A Reluctant Mate

Mitch's POV (60)

Side story.   (14)

I woke up before Willow, like I do most mornings, I kissed her forehead then I kissed her stomach, I don't know why but something felt off, I couldn't put my finger on it, I just walked around in the dark pack house, but everything looked fine, was I just restless because Willow is with pup and there is nothing that I can do for her? She tells me off all the time that I'm fussing over her too much.

It was about time to wake the pups up for school, Dixson hardly gets out of bed nowadays, so, I've taken upon myself to wake them up, no surprise that Lucy is in Grover's room once again.

Later after school got out, I saw Dixson take the pups towards the cars, I was going to go after them but it's Friday, he's most likely going to start to take them to the ice cream shop again, that’s good that he's finally getting out and about.

Time escaped me, I skipped dinner, I had so much work to do, it being the end of the month, I need to do the invoices, orders, payments, I Know I should do it when I them, but if I did it then, there would be no time to play with the pups.

I was just filling out the last invoice when the phone rang "hello?" "Mitch, has Dixson Returned yet?" "What? He took the pups for ice cream" I looked at the clock on the wall and it was nearly midnight, "I haven't heard them return" "you won't see the pups, Dixson drove the pups here, he told me to look after them like there were my own, he was saying some dark things like his unhappy and once he's gone everyone can be happy, you don't think he's going to do something stupid?" My heart sank "with how Dixson has been acting since Cora ran off..." "I'm going to fucking kill her, it's not the first time I've killed his mate" she interrupted, I could hear Ranger in the background trying to calm her down, "stay calm, how are the pups?" "They are sleep, what do I tell them? First Cora ran away now Dixson" "leave it to me, I'll be there in a few hours, just wait till I get there" "ok, night Mitch" she hung up the phone, I knew she was crying as she hung up.

Willow was fast asleep as I stood and watched her, I know I need to wake her up to tell her what's going on, should I write her a note? "What are you thinking so hard about?" Willow said as she set up in bed rubbing her eyes, I sat on the bed and gave her a kiss "where are you going?" "I need to go to the Blood Moon Knight pack; Dixson has gone missing" "what? What about the pups? Where are they?" "They are safe, they are with Aria" "thank God, Dixson is in a fragile state of mind" "Dixson might be an idiot but he would never hurt the pups" "that's not what I meant, his not in a happy place right now, go to the pups and bring them back home" "I will try, I love you and I will see you in a few days, look after that little pup in there, make sure you eat all your food" "I will".

I got to the Blood Moon Knight pack house just as the sun raised, from behind the trees, Ranger was stood out waiting, when I got closer, Aria was asleep on the swing that Ranger finally fixed.

"Why is she asleep out here? Why didn't you take your inside?" "I did, she nearly ripped my head off, so, she slept here under all the blankets", he look exhausted.

"We sent a few Lycan's out looking for him, but it's like he has vanished, did you know that he could mask his scent?" "No, I didn't" "that's the only thing I can think of, no one can find a trace of him" "take her in, we need to talk".

I went to his office as she put her to bed, we wasn't talking for long before Aria kicked the door open, shouting about being put to bed, "I told him to put you to bed, it was way too cold to sleep outside" Aria come running to me and hugged me tight.

Ranger and Aria started arguing again about looking for Dixson, "and what do you suggest?" He shouted "We do get Lucy to help, you said it yourself that her sense of smell is the best, she could follow the pups scent when it was being masked" she shouted back "ok, say we let her help us look for him, what if he has killed himself? Like you think he might have, how fucked up would Lucy's head be? Would you want our pups to see something like that?" Aria didn't answer him, "his right, we can't let her get involved, I understand that you're worried, we all are" "what are we going to tell the pups?" Aria said as she shed the few tears, "I'm not sure, but leave it to me".

A sat on the floor holding Lucy's hand as she slept, all of a sudden there was an arm around my neck and I was yanked backwards, "stay away from her" "Grover, it's me, Mitch" I choked, for a little pup, he was strong, he quickly let go and got down on his knees to apologise, "what's going on?" Lucy said waking up "Mitch, is it time for school?" "No, it's Saturday, you can stay in bed a little longer", "ok, wait, this isn't my room" "it's your room in the Blood Moon Knight pack house" "why are we here? Where's Dixson?" What was I going to tell them, "it's okay, I just sent him away for a little while, you know he's very sad that Cora left, he just needs some time alone" "is he abandoning me?" She started crying, "no, no, no, he would never, I just sent him away for a little while, he will be back soon" I hope.

I got the pups settled in, I had asked them if they wanted to come home, but Lucy wanted to stay and wait for Dixson and Grover goes wherever Lucy goes.

I returned to my own pack house empty-handed, Willow and my brothers, wasn't too happy about it, what did they want me to do? Drag her out crying?

Months past Willow had our pup, a boy we called, Harland, Harland was my middle name, my heart melts every time I look at him, since having the pup, Willow wants all the family close, it upsets her that Dixson and the pups aren't home yet.

A bit like Kassian and Caspian, Harland won't suckle, so he is bottle fed with breast milk,  we take it in turns to do the night feeds, this week was my turn, when I went into his room it was dark outside, but when I came out it was light, "oh my god, I'm so tired" I said to myself, stretching out, hearing my bones creek, "god I'm old".

I was just about to go back into my bedroom for an hour or so, then I could smell something "Dixon and..."