Alpha Mate

Chapter 7

When you woke up the next morning, you were a bit disoriented and shocked by the sudden change of environment of what you expected, so you cries out and bolted up, earning a large groan from you as pain shot down your leg and into your head. You looked around, realizing you were in a hospital and you recalled last night, sighing and laying back down as you closed your eyes. "You're awake?" A familiar voice called from beside you. You looked over to see Rhydian yawning and stretching in the chair directly next to your bed. You nodded.

"Yeah, I am. Did you...sleep here?" You asked him. Rhydian nodded meekly.

"Yeah, I did. But you've been asleep for a whole day, and so I just skipped school to wait for you to wake up." Rhydian told you. You sat up and looked at him.

"Wait, you mean to tell me I've been asleep for a WHOLE day? Like, 24 hours, or from the time the got me to the hospital, yesterday, and this morning?" You asked him. Rhydian thought for a moment about what you said before responding.

"The second conclusion." He stated simply, as if it were nothing to really worry about.

"Well, what about the wolves? Did anyone go and look for them?" You asked him. Rhydian nodded slightly.

"Yeah, people searched but they just couldn't find them. There were no paw prints or anything either." Rhydian told you.

"No paw prints? For something that large? I don't believe it. And what have you been doing since I've been asleep?" You asked him.

"Mostly just sitting here, watching TV, going down to eat when I need to, and sleeping." he yawned. You laughed as he yawned.

"Well it seems you didn't get enough sleep to me." You told him. He smiled at you and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess not. But I have actually slept a lot. I guess hospitals just really zap the energy from me." He confessed as he looked at your leg through the sheet. "So, did you get bit on the leg?" he asked you. You nodded.

"Yeah, it really hurt." You told him. When you looked at him, you could see the sympathy in his eyes. Or perhaps it was...guilt?

"Did the doctors disinfect it?" He asked. To assure him, and you were sure they did when you got to the hospital, you nodded.

"Yeah, they did. No need to worry about me getting sick with anything." You told him. He sighed in relief and got up, hugging you.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you." He whispered in your ear.

"You don't need to say sorry, it wasn't your fault that I'm here. It's because of a wolf who got into my house, that's all." You told him. You sighed and hugged you tighter before backing off.

"Yeah, of course not. It's just something we generally say when people get hurt." He told you, trying to cover up the look of pain in his eyes as he smiled. It was hard to cover true emotions with expressions because the eyes always gave something away.

"What's wrong? You seem almost guilty for this happening to me." You told him. He shook his head and smiled at you.

"It's nothing." He told you. You crossed your arms and gave him that, "I'm not buying it" look and watched as he looked nervously down at the floor and scuffled his feet around before looking back up at you. "Well, you see, it kind of was my fault that your here though." He told you, his voice cracking a bit.

"What do you mean? I mean, com on! That's ridiculous! It wasn't you who attacked me." You told him. He looked back up at you firmly and looked directly into your eyes.

"I'm telling the truth." He told you firmly. You looked in his eyes, and they didn't veer away while he was saying it, and they weren't deceiving you either. In truth, you actually began to freak out a little bit on the inside.

"Okay, so if it was you, elaborate." You told him. He thought for a few reluctant moments before closing the door to your room and locking it.

"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone, and you can't laugh, because all of it is the truth." He tells you. You nod.

"Alright, I promise not to tell anyone or laugh at what you're going to tell me." You promised, crossing your heart for extra emphasis.

"I'm a werewolf." He stated. His words shook a little, but he wasn't lying about it. You looked at him, a bit surprised, and nodded, signaling for him to go on. "It was me that attacked you, and I'm so sorry. I can't control myself like you would think, and I didn't;t mean to attack you." He told you, his voice breaking as he began to cry. "It's been that way ever since I turned 14, a sort of coming to age for werewolves, and my family comes from a long line of werewolves." He told you, trying to keep his story short.

"So you do shift on full moons like the stories say?" You asked him. He kind of nodded and shook his head at the same time.

"Well yes and no. You see, we are forced to change when there is a full moon, but we can also shift if we get to angry, or if we feel like our life is in danger." He tells you. "Uh, feel free to ask any question you might have." He tells you.

"If you bite someone in your wolf form can you pass on the trait? I imagine that's why you asked." You questioned. He nodded

"Yeah, I can pass it on that way, but the doctors disinfected the wound so there's no need to worry about that." He reassures. You sigh as well, feeling relieved.

"okay, that's good." You laugh slightly. "It's just a bit much to digest. So what usually happens when you get angry? Can you tell when you're about to change?" You ask him. He nods and laughs.

"Yeah, you can. That's why I was careful not to get to angry when we were in the woods. You know, the day that you got your payback on me?" He told you, laughing at the memory.

"I'm so glad you didn't shift then. I would've freaked out. Well that's all I really have for now. Any work I miss at school?" You asked. He shook his head.

"No, you didn't miss any big work. Just a small group activity for the study buddies, but I already finished it. So don't worry. Just get some rest." Rhydian tells you as he gets up to leave. "I'll come back tomorrow, but for now I have to go home. Bye (Y/N)." He smiled and hugged you before he left.

"Bye Rhydian." You sighed as you waved weakly and laid back in bed to process all of what you had just learnt.