Chapter 22 Mona
Was this what I was like after finding out about my mates?
You were worse.
Thanks, Beep, I think back.
After sputtering frantically, Lily scrambles out of bed, but nearly collapses. I catch her, trying to calm her down, just as Andrea tears out of the room. I help Lily back into bed, but she cries, “Go after her!”
On my way down the hall, I yell to Doc, “Check on Lily! Tell her we’re fine! Don’t worry! Everything is okay! But maybe check on Lily!”
You’re a mess, Beep says, as I nearly trip over a chair, flying after Andrea, who storms out the door.
Silas is right behind, shouting after us. I try to wave at him that everything is fine, but honestly, Beep’s right, this is a mess.
“What the fuck happened?” Silas demands.
“Umm,” I frantically wring my wrists. Andrea starts toward the woods, but rather than disappear through the trees, she begins pacing. Silas keeps demanding I tell him what happened. Apparently, he and Doc were giving us privacy and weren’t listening in.
“Well, you see,” I start, though I know I look ridiculous because I’m still chasing Andrea, even though she’s pacing. Back and forth in front of the woods she marches, and I follow.
“Mona, tell me what happened,” Silas growls. Finally, I stop in place.
And the panic sets in. I have to find her. I have to find that woman. “Did we get a name?!” I shout. This makes Andrea pause. Her eyes widen, and she goes to run back inside, but I tell Silas to stop her.
“Wait! Lily would have said. She’d have said if there was a name.”
“I need to ask.”
I turn to Silas. “Can you please go inside and ask Lily if she got a name?”
“Whose name? What are you talking about? What the fuck is going on?”
“She’ll know what you mean. Please Silas. Hurry.”
He looks from me to Andrea to the woods beyond.
I huff in annoyance. “I’ll be right here, I’m not going anywhere.
And I’m with her.” I shouldn’t draw attention to the manic alpha wolf currently losing her mind, but perhaps the look in my eyes daring him to yell at Andrea right now has him complying.
Silas nods once. “I’ll be right back.” Then he rushes back inside the hospital.
Reluctantly, I jump in front of Andrea’s march and the path she’s wearing into the dirt. Gripping her shoulders, I say, “Dude. You gotta chill.”
Oh, if looks could kill.
Her teeth actually sharpen, but before she can bite my head off, a scent filters in from beyond the trees.
I let go of Andrea and spin around. I scent him before I can see him, but I still call out, “Ghost?”
My heart leaps. Briny, salty ocean spray. Ancient stone. He emerges from the trees, his shield down for the first time since we met. My omega yelps, she and Beep pushing me toward him.
But I’m still in awe, seeing him for the first time in over a week.
His thick, dark hair is swept back. He wears a simple white t-shirt that stretches across his shoulders, the fabric bright against his bronze skin.
I notice his lips, for some reason, how soft they look, how wide when they part slightly as his eyes find mine.
“Hey,” I say dumbly. He smirks, and all my insecurities at his rejection, all my anxiety at not having all my mates with me—it all melts away.
“Hey,” he says back. So casual, like.
“Umm.. we have a situation,” I tell him, pointing at Andrea.
“I can see that.”
“I thought you weren’t going to be back until later?”
He shrugs. “I got back earlier.”
“How’d you know where to find me?”
“I always know where you are, Mona.” Something crosses his face, as if he didn’t mean to admit that.
Andrea’s alpha lets out a growl, distracting me.
“Right. So… Lily, in there, the new delta-turned-omega, seems to have developed some kind of skill. Like… she touched Andrea, then suddenly, could see her mate? Like, she knew they were fated mates? Except, and here’s the kicker, it’s the same girl I saw in my dreams.”
Your ability to reduce the complex into a nutshell is impressive as always, Beep says sarcastically.
Before I can tell her to shut it, Andrea whirls on me. “What do you mean, the woman you saw in your dreams?”
Ahh, shit. I look to Ghost for help. I don’t know why, it’s not like he’s been around.
