The Broken Mates

Chapter 10.

Chapter 10.

“What the hell was that?” Hendrick asked Fredrick, shocked at what he had just witnessed.

Fredrick groaned, unable to answer due to the intensity of the pain he was experiencing. Not that he knew what to say even if he wasn’t dealing with the agony he was currently enduring.

“Fredrick?” Hendrick said his name as a question, before pulling him to the bedroom, and laying the prince down, then pulling up one of the side chairs and sitting by the bed.

“Not now, Hendrick,” Fredrick groaned once more. He was exhausted again, not only from lack of sleep, the constant instances of pain which felt like he was going to die of a heart attack, but also from fighting against five rogues when he was once more subjected to his mate’s passions. There was also the strange pull towards Becca, even though the princess drove him crazy, and not in a good way.

“Fredrick, you were supposed to apologise to her, but instead you riled her up even more. Then you damned well got turned on! That is not something I want to witness, but I couldn’t bloody miss it. The queen was standing with her mouth open looking like she was catching flies at you both,” Hendrick continued, not at all put off by Fredrick's attempts to halt the conversation the beta believed had to happen. He was not afraid of the prince, they had been best friends since they were small pups, and so he was in the unique position of being able to call Fredrick out on his bullshit, without fear of retribution.

“You could cut the s****l tension with a knife. I didn’t know if you were going to kick her or kiss her!” He continued on his rant to the prince.

Fredrick sighed. The truth was, he didn’t know himself if he wanted to kill or kiss the feisty, mouthy visitor, and with his wolf being equally affected by her presence, it was all very confusing for him.

“You do know she saved your ass. If she had not been there, and Queen Alisha, you would probably have died!” Hendrick shook his head in dismay.

“I mean, why? Why step over the border like that? You know that you can be hit by pain at any given moment! I know you have no regard for your life anymore, but what about the pack, what about your family? You have people who love you unconditionally, who believe in you, trust you. Then you go ahead and face off with a bunch of rogues, knowing that you could and probably would be killed,” Hendrick sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

“They baited me, made me seem weak. I had to show strength. Do you know how humiliating it is that I can no longer defend my pack.? How embarrassed I feel that they know I am not the man I once was. Some of them even know why and the looks of pity I receive daily are excruciating. I had to prove to them I can still fight, still lead, and still protect,” Fredrick groaned.

“You know what, that is bullshit. Seriously, you are so concerned about people thinking you are weak because of what you are going through, you are making stupid decisions. You are not weak for what is happening. You’re so stubborn, you cannot see past the nose on your face. I hate to break this to you, again, but the time has come, you have to tell the pack what ails you. They will understand, and work with you. I would also suggest you swallow your damn pride and tell the UK royals because they sure as s**t think you are an i***t. If you tell them, then at least they will understand,” Hendrick paused for a breath before continuing, softening his tone.

“You are not weak, Fredrick. To do what you are doing requires more strength than anyone can imagine. I see it, day after day, a lesser man would have given up, and died by now. But this has to stop. You have to tell people, maybe they can help. Maybe the UK royals have faced a similar situation and can tell you how your mate will be affected if you reject her,” the beta continued to try and talk some sense into the prince.

“Hendrick, just leave me alone, please!” Fredrick implored.

Hendrick nodded his head, knowing that he was not going to get through to his friend at the moment. He had tried almost weekly since Fredrick first met Løna, with no success, but now things had gone too far, and he knew that the UK royals would have questions they wanted answers to. As he stood up and walked to the door, the Beta paused before opening it.

“Princess Rebecca, she may be your redemption, Fredrick,” he whispered, before opening the door and walking out, leaving the prince to stew over what he had said.

Alisha paced the floor, not sure how to react to what had just happened. Becca was her best friend, and she understood why she struggled with her anger issues, and the deep depression she found herself slipping into. However, from what she had just witnessed, she had no clue how to talk to her about it, without sounding like she was judging her, or having Becca put up her prickly walls, to protect herself.

“Alisha, I should never have come here,” Becca sighed, shaking her head at both her own and Fredrick's behaviour earlier.

“I know the Scandinavian royals are family friends, but I am not helping anyone. I should just go home.”

