Mate Mysteries

Chapter 38

*PLEASE READ*

This is a TRIGGER WARNING. Sensitive topics are talked about in this chapter, so please read with extreme caution. If you have been, or are affected by anything discussed in this chapter, there is always help available to you. Reach out to a friend, a loved one, and the internet for hotlines in your area.

- Sian

Pip and Rocket returned to a very warm room. Pip was thankful for the heat, but the wolves were suffering. Only Pip and Makena needed the blankets.

Krey had crawled onto the bed beside his mother, warming her with his body heat.

Pip sat on a chair by the bed. He wouldn't squeeze next to Krey even though he wanted to. Krey and Makena took up all the single bed space. They were both tall people. Makena had once been muscular too, but with her wolf and the love of her life gone, she saw no point in trying to maintain her strengths.

For a while, Krey stared at his mother, terrified that she'd stop breathing. She coughed a few times, but soon nuzzled into him for warmth. Krey then plaited her hair that was still a little damp and smelt of the salty ocean.

Pip sipped his coffee and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders when the fire died to glowing embers, pulsing red and orange in the corner of the room. The fire was the only source of light. Nobody could be bothered to turn on the light above. Zara had shifted into her wolf and laid by the fire. Rocket and Bethan rested against her in their human forms, so they had somewhere comfortable sit.

Pip watched Krey as his brown eyes slowly closed. Krey's head was propped up on the cushion, and it kept falling until his nose was tickled by Makena's hair, and he woke up again. Soon, Krey was so tired, even the tickling couldn't wake him. Eventually, Pip was the only person awake. The calm orange glow of what was left of the fire sent everyone to sleep.

The Omega's said they'd stay up, but they were all so exhausted. Sea air, a long run, and stress wiped them out.

The coffee would keep Pip up a little longer, and his spinning mind. They had been so close to losing someone else. When will it end? Death would visit everyone eventually, but premature death, in this case, could be managed if they only found the Southern Alpha. Where could he be? And what could he be up to?

Pip imagined him watching from a distance, laughing as Krey's world crumbled around him. It had been his plan to tear down the North. The Southern Alpha showed that by planting fake Beta's in northern packs for years. Though things got personal when Jordan died. Makena was proof that losing a mate never got easier to handle.

Pip wondered how Viktor's mate dealt with the loss, and if she could help Makena with her grief too.

When he felt sleepy, Pip woke Rocket to sit on the chair and watch Makena. Pip took Rocket's set and curled up against Zara's white wolf. She lifted her head when he pushed his back into her warm belly. She sniffed his hair and licked his forehead as if to say, good night.

Pip fell asleep rather quickly, imagining that the wolf's warmth was Krey's warmth.

He had an odd dream through the night. The hard floor woke him several times, and each time there was a different person sitting next to him. Bethan was there, then Rocket was there, then Zara was there, and Pip was lying against Bethan. The constant movement and the lack of Krey woke him too, and each time he fell asleep, he fell into the same dream.

Pip dreamt that he was in Krey's office, reaching for a bright light on his shelf. Each time he touched the light, it turned cold and suddenly he was holding a brass key with a wolf's head for the handle. Each time, Pip would understand why he held the key and what he needed to do with it, but when he woke, he forgot instantly.