I'm the Alpha's Mate

Chapter 10

"Take the antibiotics, change the bandage, and you should be fully healed in about a week," the doctor says and starts to collect his things, and I watch him as he does so.

My mate stayed by my side the entire time, which made me quite nervous, as she has an intense aroma that makes my heart beat a bit faster than normal. Speaking of heads, you almost killed us! It was not completely my fault, I argue back. It was a complicated situation.

Suddenly, my mate's brother, Soobin, walks into the room and observes the doctor, most likely confused by his presence. "What happened here, Ryujin?" Soobin's eyes turn to my bandaged head.

Ryujin. My mate's name is Ryujin. I could go on and on about how perfect it sounds. Through all this time I never thought to ask my mate her name, which seems very odd by now. I suppose her name could be anything that my imagination can shove together and I would still find it utterly flawless.

My mate, now known to me as Ryujin, lets out a low grumble. "Soobin, not right now."

"Hey! Don't be in a bad mood, you've finally found your mate-who has a bandage on her head." Soobin trails off and looks at me funny. "What happened to her head?"

Ryujin rolls her eyes and sighs. "I will tell you later, just please give her some space."

"You're here?"

"Because she's my mate."

"Okay, okay, I'll go." Soobin backs out of the room and disappears further into the house.

I wonder what it is like to have a sibling, someone to bicker with and laugh with. Ryujin and Soobin seem to understand each other in some way that I will never be able to wrap my head around, and it fascinates me. The moon goddess has been with me for as long as I can remember, but I cannot relate her to a sibling.

"Excuse me," I pipe up and catch Ryujins attention. "Can I see my grandmother now?"

"I'll have her brought here. I don't want you moving around too much and passing out," she says, giving me nothing to argue with. "Soobin please command the guards to collect Yeji's grandmother, she lives past the small stream north of the territory," she calls into the house.

Without warning, Ryujin grabs onto my hand, immediately sending soothing sensations through me. "Does that help with the pain?" I bite onto the inside of my cheek as they begin to heat up, showing colors that I cannot imagine. It was too difficult to answer her question, so I blurted out something unrelated. "How is it so easy for you to kill people?"

"I knew you would not let that go," she mutters. "Did you know that you scared me to death when you almost got yourself killed?"

"You didn't answer my question." I stare into her emerald eyes, trying to take my mind away from her hand which still holds my own. "Every decision I make is for the good of my pack," Ryujin explains. "It's my job to keep everyone safe, and I will not risk their safety on a couple of rogues." I nod, though I do not understand how it feels to be in charge of so many people. What an immense amount of responsibility, and it all rests on his shoulders.

"You didn't answer my question," she says.

It does not take me long to answer her back. "I wanted to help those people, though I did not plan on getting hurt. Did I upset you?" I ask her, sounding oblivious to the entire situation.

"Your life is so precious, and you put yourself on the line without thinking."

"Me and those men, we are not equals are we? We can't be, because I'm the Alpha's mate and that places me above them, yes? It is frightening how I could have been in their place, the gun could have been pointing at my head, but it wasn't because we're mates. I may not understand what the Alpha has to do, but I don't think a title should place me above them. I was called a rogue, and I'm sure it was because I am one just like those people. My life is not more precious than theirs, if anything, two lives should be worth more than one. Either way, the gun still pointed at me eventually."

Ryujin slowly stands up and looks down at me with amusement, pride, shame, or was it guilt? I am too distracted by her body towering over me and her hand that is held out for my use. I reluctantly placed my hand in her before standing up myself.

She leans towards my ear, and I expect her to whisper to me, but instead, she softly places a kiss on my cheek. The brief action set my cheek a flame. I was speechless. "Your grandmother should be arriving soon." She says, not letting go of my hand as she leads me through the house and towards her office.

"Why are we going back to the office?" I ask her as she continues towards the two grand white doors at the end of the hall. She swiftly opens them up and lets go of my hand when we get inside. I watch her as she searches through the drawers of the large desk. "What are you looking for?" I question and sit down on one of the chairs facing her desk, as if an appointment has been made. Ryujin answers briefly, "papers."

"For what?" I ask her noisily as she pulls a thin stack of white papers out of a drawer and places them on the surface of the desk.

"For you to join my pack."

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