The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

-Arch-
Sometimes.... Sometimes I really wanted to hit the guy. Jaden. I understood him, yes, maybe even better than Tilly did. Tilly loved power, so she couldn't see why Jaden was so reluctant to accept his heritage. Jaden had witnessed the struggles his parents had gone through just to keep their position as the Alpha pair. Keeping their pack safe and united was a whole nother thing. Dealing with the Black Thorns was just the tip of the iceberg. Jaden was young and full of restless energy, and he was far from ready to be the next leader.
It didn't help that he had lost his trust in his own pack years ago, but Tilly never saw the worst of it.
But now was not the right time to be fucking about. Now was not the time to go around acting like nothing was going on. That was a danger alert. A strong one at that since we, too, could feel it. Tilly and I were his Betas. We already were so strongly tied to him it was almost impossible for us to not be his Betas. Whatever decisions he made affected us as well, and usually we were fine with whatever he chose, but now his decision to act oblivious was going against our very basic instinct that made us Betas – our need to protect the pack. It was fine if the consequences of our actions fell upon us three, but now someone else was in danger.
I stepped back inside and followed Tilly's scent until I finally found her at the back of the school. She was leaning against a wall next to a corner, staring at someone behind it with her arms crossed over her chest. I stopped next to her and sighed when I saw her angry expression.
"Don't try to make me apologize to him," she said harshly.
"I won't," I said quietly. "That was not the right moment for him to act clueless."
"Damn right it wasn't..." Tilly muttered and took a deep breath. "It's over. For now, at least. Whatever it was..."
I nodded. The danger we felt through Jaden was gone now, but if I knew something about danger, it was that if we didn't deal with it right away, it would return.
"I can't believe he acted like had no idea what was going on," Tilly muttered. "That could've been dangerous."
"I believe Jaden is still freaking out so bad that he's refusing to understand right now," I spoke.
"Yeah, well, that refusal could've cost the boy's life," Tilly said.
"I know. Trust me, I know," I said and stepped forward so I could see behind the corner. "Is that him?" I asked when I saw a lonely figure sitting on the floor, his head pressed against his knees and arms wrapped around them.
"Yeah, that's him," Tilly said.
"How is he?" I asked quietly, keeping my eyes on the boy.
"He's shaken, so something bad happened, but he's not injured from what I can tell," Tilly spoke. "Arch... He was scared. Like, really scared."
"I know," I sighed, stepping back to her. "I felt it too."
Tilly nodded and leaned to take a look at the boy. "I think he's in danger."
"Well, we're the guardians of his pack," I said.
"So, you want us to take care of this danger, even though Jade doesn't want to have anything to do with him?" Tilly asked.
"Jaden connected with the boy right away. He wouldn't have felt the danger the boy was in if he hadn't," I said, and she nodded, turning to look at the boy once more.
"That's his chosen mate," Tilly said quietly. "Not just a possible mate."
"And he's acting like he's not," I muttered, and let out a deep sigh.
We watched the boy in silence. He really wasn't well. I could tell he was trying to keep himself together, no matter what, but he was losing it. He was scared to death, and I wanted to know why. Someone had scared him, and it was our job to deal with it, no matter what Jaden had to say about it. It wasn't up to him to decide anyway – the Moon Goddess had inscribed that into our primal instincts a long time ago.
"Why am I not surprised though," Tilly spoke. "It's a male. And a human."
"I don't understand why Jaden is freaking out so bad. He knows our Goddess wouldn't give him a mate he wouldn't absolutely adore. But I must say, I'm a little bit surprised he's a male," I spoke.
Tilly turned to look at me. "Really?" she asked like I just said something stupid. "He's so... gay sometimes. Especially with you."
"What? No?" I said in shock.
She didn't say anything. She just looked at me like I was now the one who had no clue. Okay, she probably had a point, though. "Why aren't you surprised he's a human?"
