Her Alpha Mates

46.

HUNTER

I usually spent most of the day at home, looking after Myra, but today, I stayed outside till dark, running the whole parameter of our pack boundary many times to keep myself occupied. I was afraid if I didn't do anything to keep myself distracted, I'd end up going to our family grave.

I didn't want to go there, especially with all the thoughts running through my head. That'd aggravate me more instead of calming me down. I needed to be calm for tonight. We were going to talk this through... I was hoping so.

Even though Myra was completely innocent in this whole ordeal, her being related to Jovani crushed a part of me. Of all the people, she had to be related to the murderer of our parents. Of course, it wasn't her fault.

However, these made things even more complicated, especially for Mateo. I could now start to see why she had been so avoidant of Mateo and seemed to want to do nothing with him. But at the same time, he wasn't at fault either.

Mateo didn't kill Myra's father. No. He killed our parent's murderer. It happened to be Jovani, and we were unaware of her.

Agh. My head hurt thinking about all these things. I had been running all day in the snow to keep myself preoccupied, from visiting our family grave or going home and talking to Myra about it. I was more eager to do the latter, but Mateo had strictly told me to give her space.

He had been right in telling me to do so because my emotions were all over the place, and I didn't know how I'd have reacted to Myra. It could have created a bigger mess. It was a good thing I wasn't home, but at the same time, my wolf was eager to go home and embrace our mate. But I was anxious to go back.

As much as I wanted to see Myra, a part of me wanted to hide away for a while and mope until all my stormy emotions were gone.

When it grew late, I knew that I had to go back. I couldn't continue avoiding this forever. Mateo was waiting for me at home, and I wished Myra was waiting for me, too.

Dread washed over me as I stepped on our porch. When I stepped inside the house, I could sense Mateo in his office, slugging while Myra was still in her room. Silently, I headed to my room and showered, composing myself.

A sharp knock on my bedroom door made me step out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my hips. It was Mateo, a stern look on his face as he regarded me. He knew this affected me the worst. I didn't take the untimely departure of my parents well. I went into deep depression and almost lost my wolf for a few years.

It took me various years of therapy to be as normal as I could. My wolf took longer to return, but once it returned, I did everything I could to keep it. Mateo knew all about it.

Not that the loss hadn't affected him much. He was equally crushed, if not more, forced to abandon his childhood soon and take on the crushing responsibilities of the pack at such a tender age and without much training. But he grieved in his own way— by hunting all the people related to the murder and torturing them. Instead of storing his anguish inside and slowly slipping into darkness like me, he put others into darkness. This was how he kept it all intact on the hardest of days.

This was how the tragedy changed us forever.

"Dinner is served," He told me curtly. I glanced towards Myra's bedroom door and wondered what she was doing. My body craved her desperately after not seeing her for the whole day.

"I'll speak to her," Mateo told me, reading my mind. I nodded and threw on grey pants, not caring to put on a shirt and headed downstairs. Behind me, I heard Mateo knocking on Myra's door and telling her to come downstairs.

I went straight to the kitchen to keep myself busy. An old lady of the pack was our chef. She was still in the kitchen, finishing up when I stepped there. I silently did some chores, helping her even though she tried to send me away.

In the hallway, I heard Mateo setting the dinner table. I carried the dishes to the table and silently served them while Mateo sat at the head of the table, his hands under his chin... waiting.

I took my seat but hadn't touched the food yet. I doubted if I'd be able to eat at all. It was after a long time we were having dinner like this. After Myra's arrival, I got used to having dinner with her while Mateo ate his in the office. He spent most of his time there, watching her.

We glanced at each other, waiting for Myra.

"What did she do all day?" I asked, leaning back and crossing my arms on my chest. My hair was still wet from the shower, and a few drops dripped down my shoulder now and then.

"She slept for most of the day. The last I checked, she was trimming her newgrown hair," He answered, glancing at his watch. A frown hung on his face. I wasn't expecting her to show up, but then I heard her footsteps climbing downstairs.

She entered the living room, a blank look on her face. She glanced at the two of us before sitting at the opposite end of the table— far away from us. I noticed her newly trimmed hair. She had grown her hair pretty quickly and now had a pixie cut. It made her look like a teenager but hid the scars on her head. She was starting to look healthier day by day.

"Thank you for coming, Myra," Mateo greeted her, but she gave him a chilling look. Meanwhile, she avoided looking at me directly. "How are you feeling now?" He asked.

"Terrible," She hissed; a flash of rage lit her eyes. Mateo tensed but remained calm on the surface. I clenched my jaw, biting back my words.

It's not her fault. I reminded myself again and again.

"I'm sorry for your loss. Your feelings are completely valid," He started.

"Are you sorry for killing Jovani?" She asked, injecting the whole room with thick tension.

~

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