I take a deep inhale and soak up his scent before he takes it away again. Ghost doesn’t look alarmed. He’s like that. Even back at the cabin, during my heat. He was so calm and in control. He helped me and Silas through the hardest times.
And right now, he’s helping me and Andrea. He steps closer, holding up his hands.
“You’re aware Mona has special abilities?”
Andrea and I talked about the dreams, she knows about my ability.
“You saw her, too, then? In your vision? Does that mean—oh my god, is she okay?” Andrea sucks in a sharp breath.
“Mona, do you remember what we talked about when we were on the road? About you being a Seeker?”
I nod frantically, gesturing for him to hurry it along.
“Based on our conversation, would you suspect Lily is a Mate Finder?”
“Yes!” I throw my arms in the air.
He hums, then looks toward the hospital. “Alright. I’ll speak with Kendrick and Lily later. For now… Mona, you said she’s the same woman from your dreams? How do you know?”
The words spill out of my mouth. I tell them about my dream last night, watching the woman sleep, with the other men behind her. Then I reiterate what Lily said. Andrea listens intently, her shoulders seem to grow larger, fists clenching at her sides.
And when her anger seems to build, so thick it could burst, she directs it at me. “How could you not tell me about her!” she shouts.
“I didn’t know she was your mate!”
“You told me about the dreams with Lily and Silas, you could have told me about this woman. I could have been more prepared. We could have tried to find her. Are you still so angry with me you would deny me this? Hurt an innocent woman?”
Her words cut deep, even though I know she’s just angry.
Ghost moves closer, doing something he’s rarely done—he reaches out and touches me.
His fingers brush my arm, featherlight at first, then with more certainty as they settle against the small of my back.
It almost happens in slow motion. I sink toward him without meaning to, like he’s the sun.
The warmth of his palm spreads through me, his touch both foreign and familiar.
The feeling of his hand on me, grounding me, it’s like he’s an anchor.
“What the fuck is this?” Andrea shrieks, pointing at the two of us.
“He’s… Ghost is my mate,” I admit softly. I feel guilty, too, because Andrea just found out she has a mate, and she could be in trouble, and we have no idea who she is or where she is, and here I am with a fourth mate.
But that’s not what makes Andrea mad.
“He’s your mate? Why aren’t you bonded? You’ve bonded the rest of them,” she points accusingly.
“Umm,” I start, looking down shamefully. Ghost’s alpha, unbound from his magic, pulses in the air. His pheromones blend with his oceanic scent, and his hand curls in at my lower back.
But then he releases me. He steps away.
And my heart breaks.
For a second there, I thought he was going to claim me. So stupid.
My omega whimpers.
“You reject her?” Andrea rasps. “You reject her?”
“What happens between me and my mate is none of your—”
“You are an insult to shifters,” she spits.
“An insult to the Moon Goddess herself. You reject Mona? I do not care why. You are lucky you have a fucking mate. That you have someone, the other piece of you, whose magic fits your own so perfectly. How dare you deny the bond? I would give anything to have it!”
For the first time since I met her, Andrea’s eyes water. She sniffs. “I would give anything to have her.”
My heart breaks again. For Andrea, this time.
We will find her mate. We will find her. We have to.
Andrea makes a sound of disgust. The look on her face, directed toward Ghost… Though he is a taciturn man, I can feel discomfort radiating off him. His breathing changes, a barely perceptible hitch. It lasts only a second before she storms off.
Silas watches her leave. I don’t know how long he stood there listening in. His expression dims when he looks at Ghost. Something passes between them. They stare at each other for a long time.
Silas’s eyes meet mine. He dips his chin, offering me a sad smile. Then he turns to leave. I know he wouldn’t leave me alone without my bodyguard or one of my mates.
Which means he assumes Ghost will stick around.
I’m almost shocked when I turn and find he hasn’t abandoned me yet, and that his ocean scent is still there, spilling out of him in waves, reaching for me.