It ended at Midnight -Chapter 10

Jack

I sat at my desk with my head in my hands, there was still so much work to be done and I hadn’t completed a single thing since Luke and I had brought my mate back to the pack house. I couldn’t stop worrying about her. It had been three days and she was still asleep, except for a brief moment a couple hours ago that sent me racing into her room. My mother had been attending to her needs while she was out but there was no obvious reason why she hadn’t fully woken up yet. A sigh escaped my lips as I ran my fingers through my hair sitting up again. I just stared at the papers in front of me. The pack merge was only two days away now and I had to finish all the necessary preparations. I could hear her soft breathing coming from the guest room down the hall and it settled my racing mind a little. Everything just felt so complete the last few days.

My thoughts were interrupted a few moments later when my cell started ringing. I groaned. The work of an Alpha was never finished. Picking up the phone I saw Morgan’s name flash across the screen. It was never a good sign when she called me this late into the afternoon, normally she’d have the highschoolers in battle training at this time.

“Yes Morgan? Is everything alright?” I asked as I rifled through my papers again.

I listened to her talk for a moment before hanging up, there was someone on the border that had gotten her attention and she was concerned. I groaned, Morgan had wanted to go for a run with me to see what all the commotion was about. Life of an Alpha, all work and no break.

—----

I rubbed my temples as I dragged my tired legs back towards my private office. It was late and I was so damn tired. I don’t know how I had ended up sparing with the upperclassman for the last two hours but they sure as hell kicked my ass. Morgan was definitely training our new generation of warriors right. I couldn’t wait to congratulate each and every single one of them at their commencement ceremony on the first full moon after their graduation. Before I realized it my feet had stopped outside of the guest room I had dedicated to my sleeping mate. My hand hovered over the door handle as I debated whether or not going in to check on her. She hadn’t woken up again since earlier and I was curious to see how she was doing now. Yet the last time I barged into the room it scared her so much she almost broke her arm trying to escape.

Against my better judgment I pushed open the heavy wood and crossed the threshold. The room was cold, unnaturally cold. Taking another step into the space I scanned the room trying to figure out why the wolf inside my head was itching to come out. Something was wrong. I inhaled deeply in an attempt to find out what was making me so unnerved. Part of me was afraid that Melody’s scent would distract me from whatever danger could be lurking in the shadows of the room but I shaked away the idea. All I could smell was the lavender detergent my mother used to wash the sheets in. It’s subtlety tickling the insides of my nose.

“Where is she Jack?” My wolf’s voice roared against my skull.

“What are you talking about, she’s laying in the bed.”

“No she’s not! She’s not in here you idiot.”

I stopped, taking another deep inhale as I looked around the room again, this time stopping on the empty bed that lay against the back wall. Where Melody had been just hours before the bed was empty. A soft indentation of where her body had been was the only hint that she was even here in the first place. Fear started to gather in my stomach along with the anger my wolf had placed in my mind. I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t paying close enough attention to her. All day I had felt her presence through our bond but I let my guard down for a few hours and she disappeared. Rushing over to the bed I picked up the pillow and took in as big a whiff as I could of her faint scent.

In a panic I threw the pillow back on the bed and rushed out of the room. Every imaginable thought ran its course through my brain as I tried to think about where she could have gone. It didn’t last long though. Out of nowhere I picked up her scent again, it was coming from the end of the hall. My office, of course. I tried to calm my racing heart as I made my way over. I could feel my wolf settle himself too.

I stood leaning against the doorframe to my office, her scent overwhelming my senses now. She was sitting on one of the leather couches I seldom used with her back to me. My father used to hold his meetings here and he and all the other pack leaders he met with would sit on those couches laughing and drinking. I hadn’t gained the courage to do the same since he had passed and I had taken over, instead I opted to hold my meetings in the pack’s banquet hall. It was nice to see them being used again, especially by someone so beautiful and pure. I craned my neck in an attempt to see what she was reading but I was still too far away to make it out. I wondered how long she had been here. The heat from the fireplace warmed up the office and it made me relax a little. This was the one place I could escape to have time to myself and she made it all the more relaxing.

Taking a step into the room I paused afraid that I would make too much noise and disturb her. I wanted to continue watching her just a little longer. This time when I looked past her and to the book in her lap I could clearly make out the title at the top of the page. I chuckled a little. Of course of all the books on those shelves she would just happen to pick the only one I loved the most. From the looks of it she was a little more then half way through it too. If I knew she was such a reader I would have made sure she had a few books on her nightstand so she wouldn’t have had to go looking. I took the mental note to have one of the maids do just that. By this point I was standing right behind her. The scent of her wolf was so strong now it teased me, pulling me closer to her until my face was mear inches from her hair. I watched her shiver, there was no doubt now that she knew I was here. Taking the free moment I had before she turned around I inhaled deeply, breathing her in.

