The Alpha and the Oracle (The Belesone Pack #1)

Chapter 37

Bricia screamed and cried as Leo fell. He wasn't waking up. He didn't know how. She panicked and gripped her Beta's arm. "Please. He's my mate. He doesn't understand this dream world." She begged him, sobbing into his arm until he sighed and pushed her away.

Bricia fell onto the grass and cried.

When she looked up, her father was walking towards her.

Leo was staggering at his side.

"Leo!" She gasped and rose from her place on the ground. She ran towards him and hugged him tightly.

He hugged her back. "I'm all right. Your father caught me in time." He explained, pulling her away from him. "I'm sorry I didn't understand. Our people don't do this." He tried to explain, but she flinched away when he said 'our' people.

Leo sighed and buried his hands in his pockets, glancing over at the Alpha, Carlton, who had introduced himself, inside his head, when his wolf broke his fall.

"My love, Leo is a shifter, but he is not quite of our kind." Carlton explained, with one hand on Leo's shoulder.

Bricia met her fathers eyes and backed away a step. "I don't understand, father."

"I know, my dear. But think of your sister...she has suffered being an outsider to her own pack, her whole life." Carlton said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Leo got the feeling he was making fun of Bricia, but he couldn't understand why.

"Yet, this boy tells me she has happily taken the Alpha of his pack as her mate. How can you refuse his Beta when you understand your sister and her suffering so well?" He asked, trying to reason with her.

Bricia bristled at the implication and rose herself to her full height.

"My Kate is happy, Bricia. I wish you to be as well. This boy has come here, in a way he does not understand, to find you. At least hear him out?" He asked.

She nodded but kept her eyes on the ground.

"I'm sorry. I thought you knew." Leo apologised to her.

Bricia looked him in the eye this time, with real hatred that cut through him.

Leo winced as he felt that pain in his gut again.

"Knew? Knew what? I've seen you in many dreams before, I did not know this wasn't one of them. If you came here on a fools errand, in a way you didn't understand, what is that to do with me?" She asked sharply, before taking off at a brisk walk.

There was no way Leo could match her pace right now. He felt a bit delicate after that fall. It had scared the life out of him. Almost literally. He walked along, beside Carlton, in silence for as long as he was allowed.

"So, you say my daughter is happy?" Carlton began the conversation, as if his true mate hadn't just rejected him.

"Yes, Alpha. She is very happy. Just today they have completed their mating. They will have their union on Friday evening." Leo said the words in honesty, before he realised that he was talking to Katarina's father.

When he lifted his eyes to Carlton's to see if he was mad, he found the man looking sad yet thoughtful. He guessed he missed Katarina a lot.

"I am very glad she is happy. I was afraid that she would fight against her love for him until it was too late." Carlton admitted his fears with a faint smile that looked still troubled.

Leo decided that since he had saved his life, he could be honest with him.

"She nearly did, Alpha. She had a vision just last night...it was the worst she's ever had." He admitted, only to see how worried Carlton looked. "She was unconscious for four hours, twitching like she was being tortured. Milo's heart was breaking seeing her in such discomfort. But the vision, Alpha...it gave her strength." Leo confessed what he knew from his talks with Milo. Somehow, he knew a lot more in this world than the real world. Was it more a matter of everything making sense, or because he understood Katarina so much better now?

"She saw the future they would have, if she continued to fight him." He continued. "She saw the heartache it would cause, for no reason. Because in the end, they were together anyway. So she gave in to her feelings and confessed everything to him." He revealed.

Carlton walked with Leo, with a genuine smile on his face for a few paces before speaking. "Good. These visions were a gift from my mother. She had the same talent." He said, with a fond smile. "It is very rare in our people, but I am pleased that it has skipped my generation and graced my Kate with hope." He spoke quietly, as if in a dream, so Leo decided not to disturb him.

Leo smiled at the way he referred to Katarina. He was pretty sure she would love hearing it and maybe Milo would too.

He reminded Carlton of one other thing that Katarina had gained from the gift; "And love. She was going to run away, Alpha. From her mate. Until she saw that vision." He made his point perfectly clear so that Carlton understood just what Katarina had risked losing, if it weren't for the visions.

"Then it is very blessed news indeed. And now both my daughters will have their true mates." He beamed at Leo, only to notice that Leo's smile fell.

He shook his head, unable to believe that it would be so. Leo felt such an emptiness, such a hatred swirling in his gut that even though it was strong, he knew it wasn't his own. They were Bricia's feelings for him. The feelings of his mate.

"No, Alpha. The capsule is only to last an hour and then, I presume, I will return. And I'm afraid I already feel Bricia's rejection. I will go back and take another mate." Leo decided he couldn't take much more disappointment. He would go back home, grovel at Janet's feet and beg her to take him.

He couldn't face Josanna now...now that her half sister was his true mate. Not when she was the complete opposite of Bricia. Janet was blonde and dark eyed; nothing special to him really, just a plain beauty. But he would rather live with a plain beauty as his mate, who respected his position in the pack and loved him, than to suffer the grief of living a life alone, knowing his mate didn't want him.

"She is rejecting you?" Carlton frowned as he stopped walking.

Leo joined him and found a strange peace in the stillness. He wanted to cry. Very badly. But he was the Beta; he wouldn't do it.

"Yes. Strongly." He confessed to how great her sense of hatred for him was and how much it hurt to know it. He had searched for her for so long, unable to even feel the confusing closeness that Milo had suffered for so many years. Now he wished he had never taken the stupid capsule and come to this God forsaken place. "I'm not sure I can bear being this close to her any longer."

Leo was surprised when Carlton grabbed him roughly by the shoulders. He expected to get decked again, but instead the Alpha looked worried and unsure.

"Then stay here, my boy. Don't go any further. Return when you have to but don't give up hope. I will visit to see my daughter's union. Tell her I love her and miss her. And I will see her soon." He asked in a rush.

The one hour time frame must have frightened him so Leo didn't bother arguing. He agreed to do as he asked, knowing that Katarina would appreciate the message of love.

"Yes, Alpha. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for protecting me." He nodded to the Alpha and watched him leave, following his daughters path.

Leo sat down in the long grass, because he wasn't sure he could stand any longer. His knees felt weak and he felt dizzy. He just wished the world would stop hating him long enough to let him have one moment of happiness. But then Leo realised that it had.

His one moment of true happiness had been with Bricia, with her in his arms, kissing her. Well, he'd had his one minute and now his life was over.