Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Weston peeks into the hospital room where Nara is stitching a beta’s wound, face cold as she concentrates.

Weston hates to interrupt, but Nara is always working anyway and he’s never felt so out of control. He needs a doctor’s point of view as soon as possible.

“Hey, Nara, can we talk?”

She doesn’t look up from her meticulous duty as she answers.

“Sure. Let me just finish up here, I’ll be out in a sec.”

Weston paces outside the room impatiently. He’s glad when Nara exits five minutes after and leads him to her office, understanding they’ll need privacy with her doctor instinct that Weston is continuously impressed by.

Weston sits on the chair in front of the table while Nara sits on her chair behind the desk.

“So what’s going on?”

“It’s about Millan. He’s… umm.”

No point in beating around the bush, Weston dwelled.

“He’s my Fated Mate, I think...”

Nara’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. She gapes for a while before saying anything.

“What? Oh my g- wait, you ‘think’?”

“Yeah, no. I’m pretty sure. It’s just that… I have no reference point. I don’t know any couple who are Fated Mates. Actually, I don’t know if our pack ever had Fated Mates. It’s why I’m here really. I thought maybe you could help me understand this better?”

“Of course! That’s amazing! Oh my gosh! That is so cool!”

Nara gets up as she gets increasingly excited, smiling widely.

Weston didn’t expect that reaction.

“It is?”

“Yes! I mean, I’ve only studied the phenomena in med school but we could never observe it in real life because it’s so rare! I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to see this and now, I can document it!”

She hastily gets a clipboard and a pen from one of the cabinets as she speaks animatedly.

“I should even invite some students so that they can apply the theories in real life. It’s really amazing! How are you feeling? Did you know right away? Or did it take you some time to realize? If so, why is that? Do you-”

“Hey, slow down, Nara! One question at a time, all right?”

“Okay. Yes. Sorry I got excited.”

Nara takes a moment to regroup. She sits back in her chair looking a bit more like a doctor with his patient albeit the giddy smile on her face.

“Okay. Let’s start from the beginning. What makes you think Millan is your Fated Mate?”

“Well… how can I put this into words? Umm… apart from the fact that I felt this floating sense of relief when I first saw him, I know things about him that he doesn't talk about. Like I know he is tired and he hasn’t slept much even if he assured me of the contrary this morning. I know he’s always alert, prepared to fight at any given time. I even know he’s annoyed at something or someone right this second. And I’m not guessing all of this. I know. I just know it. I know and I am sure because I can feel it too. It’s like a part of my mind, whatever I'm doing, is always focused on him and how he is feeling.”

Nara takes some notes as Weston speaks, nodding her head and obviously still buzzing in trepidation.

“Fascinating.”

“I also feel anxious anytime I’m not in the same room as him.”

“That could be for two reasons. For one, it could mean that Millan himself is anxious when separated from you, so you feel what he feels. It could also be because you aren’t mated yet, you haven’t marked him yet. Your wolf could be responding badly to not having a claim on him.”

“That makes sense.”

Weston takes a deep breath, a question sitting heavy on his shoulders. He needs to ask what he came here to ask. Only, he’s so scared of the answer.

“The thing is… I think maybe…”

Sensing Weston’s serious mood, Nara purses her lips.

“What is it?”

“I think maybe, Millan doesn’t feel the same way? Is it possible that he is my Fated Mate but I am not his?”

Weston tries to ignore the pain in his chest as he puts his deepest fear into words.

“No, it’s not.”

“But- ”

“No, Weston. It simply isn’t possible. Meeting your Fated Mate isn’t like a one way street. It’s not even close. But it is very much like falling in love. You and Millan are very much like two puzzle pieces. And you’re asking me if one puzzle piece could fit into the other without reciprocity. That’s just impossible.”

Weston nods, still unsure.

“Why would you doubt that?”

“It’s just… Millan is so closed off. I feel like he’s still unsure about staying. If I’m his Fated Mate, why would he consider going away at all?”

Nara’s demeanor softens and she puts a hand on Weston’s shoulder soothingly.

“Weston, I don’t think Millan realizes who you are to him. He might be feeling strongly about you, but my theory is, Millan has been ignoring his wolf’s needs for too long. You can’t blame him because with the way his life had gone, he had to. I am pretty sure Millan would have died without an alpha or a pack if he let his wolf take over. His human side is what kept him alive. Only now, there’s an imbalance. His wolf instincts are off. We don’t know half of the things he’s been through, but I’m also fairly certain that it has something to do with how closed off he is. You just need time to pierce through those walls.”

Weston nods, comforted by Nara’s words.

“Now, Weston, you said Millan hasn’t been sleeping well?”

“No. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t sleep at all last night. He’s exhausted.”

And Millan is. Weston can feel it in his bones. It probably isn’t helping Weston to figure out this whole deal either.

“Is he eating?”

Weston smiles thinking back of the excessive breakfast he had made that morning.

“We’re working on that.”

“Good. You also said he’s always alert?”

“Yeah. He’s almost always tensed, like he expects something terrible to happen.”

“Weston, he needs to relax and get some rest. Not only is it not good for an omega’s wolf to never rest like this but it seems to have an effect on you too now. Since we all depend on you to protect us… Millan isn’t only putting his own health at risk, but the whole pack’s.”

Weston’s eyes widen. He hadn’t thought of it that way. Nara is right.

“How do I get him to trust me? To trust us?”

“He needs to reconcile with his omega wolf. Your presence will help for sure. Millan needs to listen to his wolf’s instincts and stop shutting them down. I wouldn’t overwhelm him with the information that you’re his Fated Mate just now, but that’s your decision to make.”

“Yeah, I think that’s why I haven’t told him yet. It’s like my wolf knows it’d be too much to take in. Besides, it’s not like I’m only like this because we’re soul mates. I admit that when Andy first told me about a rogue omega that he had found, I was furious and don’t want to do anything with it. You know what my parents went through, Nara.”

Nara nodded, understanding fully what Weston was saying. “And despite that, you still allowed Millan to stay for two weeks to give him time to heal his wounds.” Nara said, smiling.

Weston nodded smiling a little, “When Andy said that the rogue was an omega and a wounded one at that, I just can’t turn him away. You know how we value everyone, specially omegas, Nara. The situation was very weird but I pushed it out of my mind at the time. Not to mention Andy’s pestering that I had to actually Alpha Command him to make him stop.”

Weston chuckled upon remembering that day before turning serious, “And then, when I met Millan, I was just so mesmerized by his face, specially his eyes, then, just a few minutes of talking to him, I was so taken in by his personality. He was very different from what I thought a rogue omega would be.”

Weston looked at the alpha doctor. “I actually never thought of having a mate, what more finding my fated one, but now that I did, I can’t let him go. Even if Millan did not turned out to be my soul mate, I still want to get to know him and be close to him. But finding out that he is actually my Fated Mate was a huge help to convince the Council to let him stay.”

The Pack Alpha sighed. “I want to get to know him better. I want to always make him smile, happy, comfortable. I want him to feel safe, Nara.”

Nara smiled, “Just try reconciling him with small things like alpha/omega embrace, purring, spending time in wolf form, pack cuddles. Even dropping if he trusts you enough could really be beneficial. Try no to make a big deal out of those things either, just let him fall back into pack instincts gradually. It’s also extremely important he feels included even if he tries to isolate himself.”

Weston nods. He’s got his work cut out for him.

If there’s anything he’s learned about the omega over the passed days is that Millan is extremely stubborn.

Weston knows it won’t be that easy but he’d do anything for his mate.

Or, well… more specifically, Fated Mate.