Chapter 20
MALORY P.O.V
When Connell stirred, so did I. Rubbing my eyes, I glanced up to see Connell. We were in the reception of the clinic still waiting for Ruben to wake up. Somewhere in the middle while Connell was talking to Alpha Granel, I fell asleep with my head on his lap.
"He woke up" Connell said loosening the hold he had on my waist. I got up from the couch and walked towards Ruben's room all the way smoothening my disordered black hair, while Connell continued talking in the phone.
"Hi" I said with a smile, to Ruben, when I found him trying to sit on the bed. "Careful" I said when he winced in pain.
"What happened to me?" he asked me, his voice groggy.
"Your brother hypnotized you and...." I said and chewed on my bottom lip.
"And?" Ruben probed, his hazel eyes anxious.
"My m-mate attacked you"
"That makes sense" he groaned. "How come I am not dead?" he muttered and closed his eyes shut in pain.
"The doctor said you should take complete rest and not to shift for a week" I said ignoring his earlier remark.
"Uh-huh" Ruben nodded lifting and dropping his shoulders.
"And he said you are quite weak too" I said and Ruben opened his eyes and frowned.
"I am not weak" he said clearly embarrassed by my remark. "I am as strong as an ox" he boasted and even flashed me a smile.
"Yeah... I could see that" I mocked.
"Hey... I didn't fight back because the Alpha is your mate or else I would have definitely taken him down" Ruben bragged.
"Really?" I asked raising my brows.
"Yes. I am like an epitome of strength." He said puffing his chest.
"Then do you want a rematch?" I asked and Ruben withered. "In fact I can arrange for one right here, right now" I teased. "What say Connell?" I asked and just then Connell entered the room, his narrowed eyes focused on Ruben.
Ruben's face lost all the color and he gulped audibly. He looked at me and then at Connell. "I... I was k-kidding" he stuttered. "Malory...." he whispered and turned to face me, with such a cute puppy dog face that even though I tried to maintain a straight face, I couldn't and in the end, I ended up laughing.
"Relax..." I told him grinning widely however Ruben looked ready to piss in his pants.
'Leave. I need to talk to this rogue' I jumped in surprise as I heard Connell's voice in my head. I turned to look at him with wide eyes wondering what he wanted to talk with Ruben.
'Now?' I asked nervously and Connell merely nodded. 'Okay' I said and padded towards the door.
"M-Malory?" Ruben called me fear evident in his tone as he saw me walking away.
Stopping in my tracks, I turned to face him and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll be out" I told him ignoring Connell's frown. I didn't know what Connell wanted to talk to Ruben about but I did know that Connell wouldn't hurt Ruben.
"Catch that Mumbles" Patrick screamed to his teammate, as Ashley threw the Frisbee towards Mumbles. I watched in awe as Mumbles leapt high in the air and snagged the Frisbee. All the kids cheered, as Mumbles walked proudly towards Patrick. The pups along with Mumbles were playing in the clearing while I sat on the steps at the porch of the doctor's clinic, watching them.
It was almost ten minutes since I left Connell and Ruben to 'talk'. If I wanted to, I could have heard what they were talking about but I didn't want to do it. I trusted Connell and I knew he wouldn't hurt Ruben. So instead, I was giving my full attention to Mumbles who was the strongest player in Patrick's team. He wouldn't let other's catch the Frisbee and I knew both the teams were getting annoyed with it.
Sighing, I shook my head and called Mumbles. However my dog didn't pay any attention to me and continued playing.
I stiffened all of a sudden when Connell sat beside me on the steps. He had an expressionless face and I wondered what happened. My heart beat fast, very fast and I gulped in fear.
"W-What's wrong?" I asked him.
"Nothing." he told me and I looked at him baffled. "Say bye to the pup. I will be waiting for you here" he said calmly.
"He is leaving?" I asked but I got no reply from my mate. Still baffled, I got up and went to see Ruben. I knew well and good Connell wouldn't accept Ruben to the pack but still, I thought.... You thought that he would let Ruben join the pack and then it would be all dandy? A voice in my head sneered and I frowned. Be grateful that he didn't kill Ruben.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed open Ruben's room door. Ruben smiled as if he knew I was about to come. I closed the door shut behind me and walked towards the foot of his bed. He was sitting in the bed, with a large bandage wrapped around his neck and waist. I gulped as I saw a large crack in the wall, which definitely wasn't there earlier. Oh My God!
"I talked to the doctor" he spoke first.
