The Alpha And His Abused Mate (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 17

Every Monday, River did the exact same thing. He came back from chemo and then stared off into space. On the fourth Monday, I decided that I wouldn't let him choose to sit in the bathroom for hours on end. You're probably wondering, 'Ellie how are you going to do that?' Well you see, I have a plan. At four o'clock, I locked the only door leading into the bathroom.

At 4:05, River sluggishly walked through the door and tried to open the bathroom door. He jiggled the doorknob, and pushed his shoulder into the large brown door, trying to somehow open it. Meanwhile I sat on the bed, watching him from the corner of my eye, trying not to laugh.

River sighed, and turned towards to me.

"Open the door..." His voice was quiet and rough. Casually I lifted my head from the book I had been, 'reading'. "Hmm?"

"Open the door." His voice was louder and more confident this time.

"What?" I was playing dumb, and I could tell he was losing it. Knowing that I prepared myself.

"Open the door!" River yelled, while his eyes, changed from the warm brown color they usually were to a scary black color.

"No." My voice was calm, and firm, but underneath my tough front, I was scared shitless. His bulky figure stalked towards me, almost the same way as my stepfather. I thought that he might hit me but instead he sat down next to me

"How ya doin'?" It was a stupid question, but I figured it would be a good way to start a conversation.

"Really?" River asked, in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey, no need to be mean." I could see that he didn't want to talk to me, and he just wanted to go to sleep. I tried not to show that his remark had affected me, but to be honest it kind of hurt my feelings.

River must have seen the expression on my face, because his eyes impatiently showed a look of regret.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

"It's okay."

"No it's not, I've been acting like an ass, for like the past four weeks."

"I know I've noticed." He gave me a look as if to say, 'You're not helping.'

"Okay, okay... I'll shut up." I exclaimed with a small smile.

"I just feel, like I'm not worthy enough to lead the pack. They should have a healthy Alpha, and not one with cancer." River's voice was small and timid. I could understand where he was coming from, but he needed to know, that he was plenty capable, of having the Alpha title.
"Look, you've been Alpha, since you were fifteen, right?" River nodded.

"See, you already have been running the pack for three years, and you're doing a pretty damn good job at it." What I said, was true. River had been given the Alpha title, straight after his father was confirmed dead. Not to mention he had three younger siblings -not counting Alex- dropped into his lap. Yet he still managed to go to school, and run the pack.

"Thanks." River responded after a while. He then wrapped me up in his strong tan arms, giving me one of his loving hugs. It had been a long time since he had given one of those hugs and it felt, like I finally got the missing piece that completed myself. We sat on the bed together, just reminiscing in the moment, until River fell asleep.

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River's POV:

When I woke up from the nap, I don't even remember taking, a delicious smell wafted into the room from downstairs. I stuck my nose up and sniffed the air, trying to smell whatever that was being made, but only could smell my beautiful mate.

I yawned and made my way down the winding stair case, that lead to the kitchen. There she stood. My girl, was standing over the stove, cooking what looked like pancakes.

We ate while watching Grey's Anatomy. Apparently, this was Ellie's favorite show and to be honest it wasn't that bad. While we were sprawled out on the couch, I shielded my face from some the television, when a guy with a pencil in his eye appeared on the screen. As it sat in front of my eyes, I saw hairs sprouting from her fingers quickly. I sat up and turned off the TV.

"What are you doing it just got to the good part." Ellie whined.

"Ellie do you usually have this much hair on your arm?"

"No...." I cursed under my breath and ran out of the house with her in my arms. She was questioning me as I led her farther and farther into the woods. I heard her arm pop and I knew that I was running out of time, Ellie was about to have her first shift.

Keeping that in mind I found a spot near a tree and sat her carefully on the ground.

"River what is happening?!" She yelled at me as her arm, fully popped out of place.

"I'm sorry baby girl..." There was nothing I could do, we just had to let it pass. Right after I said that, her back arched in pain, and her arms and legs rearranged so that she was on all fours. At this point Ellie had almost finished her first shift. I blinked and next thing I knew, I had a wolf in front of me.

The right side of her face and nuzzle were black, while the other half was white. Her coat was mainly black, but it had white splotches randomly covering certain places on her form, she was truly beautiful.

I saw that she was trying to stand but keptfalling, so I stripped and shifted into my dark brown wolf. I pranced over to her and stuck my nose under her belly and guided her until she was able to walk on her own. Ellie nipped my ear and took off running and being the over protective male I was I chased after her. When she got tired, she plopped down in a clearing and I sat behind her watching over her, as she went into a peacefulsleep.  

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I know I know this update was long overdue.....