THE HYBRID'S MATE, sterek [book 01] ✔

xvi. emotions and a helpful hale

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐘𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃'𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢
𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦

↳                                                                                   ↲

     THE FEELING OF EMPTINESS hits me like a thirty kilogram sack of potatoes, or maybe even a dump truck. Yeah, definitely a dump truck. It feels like I have been rejected by my Mate, but I know that the real feeling is much worse. A broken Mate Bond can be deadly, and is extremely painful. The very thought of it makes the hairs on my arms rise.

     "Stiles?" Liam asks, his voice slightly distorted. "Are you alright?"

     I shake my head in an attempt to clear it. "I don't know. Something's wrong."

     "Stiles, how many fingers am I holding up?"

     "Thirteen?"

     "Are you drinking again?"

     "No. Not right now. Not since Scott's birthday."

     "Are you doing drugs?"

     "Again, not since Scott's birthday."

     "Alpha," Peter says, crouching in front of me. "This isn't something Human. It's Wolf related. Stiles is feeling like this because of his Mate Bond with both Derek and the girl."

     I frown. "Valerie. Her name is Valerie. Use it."

     "Sorry, Sti. Anyway, you need to cut this out."

     "How am I supposed to do that? It hurts."

     "It's not just your emotional pain. It's Derek's emotional and physical pain as well. If you concentrate hard enough you will be able to feel Valerie's worry for you - all of our worry for you. Pushing that aside for the moment, you need to push this away, Stiles. All that pain? It isn't yours. It's Derek's. Make it Derek's problem, not yours."

     I close my eyes and feel exactly what Peter says I would - Derek's emotional and physical pain, the Pack's worry, and my Mate's worry. I imagine a barrier between my and Derek's emotions, successfully stopping the flood of emotion and pain into my own body. I open my eyes and sigh in relief, finally noticing my Mate standing in the doorway to my room. I open my arms and she literally jumps into them, curling up like a real Fox in my arms.