The Duty of the Pack

1.

The crisp scent of sterilization nearly drowned out the faint whiff of bergamont coconut but I was one of the best trackers in the pack and no amount of bleach or ammonium could cover up the scent of my mate. It was delicious and different and totally masculine. I took another breath through my nose, closing my eyes for just a few seconds to savor the smell. My heart pounded against my ribcage like a middle school band practice- out of tune and loudly. Ellie glanced my way, rotating the wrist of her right hand so that her palm came up. Our tour guide continued talking, completely oblivious to the most life changing moment of my life.

I felt like throwing up. 

Not because I wasn't excited, because I am. I just- I broke off my train of thoughts, tapping Ellie on the back of her arm with a single finger. Silently we wriggled our way out of the group that was gathered in the entrance to the hospital, and I followed the gently wafting scent of my future.

"What is it?" Ellie hissed, glancing back at the group. From past experience I know her father was watching us leave and would have words with us later.

Right now that didn't seem to matter much.

"I can smell my mate." I whispered, though my breath caught in my throat and it came out sounding much hoarser than I wanted it to. She gasped, picking up her pace so that we were walking side by side.

"About time girl!" Ellie whispered, giving me a jaw stretching grin. "Lead the way." She added.

I rushed through the hallways, not quite jogging, yet still far faster than appropriate for a hospital. Ellie kept pace with me easily as we reached the edge of the hallway and I turned left. The small hospital only had a few rooms, and the room number read #117. I put my hand on the door handle, drinking in the scent that oozed out of the room. It was strong, so he must have been there for awhile. I heard a man murmurring or mumbling or whispering and I turned towards Ellie with my hand still in a deathgrip around the cold door handle.

"I can't-" I begged her in a quiet voice, not quite sure what I was asking. She grabbed my shoulder.

"You can." She said softly. Her touch helped me cage the writhing pot of worms that were housed in my heart and I opened the door with a click.

He was perfect.

My mate was lying in a bed of hospital sheets that crinkled as he struggled to sit up. His hair was the lightest color of brown one could get, and I could see and smell the grease of it from here despite how short he kept it. Most of his body was hidden under a dark blue hospital gown, though I was more focused on the yellowness of his skin and how the skin around his face and neck seemed to pull against the bones.

"Mate." I whispered, but though the tone was quiet I tried to bend my voice into something that sounded solid. He stared at me, still sitting up, and almost unconsciously he tried to get up. Tubes and wires prevented him from moving far and they pulled against his skin, one set of stickers flashing part of his torso and began beeping loudly. His adam's apple bobbed, though no sound came out of his mouth.

Someone on the other side of the hospital bed reached over and gently pushed my mate back into his bed, doing something to the medical line so it stopped beeping. I hadn't noticed the second man before. My mate turned to look at the second man, with a look of hopelessness in his eyes.

Distantly I felt Ellie's fingers slip off of me as I stepped forward through the doorframe. 

"Maddie..." Ellie whispered, but I ignored her.

"Mate." I repeated, far louder and more assertively. Glancing at my mate in the bed and then back at me before looking at Ellie, the other man took several pounding steps up to me.