The Ruby Wolf

Chapter9

**Theo’s pov**

After I confess that we are mates, she stares at me, her breath hitches and her eyes gloss over. Is she talking to Nikita or a family member? I go to call her name when her knees start to buckle. I quickly grab onto her and pull her towards me as she collapses. I look at her face and her eyes are shut. What am I supposed to do now? If I take her back to her house like this, I can guarantee there will be hell to pay.

‘This is your fault. You know that, right?’ my wolf growls.

‘How so?’

‘You just had to say you weren’t ready.’

‘Well I’m not!’

‘They could help us! I can tell there is something special about them.’

‘I want to protect them’ I growl back.

‘By hurting them!’

‘I don’t want to hurt them.’

‘Then why push them away?’

‘We know there is a rogue attack coming, and I don’t want to scare her! You know how dangerous it will be if they discover she is my mate and the future Luna queen.’

‘She will only make us stronger, Theo!’

‘She could die!’

My wolf shuts up and I look towards Nikki. She is everything I have ever wanted and more. I only wish I found her before my father died, then we could already be mated. But I know everything happens for a reason and I know that it has to be now. My dreams gave me a warning and her having the same dream only proves my point that she will be in danger. I watch as her chest rises and falls while lying in my arms, she looks so vulnerable.

‘Theo? It’s almost time for dinner. The alpha is getting worried.’

I sigh. ‘Slight issue here Tony, Nikki fainted.’

‘What?’

‘She fainted. I don’t know what to do! I can’t bring her back unconscious.’

‘I’ll send you some help. Where are you?’

‘By a river, there is a rock beside it.’

‘I know that spot, she said it was her favorite when she took me there earlier.’

I internally growl. Why would she take him to her favorite spot?

‘Theo, should I bring anyone else?’

‘Only if you think it would be necessary’

‘I’ll be there shortly.’

***Nick’s POV***

I sit there laughing with Logan and Tony, but my mind is focused on Nikki. I have a feeling that Theo is her mate, and the fact that they are alone is unsettling. I want so badly to run into the forest and keep watch over them. It's not that I don’t trust them, but more like they are both hiding something. I know what Nikki’s hiding, since we both have been hiding everything since we came of age.

I feel a rush of panic course through my system and look around the room. Everyone here seems to be having a good time. The only way I could feel this strong emotion would be from a family member. Nikki is the only one who went out of the house. What happened to make her feel this panicked? I can feel my wolf start fidgeting and I know that something is stressing him out. I look at Tony and see his eyes glazed over. I excuse myself from the room and run out the door. I need to get to her.

As soon as my feet touch the grass, I shift into my wolf and run off following her sweet scent. I continue running until I reach a clearing. I look around and realize this is where Nikki and I would go to relax and hide from our father when he got into a bad mood, or we did something that would get us into trouble. I look around and see Theo holding my sister unconscious. I walk over and glare at him. What did he do to make her faint like that? The look in his eye says that he’s concerned about her. I feel the worry radiating from him and instantly shift back.

“What happened, Theo?”

“I don’t know, we were talking then she fainted!”

“Well, it’s obvious something overwhelmed her.”

“What are we going to do? We can’t bring her back like this.”

“Give me a second to think, dammit!”

“Ok.”

I know I could wake her up with my powers, but my dad told me not to do that in front of anyone in order to protect myself. It's not like she’s dying, but it would benefit everyone here if I were to wake her up. If he were her mate, then I could show him, since he would be family.

“Are you her mate?”

“What?” I feel all the emotions flowing out of him; guilt, confusion, fear, nervousness.

“Calm down.” I mumble. I hate when people don’t know how to contain themselves. It just adds more pressure on me and that makes it harder to know what I’m feeling compared to the emotions in the room.

“Just answer the question, are you her mate?”

He sighs and looks me dead in the eye. “Yes.”

I laugh a little, I totally called this! Nikki owes me. I walk over to them and take her from his grasp.

“What are you going to do?”

“Just shut up and watch, today is your lucky day.”

