Chapter 16
I watched my mate fall asleep. I couldn’t believe what I had heard. Lynx was close by and liked that we could be with our mate. He wanted to claim her. He didn’t speak as he listened to her. She calmed him, especially when we picked her up to carry her back into her room. The nurse from the station had mind linked me to notify me that Jenny and her family were at the hospital to see Leah, and I knew that it wouldn’t end well. I needed to speak to Jenny about this; this was clearly not good for Leah. It was all too much, and she tried to escape the hospital. I heard the door open and looked up to see the nurse from before. “Sorry, alpha,” she said, “I didn’t know you were in here.” I gave her a nod and looked back at Leah. She looked so small in the bed. The nurse went over to the other side and checked her vitals. I could feel her eyes on me, which made me look at her. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “If you have something to say,” I said. “Say it.” The nurse looked at me and sighed. Her eyes were on me for a moment before she spoke. “Today was hard on her,” she said. “It was hard for all of us nurses to watch and hear.” I stared at her, willing for her to carry on. “What happened?” I said. “I know you told me she had some visitors, but you were vague on what happened.” The nurse looked at Leah and then back at me. “Alpha, her mother introduced her mate,” she said, which I knew was about to happen, but what she said next caught me off guard. “Then her grandparents came,” she said, which made me arch my eyebrows. I knew Jenny would introduce Josh, but why would her parents be there? Her father made it evident that he didn’t want anything to do with her. “What happened?” I asked, realizing that the nurse was looking at me. She sighed. “As always, it ended with your mate telling them to leave,” she said, “But the problem started when they all left. They all argued. It seems the grandparents weren’t supposed to be there, her mother wanted to speak, but her father kept telling her that your mate wasn’t part of the family.” I stared at her, but a low growl slipped past my lips, which made the nurse flinch. “Sorry,” I muttered. “That wasn’t aimed at you.” The nurse gave a slight nod. I needed to speak with Jenny and her family; this couldn’t happen again. I know only a few people knew about Leah being my mate, but something was wrong, and I needed to sort it out before my mate decided to leave again, and I won’t be able to find her. If that ever happens, I know who I will be aiming it at, and those will leave this pack with their tails between their legs until they persuade her to return. I looked toward Leah as she jumped in her sleep. I stared at her. What the hell was that? I looked over to the nurse, who stared at her. “Has she ever done that before?” I asked. The nurse looked at me and shrugged. “She seems to be dreaming, alpha,” she said as she studied her more. I wanted to stay and watch her sleep, but it would be weird to stay here until she woke up. I only had just met her, and I knew I had to do this the human way. Lynx grunted with disgust. “Why?” he grumbled. “We can claim her and tell her everything. I don’t want her to go and live with them, people. I don’t trust them.” I looked back at him. I felt the same. Jenny has been pushing everything onto her, and as her mate, I needed to say something. Lynx sat up in my head. “Call a meeting,” he muttered, “We should tell them what we want and not give them a chance to react.” Lynx was right, and we needed to talk to her family. I opened a mind link to Zain first. “Where are you?” I asked. “Good evening to you,” he muttered, “I was about to leave the office and head to my room. Why? Where are you?” “I’m at the hospital,” I muttered, “I caught my mate trying to flee her room and had to carry her back in.” “I beat Lynx, and you liked that,” he said, knowing his stupid face all too well he would be smirking. 1 “Zain,” I warned. “Sorry,” he said, “I’m just happy that you got to see her, and I assumed you told her your name.” “Yea,” I said. “But not why I mind-linked you.” “Okay,” he said. “But I want all the details when you are free, but what do you want?” I sighed. “I need you to stay in the office,” I said. “I will ask Jenny and her family there, and I need you to witness it.” “Okay, but why?” he asked, slightly confused. “I’m the Beta; I don’t need to be there.” “I know,” I said, “But I want you to witness what I say because if they don’t follow what I am going to suggest, I will place them on house arrest or, even worse, banish them.” “What?” he shouted. “Why would you banish them?” 1 “I’m going to tell them what will happen when Leah comes home,” I said, “I learned that she had more than Josh coming to visit her, which stressed her out. I will place a stipulation because if my mate leaves this pack, I am holding them responsible for it.” Zain was quiet for a few seconds but sighed. “That is fair,” he said. “What if she does leave? What are you going to do then?” “Once we talk to them, I will tell you,” I said, “I need you there as a friend but as a Beta of the pack. I need your help with this.” “Sure, man,” he said. “I got your back with whatever you decide.” I smiled. “I will be there soon,” I said. “I will mind link Jenny to tell her to come to the office.” “Sure,” he said. I closed the mind link and sighed. I glanced toward Leah and realized the nurse was gone; she must have slipped out when I was mind-linking Zain. I opened another mind link, but this one was for Jenny. “Jenny,” I said, “I want you, Josh, and your parents in my office in the next hour.” “Alpha Carson, we just…” she started to say, but I cut her off with a growl. “In an hour, or I will drag you all there myself.” I closed the mind link down and huffed. I needed to do something about this; it wasn’t for me; it was Leah. Someone had to look out for her, and as I was her mate, that would be me. I looked at Leah and moved up from the chair. I leaned toward her and kissed her head, tingles rippling through me, but I had to move away and look down at her. I walked away and left her room, only stopping when I saw the same nurse that entered her room moments ago. “Can you sit with her?” I asked. “Keep an eye on her. I have a matter to contend with, and I don’t want to worry that she will make another attempt to run.” The nurse’s eyes widened, but she quickly recovered and nodded. “Sure,” she said as she walked away from the nurse’s station and into Leah’s room. I turned on my heel, headed out of the hospital, and headed toward the pack house with one thing on my mind; making sure they all knew what would happen if they did anything to make my mate leave.