Mates (bxb) Book one of the Mates series

13

-chapter thirteen-

(Royce's pov)

I stood next to a tree, looking up at the star filled sky as I waited for Boris. I walked for about a half hour into the woods before I stopped and decided that he could just find me. I was tired. Today was just a big mess. First, Ash had been almost raped, then we ran form the rouges before we find out Ash was in heat, only to learn that Ash needed to mate with Ulric to calm the heat down. Last we find out that Ash is now hurt again and I'm standing here being bugged my these stupid bugs. Ug.

I jumped slightly as a branch snapped behind me and I whipped around to find the large rust colored wolf of Boris. "Damn it!" I hissed. "Warn me next time you dog!" Boris growled slightly and I could tell he still didn't like me very much. I'm sure he's just jealous that I ended up being Ash's big brother and not him, blood or not. But then I sighed and patted his side. "Sorry. Lead the way."

Boris began to walk slowly through the forest and I fallowed, lost in thought. I could understand what he's is going through, maybe not full force, but I had a seance. If I had found my little brother after having to leave him on a doorstep and worrying for almost over fifteen years if he was safe and healthy or thrown in a circus, I'd be a little over protective and wanting to be around him twenty four seven, too. That's probably why he stayed behind at our house instead of going back to the pack house with Ulric and Jarric.

I sighed again and ran a hand through my hair. It's not that I didn't like Boris, I was just afraid he was going to take Ash away from our family. I was afraid that now that Ash had found where he came from, he would leave us and never look back. If that ever happened, mom would surly crumble and dad would be furies. Our small family would never be the same with out Ash. I still remembered when mom first let me hold him a few days after she found him at our doorstep. I was only about two at that time, but I remember looking down at him and him grabbing my thumb with that cute little baby finger death grip. He was so little, so fragile, and mom told me one time that when I first held him I told her that I was going to teach him how to be a big boy. I smiled at the thought.

Spaced out as I was, I didn't notice when Boris stopped until I ran into him. He snapped at me softly, as if warning a young pup who wouldn't leave him alone, and I growled at him. I then looked around and saw where we were. We were in front of a cabin and there were a good sized crowed of tired looking people and a few wolfs too. They all looked at me, not in a threatening way, but more out of curiosity. They must be wondering why a human was walking in their territory.

Boris shifted and grabbed a pair of shorts he had sitting on the cabin's front porch. He quickly put them on and glared at all the people around us. He then simply grunted wearily and walked into the cabin. I fallowed suit and closed the door softly behind me. Looking around, I noticed Jarric standing in a door way just to my left and three other people I didn't know sitting around the room. A man with graying brown hair sat in a chair in front of a fire place reading a thick book. He had glanced up at me with soft brown eyes, then looked back down at his book. A black haired boy and blond haired girl sat in a love seat in the corner of the room, just right of the door. The girl slept with her head leaning against the boy's shoulder, while the boy peered at me with blue eyes. I ignored them and fallowed Boris into the room of the door way Jarric stood in. I found Ash laying in a bed on his back with an IV stuck in his right arm. He was sound asleep. Ulric was also asleep, snoring away in a chair that didn't look very comfy next to Ash's bed. He held Ash's hand slightly and a sighed at the sight.

"He just fell asleep not too long ago." Jarric whispered, and I figured he was talking about Ulric. I looked around the room and found a clock on the right wall. It read ten to eleven. I sighed once again and walked over to stand next to the un-occupied side of Ash's bed. Looking down at my little brother, I saw that, other then looking a little pale, he seemed fine. I looked over at Boris and Jarric, who where whispering quietly about something, both looking tired and about ready to pass out. I drew a chair up to the bed and sat down, running a hand through my hair. I laid my head down on the edge of the bed and it wasn't long before darkness engulfed me.