I rest my open palm on Nikki’s forehead and start thinking about her waking up. I feel the healing touch of the moon course through me as I focus that energy onto Nikki. I keep it up until I feel her start to move. I remove my palm and look down at my sister, watching as her eyes widen, and then she looks in front of us. She spots Theo and looks back at me.

“What have you done?” she says in a quiet voice.

I sigh and look up at Theo. He has wide eyes and his mouth is open. I feel his shock and surprise.

“I did what needed to be done, we can talk about it later.”

***Theo’s pov***

I see Nikita’s brother Nick walk up and look between us. He looks calm but also confused and incredibly angry. I tighten my grip on Nikki and meet his fierce gaze.

“What happened Theo?” Nick asks calmly.

“I don’t know, we were talking then she fainted!”

“Well, it’s obvious something overwhelmed her. I know my sister, and she doesn't just faint.”

“What are we going to do? We can’t bring her back like this.”

“Give me a second to think, dammit!” he snaps.

“Ok.”

I immediately shut my mouth. What could he possibly do? I’m a king and I don’t have the slightest idea. I watch as he mentally debates what to do.

“Are you her mate?” he looks at me and I gasp.

“What?” How could he know? Did Nikki tell him? I doubt it, she wouldn’t have passed out if she had. Maybe I should never have told her. Nikita was right about her not being ready to handle it.

“Calm down,” he mumbles. “Just answer the question, are you her mate?”

I sigh and look him dead in the eye. There is only one way to know. “Yes.”

He laughs and walks over. Once he is close enough, he grabs Nikki out of my arms. My inner wolf wants to growl at him for holding my mate, but I quickly push it out of my head. He’s going to help her.

“What are you going to do?”

“Just shut up and watch, today is your lucky day.”

I watch him as he puts his hand onto Nikki’s forehead. The moonlight narrows down onto them, and he starts to glow a bright white. What the hell is happening right now? This is impossible! The light begins to dull, and I watch as Nikki sits up and looks at her brother.

“What have you done?” she says in a quiet voice.

I look at Nick and I can’t help but let my jaw drop. What did he do to her? Why does she look so mad at him?

“I did what needed to be done, we can talk about it later.”

I close and open my mouth trying to get words to form on my tongue. They both look at me and Nick sighs.

“He’s your mate, Nikki, he will find out sooner or later.”

“He said he isn’t ready for a mate…”

“What!?”

Nick looks me in the eye and growls at me.

“I Can explain.”

“You better have a damn good reason for rejecting her!”

“I didn’t reject her!” I growl out.

“Sure, as hell seems like it.”

“I can’t have a relationship with her right now because of some things going on at the moment, but once it is taken care of, I will accept her as my mate, the future Luna, and the Queen of wolves.”

“Nikki, why don’t you look into it, see if he’s telling the truth.”

“You know it doesn’t work like that! I can’t see my own future!”

“But you could see his, right?”

“Maybe…but if it's tied into mine, who knows?”

“What the hell are you guys talking about?”

What’s going on? Why are these two so different from the rest of the wolves?

“Theo, you better sit down for this.” Nikki says while giving me a sympathetic look.

I take a seat on the rock by the river and look at them expectantly. They better have a good reason for all this, I really don’t want my mate to be crazy. Nikki walks over and sits in front of me, grabbing my hands and looking directly into my eyes.

“Nick and I are special; we each have our own ability that lets us do things that no other wolf has done. At least as far as we know.”

I go to say something, but she shakes her head and continues.

“Nick knows how people feel and can heal people emotionally and physically. Like you saw him do today with me.”

I look over to her twin brother and he sighs.

“Nikki, you’re just confusing him more, let me explain my own power.”

Nikki nods and takes a step away. I instantly miss her warmth, but I know this is more important than our bond. In fact, this is a major factor in whether I even want to keep this bond with her.

“Like Nikki said, I know how people feel. It's stronger with family and friends, but I can always determine what a wolf is feeling. It can become extremely overwhelming for me and I can get confused about whether the emotions are mine or someone else’s. I’m learning how to stop that and control when I can use them. Now, for healing, I can heal physical pain and emotional pain. An example of emotional healing would be when someone dies, and you are extremely upset. I can heal that to become a dull ache where you know it’s there, but it doesn’t hurt as much.”