Chapter 38
1251 Words
Lorenzo's POV
She doesn't remember what happened. Things are even worse than I thought. What the hell actually happened in that cage? I have to figure out what is going on. She was knocked out for so much longer than could have been expected.
The only way to get to the bottom of this is to talk to her wolf. As soon as I have the thought, Xena appears before me.
'Mate.' she says, her feminine, wolf jaw tightens as the word is fed into my mind.
"Hello, gorgeous. Its good to see you again. How are you feeling?"
'I blocked her memory of everything that happened after you marked us and I'm blocking her now so she can't hear our conversation. She can't handle the guilt of almost losing you as our mate.'
"Almost losing me? What do you mean?
'That- thing inside of El tried to mark us. He did actually succeed, but the mark is gone from my skin because we were able to purge the affects. Our mate bond with you has been fighting that force the whole time she was asleep. She doesn't know.'
"f**k, that's what I was checking for. Since there was no mark, I thought he was unsuccessful in marking you. But why doesn't she remember what I told her about her parents?"
'She wasn't ready to know what you told her. You had just marked us and neither of us were in control of our emotions. If you try to tell her again, I'll take her away from here.'
It's not long after that I find myself shifting. My wolf takes over immediately and I am relegated to the background.
'Are you threatening me, my mate.' Nathaniel towers over her, then puts his snout by her neck, inhaling deeply.
'If you care anything for her, you won't bring up what happened to her parents again.' she warns.
'And what should I do if I care about you?' he licks her neck and I remind the horndog of the situation at hand.
'Then we would get to know each other better on a run.'
I see she is no better than him.
Nathaniel chases her out of the biggest open window in the large room and we land on the vast grassy field surrounded by construction sites. Everyone stops to look at us as Nathaniel chases Xena into the forest. They yip and nip at each other, playing as wolves do and I just sit back and let them enjoy it, happy that my wolf found his mate and that they are physically together for the first time. Once he tries to mount her and she submits, I have to intervene.
'Nate, you know you can't do that to Zinnia.'
'No, but I could do it to Xena.'
'Nathaniel, I need you to be a good mate to the both of them.'
He growls at me, then gives me back control and I shift after he licks his mate. I scratch Xena behind her ears for a while before she gives Zinnia control back and she shifts.
I mindlink Dariel so that he can bring us some clothes, a pair of shorts for me and my long tee for Zinnia. The two of us sit in a patch of the lush, green grass that surrounds us.
I cover her up with my arms, but then I see something on her stomach, a mark identical to the one I have. It was beautiful, f**k, seeing it on her made me hard. She must have always known she would be a Luna. She sees me looking at it.
"You've always had this?"
"Yes. I saw yours in the King's bathroom. Shawn had one too. It was exactly like ours, but backwards."
"Is that why you dated him?"
"I thought we were mates." she says.
"Well, I'm glad you weren't."
That's something odd. My father didn't have a mark like ours. Not all Alphas do. The only other person I know with a pack mark on them like this was Kai. It was something we bonded over. Knowing of two others with similar marks was unusual.
My pack didn't have the money to build until just recently, but our grounds keeping was always something I was proud of. There are many construction sites before us. Almost half of my pack members have either started or nearly completed the building or the renovating of their own homes. Zinnia quietly looks around taking in the sights.
"This is your pack?" she asks.
"Yes, I know it is not much, but we will get better. Since I spent all of that extra time in the New Moon Pack, I see a lot more progress than I thought I would all thanks to my brother. That is where we are going to be building a new hospital. You could work in the pediatric unit if you'd like. How do you like the room Alonzo put together for you?" I ask her.
She doesn't respond for a long time and I start to wonder why.
"Something is wrong with me." she says, crying. "I can't remember leaving the room. I remember us talking on the bed, then Xena was playing out here with your wolf. I don't remember coming out here. What's wrong with me?"
This girl is breaking my heart. I know I can't leave her in the dark about what is happening. She will figure it out with or without me.
"It's your wolf. She doesn't think it is a good idea-"
"She's still mad at me?"
"About what?"
"When I was in a relationship with Shawn, she stopped talking to me. She me hated every time we touched. I thought we were good now that we found you, but it looks like she still hates me."
"She definitely doesn't hate you, dulce. I'm sure we'll figure out what's going on soon. You have been under a lot of stress. Let me know if it happens again."
I don't want to clash with her wolf as I agree with her wolf. If me telling Zinnia about what happened to her parents caused her wolf to block her memory, then I certainly won't retell her for fear of causing more damage. I can look after Zinnia and help her transition to living in my pack and her wolf will protect her as well. I will just wait for Kaipo to tell me he got the other piece of the obelisk, and then we'll meet and I will bring him the one I have.
We sit for a bit more and talk. I point out what else we are planning to build. She asks me questions about the pack and I explain things to her. After a bit, it starts getting dark and I realize we have been talking for hours.
"I hope you staying here with me will lessen your stress. Let's get you to bed, dulce."
"I have been meaning to ask you, what does dulce mean?"
I smile. Of course she doesn't know what it means, she doesn't speak Spanish.
"It means something sweet in Spanish."
She gives me a big smile, giggling a bit. So yummy. I lean in and give her a kiss. My mate is finally here in my pack with me and she couldn't be more perfect. I take her bottom lip in mine and run my tongue along the smooth ridge. We both break away when a familiar scent enters my nostrils.
"Zinnia?"
- Writer
