Mia's Path

KYLE

I was kind of nervous about approaching my brother, but I had to know how he felt about Mia. I was not blind, and I could see that he had a thing for her. I wasn’t sure, however, that he knew about it. So, I made up my mind and went to talk to him. I tried to be discreet at first, trying to pry the information without showing him my cards. If he said, however, that she was his mate – I had my suspicions – I would back off, even if he had any kind of interest in her.

It turned out that she wasn’t his mate, which meant I still had a chance. And I know I said I would back off, but the truth was that I didn’t want to do that.

I left my brother’s office with a heavy heart. I may have laughed a little while saying we were in a “brotherly competition”, but truth be told, I didn’t want to be in one. I didn’t want a competition at all. And even though Drake wasn’t your typical conceded alpha, he was an alpha and most girls gravitated towards him either way. It was so common that he didn’t even notice anymore.

It didn’t bother me, usually. I had my chance at a mate, and it didn’t go well. But I had felt the connection, the love. I wanted to feel loved again and I wanted to be able to love as well. So, the girls that usually throw themselves at Drake and other alphas weren’t what I had in mind. Truth be told I was sure I would never meet anyone that I felt attracted to, not since... Layla. And I was kind of okay with it.

It changed when I saw her. Mia. She was covered in blood and being a badass fighter, almost killing me. And instead of feeling afraid or pissed the hell out for her invading the territory, I just felt drawn to her. So, I did everything in my power to save her. It was worth it; the moment she opened her mouth I knew I was a goner. I knew there and then that she was special.

Even Mel told me later that she felt something towards Mia. She said she felt compelled to save her at any cost and that was why the idea of using alpha’s blood seemed a good thing. And a good thing it was since it helped her. That was my first suspicion that maybe Mia and Drake were meant to be more to each other. I know it’s a myth of some sort, but some say that if the mate bond is a really strong one, the parties can heal each other with their blood. I never heard of it being successful in present times, or even being done or tried to be done at all, but our myths and legends had some truths in them, so maybe it was possible.

At the same time, the mate pull is a very strong feeling, I remember when I saw her, and it almost knocked me out of my feet. If Drake had doubts, then I guess I was wrong. No wolf would have doubts about their mates. Stone had no doubts when he smelled her, so I can’t imagine Silver having doubts when he meets his mate.

I was on my way to Mia’s hospital room, and I couldn’t stop thinking about my conversation with Drake. I didn’t want to have to compete for her attention, but I guess that couldn’t be avoided now. The way Drake said Silver was possessive of her made me think that it was not just Silver. Even though I know he didn’t want to admit, Drake was possessive of Mia as well.

I sighed.

“Why the long face, big brother?”

I looked up to see Melinda coming my way, she must have finished her shift and was going home. I smiled at her and opened my arms, waiting for her to come to me as we always did. She was my baby sister and even more than that since Layla. She was my confidant and my biggest fan. She grinned and ran at my arms, snaking her own on my waist and squeezing me tight.

“Wow, there! You’re gonna break my ribs!” I chuckled.

“Come on, my big beta brother is not that weak, is he?” She teased.

“Weak? No. Dramatic? Abso-fucking-lutely!” I kissed the top of her head and let go of her. “So, going home already?”

“Yeah, I hear Jane is cooking lamb stew for dinner.” Her eyes sparkled at that idea. Lamb was her favorite; didn’t matter the way it was cooked.

Before Jane took over the kitchen of the packhouse, my mom was the cook. She used to say that just because she was the Luna it didn’t mean she couldn’t cook to everyone in the pack. She used to love to bake and teach us how to cook our own food. After all we didn’t know for sure where and when we would meet our mate and being able to cook could save us the embarrassment of having to ask to somebody else to do breakfast for our mates the next morning.

Apparently, that had happened with mom and dad, and she would always make him remember that. She did it with love, but she did it anyway. So, I guess that must have been pretty comical at the time and I could see my father trying to cook and failing so miserably that he needed help. In that aspect, I was just like him, I couldn’t cook to save my live, let alone to please somebody else.

Mel was the opposite. She was a very good cook and I’m certain that if it wasn’t for her passion about medicine, she would have claimed the kitchen after mom passed. By that time Melinda was already in med school and she was a prodigy. It was a good thing since right after she came back home, she saved Drake’s life. She was a damn good doctor.

“In that case, save me two seats, I’ll be right after you.”

“Are you going to get Raina?”

“Raina?” I asked confused. Was she here already?

“Yeah, I saw her with Mia when they got here earlier.” Mel made a face that didn’t go with the saying.

“Did something happen?” I asked.

“I think so, but I’m not sure.” She said slowly. “I mean, they looked fine and all, but Mia was soaked in water and blood.” She shrugged. “Not sure it was her blood or not. Maybe she finally snapped and killed Drake and that big mouth of his.”

“Don’t think so, he is at his office right now.” I responded.

“Oh, well, we can all hope, right?” She teased again and I chuckled. Sometimes I really did want to punch that big mouth of his, and - in fact - I had a few times in the past. So, I understood where she was coming from. Drake could be an ass when he wanted, and he always seemed to want that when Mel brought a date back home.

“You know what, little sis, save three seats. I think it’s time Mia left that hospital room and got some real food.” Mel nodded and went on her way. I took a deep breath and went on my, to Mia’s room.

I felt a little nervous now knowing that Raina would be there with her. I loved Raina like a sister, but she could always see right through my intentions and in that case, it made me uncomfortable somehow. Everybody new my story, therefore everybody pitied me. The mateless beta. I heard things, I knew people spoke of what happened and that they thought I would never find someone again. Second chances were beyond rare.

I thought that too for so long, but now I had a bit of hope, and I didn’t want Raina making fun of me for it. Of all people, Raina always thought that Layla was not the end and that I would have my chance of a happy life someday. So, every time she saw me near a woman, she would throw not so subtle hints that that could be my new beginning and all that crap.

I felt that with Mia, though. I just didn’t want to say it right away and scare the shit out of the woman. She just had a near death experience, and she could use some time to herself. I wanted to go slow, to court her like humans do with their love interests. I wanted to take her breath away the same way she did mine.

Approaching the room, I noticed something funny. The guards that should be there watching over the room were indeed there, but they were sleeping. When I say sleeping, I don’t mean in a natural way, on a bed - or even on the floor, for that matter - they were standing still, but snoring. I smiled to myself.

Raina. Stone said with amusement. He was a fan of hers, even when she pranked us.