Simply Mates

THREE

The thing they fail to mention about mates is the way you feel when you are apart. It's not instantaneous. It's like the build to a climax in the movie. It starts of slow and then grows stronger and stronger. And I don't even know how to describe the feeling either. It's debilitating. It's maddening. I literally feel like bawling my eyes out or running to him right now. My veins burn as my blood pumps through them - like my blood is fire burning at a thousand degrees. The pain in my heart and chest is indescribable and enough to bring the Alpha King himself to his knees. 

And it's only been about five minutes. 

The sight of my border comes into view and I force myself to stop running so I can collect myself and hold back my emotions. The last thing I need is for one of the enforcers to see me like this and go tell Father about it. I stop behind a tree and shift, sliding down it onto the ground below. I'm naked, but hidden by the tree so anyone from my pack wouldn't be able to see me. 

My knees are folded up into my chest and my head is leaning against them. I work hard to will back my tears and freeze my face into one of indifference - the way an Alpha should be, as Father always says. 

However, I can't. The dam bursts and my tears roll down my cheeks in waves. My chest aches as sob after sob rips through me. My breathing is ragged and sharp.

And my heart...

Let's not even go there. 

"Andy?" 

My head perks up and I feverishly wipe away my tears, only to find my brother. "Derek..." I trail off as another sob escapes me. 

It's not even a second later when he is by my side, his arms wrapped around me as he whispers words of encouragement in my ear. I vaguely process him pulling a shirt over my head or lifting me into his arms and carrying me into the border. He brings me into his room at the packhouse and sets me on the bed, disappearing for a moment to grab me a glass of water from his en suite. 

"What happened Ands?" He asks quietly, using my childhood nickname he gave me when he was three. 

I shake my head profusely. "I-I can't." I stutter out, my throat is sore and hoarse from all of my crying.  

He passes me the glass of water and I take a generous sip. 

"You can and you will tell me, Ands. It's the only way I can make it better." He says, taking the glass from my hands and setting it on his bedside table. 

"You can't make this better." I whisper. 

He wraps an arm around my shoulder and holds me close to him. We sit like that in absolute silence for a moment before he speaks again. "How do you know if you don't tell me?" 

"Because I just do." I say stubbornly. "Trust me." 

"Does it have to do with this bite on your neck?" He asks, gesturing to Callum's mark.

Panic floods my system and I look at him in absolute horror. "Please don't say anything. Derek, please. No one can know."

"Finding your mate isn't a bad thing, Ands." He says, furrowing his brows. 

"It is in my situation." 

I slump back into his headboard and place my hands over my face. 

"Did he...reject you?" He asks - his voice is quiet, but deadly. "If he rejected you, I will hunt him down and rip his head from his throat."

A snarl rips from my throat as my wolf pushes forward. "You will not!" I order, my Alpha command seeping into my words. "You will not lay a finger on him."

Derek shows me his neck in submission until I've calmed down.

"He didn't reject me." I say. 

"Then what is it?" 

"It's a question of 'who is it?' actually." I reply dryly. 

"I swear to the Goddess herself, if you are mated to that asshole Theon..." He trails off, eyeing me with caution. "Must not be him."

"Definitely not." I say, rolling my eyes. 

"Hmm." He hums as he thinks about it some more. "If it's someone you are not willing to say, then it must be someone that I don't like. And it's not Theon."

"Definitely not."

"What about that enforcer? You know, the one with the red hair? I fucking hate that Ginger." 

"You can't go around calling him Ginger just because you don't like him." I say, narrowing my eyes at him. "And he's definitely not my mate."

"Good. Gingers have no souls."

I roll my eyes again, but don't reply to what he says. 

"What about Eddie?"

"No."

"Stuart?"

"No."

"Garrett?"

"Hell no."

"Shit. Um." He pauses, and then narrows his eyes at me. "You're mated to a shewolf!" 

"What the fuck?!" I curse loudly. "Of course I'm not mated to a shewolf! Do I look like a lesbian to you?"

"Lesbians have looks?"

"Well, no. But I'm not a lesbian. I can't believe you would even come to that conclusion just because I won't tell you who my mate is." I say. 

"Sorry. Didn't think you would get your panties in a bunch over it." 

"I'm just frustrated." 

He nods his head slowly. "So I guess I shouldn't tell you that I already know who it is?" He says.

I furrow my brows in confusion as my response, unsure of how he could possibly know. 

"No, I didn't follow you. I could smell him on you. You know how Father trained us early to recognize the smell of the Redwood pack." He says. "You are mated to Callum." 

My breath hitches just at the mention of his name and my whole entire body shakes as another sob escapes me. 

"It's why I brought you here. I didn't want anyone else to smell you. You need to shower before you leave this room. And we need to hide that mark of yours." He says, ignoring my crying. "And you need to stop crying. Seriously Ands, you never cry."

"I know! They don't fucking tell you how it feels to run away from you mate." I wail. 

"Goddess, you are a wreck. Should I get someone to deal with you?" 

"No, I'll go shower. It should help." I mumble. 

"Yeah. And it will help with the fact that you stink." He says, a smirk forming on his lips at the end. 

I throw a pillow at him before stomping into his en suite and slamming the door behind me. 

"Asshole."