Chapter 153: 153. Still hurting
The sun shone above the horizon yet the mates were yet to wake and leave the bed as they slept in each other’s arms basking in the warmth of each other’s comfort.
Darren’s eyes were open but he didn’t want to leave before she woke up and he didn’t want to disturb her sleep so he stayed with her. He thought back to their moment at night and he remembered something that he had forgotten.
He didn’t use protection when he mated her and had his release inside of her. What was more was the fact that she was in heat and the likeliness of female shifters conceiving when in the heat was near a hundred percent. He pinched the space between his brows at the grave mistake he had made. She was still young and he was ready to wait a bit longer before making a family with her.
He and Kora were not like other shifters, he was a and she, a mystic wolf, perhaps that won’t apply to them. He hoped it was so.
She stirred and her eyes fluttered open, the first image that caught her eyes was that of her mate who looked at her in admiration and adoration. She smiled and snuggled closer to him. "Want to sleep a bit more?" He asked a smile made its way to his face seeing how spoiled she was acting.
"I think I am becoming more lazy every morning." She said and a light chuckle was heard from him.
"You can be as lazy as you like," He said and caressed her head. "I will do all the work."
"That won’t be fair." She said and sat up. "You should wake me up next time," The sun was brightly shining outside and the time was approaching noon quickly.
"Alright," He agreed. He had pushed the thoughts from earlier out of his mind with the hope that they were both different from other shifters so their case may be different.
Away from the Alpha mansion, Emily was getting ready to leave the pack again for the third time this week. She and Levo were still in the process of visiting all existing packs within and outside the country as stated by Darren.
She dragged herself out of the room and plopped down on the couch with a sullen look. They just returned to the pack two nights ago when they visited the last pack in their country. Right now, they were planning to leave for another continent and she was not sure when they would return.
She wanted to spend some time with her best friend but time was not on her side. She missed the days when they were free to do whatever they wanted without the roles and responsibilities of being pack leaders.
["Kora,"] She mind-linked. This was one of the things she liked, they didn’t belong to different packs, so they still shared the same pack link.
["Emily,"] Kora’s voice came into her ears. Kora sounded surprised when she replied not expecting the link.
["I am leaving the pack again,"] She whined. ["I just want to stay home and spend some time with you."]
["I thought you said you want to explore the world?"] Kora teases and Emily makes a face that Levi walks in to see. He stopped and looked with a raised brow but she pursed her lips and turned to another direction. Levi shook. His head and left with their suitcases.
["That was not funny, Kora. I am tired of moving all the time like this. I wish Alpha would let us rest for a while before we continue."] She said and Kora sighed.
It was true that they had not had time for each other since the incident that happened during the night of her marking. ["You should hurry and finish soon, then we can have some time for ourselves."] Kora said and Emily nearly cried. She was expecting sympathy from her but rather got a ’hurry and finish soon’ that was not helpful at all.
["I want to see you before we leave."] She said and stood up from the couch running out of the house. She ran past Levi on the way, nearly crashing into him.
"What’s with the rush?" He asked, holding still by her shoulder.
"I am going to see Kora." She replied and tried to shake him off. "I will see you in a bit." Pecking a kiss on his cheek, she ran off again and Levi wondered why she didn’t take the car if she was in so much hurry to meet Luna but he did not call her back.
After Emily left to see Kora, Levi’s mind drifted to his older brother whom he had only seen once and he hadn’t had the time to talk properly to each other about personal and private matters, perhaps he should also take advantage of the little time Emily and Kora had given him to see his brother.
With that thought, he headed for the beta’s house in the opposite direction. Though Mateo looked a lot better than before outwardly, he was still healing inwardly and playing it strong.
He did not fully understand what Mateo was going through, lacking the experience that he was not looking forward to having, but he understood the pain involved. Je just wished he could be there for his brother the way he was there for him when they were younger.
["Mateo"] He called through the mind link. He did not want to go there and be greeted by a space.
["Have you left already?"] Mateo asked.
["I am coming to your place, are you inside?" He asked, the house of the beta is already in view not too far away from his.
["Yes,"]
["Okay."] They cut the link and Levi took some large strides to reach the house, he opened the door without knocking and climbed up the stairs.
Inside he found Mateo still in bed, the floor of the room was littered with empty packs of chips and cans and a few of his clothes could be seen on the floor as well. Mateo was orderly, he hated having his living space like this but right now, he was sleeping in a room that was such a mess that it shocked Levi.
"Brother," Levi called in shock. This was the first time seeing his brother like this. "Are you alright?" He composed himself and asked. No matter what, the man on the bed was still his brother who was going through a hard time.
Most shifters can’t bear the pain of losing a mate and dying soon after but his brother was still fine with just a few side effects maybe it was because the bond was not sealed in any way and that was their first encounter, but Levi was happy to still have his brother breathing the same air as him.
"I am fine," Mateo responded and sat upright. He looked at the mess on the ground and sighed. Even he had to admit that he was losing himself and succumbing to the pain. "I will be fine.
"I wish I could stay with you a bit longer brother," Levi said. He stood in front of Mateo and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You should go now, you have some work to do, I will handle everything here," Mateo said and Levi frowned.
It was a good thing that work could distract him, but Mateo was taking it to a whole new level where he was turning himself into a workhorse and that was not good.
***
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