The Beast (Alpha Trilogy #1)

Chapter 13

Leo POV

Waking up next to my gorgeous mate is the best feeling in the world. Though I still hope that yesterday didn't happen. It was horrible, waking up only to find out she was not with me, but facing rogues in the middle of the woods.

Seeing her getting attacked invoked that one feeling in me that I was sure I would never feel.

Fear.

Fear of her getting hurt, of losing her, of her rejecting me, now that she found out about what I am.

But she didn't. She stayed.

How I wish I could know what's going on inside her head, what she's thinking. Will she accept me? Reject me? Stay here? Leave again? This uncertainty is killing me. I wish I could talk to her, to assure her that she's safe here, with me.

While I admire my mate's sleeping form, Demon is fighting to get out, annoying the shit out of me. Normally, we get along pretty well, but since our mate appeared in front of us, he's been blocking me whenever he got out, and I'm not sure I like him being the one in control most of the time.

'Let me out, you fuck!!! Leo!!! Leo, for fuck's sake! She's not breathing!!!' Demon yells at me in panic.

What?! I look at my mate, checking for her chest's movement indicating that she IS breathing.

Oh goddess. She's not!

I crouch above her, nudging her repeatedly with my muzzle, whining sadly, but she doesn't react to me, lying motionless on the bed.

I put my head on her chest to check for a heartbeat. She was fine!!!

I hear it. There's heartbeat.

Then why isn't she breathing?!

'Alpha?? What's wrong? The whole pack can feel your panic!' Mason links me.

'She's not breathing! Get the doctor here! NOW!!!'

'What? What do yo-'

'MASON! GET THE FUCKING DOCTOR!!!'

'On it.'

Just as I'm about to go get the doctor myself, my mate gets up with a gasp beneath me, gulping for air and shaking uncontrollably. She sits up, clutching her chest and gasps for air, her eyes wide. I nudge her, whining loudly, making her look at me. She looks straight at me, but I don't think she sees me, as her glassy eyes are empty, and it scares me. Suddenly she embraces me. She wraps her arms tightly around me, buries her face in the crook of my neck, her breathing uneven.

The doctor finally makes it to my house, but I tell him to wait outside. I don't want to scare my mate. I tell him she's awake now, but I still want him to take a look at her. Even in wolf form he may be able to tell me if there's something wrong.

I move slightly, so that I'm not crushing her with my weight, lying on her side without getting out of her vice-like grip on my neck. Wrapping my front paws around her, I embrace her close to me and purr lightly to calm her down somehow.

After a while, her breathing evens out, but the grip on my neck is still tight. My head rests on her head and I continuously snuggle my muzzle into her hair, softly purring in her ear. It seems that my moves actually help her calm down. That thought brings me some sense of comfort. She reacts to me. She trusts me. That's enough for me.

As I feel her move, I sit up on the bed, watching her. She's breathing evenly, and her body stopped trembling. She looks at me, but she's still not seeing me. I nudge her again, to get her out of the trance she's in. It seems to work, as I notice her eyes start to focus on me, losing that dead look in them. Licking her face, I remove the remains of stray tears that managed to escape her eyes.

"Thank you." She says, her voice raspy and pained. I lick her face again, trying to tell her that I will always be there for her.

"Can you let me get up? I need a shower." I nod, releasing her from between my legs, and getting out of the bed, to help her get up if she needs.

She sits on the edge of the bed, lightly putting her broken leg on the floor and winces. Fuck, her leg! She can't walk around with that. I approach her and put my head under her arm, so she can use me to stabilize instead of a crutch. She leans her body to mine as I help her walk, keeping her from stepping on her broken leg too much.

Once we get to the bathroom, she turns the shower on and waits for the water to get warm, while I go back to the bedroom and after a small struggle with the closet door; I bring out some clothes for her to change into. As soon as I get into the bathroom, I stop dead in my tracks, the clothes completely forgotten as my jaw drops.

There she is. My beautiful mate is standing completely naked in the glass shower, letting the hot water run down the length of her body, her head tilted backwards as she enjoys herself.

"I don't care you're watching, Puppy." She suddenly says. She knows I'm here!

She gets out of the shower; takes a towel form the rack and wraps it around herself; all the while I stand at the door with her clothes in my mouth.

I mean, I like how comfortable she is around me, but this seems almost as if she doesn't care about WHO'S watching and it pisses me off. Only I can look at her naked.

"Are those for me?" She asks as she gestures to the clothes in my maw. I nod and give them to her, hoping I didn't drool on them. That would be gross. She unceremoniously lets go of her towel and starts dressing up. Doesn't she care I'm here? I growl slightly. She turns to me, her expression questioning, probably wondering why I did that.

"Oh, right, I was naked. Well, I really don't care about you seeing me. One day I will tell you, when you're human. You can ask me everything." She tells me.

Demon is ecstatic, yipping inside my head and wagging his tail happily.

'What are you so happy about, you idiot?' I ask him, genuinely curious, as I don't understand his sudden reaction.

'Are you stupid? She said "when you're human", which will be in few weeks, which means she'll stay with us at least until then. We can tell her about us, about her being our mate. We can persuade her to be with us. She won't leave us!' He tells me, excited at the prospect of our mate staying with us, and for once I agree with him.