Chapter 27: Pack

Mink's P.O.V:
"Ugh!" I groaned as I awoke. My shoulder was killing me and I couldn’t even move my arm because of it.
"Hey," Rhys's voice came from next to me. "Are you in pain? I'll go get Belle!"
I caught his hand when he would have gotten up. "Stop, Rhys." I groaned again as the movement caused my shoulder muscles to flex. "I'm fine. Just...extremely sore."
"Damn wolf! Biting you is supposed to be my job!" Rhys joked.
"Shut up!" I let go of his hand once he sat back down on...whatever he'd been sitting on and rubbed the sleep off my eyes before opening them. "What the-back off, what the hell are you hovering over me for?"
"Well, I was just checking to see if you were comfortable,” he told me. “There’s no need to be rube, I did have your back when you were down.”
"I could've gorged your eyeballs out for being so close to me with my eyes shut, that's usually what I do to people who try to sneak up on me." I retorted, glaring at him.
"I wasn't sneaking up on you but since I know how stubborn you can be, I’m gonna leave it at that." His smile was too wide and sunny for my liking.
"Ugh!" I shooed him away with the barest movement from my hand. "Get out. I need to sleep for another century."
"Well, tough luck, Snow White. You need food." As if on cue, my stomach made a loud rumbling sound, adding excessive smugness to his face.
I growled low in my throat. "Since when are we on nickname basis?" If he thinks, me being injured suddenly gave him rights over me, then he'd be spending the rest of eternity in the dungeons.
"Hmm..." Giving no heed to my threats, he looked absolutely relaxed and smug as he pretended to ponder with his finger tapping on his chin. "Ever since 'Stay away from my MATE'."
I gritted my teeth together against the pain that shot through me as I sat up on my bed. I heard Rhys curse under his breath before he came to help me up. I slapped his hands away.
"Do that again and I'll rip your hands off.” A threat I intended to follow through if anyone though me cripple.
"Are you always this bitchy when you're injured? We are not on the battle field anymore, accepting some help won't make you any less of an Alpha-wait...is that why you're mad?" He asked, taking a seat in front of me so I wouldn't be able to avoid his gaze. "Mikalya, that wasn't your mistake! That wolf crept behind you in the midst of battle and was coward enough to attract you from behind! If anyone is at fault it's that bastard, who's no longer even alive. I made sure of that."
I calmed down a bit. He was right. I couldn't have been aware of everything with the war raging on all around me. But damn did it piss me off.
"Wait here," I raised an eyebrow at the order. "Give me a break, I'm Alpha too you know. It's time I look after what's mine."
He was out the door before I could reply to that comment. Mine my foot! But didn't I already make that choice in the battlefield? When I put my own pack in danger; gave away a secret that I'd been keeping hidden for decades; made my packmates give up their location. Everything I did was not just to save my pack but his too.
"Maa?"
That meek voice had me looking up towards the doorway. "Aya!"
She ran into my arms, tears in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around me tenderly, careful not to reopen the wounds. "I was so scared! Please don't do that to me ever again." Tears hit my shoulders as she began to cry and it broke my heart to see my baby girl this afraid for the first time.
"Scared? You?" I stroked my arm gently through her hair, soothing her with my touch while I filled my lungs with her scent. "Since when is my Aya scared? My beautiful miracle." It wasn't a lie since the Japanese and Arabic translations of her name meant just that. And my Aya was a miracle indeed; she had survived a war when she was still in my womb. A war that Abhay didn’t survive, but I was glad a part of him did.
She stayed wrapped up in my arms for a long time, not speaking. At least her tears had dried out. And for the thousandth time, I was proud to have her as my daughter. My baby girl might be all grown up but her tear stains on my shirt proved that she was still my baby girl deep down.

Rhys's P.O.V:
"Can you please make her something easy to swallow? Don't give me that look Belle; I know it's a shoulder injury but still too close to the neck."
"Yes and she heals faster than ordinary wolves. But since you said please..." Belle smirked as she headed to the fridge to gather ingredients.