She shrugged. "His parents wished his mate would be a pretty girl from a big, powerful pack. That's why they've been dragging him into meetings and gatherings. Making babies with someone important would've formed a strong bond between the packs. But no. He got a human boy as his mate. He's exactly what Jaden would choose just to piss everyone off."
"I'm sure the Moon Goddess is dying with laughter right now," I nodded. "But I don't think the pack will be amused. A human is just... It's too complicated."
"And he's a male," Tilly reminded me. "But you're right. It's too dangerous for humans to live with us. And he's so... tiny. He'll get ripped to shreds. I've never heard Alpha Rayleigh allowing a human into our territory."
"Yeah, I'm not sure if he's ready to make an exception this time, either," I said with a sigh.
"I doubt it," Tilly muttered.
"There's one thing bothering me. Why now? I've seen that kid around before. He's been close to Jaden plenty of times, so why did it take this long for them to become mates?" I spoke.
"I think he turned sixteen last Friday," Tilly said. "The Goddess respects the age of consent."
"You know that's just coincidence," I chuckled.
She just shrugged as a reply. "Makes me wonder if our mates are still too young to create the bond."
"Don't make me feel like a pedophile," I muttered.
Betas were less likely to find their mates than the rest of the werewolves because we were expected to focus on guarding the pack. Rayleigh's Betas never found their mates, although it was still possible for them. Maybe that was our fate as well.
"A serious question. Do you... want to find your mate?" Tilly asked carefully. We never talked about mates, since it always made Jaden feel uncomfortable.
"Yes and no," I chuckled. "I don't know. I trust in the Moon Goddess. She knows what's best for me."
"I'd rather not have her deciding things on my behalf," Tilly said. "But why did you say no?"
"We are guardians. Having a mate always complicates that," I explained.
"That's the speech every Beta gets when they don't find their mate," Tilly noted.
"I know... Can we just focus on Jaden and his mate for now?" I asked. "We need to find out why he was so scared."
"It would also be nice to know his name," Tilly spoke, looking at the boy again. He hadn't moved an inch, and absolutely no one had paid any attention to him, even though it was clear he was in distress.
"He doesn't seem to have any friends," I said. "Maybe he's bullied?"
Tilly was silent for a moment, and I turned to look at her. She was biting her lip, like she wanted to say something but wasn't sure if she should just keep it to herself.
"What?"
She unwrapped her arms and placed them on her hips. "Well we know there's at least one bully in here."
"You mean Jack," I said.
"It just seems like whenever bad things happen, he's there," she said.
"We can't just start pointing fingers at him straight away," I said, but she had a point. Again.
"Unless he already knows that boy is Jaden's mate," Tilly said. "This is why I'm so mad at Jaden. He's risking that boy's life if he doesn't accept him!"
"I believe he's better off if Jaden doesn't accept him," I said. "If no one knows he's Jade's mate, he's much safer that way. The second the Black Thorns find out about it, he's in much bigger danger than he is now. They will try to get to him, maybe even kill him, since he's such an easy target."
"If he was with us, we could protect him," Tilly noted. "Jack wouldn't dare to touch him."
"Jack wouldn't, but his pack is full of vicious assholes who would love to tear him apart," I reminded her. "They would hunt him down the moment we turn our backs on him..." I shook my head. "He's not safe with us."
"It's clear he's not safe now either," Tilly said. "Something attacked the boy. You and I both felt it through Jaden's bond!"
"Okay, okay, keep it down," I shushed her. "We'll just keep an eye on him for now. We're lucky that he's in our school, and we can easily find out where he lives, so if he really is in danger, we can protect him."
"And Jade better get his shit together, or else..." Tilly muttered, turned around on her heels and started walking.
I let out a deep sigh and turned to look at the boy. There was something about him I couldn't put my finger on. It wasn't that long ago since I first noticed him, and the second our eyes met, I had sensed something. I just couldn't tell what. It wasn't a warning, but something else. Something quite else.
"Who are you?" I asked quietly, even though there was no way he could hear me. "Why were you chosen?"
I turned to look out of the window. There was one more question in my mind.
"What are you up to, my Goddess?"