Mate of a Wild Wolf (SAMPLE)

Part Two. Chapter One. David

"There's this kid," he had told me. "He's in the hospital."

I drove to the hospital he had written on the address. It was a fairly long drive as the location was in a town north of the city and we were located in the southeast. The car park was fairly full as this was visiting hours and the fees were extortionate. I doubted I could get away with labelling this as a work expense as technically, I was off duty.

"The doctors there rang us about a month ago," Wayne had informed me. "'Cos the kid is a wolf, looked underage, but refused to speak about where he came from. They thought we could help."

I wandered over to reception to ask where the Timson Ward was, apparently a ward for long term patients. The ladies there pointed me in the right direction.

"It took a while, but I managed to get out of the brat that he was eighteen, so strictly speaking didn't need the protection or consent of a pack. But he also wasn't a runaway, he was exiled."

I yawned, reflecting my wolf's discomfort. My wolf disliked the sterile scent within the hospital, it made him nervous. I was already longing to get out of there, but I had promised Wayne and left my baby girl with the nursery, who takes her twice a week as all three of us usually work on those two days. I had this day off thanks to the boss and Wayne and this kid apparently. But it was not just the smell of bleach and soap that was making me feel uncomfortable.

"The kid is suffering from rejection sickness," Wayne had said. "Technically, he'd just need to be watched by someone for a few days and he'd start to feel better. But Ethan is actually getting worse, hence why he is still in hospital. You see, Ethan is..."

The warming scent of the Omega washed over me, like fresh bread from an oven or biscuits your mum made when you were young, waiting for you after school. I knocked on the open door of the private room that our department was paying for. A boy with round, watery grey eyes glanced up at me and my wolf whimpered as he felt the waves of sadness and loss pour off of him. The boy was blond, like me, but whereas my hair is more golden with dark roots, his was lighter with platinum highlights running through it. Physically, he looked small, his whisper of presence, however, managed to make him look tiny.

"Hey, I'm David," I said softly as I stood in the doorway. "I'm a friend of Wayne's. He asked if I wouldn't mind coming and checking up on you."

The boy gave me a soft smile, but it was one that carried a weight of tiredness. It made me, once again, think what I had done to Alex. I pushed that thought heavily to one side. I wasn't there for Alex, I didn't watch over him like I should have done. But that was in the past and he had moved on. Even though my sins were not that easily forgivable, I could at least be here for this kid.

"Hi," he said, his voice quiet, but loud enough for a wolf. He watched as I came into the room and sat down beside him, in an uncomfortable, plastic chair. I caught the curl of his small nose as he scented the air around me. He had a smattering of freckles upon that nose as well as a tiny brown mole just beneath his left eye.

My wolf was watching the boy intently, half whimpering, half growling, but I knew what he was trying to say. While we were scum for rejecting Alex, the person who rejected this poor kid was lower than scum as was that person's Alpha, for an Omega could not live without his mate nor his pack. Basically, the kid was dying due to a double whammy brought by the rejection and exile. Fuck, an Omega is the heart of a pack, what kind of sicko stomps on their own heart? My old pack would have loved for an Omega to have been born or raised amongst them. A pack with an Omega tends to be stronger and more united. They were someone everyone felt love for, everyone wanted to protect as if the Omega was their pup, was everyone's pup.

The doctors in the hospital were doing their best. They had the kid attached to a drip as he wouldn't eat or drink, but that was never a long term plan. They had tried to bring in psychologists that had some knowledge if not experience of the supernatural. When their efforts were defeated, they called in Pack Law. Wayne and his partner (not Alice, the pair are mates, but that doesn't mean they work well together in the department), had hoped that visiting him often, trying to convince his wolf to accept them as his new pack, might help. It might have had an effect, slowed the progress of his fading light, but it was clearly not enough. Wayne did not want to give up, though. If it wasn't for one of the boss' cases coming to ahead and needing all hands on deck (with the exclusion of us rookies), he would have been here himself.

I sighed, feeling totally out of my depth. This was not my thing, though I would quite happily have lead the chase to hunt down his Alpha and rejector. Technically speaking, what he or they (cos they could be the same person) had done was not illegal, but it was fucking wrong! At least, Alex was human and not an Omega. I contributed to his coma, I'll accept that, but I know that his was an extreme reaction and not just brought on by me. Either way, chances were always that he would live. Ethan, as an Omega, he never stood a chance!

"I'd ask how you are feeling," I said, trying to admit that I did not know what to say, "but I suppose you get asked that like fifty times a day."

His lips curved a little deeper. "Not quite, but close." He was sitting up in the hospital bed, the white sheets covering bent knees, which he held as he sat with a half dazed expression.

"Are you bored?" I blurted, lamely, seeing no entertainment of any sorts. There was a television, but it was off. "I could get you some magazines or a puzzle book."

"I'm not bored," he replied. Shot down. I really am rubbish at this kind of thing. "I am tired," he suddenly added.

"If you want to sleep..." I said, hurriedly, but he shook his head.

"The Doctors get worried when I sleep too much," he told me. Yeah, I could understand that.

"I guess they are worried that you won't want to wake up," I said my thoughts aloud, which seemed to startle him for a moment. But he soon resumed his uncaring, lost expression. "I felt like that once, but that was my own fault, not anyone else's."

"What did you do?" He asked, his grey eyes fixed upon me to the point where I began to feel uncomfortable again. Omega's don't feel the dominance of a high ranked wolf, although they would submit easily enough if directly given orders by dominant wolves within their packs. So, unlike other wolves, he would not look away despite my aura.

"Nothing good," I said, dismissively. I didn't want to tell him that what had been done to him was done to another by me. "But although I thought it would be better for everyone if I never woke up, I still did, every morning. And then I was given reasons to live."

"Like?" He asked, gently.

"Like my job," I admitted. Getting the chance to develop a career in Pack Law was definitely something that helped me get out of bed every morning. Even though I was tired and struggling with forcing things into my brain so I could get the necessary qualifications in as short a time as possible and working on top of it, there was a feeling of excitement behind it. Of satisfaction. "And then there's my daughter."

"You have a pup?" he asked me and I nodded an affirmative. "I like pups."

"Yeah? Would you like to see a picture?" His eyes lit up slightly, so I showed him the picture on my phone. For the first time, I felt that he was genuinely interested and the smile upon his lips seemed less fake. "Her name is Emerald, Emmy for short."

"Excuse me," a nurse knocked on the door and greeted us both. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are ending."

Ethan's face fell slightly, but he said nothing in protest. I felt a little torn myself. "I guess, I have to go," I said. "But I can visit again, with Emmy, if you like."

"Okay," he replied, but his smile did not return.