but responded first. I said 'No, we have an agreement that assures both of our safeties.' and he shifted and pounced at me. Callum jumped in front and shifted to fight him off." Davina explained. Leah snapped her notebook shut suddenly, causing me to jump.

"Thank you for your assistance." Leah stomped off, grabbing my wrist.

"Aren't we gonna interrogate Jason Whittborne?" I ask as she drags me out. She pays no attention to my words as she continues to walk. "Leah, calm down." She tightened her grip on my wrist causing me to wince. "Leah, you're hurting me." I whimper. She stops suddenly and releases me. I yank my wrist back and clutch it against my chest.

"Fuck, Bridgette. I-I'm so- fuck." She turns back to me concerned. "Are you okay?" She whispers.

"I-I should be fine." I massage my wrist and give her a halfhearted smile. Her eyes water.

"Fuck I didn't mean to- I just-" She takes a deep breath. "They've both given me the exact same story. No matter who I ask, my uncle seems to be the villain. I don't want him to be that." Her voice cracks at the word 'villain'. I don't want to entertain her fantasy much longer but she just looked so hurt.

"Hey, there's one more person we can ask."

"That Jason guy, I know." I shake my head.

"Your uncle."

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

"Uncle Jackson." Leah exclaims, running into her uncle's arms. He laughs and hugs her. I find it hard to believe he attacked someone.

"Hey Lili." He ruffled her hair affectionately. She backs up and wraps her arm around my waist again.

"This is my mate, Bridgette!" She grins. I wave from beside her.

"Nice to meet you sir." I say cheerily. He stares at me.

"Yeah, nice to meet you." He says in a significantly less happy tone. Leah seems ignorant to it.

"So, me and Bridgette have come to ask you some questions about what happened the other day!" He sighs.

"Take a seat." He motions to the loveseat and armchairs in his living room. Leah guides me to the loveseat while her uncle sits in one of the armchairs.

"So what happened?" She asks, pulling out her notebook once more.

"You won't need that." He motions to her notebook.

"Oh, okay!" She says, albeit a bit confused.

"When I was your age, mate pairings that would create mutts," he spits the word out like it's dirt. "Were illegal. It's unnatural. Predators and prey aren't meant to mix. We're meant to be at each other's throats. We're not meant to be friends, much less mates." He snarls at me. Leah grips me tighter, a look of shock on her face. "Yes, I attacked those deer. I regret nothing either. It's only natural." He says leaning back.

"We-we're not animals!" Leah argues, tears streaming down her face. She drops her arm from my waist.

"But that's where you're wrong. We are animals. Why do you think your father has so many mates? Because he's an animal. He's a lion. We have countless more mates, the sun god makes mistakes. Which is why you should reject that mutt." My heart drops at his words.

"Shut up. Shut the FUCK up!" She snarls, jumping up. "You don't get to talk to my mate like that. NO ONE gets to talk to her like that. I didn't want to banish you but-" She gulps and roughly wipes away her tears with her forearm. "Let Ghrian be my witness. I, Alpha Leah Jane Leventis banish Delta Jackson Ryan Leventis from my pride, grounds and ho-home." I grasp Leah's hand as she does so.

"What happened to my little Lili?" He asks. His eyes shift to me before he glares. "I know. That fucking bitch poisened her." Before I could react he shifted and pounced.

DON'T WORRY Y'ALL I CAN ASSURE YOU NOTHING BAD HAPPENS YET