Enchanter

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Creeping into his bedroom in the morning where his mate slept in his bed, Aaric couldn't help but coo at how handsome his mate appeared. His red locks spread across the pillow with his face squished into the sheets. His mouth was slightly agape, and his whole body was spread out across the mattress, taking up all available space. He was perfect.

Sneaking over to the bed, Aaric sat on the edge and ran his fingers through his mate's hair. Usually someone touching him in an attempt to wake him up would cause Anton to stir violently (he hurt Raven countless times due to that), yet Aaric's gentle touch soothed him, waking him up peacefully.

He blinked his eyes open, yawning and rubbing the crust out of his eyes as he muttered, "Morning," to his mate.

"Good morning, love," Aaric cooed as he leaned down to kiss his mate's lips. "Time to get up."

Looking at the small alarm clock by the bed, Anton snickered and rolled over. "No, it's not. It's six in the morning." Grabbing onto Aaric's wrist, he yanked him into the bed and into his arms. "Cuddle with me, and we can catch a few more hours of sleep."

"Baby," he giggled, "as nice as that sounds, you need to go to school."

"No, I don't," Anton smiled.

"Yes, you do." Exiting his mate's arms, Aaric pulled the duvet off his mate, who opened his eyes and glared at him. "I know it doesn't mean much to you, but I want for my mate to go to school and learn. I think it's important for you to, regardless of status. And I've let you have a few days off due to this Bleeding Rosebud business, but you have to go back today. Besides, what if the government comes knocking at our door because you didn't graduate?"

"Just because I changed schools all the time doesn't mean I need to graduate. In my years of seclusion from my pack, I learned more than the average high schooler learns while in school. The only reason I would keep going for the past six years is so I could listen in on packs and see if they happened to know anything about a Bleeding Rosebud, which none ever did, hence why I am even here. I've found her, so I'm not going back. Goodbye and goodnight." Anton pressed his head back into the pillow, closing his eyes and ignoring his mate.

Nothing made sense to Aaric. It took a few moments to process what he meant. "How old are you?"

"Twenty," he grumbled.

"Then why the hell did I wake up so early?" Aaric groaned.

"Don't know, don't care. Bring that blanket back up here and cuddle with me," Anton demanded, patting the empty side of the mattress.

Aaric certainly could not object to that, and he happily dove under the covers.

^^^

"Well, this totally throws off my whole schedule," Aaric laughed as Anton continued to snuggle further into his side. "I was prepared to take you to school and pick you up and everything. Now I don't know what to do with my day."

"What were you going to do? Spend the whole day at the school with me?" Anton teased. When he didn't hear a response, he snapped his eyes up to Aaric's, who looked away in a sheepish mess. "How would the school allow that to happen? You're not a student there either."

"No, but the school is a school for werewolves from our trio of packs. Only a few students there are human because they paid a certain amount of money to join. We can't turn people away, it would raise suspicion," he defended.

"What are you talking about? Schools do that all the time? Do you know how many places I had to convince using mind control to let me join in?" Anton sassed.

"Not too many, I'd-"

"A lot," he deadpanned. "A whole freaking lot. If you don't want humans to join, just don't accept anymore."

"Yeah...but they do help pay for certain expenses," he shrugged.

"Oh, gosh," Anton groaned, letting out a small chuckle.

"I mean, I guess there's one...I don't know, thing, I guess, that we could do," Aaric mentioned.

"Oh?"

"Robin is being released from the hospital today. Figured you could meet him before he checks out," Aaric suggested.

Kissing his cheek, Anton smiled. "I would be honored."

^^^

Aaric led Anton into the hospital corridors of the pack house. They passed Brooke on their way down the hall, opening a secret door hidden in the wall. The entered, stepping downstairs into another part of the hospital. There were doctors running around, and the two did their best to stay out of their ways.

Finally reaching a door in the middle of the hall, Aaric knocked and poked his head inside. Robin looked up, smiling excitedly as he approached the door. "Aaric," he greeted. "Good to see you. How have you been?"

"I've been good, actually." Ushering to Anton for him to step inside, he wrapped his arm over his shoulders. "I want you to meet Anton Wood, my mate. Anton, this is my second in command, Robin Gardner."

"Pleasure to meet you," Robin beamed, holding out his hand for a shake.

Anton knew it was considered impolite to stare, but the scars below Robin's nipples looked painful. He didn't know what kind of fight he was in, but it was clear it was something bad if he wound up needing to stay in the hospital for a month because his normal werewolf capacities couldn't handle it. He just couldn't quite figure out what it was, especially on the chest. It was nowhere near any vital organs.

"Anton," Aaric hissed in his ear.

"It's cool, Alpha. I don't mind since he's your mate," Robin assured. "I recently underwent breast removal surgery, because I am trans male. This was actually the last part of my surgery to undergo, and since I wasn't able to move my hands above my head for a while, I've been down here during my recovery in case there was ever an attack."

"Makes sense why you have this," Anton mumbled as he looked around the room in awe. Smiling at the Beta, he grabbed his hand and shook it. "Congratulations, sir. I'm happy for you."

"Come on, we'll help bring your stuff back up to your room," Aaric said, patting Robin on the back.

On their way up, the three were stopped multiple times by pack members congratulating Robin on his successful surgery and good health. It was quite the positive reinforcement to see how accepting the whole pack seemed to be. Anton was thrilled to have his mate be the Alpha of the pack, and he was honored to be part of it as well.

Placing the last suitcase down in the Beta's bedroom, Robin placed his hands on his hips and smiled. "Man, I've missed this place. It's nice to see sunlight once again. I honestly forgot what it looked like."

"If you forget sunlight after a month, I may have to rethink having you as my Beta," Aaric teased.

"Shh," Robin demanded, holding his hand up to the Alpha as he began to sniff the air. "My mate. I can sense they're near." Sniffing the air, he slowly crept up to Anton, inhaling his neck sharply.

"Mine," Aaric possessively growled as he pulled Anton behind him.

"Oh, my gosh. It couldn't be me, idiot," Anton stated as he slapped Aaric's chest. "We were just down there, and he didn't say a word. It can't be-"

"Shh," Robin hissed.

"Rude," he muttered.

A crash pelted against the glass, and everyone turned to face the window. Releasing a snort, Anton strolled up to the window and opened it for Raven to fly inside. Transforming in front of the trio, she began to falter on her feet before falling to the ground. "Woah, headrush," she giggled.

"What were you doing out there?" Anton asked as he helped her up to her feet. "More importantly, why didn't you go back through the open window you left out of."

"I exited through the front door, but I sensed something in here-"

"Me," Robin exclaimed as he ran up to Raven. "Me. You sensed me. I'm your mate."