“That just so happens to be one of my favorites. How are you enjoying it so far?” I asked her, trying to hide the amusement I felt from making it this close without her turning around.

She jumped a little and I could see another shiver make its way down her spine. Moments passed without an answer to my question and I couldn’t tell if she was trying to ignore me or if she was too scared to turn around. I debated asking her again if she was liking the story but before I could get the words to the front of my tongue she shifted in her seat and closed the book in her lap. Slowly, so painfully slowly she turned around to look at me, her soft eyes gleaming golden in the firelight. I stopped breathing for a moment, her face was so close to mine I could feel my wolf fighting inside me for freedom. He wanted desperately to lay our lips onto hers and quite frankly so did I. But I knew better, I knew it would send her running again. It was too soon, she had no idea who I was and I would be damned to make her do anything against her will.

I watched her part her lips slightly as she took in air, her gold eyes staring at me with such intensity. I wondered what was going through her mind at this moment. Then as if pulled from a trance the gold in her eyes flickered and shifted back to the warm brown I had grown accustomed to from the few times I had spoken to her. Now she looked at me with fear and awe. The same way my people looked at me. It made my wolf growl inside my head with anger. How could she look at me like that? What had I done to warrant that reaction from her?

It confused me. She confused me. Just like the first time I saw her in the forest outside the small human town I could sense her wolf. It’s essence tugging at mine through the bond that the Goddess gave us. She was my mate and I hers, but when she looked at me it was like she couldn’t feel it all. She stared at me like I was a stranger she had never met in her life. Which to be fair I was but our kind was supposed to recognize one’s mate. It’s what pulled us together until we completed the bond but not her, she looked as if she felt nothing. Nothing but fear.

“I uh, I’m so sorry for barging in here. I just heard the music and wanted to investigate a little but then I got distracted by the books.” She said quickly, nervously, her gaze moving away from mine and to my lips. Maybe I was wrong, maybe she could sense me too and was trying not to kiss me as well.

“What music?”

I knew what she was talking about but I wanted to hear her voice again. I wanted her to keep talking to me. Maybe if we had a conversation about something as trivial as music it would allow her the comfort to open up to me.

“What?” She asked, her head tilting slightly as if she was trying to focus on the other sounds in the room. No doubt trying to find out if the track had indeed stopped.

“There’s no music playing,” I said matter of factly, a little amused. She must have been more focused on the novel than I originally thought. How perfect. “How Long have you been here, little one?”

“Oh?” Her gaze made its way back to mine and I got lost in it. “I don’t know. I think I’ve been here for a couple hours. If I’m intruding I really am sorry.”

She apologized frantically as her cheeks flushed pink. The sight of it sending my wolf howling in my mind. “She’s perfect.” He said and I mentally nodded in agreement. Watching her stand up I chuckled when she shook out her feet from their sleeping positions. Her hair tumbled around her face in a mess of curls and I had to restrain myself again from reaching out to brush it away. Stepping around the couch until I was standing next to her I could feel the electricity buzz between us.

“No need to apologize my dear. You are more than welcome to come in here and read wherever you wish. I’m pleased to see that you are recovering well, you had us all a little worried for a bit.”

I watched her trying to gauge her reaction. She was so hard to read. Everyone else I grew up with was easy, the mind link we all shared through the pack made it so. I had grown so accustomed to being able to read everyone’s emotions I forgot what it was like to be blinded to someone else’s mind. Her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration and it made me smile. I was falling so deeply in love with her already, I couldn’t even imagine what the rest of our lives would feel like.

“Um, thanks.” She said while she picked at the hem of her shorts.

Silence. Again. There was so much I wanted to say to her but I didn’t know where to start. Her face scrunched up again and it looked like she wanted to say something more but instead she kept unraveling the thread of her clothing. I sighed, realizing that if anything was going to happen it was going to have to be because of me. This I was used to. As the Alpha I often had to moderate difficult conversations, it had become like second nature to me. However I felt nothing but nervousness at this moment. She made me all twisted and confused inside. In an attempt to put her at ease I sat down on the couch, the leather warm where she sat. I lightly patted the spot next to me hoping she would feel comfortable enough to sit and talk to me.

I watched as her face crumpled. A sadness overtaking her expression. It made me want to scream in frustration. Why was she looking at me like that? Why did that look make me feel like I had somehow done the wrong thing all over again? All I wanted was to make her feel safe and secure but the pain that riddled her eyes hurt me. Trying to shake off the feeling I reached a hand out towards her, offering the comfort of my touch.

“Melody please sit. We really need to have a conversation. I’ve put it off longer than I should have.”

“I know… I have so many questions for you. I just -I don’t know, I just really can’t do it here.” She shied away from my reach, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

I cringed again, recoiling my hand. “Okay. Then where would you like to talk?” I asked, putting my hands in my lap to control the shaking I felt.

She pursed her lips, looking towards the window behind my desk. With a slight nod she walked past me and out the door and I just watched her go.