The Checklist Part 2

“Alright, spit it out!”
I turned around from my position on top of the boulder to spot Mikalya standing behind me with a neck cushion around her shoulders. I watched as she leapt up onto the rock beside me dressed in a long brown trench coat jacket and snow boots that she had paired with black pants and a black sweater underneath the jacket. Trust Mikalya to dress formally even during the festivities. But I guess I couldn’t blame her on that. I was wearing one of those high heat producing thermos in the form of a full sleeved shirt in a dark red and black pants along with snow boots. I did have a cap to protect my head from the cold though, while Mikalya just had her hair down.
“Huh?” I tried to play dumb. “Spit what out? I’m not eating anything!”
“Oh, don’t try to act smart with me.” She gave me a glare out of her icy blue eyes. “You’ve been moping around since this morning and everyone in the pack is getting irritated by it and now you even refused to show up at the party. You even made me come out to investigate even when you know I’m not well.”
“Sorry,” I apologized immediately. “You shouldn’t have come. If you wanted to talk to me, you could’ve just called. Are you alright?” I asked concerned.
After the battle with the Alphas of China, Aiden and Devon, Mikalya had gotten severely injured by a wolf from Devon’s pack that had sneaked behind her and nearly torn her head off. But what I’ve come to learn about her is that with Mikalya, I should always expect the unexpected. Mikalya was an incredibly fast healer and she was healing back to her normal strength with every hour that passed.
“That’s not the point,” Mikalya waved her hand dismissal. “Tell me what’s been bothering you. If this is about you having to leave tomorrow-“
“That’s only part of the reason,” I stopped her there. “But that’s not why I was in a bad mood today.”
“At least you’re not being difficult and accepting the facts.” She looked ahead at the snow covered woods ahead of us. “I should thank you for understanding the situation we are in.”
“No, you don’t have to.” I took one f Mikalya’s hands in mine, surprised to find them still warm. “Don’t feel guilty about it either. I think I finally get it; you and me, we’re the same; stubborn old Alphas with our own territories and our own packs that depend on us, that look up to us. I think the arrangement we came up with is fine. We get to be together, no matter how short that time frame may be.”
“Then what is it?” She asked me. “Why are you out here in the cold, alone, while everyone in inside the pack house, celebrating our victory. Don’t tell me you feel sorry for those bastards!”
I sighed, debating on weither or not I can talk to her about it. Now that I’ve calmed down a bit, the whole thing just felt silly. I was having insecurities over nothing, trying to fit into a dead man’s shoes. Abhay was gone and a lot of people who knew him would inevitably favour him, there was no way around it. But still, because Mikalya had especially come to me to find out the reasons for me being upset, I took the folded piece of paper out of my pocket and handed it over to her.
“What’s this?” She asked, taking the paper from my hands and unfolding it to view its contents.
“A checklist.” I told her, feeling my cheeks heat up as Mikalya’s eyebrows shot to her hairline as she read the checklist. “I made it this morning, thinking that I may be of some help to your pack in arranging for the celebration. Turns out, I have more in common with Abhay than I previously thought I had.”
“And only a couple of similar tastes and hobbies made you believe that?” Mikalya asked me incredulously.
“Huh?” I looked at her in confusion.
She folded the paper back to its former shape and handed it back to me. And then she turned towards me fully and looked me directly in the eyes as she spoke. “What exactly happened today? Tell me everything.”
And because she was Mikalya, the only female Alpha in existence and my mate, I told her everything. How I had made the checklist so I could do something for the pack; how I’d volunteered to take pictures only to learn that Abhay had been a photographer and a great one at that; how I’d tried to be helpful in the kitchen but ended up learning that Abhay and I both liked the same dishes and how even while picking out clothes to wear for the evening, I learned that I have the same sense of style as Abhay and we even had the same favourite colour.
But after I’d poured my heart out to Mikalya and stated all the reasons why I was upset, Mikalya simply burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked harshly. I tell her sincerely what’s bothering me, open my heart to her and all she does in return is laugh at my misery?
She did have a nice laugh though, the deep and throaty kind, and this was indeed the very first time I’d seen Mikalya actually laugh in front of me. It made me want to wrap my fingers around her hair and haul her in for a kiss so I could take her laughter inside, trap some part of her in me that will make me miss her less when I leave for my pack tomorrow. But Mikalya was injured from the battle and any wild things that I had planned for her will have to be pushed back to another date until she had completely recovered.
“Ow!” She said in between her laughter as she brought her hand to the back of her neck and rubbed at a sore spot. She then sighed and shook her head before turning to face me once again, a smirk playing on her lips. “Oh, Rhys! Your jealousy is adorable.”
“Why would I be jealous of a dead man?” The words were out before I could stop myself and I regretted them instantly. Mikalya didn’t deserve this shit from me. Abhay was her mate, just like she is mine, he had a special place in her heart and I shouldn’t, couldn’t, disrespect him.
“Exactly.” Mikalya said instead, that same smile still playing on her lips. She didn’t feel offended but there was sadness in her eyes as she spoke about Abhay. “Abhay has been dead and gone for seventeen years. You have nothing to lose even if my packmates mention him. And who says you two are similar? I can guarantee that I have never seen two people who could be so different from each other.”
“But-“I tried to speak but she cut me off.
“You like photography? So does Kushal, so do millions of other people around the world.” She told me. “You like Biryani? So do people all over Asia and also in foreign countries. You like jeans and T-shirts, well guess what? Almost seventy percent of men all over the world like to wear jeans and T-shirts and so do several women! My pack are comparing you with Abhay sometimes because they understand that he is no longer around and as my mate, you’ll be around for a lot longer than Abhay had been. And since we didn’t exactly get off to a great start, I’m guessing they’re finding ways to get to know you better and comparing the two of you makes them feel like they can like you better that way.”
I took everything in and tried to understand what she was trying to tell me. “So, you’re saying that your packmates are deliberately trying to find similarities between me and Abhay so they could come to terms with me being your new mate?”
“Exactly.”
“And what about you?” I asked, praying that she wasn't doing the same. “Are you finding similarities between us so you can like me better as well?
“No, I’m not.” Her answer was immediate, without any hesitation. “And that’s because I know there’s hardly any similarities between the two of you. You are Rhys Valkyer, Alpha of the WildRain pack and Abhay was Abhay, just another exceptional human being. No two people can ever be the same. And I’m starting to know little things about you that are making me like you for the person you are.”
“It’s a start.” I told her, happy that Mikalya has started to consider me her mate and that she has started to like me for who I am.
Our story isn’t like any other mating story where there is usually a huge power difference between the male and the female wolf and where the attraction is instant. Mikalya and I are both powerful Alphas and even though we had known about the mating bond almost instantly, there had been no attraction between us from the beginning, at least not like what I was used to seeing.
We’re growing together. Learning to like each other for who we are. I know we have a long road ahead of us, but I’m sure one day, we’ll be able to stand side by side not as two strong Alphas, but as partners, as true mates. And I’m glad that I made that little checklist this morning, because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be feeling even closer to Mikalya than I had this morning. And as we walked back into the pack house, hand in hand, to join the celebration of our victory, I knew that surrounded by our friends and family, we will grow stronger with each day that passes, until one day we make history by being the first ever mated Alpha pair.

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