Shatter Pieces

Chapter 33: Catching Up

Mateo

I sat on one of the stuffed chairs near the bookshelves while Karthan and my father looked over my mate. It wasn't as bad as that first day when I had no clue if she would live or not but I still worried. She was so far from being healthy that any little thing might set her on a path the spiraled down quicker than we could heal her.

There was another knock on the door and I was starting to realize that I needed to install a doorbell at the front of the shared apartments so that people didn't have to guess whether or not we were in or where we could be. Plus it would be harder for people to just sneak in and catch me or Elvira unexpectedly. I made a mental note to change the locks and call the pack electrician to install a doorbell.

I stood and found my body exhausted to the point where my vision went black for a moment and I almost fell over due to dizziness. A hand reached out and held mine and I looked up to find Kasmie holding onto it tightly.

"I'll get the door don't worry about it." I nodded at her and quickly sat back down before I really did fall over.

Kasmie had met Samani almost three years ago when he had been sent to another pack to help them train their warriors. Since our pack was one of the biggest and most secure packs in the world it wasn't uncommon for us to get requests to help smaller packs that were newly formed to get some warriors properly prepared and help them sort out what they were going to need to stay afloat.

Usually, me or my beta went down with the trainers for the first two weeks before leaving them to their work and returning to the pack. But we had both been busy preparing for the Alpha submit and hadn't been able to leave so close to the event. So Samani had gone and when he stepped out of the car and saw the Alpha's family waiting to greet him he was immediately drawn to their nineteen-year-old daughter and his mate.

The pack had a small celebration and Samani stayed a little longer than the appointed two weeks in order to let the mating bond a chance to relax it's fierce hold on his possessive side before he stepped back into a large pack with plenty of unmated males. It had also allowed Kasmie to get used to the idea of Samani as her mate and get all of her things together to move up to the Mountain Shadow Pack with the rest of us. After a couple of tear-filled goodbyes and promises to visit soon, they had returned to our pack where a second celebration was held for the two and they officially mated.

That's what I thought it would be like when I met my mate, but instead, I had been met with blood and death. Hospital rooms and bandages had been my day to day instead of laughter and sweet moments of calming love. I was constantly on edge and terrified of what might happen and tried to soothe the broken soul of the girl that I was mating too.

And yet I would not have changed her for the world. If I could have taken away her pain and suffering I would have in a heartbeat but that simply wasn't an option. It had happened and as everyone was pointing out there was nothing I could do about it and it wasn't my fault.

She was beautiful and gentle despite her moments of terror when she forgot which world she was in. Elvira's fascination with all the new things she came in contact with was contagious and I felt as if I were discovering them for the first time as well. The way she ate every meal with such reverence and savored every second and flavor made me think more deeply about what I was eating as well. She had changed the way I saw the world and I loved that about her.

Kasmie opened the door to reveal my Beta Darien Fetran standing in the doorway. Kamie opened the door further to let him inside and he hurried to occupy the chair nearest me concern gilded his face. I hadn't seen him since the morning of the raid, I had needed to stay by my mate's side until she was stable and settled in so Darien had taken on the task of caring for the pack and all of the paperwork that went along with it.

He had tried to make time to visit me and come and see Elvira but with all of the refugees, prisoners, and day to day pack affairs there had been no time for visits. I knew it was hard for him and his mate as they didn't have as much time together. That was why the Alpha and Beta usually did the work because if it was just one person it could be rather overwhelming. But I planned to get back to my duties in two days even if that meant meeting with people in the apartment so I could stay close to El.

"I am so sorry I couldn't come sooner. I have Saziel looking after the pack for a few hours so that I can check up on you. She needed a chance to get out of the house since her mother is insistent on trying to keep her chained to a bed. We both tend to ignore her considering Doc hasn't said she needs to be on bed rest but you know how her mother can be." I chuckled a little in agreement. I did indeed know how Mrs. Cloet could be.

"Glad to hear Saziel hasn't lost any of her spark to the baby. Maybe that means it will be a mini-you, a well behaved obedient little," Darien's huff of protest sent us all into laughter as he crossed his arms and sat back in the chair.

"Considering how much that kid likes to keep my mate pinned to the toilet in the mornings I would say they are going to be just as feisty as my mate." A loving fire burned behind his eyes as Darien seemed to picture what his future child might be like.

"You find out the gender in three weeks right?" My mom chipped in giving me a side glare that seemed to tell me to stop teasing my friend. I just rolled my eyes as my Beta responded.

"Yes, neither of us want to guess if it's a boy or a girl beforehand because we don't want to accidentally set ourselves up to be disappointed even if we will love them no matter what. Thanks for asking Luna." Darien bowed his head slightly to my mother and she sighed and gave us all a conspiratorial glance.

"For thirteen years now I have tried to tell that boy to just call me Niriol, but he insists on calling me Luna. I swear one of these days I am going to kill him for it." We all laughed a little at their antics before Darien's face grew serious and he turned to me once again.

"How is she? Gosh, I don't even know her name. The whole pack is worried about her and they don't even have any real confirmation that she is your mate. But they all assume, and with good reason. You need to tell them soon, at least explain who she is and why they can't come and see her. I had to start a list so that they could sign up to meet her when she is ready because I kept getting so many questions about when people would get to see her." A sad smile bloomed on my face at the thought.

I had no clue when Elvira might be ready to meet other people let alone some of the really out there personalities of certain pack members. I knew that it would all be okay eventually but for now, I worried about my pack's mental health and decided I would talk to them all tomorrow.

"I'll hold a meeting tomorrow to explain it all to them. Have everyone in the meeting halls and seated by three and double-check that the broadcasting system is working right. Judy from said that sector 7 was having a little feedback last time and I want to make sure there aren't any issues." Darien quickly pulled out his phone making the notes and sending them out to other leaders in the pack before looking up at me again.

"I can answer the question of how she is doing."