Oh For Mates Sake

Chapter 9 What's in a Name

“Mine.”

I breathed in his words as his lips covered mine. I responded to his gentle prodding and leaned more into his chest. It took me a few seconds before I realized what the hell I was doing. In those same few seconds everyone else realized it as well. I recognized Denny’s roar as Conrad’s lips parted from mine. He moved me to his side while keeping his arm around me. My eyes fluttered up in a daze.

I could see Denny, Joey, and Jude glaring at Conrad. Denny’s fangs were partly showing as a low growl continued to escape from his chest. Logan and the ‘marry me’ man stood protectively at Conrad’s side. I glanced up to see Conrad’s face. He was looking at Denny with amusement in his eyes. He wasn’t growling or snarling. He had a slight smirk resting on his lips as he arched a brow up at Denny.

“How dare you harass my delta!” Denny’s teeth were clenched, and an infuriating growl ripped through his chest.

“You’re a delta?”

I looked up at the man holding me in his arms and nodded. What was I doing? Why was I standing here obediently at his side?

“Alpha Sion…” Alpha Scott walked up and took his position, slightly in front of Denny. “What seems to be the problem here?”

I watched as Alpha Scott glanced at me and back to the man holding me. Hold on a minute… Alpha Sion? Wasn’t this Conrad?

“What’s wrong is your son is disrespecting my alpha!” The ‘marry me’ man snarled angrily.

“Easy Conrad.” Sion said in a calm voice.

Wait… ‘marry me’ man’s name is Conrad. I felt a bit sick. I know my mind is running away with me but from what I can figure, Sion was pretending to be Conrad. Probably so he could sleep with who he wanted without there being any repercussions. He was hiding behind another name. Sh.it, was my one night stand really an elaborate scheme for se.x? I felt my blood boiling.

“Alpha Sion?” I looked up at him and watched a small side grin reach his lips.

“We have a lot to talk about,” he replied.

“Yeah…” I said in an almost scoffing voice. “For starters you can remove your arm from me.” I shrugged myself away from him and could see the wounded expression on his face. What the hell?! Why is he wounded? He was the one who played me! “As you’ve heard I am the delta of the Sulfur pack. Unless you plan to treat the other deltas here the same way, people may get the wrong impression.” I watched the confident smile reach his lips again.

“Good. That’s the impression I want them to get. That you are taken.”

I felt Denny’s hand land on my shoulder, and I shrugged him off taking another step back. I could see Sion’s eyes turn dark but other than that he didn’t react. I turned my head sharply to look at Denny. I was quite annoyed. I was not some toy and didn’t like being yanked around like I was.

“I’m fine Den. I am perfectly capable of handling myself.” I sighed and looked back at Sion. “Alpha Sion—”

“Sion,” he interrupted.

I stared at him for a moment as he looked at me. What game was he playing here? I was trying to keep a level head. I didn’t want to lash out irrationally though this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to shift into Sheena and start shredding these men apart.

“Alpha Sion, I’m going to need for you to explain yourself. Your actions are—” Alpha Scott started but Sion instantly cut him off with just a glance.

“She is my mate.”

My lips parted in shock as Sion tilted his head to look at me. I watched as a small smile reached his lips. He was my mate? Was he really my second chance mate? I felt comfortable with him and drawn to him, but this could also be because of what we shared together. Plus, he looks like he just popped out of a magazine. Without Sheena I had no way of knowing if this was true. What if he somehow knew I didn’t have my wolf? What if this was another scheme? And I just realized that everyone is staring at me. I cleared my throat a bit uneasy.

“First a marriage proposal and now a mate. I’d say I’ve had a full day today.” I chuckled nervously.

“Clover… can you…?” Alpha Scott said in a gentle voice as I shook my head.

“I can’t.” I balled my hands into a fist. I was so frustrated with myself. I felt as if I was helpless. I couldn’t even tell if someone was my mate or not. ‘Thanks a lot for abandoning me, Sheena. You aren’t the only one going through sh.it here.’ I felt angry with her. I had gone through everything too. I didn’t get to just disappear.

“Are you rejecting me?” Sion whispered quietly.

“It’s not that… it’s…” I glanced over at Alpha Scott. I wasn’t sure what to say; he'd said not to mention anything about my wolf going dormant. I watched Alpha Scott nod his head and sigh.

“Clover has been through a lot.” Alpha Scott said quietly. “A couple days ago her wolf went dormant—”

“What happened to her?”

The tone from Sion was now a low growl. His eyes were locked onto Alpha Scott, and I could see his arms trembling in anger.

“I don’t see how it is any of your concern.” Denny spoke up loudly as he stepped forward.

“She is my—” Sion started but Denny scoffed loudly.

“Bull.shit. She can’t be.” Denny shook his head and looked over at me. “She was just my mate a couple of days ago. This would mean you are her second chance mate. A mate who happens to also be an alpha?” I watched him shake his head in disbelief. I had to admit it did seem farfetched.

“I can’t believe it. She was your mate?!”