"Yeah?"
"Warned me to come for dressing daily" he said and I nodded. "Is it necessary? I mean, I will heal and then I can throw it off right?"
"It is necessary" I said with a frown. "Your wolf is also weak" I pronounced. "Your gashes will take time to heal. So don't even think about skipping the dressing" I warned.
"Yes doctor" he said smiling.
"I am not a doctor yet" I remarked. There was a silence for few seconds and irritated by it, I spoke again. "What did Connell say?"
"Connell? I thought it was Cortez" Ruben said confused.
"Yes. His name was changed to Cortez to protect his identity. What did he say?"
"He will let me stay in the pack" Ruben said casually and my eyes were as wide as saucers while my mouth dropped open.
"What?" I asked stunned. "He... he let you stay?" I asked and already a smile was forming on my face.
"Yes" Ruben said and nodded. "I thought you knew"
Craning my neck, I closed my eyes and sighed. Oh My God! I love my mate. I looked down and smiled at Ruben.
"He didn't let me stay just like that. First he said, he wasn't even guilty of hurting me and causing all these wounds." Ruben said pointing at the wounds in his body."Your mate said I deserved it for coming to the pack territory regardless of his warnings." Ruben said and I pulled a face. "Then he asked every possible question under the sun about my brother. I told him everything I knew and the Alpha swore he will slay me if he comes to know I am lying. After that, he said he will let me stay in the pack until I find a decent job for my survival however he lay a long list of rules for that." Ruben said and I raised my eyebrows.
"What rules?"
"Oh you know... like stand an arm length apart from Malory while talking to her. Don't even think about touching Malory. No bothering Malory. Address Malory as your Luna. Malory this, Malory that." Ruben said grinning widely.
"Uh... he is protective" I said blushingly, the 'he' here referring to Connell.
"Not protective it's Possessive" Ruben declared.
"Whatever" I muttered embarrassed. "Follow those except calling me Luna" I said with a cheeky grin.
"Yes Lu-na" he teased and I playfully raised my hands to hit him. Ruben stopped smiling and stared at me and then asked, "Did Konrad hurt you?"
"Uh... no" I said not looking him in the eye.
"Malory, please don't lie" Ruben chided. "I know he tried to and I glad he didn't succeed" Ruben confided without any guilt.
"He couldn't do much harm because Little... Sel came there" I said with a small smile. "I need to ask you something, your brother, Konrad. He is not really your brother right? Then why do you call him your brother?" I asked curiously.
"My dad willfully sacrificed blood for his creation. So he is my brother in a way." Ruben said sheepishly.
"How was he created?" I couldn't stop myself from asking it. I was curious to know about this.
"You mate asked me the same question. But I remember telling you he emerged from the smo-"
"I know" I incised. "I want to know... exactly how?"
"Look, it happened one night and only four Alpha's and few elder rogues were allowed to go. I was in my house that night but I did receive some vital details the next day."
"Like?" I probed.
"Like, my dad and Isadora were planning to create him for a long time. You know someone stronger than other wolves. In short someone who could be their puppet. They wanted him to be able to see future just like the soothsayer, Paulo. Since Paulo wasn't actually helping my dad or Isadora, they came up with this whole plan. And you may have heard about a rogue named Serge, who was my dad's best friend. He used to practice black magic." Ruben said and I gulped. "Serge was the one who gave them this idea and I am really happy to tell you that, whoever killed him cut his head off his body. I want to touch the feet of the person who killed Serge because that brain inside his head caused all this" he said and I pinched my lips together.
Ruben didn't miss my expression and he narrowed his eyes, "You know who killed Serge?" he asked and I slowly nodded my head. "Who?"
"You will meet her one day"
"Her? A girl killed Serge?" Ruben asked and then laughed loudly. "Man! This gets better and better. I swear he will be rolling in his grave" he said and laughed again. "Tell me who is she?" Ruben asked and I shook my head. "Oh! Come on"
"I will tell you after you meet her" I said calmly and Ruben groaned. If I tell about Little Bear to Ruben now then I didn't know he will behave when he meets her.
"Alright. Like I was saying, it was Serge who gave the idea of creating Konrad. At the time, my mother passed away and my dad had to bear the responsibility me, an infant, as well as few other rogues. He was desperate for money and he would have agreed to just about anything for few rolls" Ruben said sadly.
"Uh... You told me Konrad was created four years ago" I pointed out in confusion.
"Yes, he was. But the idea was formulated almost ten years ago"
"Why so late?"