The Cliff

The Unworthy

Unedited

It was morning, I could tell by the light that penetrated the room through the ventilation hole in the wall near the ceiling. My eyes were tired from staring at the door whole night long. They were drooping with weariness of these few days. My mind ran a mile a minute with everything that was happening and that would happen.

I saw someone's shadow below the door. It wasn't Alpha Cade, because my wolf did not stir. She was useless in all matter except Alpha Cade. And where it concerned him, she presented herself as a danger for me. I was tired and it had not even been two complete days since he was back. I could tell that the person was not Brandon by the smell. But it had been so long, I wouldn't be surprised if I was not able to recognise him.

"If it isn't Bran, go away," I shouted.

The figure stilled but did not go away. The door opened after a minute. A head poked in -- a male. The door was left ajar as the male walked in and light flooded the room suddenly. I had to squint to look at him. He was a tall and lean male with a smile on his face. Beard covered half his face.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Avery, it is me. Nate!"

"Nate?" I sputtered. I was surprised. Taller than the last time I saw him and with beard, he sure had grown big. I bit my lips to stop the surge of emotions in me come out as a gasp of surprise. If Nate had changed this much, how much would have Brandon changed.

He covered the distance between us and pulled me into a hug. It comforted me so I melted in his warmth. He pulled back. "I knew you would return someday. I knew!" He pulled me back in a hug again.

"Nathaniel," Alpha Cade's voice burst in the room making him scramble away from me. I did not look up at him but I knew he was by the door with his jaw ticking. I could smell his anger. It was overpowering my senses.

"Alpha," Nate bobbed.

"I did not allow you in here to catch up. Check if she needs medical attention," he dictated with each step he took towards me.

"Can you switch on the lights, please," he sighed.

As light flooded the room I could see that Nate's eyes were red. He checked my pulse, looked into my eyes with some flashlight he pulled from his pocket and then my tongue. I was so proud of how he had grown up. From the mischievous child to a caring pack doctor.

"She looks fine. Although I will tell Geet to collect some urine and blood samples and run tests on them to reach on something conclusive," he told Alpha Cade.

"You really have grown into this role."

Nate looked at me with a smile on his face. The same one he had given me when I was on the bed with a broken collar bone and a bandaged palm and he had been irritating me, the same smart ass smile. I pulled him for a hug.

"You may leave Nate," Alpha Cade ordered.

I still held onto Nate and to those good memories he had given me. "Welcome back, Avery," he whispered in my ear as he pulled back. Smiling at me one last time, he walked out of the room.

Alpha Cade closed the door after Nate. I laid back down on the bed and closed my eyes. The bed dipped with Alpha Cade's weight. "Have you brought Bran?" He did not respond. "Then we have nothing to talk about."

When he was silent for a long time, I opened my eyes. "Someone is asking for you at the pack border, " he said finally.

"Who?"

"They said to tell you that Maya sent them."

I jumped from the bed and dashed to the door. "Those bastards have the gall to come here after what they have done." I was near the door when Alpha Cade pulled me back to him.