Mate Massacres

Chapter 43

You guys are so supportive, thank you!

- Sian

"Is he dead?" Pip asked after a while of sitting with Krey in silence, watching a film from the TV mounted on the wall opposite Krey's bed. Neither of the boys paid the film much attention.

"Jordan?"

Pip nodded.

"Yes. He would have killed you if my mother didn't see him going into my room." Krey grimaced at how different his evening could have been.

Pip swallowed hard. "Did he have a soulmate?"

"I don't think so. I don't think he had any family." Krey was laid on the bed, far down enough that his head was level with Pip. He turned to look at him, and his eyes skimmed over Pip's bruised and freckly nose. "I'm glad he's dead, and I'm glad I was the one to kill him."

Pip wore one of Krey's jumpers, so he had to roll up the sleeves to use his hands. He pressed the ends of his fingers together. "Would you have kept Jordan here, but not as your beta or would you have made him leave? You know, I-If he didn't attack."

"I don't know," Krey mumbled, frowning. "This is why I give nobody second chances. In my world, it's not worth the risk."

Pip looked to the window. They had to cover it with a waterproof sheet and stick it to the wall while a new window was made. Krey's bedroom window was large and shaped like an arch. It had a few squares of stained red glass at the top, but Krey wasn't bothered about that, he just wanted a window, so his mate wasn't freezing during the night.

As for Krey's bathroom door, Makena put it back on with new hinges.

The sun had already set, and Pip could see the snow hitting the plastic cover over the window.

"It's a good thing you can't really see out of the window," Krey mumbled, looking back to the TV. He couldn't remember the last time he had turned it on. "The pack are training in wolf forms tonight."

Pip snapped his head back to the window, sitting up. "Wolf forms?"

"It's okay. There are guards by the only entrance to this corridor."

Pip wasn't sure how to feel about wolves training in the field below. After Jordan almost drowning him, Pip's emotions were all over the place. He hadn't yet cried about Jordan trying to end his life, Pip wasn't sure if he was holding the tears in or not. He was sure Krey could tell his head was all over the place because Krey avoided talking about what happened.

Pip noted that Krey's hands turned to fists whenever his eyes grazed the bathroom door.

"If there's anyone in the woods, won't they see the wolves?" Pip asked.

"We cover the fences and shine lights into the woods, making it easier to spot humans nearby, and harder for them to see in because the lights are so bright."

Pip looked back to the window. "C-Can I- have a look?"

Krey's eyes fixed on Pip, watching his expression. "Will you faint?"

"Maybe," Pip whispered with a nervous chuckle, deepening his dimples.

Krey sat up, purposefully leaning close when he did, and their noses brushed for only a second. The contact was enough for his heart to thump. "Alright. I think it'll be good for you to get used to seeing the wolves before you see mine."

Pip climbed out of bed with pink cheeks. Even through socks, he felt the ice-cold wood of Krey's dark grey floor. Pip pulled his bobble hat further over his ears.