"Hey Rhys!" Kushal bounced his way into the kitchen.
"Hey..." I looked at him wearily. His face was lit up like a Christmas tree. "What's gotten you this excited?"
"Oh! You don't know?" He asked, genuinely confused. "Mom has gone off with the welcome party to greet the others that are returning tonight! And since we won the war without any casualties, there's going to be a huge celebration for it tomorrow!"
I raised an eyebrow at him. Yeah, I'm not dumb; I got what he was talking about, but... "Your mom?"
"Kashmira. My daughter." Belle spoke while chopping some vegetables with what looked like a butcher's knife.
"Oh!" Wow. I had no idea Kashmira was his mother. What about his father though? I went to ask but Kushal seemed to have disappeared into thin air and Belle looked busy with that mean ass knife. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of the wrath of the butcher’s knife yielding chef, I headed to my given room so I can relax for a few minutes before the food was done.
I'd been beside Mikalya for the two whole days that she'd been out, not that I'm complaining, I would've stayed there longer if it was necessary but sitting in a chair the entire time was killing my back and I had important things to think about and I really needed to get back home soon.
The war had just passed and my people were still recovering from the shock, they needed me there. And now I also have to assign new Alphas for DesertWarriors and MountainHunters, Aiden and Devon's packs respectively. And then there was Mikalya.
I know she has almost accepted me as her mate but I still have no idea where we stand in the scheme of things. What happens to our packs if we do mate? We're both from completely different climate zones, she prefers the snow capped mountains while I’ve live on the edge of a desert my entire life. We have to come to a decision and soon, because I don't plan on living without her for much longer. Not only because she was my first potential mate, but because I've fallen in love with her over the course of the time we had spent together. It was hard not to.
"Rhys? You here?"
I looked up from my bed to find Zyane standing on my doorstep. "Come on in."
"You okay?" He sat on the bed opposite from me. "You look troubled."
"We have to get back. How fast can you book a flight back home?" I asked, making one of the most difficult decisions of my life.
"We're going back? But Rhys...are you sure? Our mat-"
"I'm not sure Zyane! I know how important it is to stay here, to convince them that we-" I sighed, running my hands through my hair. "We need to leave. Pack is what makes us Alpha and I can't leave them traumatised now that the war just got over. People will start to get ideas."
Zyane was quite for a long time, deep in thought. Then he said, "You know, Aya didn’t really see me as a potential mate before, but things are going to be different from now on. Now that she's able to transform...she might start to recognise me. It won't be long before the mate bond kicks in." His tone was rueful.
I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed. I didn't say anything to him but the silence between us spoke volumes. Pack came first. It's our most important rule. We sat in silence for about half an hour before Zyane went to arrange for our flight back.
I headed back to the kitchen to collect the plate I'd asked Belle to make. Taking it, I headed to Mikalya's room, only to find a sleeping Aya with her head on her mother’s lap. But she woke up as soon as I entered the room.
“Oh! You brought her food. Good.” Aya rose from the bed and rubbed the sleep off her eyes as she prepared to leave. “I’ll leave you two alone for now. Bye, maa. I’ll come visit soon.”
Aya kissed her mother’s cheek and went out the door with a pat on my shoulder. It was a sign of acknowledgement from her that I appreciated. Aya and I had come to an understanding while Mikalya had been unconscious, she had somewhat accepted me as her mother’s potential mate and I respected her even though our age gap was too short for me to consider her my daughter.
I took the plate to Mikalya and set it down on the bedside table as I took a seat on the chair beside the bed. "Brought you lunch." I said when she sat up in bed once again without my help. I grit my teeth but let her do as she pleased. Alpha’s never showed their vulnerability in front of others, that much I knew from experience.
"Thanks." She said. She'd put on a light sweater over the tank top she'd been wearing, the air was chilly today, even inside the main pack house with all its natural insulations and heaters. "But first, we need to talk."
I frowned. "About?"
"You need to return to your pack."