Oh gods, I knew that voice. I watched as Denny froze; he turned his head as Andrea walked over.

“She is MY mate, was is Denny’s key word,” Sion looked over at me. “You are my mate. Your bond to him is severed, right?” I nodded my head glancing over at Denny and Andrea. “Second chance mates are rare but not unheard of. I think the moon goddess must have big plans for you.”

“What seems to be the problem here?”

An authoritative voice boomed. It was the Alpha King’s beta, Sam of the Diamond pack. Usually alphas outrank a beta, but this was not the case with Sam. Being the Alpha king’s beta put him above everyone else. Sam had come in place of Alpha King Wyatt. We were told he was in Elysium, the Fairy Kingdom. So, his beta was here in his place. I watched as he looked me over for a moment and then he looked up at the alphas expectantly.

“She is my mate, but she can’t feel the bond right now.” Sion’s eyes were now focused on me. I wanted to walk back into his arms. I wanted to feel his warmth. I had so many questions and I was confused. And I needed to get to the bottom of this Conrad and Sion thing.

“Alpha Scott, lead us somewhere where we can talk in private.” Sam said as he moved closer to me. He patted my shoulder and gave me a warm smile. It felt like he was looking out for me. Which was a nice feeling to have. Especially when I was so confused. He stayed by my side as we made our way through the room. I appreciated Sam not wanting to make more of a spectacle of the event. We went to Alpha Scott’s office where we could talk without anyone overhearing.

I could see Sion and Denny standing out in the hall as the door shut. I looked up at Alpha Scott and Sam. It was just the three of us in the soundproof room.

“Clover,” Alpha Scott said bringing my attention to him, “Why don’t you start by explaining what happened from two days ago…”

“Everything?” I watched as he nodded his head and I looked down at my toes with a sigh. I made sure I kept looking at the ground as I talked. I wasn’t being submissive, I just didn’t want to see their faces. When I was finished, I glanced up to see Sam nodding his head.

“So you were the child…” Sam sighed and rubbed his forehead. “We had hoped you would be safe here. That you would be able to lead a normal life.” I watched as he looked up at Alpha Scott angrily. “You should not have let your pack members know. What happened to her is just as much on you! She was to be treated normally.” He then turned to look at me with a small frown. “I’m sorry. This is also our fault. Alpha King Wyatt was worried that if he brought you into the Diamond pack that it would put a target on your back. The Diamond pack gets… well, they get a lot of attention from a bunch of different species. Some that would know what you are. We didn’t think it was safe to raise you there. We really hoped you would have a good life here.”

“I admit it, I messed up. I can’t take back what has happened. But no one outside of our pack knows who she is.” Alpha Scott said as he looked over at me. I could feel the question burning on his mind. He wanted to know if I would go with Sion.

“It’s up to you, Clover. You can choose to go with the man who claims he is your mate, or you can come back to the Diamond pack with me.” Sam gave me a reassuring smile as I stared back at him.

“I can’t keep this a secret from my mate, if he is my mate.” I didn’t know what I wanted to do about Sion, but I did know I wasn’t going to keep something this big a secret from my mate.

“No, but maybe wait until your wolf claims him as your mate? Or until you decide to stay with him? I agree with Alpha Scott. I think your wolf is going to come back. She healed you and is just taking some time to recover.”

Wow. This was really it. I was leaving the Sulfur pack tonight. The question was who I would be leaving with. If Sion was really my mate… I needed to talk with him. I wanted to know what he was thinking. I wanted to know about… about what happened between us. I was getting another chance at having a family. I needed to at least talk with him, privately. I nodded my head slowly and glanced between the two men in the room.

“I need to speak with Alpha Sion. I will make my decision after that.” I watched the two men nod their heads in agreement and then make their way over to the door. Alpha Scott stepped out, followed by Sam.

“Alpha Sion.” Sam motioned towards the man.

Sion stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. His eyes were locked onto mine as he inched closer towards me. I could feel my heart rate racing and my breathing was more ragged. I needed to stay strong. He stopped just in front of me. His eyes were wandering over my face as he studied me.

“Clover… can I… can I hold you for just a moment?”

I swore his voice quivered slightly at the end. I wet my lips and nodded my head absentmindedly. Like a snake, his arm wrapped around me, bringing me flush against his chest. His head came down to rest on top of mine. His nose was buried in my hair, and I could hear him breathing in deeply. His arms and body seemed to relax as he held me. As if I was able to give him the calm he needed. But I understood this feeling. I felt it with Denny before the rejection. Maybe I really was his mate.

“Clover I—”

I immediately interrupted him. I needed answers not to get swept away by him. He did it to me before so I knew just how capable he was. I pushed back slightly on his chest and looked up at him.

“Alpha Sion… not Conrad?” I arched my brow up and plastered a serious look over my face. I needed an answer about this. This was the first obstacle we had to get through before we even began discussing the whole mate bond. I watched his lips purse together and he nodded his head.

“I guess I have some explaining to do.”