XIX - Too Soon

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It has been three days since the rejection, and I almost hate to admit that I'm already over it. In the past three days, Rafael and I had become even closer than we were before.

The first night we had stayed up until dawn talking and laughing. We ended up drinking both bottles of the wine he brought home for us and eating all of the Chinese food. Originally I was nervous because he said he had "ordered a little bit of everything," but it turned out that he ordered all of my favorites, which were the ones he hated, and his favorites were all of the ones that I hated.

Our mate-ship was obviously meant to be.

On the second day, I was worried about Sam and how he was doing. One venture into the pack with Raf told me exactly how he was doing. Brittany, Rafael's sister, was doing the worst walk of shame from the pack house I had ever seen. He obviously wasn't too upset, and it most definitely did not take him long to get her back in his bed.

I can't say I'm surprised, honestly. Something in me knew he would go right back to his old ways, saying this was why he never wanted a mate to begin with, and it was literally spot on.

Several times there were yelling matches between Samuel and his parents for all of the pack to see. Things had gotten bad, and the pack was on edge.

It was mid-day and everyone was gathered in the center of the pack watching something. Rafael and I had planned to go to Twisted Simply for lunch when we caught wind of the Alpha punishing somebody for starting rumors, apparently.

What I didn't expect to find, was that Samuel had collared a young girl. I couldn't see her face but I had an awful feeling about this. Rafael's gaze followed mine and he immediately stiffened beside me. I knew it.

The girl he had collared was Brittany.

"What is the meaning of this, Alpha Samuel?" Rafael's teeth were on edge, and I could feel him struggling to control his wolf at the sight of sister collared naked in front of the pack.

"I don't think it's really your place to question me, Omega."

He was slurring his words, telling me he must be drunk. Rafael had heard some talk the other day when he went to the gym that the Alpha had been drinking a lot, and taking his anger out on the Omega's.

Omega's were the lowest ranks in the pack, from what Rafael had told me, but he also said he never had a problem with them before now.

It made me wonder if that had anything to do with Rafael and I. I was definitely no Alpha female, and Rafael was an Omega. Even though Samuel at one point had wanted Raf to be his Beta, when he started sleeping with his sister, Raf didn't want anything to do with him.

"I'm not questioning you, Alpha, that happens to be my sister and Pack Law states that family is to be informed of punishments. So I ask you again, what is the meaning of this, why is my sister collared?"

Oh, Jesus, the last thing any of us needed was a pissing contest between these two.

"Very well then. Your sister brought that Taylor boy back to the pack, after biting him. Claiming he was coming to visit and had been bitten by a rogue. Only when he was tested in the pack hospital to see if the saliva from his bite matched your mate's, we found it belonged to Brittany. So not only did she lie to her Alpha, but she also broke pack law by biting a human."

I felt all of the blood drain from my body when he mentioned Taylor.

He was here? In the pack? And he was going to shift?

There was no doubt in my mind that he would survive the shift. He spent every moment he wasn't doing school work and trying to get into college, in the gym. He was ripped as fuck, basically.

I knew he had a resilient mind as well. He would fight as hard as he could to survive, and then I would be stuck seeing his stupid face around the pack all the time with her by his side.

"Brittany, is this true? You bit that boy?"

"Raf, you have to understand. I've never felt anything like what I felt when I was with him back in Thomasville, I just know he's going to be my mate. That's why I bit him. But I didn't know they were going to test the bite, so I told them it was a rogue, and that he called me freaking out."

"Well, where is the boy now, Brittany?"

"The boy has a name. It's Taylor and I'm right here."

My heart was hammering in my chest now. I never thought I would see him again, especially after turning and living out the rest of my life here. But there he stood like this was completely normal.

I turned to walk away, hopefully before he spotted me, but I should have known I wouldn't get so lucky.

"Deirdra, is that you?"

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Hello, Taylor."

"I... We all thought you were dead. Your parents are devastated. We even had a funeral and everything. They buried that box with your hair and belongings in it! What about Elena? What about me?"

He was screaming. Absolutely hysterical.

"We will not do this here, boy. You can follow us back to our house and she can tell you everything there. But you will not cause a scene."

Rafael was pissed. He knew what he did to me, and I'm assuming this was the mate bond showing through.

"How dare he question you, and ask what about him when he wasn't thinking about you when he shit all over your relationship."

His voice was barely above a whisper, but there was a deadly calm about it. I knew it was taking everything in him not strangle Taylor right here and now.

He turned and wrapped an arm around my waist, leading the way back to our house.

I heard Taylor's light footsteps behind us, letting me know he was following us back.

This was surely going to be an interesting conversation.

When we arrived back at the house, Taylor stopped on the steps.

"You said our home. As in, you two? Together?"

"Yes, together. This is my mate, Rafael. I will explain everything when you come inside. I will not have this conversation on the porch for everyone in the pack to hear."

He nodded and stepped inside reluctantly.

"I faked my death."

"Obviously."

"Shut it, boy. Let her speak. You will not disrespect my mate in her own home."

His eyes went wide and he nodded, letting us know he understood what Rafael really meant.

"I faked my death because I was bitten by an actual rogue wolf. I came to North Carolina to see Charlotte and to hopefully visit with Rafael again when I was attacked in an alley in downtown Charlotte. The wolf really tore me up, and if it hadn't been for the werewolf blood in my system, I probably wouldn't have woken up.

"Rafael tracked my phone and found me, then brought me back to the pack. Alpha Samuel gave me permission to stay here while I trained and if I survived, I could become a pack member. I faked my death because humans don't know about the existence of werewolves. I didn't want them to come looking for me and get themselves hurt. It was safest for them, and for me.

"So I trained and trained for three weeks and shifted almost four days ago. I found my mate, Rafael, and now I live here with him. You can not tell anyone that I am alive, Taylor. You can't even tell anything that YOU are alive! Do you understand that? You will cause so much trouble and if my parents or Elena or anyone back home gets hurt because of you, I will kill you myself."

He gulped hard and nodded his head.

"You said you trained so you would survive, Brittany didn't say anything about potentially not surviving the shift."

"My sister probably didn't tell you because she has stupidly convinced herself that you would be her mate, and didn't want you to back out if you knew you could die. But judging by your physical appearance, I don't see why you wouldn't."

"I can't believe she would lie to me like this."

"Oh, you mean you can't believe you could be lied to? Because from what I've heard, you're pretty good at doing the lying."

Rafael was seething, his eyes completely black, letting me know his wolf was close to coming out.

"Taylor, I think it's about time you left. But, do tell me one thing. How long has it been since she bit you?"

"She bit me the day after the full moon, right after I got in town."

Well, at least he had a full month to stay in tip-top shape and train his mind before he would shift for the first time.

"I suggest you find the gym and make it your home for the next month, that is, if you want to survive."

Oh, this was going to be great.

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