Alisha looked at the remorseful face of her sister-in-law and took a seat beside her on the long sofa. She really wished she could talk to Asher right now, and get his advice on what to do, but today was the day he was dining with the Human King of England, in a secret meeting, which was hugely important to the peace in her country between werewolves and humans. Normally she would ask Chloe’s advice, but the thought of telling tales about her friend to her own mother did not sit well with her.

“Talk to me, Becca. I don’t want you to leave, but I do want to try and understand what is going on with you,” Alisha gently urged the Princess to talk things out.

“Honestly, I do not know myself, it is all so damned confusing,” Becca took a deep breath, trying to make sense of the confusing emotions she was experiencing every time she saw Fredrick.

“I am attracted to him. Like really attracted to him, beyond my attraction to that C.U.N.T. I was mated to. But that is not possible, because he is not my mate. Maggie is the same and again insists he is not our mate. The physical reaction to him is off the scale. I literally want to climb his bones whenever I think of him,” Becca sighed, looking over to Alisha.

“Yes, your arousal scent was incredibly strong when you were helping get him back over the border,” Alisha nodded her head in understanding.

“But the way he went on yesterday over a little bit of tit showing, was ridiculous. He is not exactly a powerful wolf, despite his high rank and royal status. It is not like that matters. I really don’t judge him for his strength or lack thereof. But I do judge him because it seems like he avoids running this pack, let alone the whole country, leaving everything to Hendrick. I mean, how can I be attracted to a man like that?” Becca continued.

“Becca, he is unwell. This is more than someone being a recluse. He was in serious pain, and the way Hendrick was cursing him for facing off the rogues tells me that they know he was weakened by something,” Alisha pondered.

“I know. But I offered to try and heal him, but he was even nasty about that. I mean, what is that s**t all about? I could have helped the stubborn i***t,” Becca sighed.

“Do you feel any sparks or tingles at all?” Alisha asked, because it sure sounded like a mate bond, but without the mate part of the equation.

“No, nothing. Truthfully, I do not know if I am happy or sad about that. I mean, if he was a second chance mate, at least I know what I am dealing with, but he isn’t. So, I am just left thinking that I am behaving like a horny teenager, which in itself is frustrating as hell,” Becca sighed.

“Well, he seemed to be getting off on arguing with you. Almost like a pup pulling the pigtails of the girl he secretly likes, ” Alisha noted.

“Yeah, I noticed. I need to keep myself in check, Alisha. I do not need further complications in my already f****d up life, and the Crown Prince Tit avoider is one big f*****g complication,” Becca sighed.

“Look, I really don’t want you to leave. Yeah, you becoming all riled up every time you set eyes on him is not ideal, but I believe Asher wanted you here for a reason,” Alisha admitted.

“Did he tell you why?” Becca asked.

“No, but the day when he told me he couldn’t come, he and your mam had one of their moments in the afternoon. So maybe the pair of them saw something, that meant you had to come here,” Alisha continued.

“Bloody prophetic wolves, they know s**t about you they have no right to know, then don’t tell you f**k all unless the time is right!” Becca huffed. Although deep down he had a huge respect for her mother and brother's prophetic gifting, they were always scarily accurate, but she could have really done with their wisdom right now so that she could work out what was happening to her.

“Listen, I am going to Video call your mam, and see how Hope is doing. Fingers crossed she hasn’t had a Nutella overdose! Do you want to come and talk to her?” Alisha offered.

“No, not just yet. Plus, if she did have a vision, she would only tell me when the time is right, which means that she contact me!” Becca sighed.

“I think I will let Maggie out for a run around the pack, She is a bit miffed I didn’t shift and let her have a go at killing some of the rogues,” Becca smiled.

“Okay, well be careful. Don’t go murdering our host,” Alisha grinned at her.

“I am not making any promises I cannot keep,” Becca laughed.

“I love you, Becca. Remember, no matter what, there will never be any judgment from me,” Alisha reminded her sister-in-law.

“Love you too, Alisha,” Becca smiled, then grabbed a drawstring bag, and stripped off her clothes, before taking it outside, and shifting into Maggie, as the wolf took the bag in her jaws, and set off running around the pack.