The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 57: Chapter 57

-Jaden-
I was a bit shocked to find myself hugging Oliver all of a sudden. And then embarrassed when I realized he was naked. And then just utterly awkward when I hastily retreated back behind the door to give him some privacy.
Oliver laughed lightly at my reaction, so at least I did something right. I just hated to see him cry, and my instincts took over.
"We're both guys – there's nothing to be embarrassed about," I heard him say. "Besides – I'm used to taking showers with others. In the group home we have this big bathroom with six showers."
"I'm not embarrassed..." I muttered.
"Sure..." he breathed out slowly.
He started washing his hair, and I waited in silence while he was at it. I kept my eyes strictly on the ground the entire time. Soon, I heard him get out of the bath and grab his towel, but I still didn't look at him. When he stepped out the door and stopped in front of me, I hesitantly looked up at him.
He was wrapped in his towel, but I still felt like I was intruding his privacy, but he smiled at me.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "You're really good at making me feel better."
"I'm just as surprised as you are," I joked, making him laugh. That made me feel better. "I... I'll go wait upstairs so you can change your clothes."
He nodded, and I left him there into the basement, and climbed up the stairs. I went to sit down in the kitchen. For some reason, I couldn't stop smiling. Oliver was feeling happy, and that made me feel happy. I doubted it had anything to do with our bond.
I didn't get to sit there long, when I heard someone walking up to our front door. I saw a glimpse of my mom passing by the window, and I felt nervous all of a sudden. I hadn't seen her after my little rant at the Hall. And now I had Oliver using our bathroom...
Mom stepped in before I had enough time to freak out, and she looked at me in surprise.
"Why are you home?" she asked, closing the door.
I explained what we were doing there.
"Oh – do I get to meet him now?" she asked in curiosity.
"Do you want to meet him now?" I asked carefully – I hadn't even told her he was my mate, but she must have heard it from someone else.
"Of course," she smiled, and came to sit down in front of me. She was silent for a moment as she stared at me. "I want to apologize to you."
"Why?" I asked.
"The things you said... I never realized how hard I was being on you," she said, looking ashamed. "It's true. I was raising the next Alpha, not my son..."
"It wasn't all that bad, just... I want to be a kid as well," I told her.
She nodded, and hesitated again, before she asked, "Do you really not want to be the Alpha?"
I shrugged. "I don't know..."
She nodded again, and I could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "I'm not a good mother. I'm a protector of this pack, the high guard... I'm no Luna. I never was a good Luna... So... I know how you feel, to tell you the truth..."
"You're not that bad of a mother," I told her, and she chuckled.
"Not that good either, huh?" she muttered.
"Mom," I said sternly, leaning towards her. "You are a good mom. You've always been there for me – sometimes a little too stubbornly – and I always could count on you to help me if I needed it. And to tell you the truth, I'd rather have a warrior-mom than a Luna-mom."
She smiled at me. "You are a good boy, Jaden. I love you so very much," she spoke, placing her hand on mine. "But goddamn you're a wild one. It has been a challenge to raise you, so I was glad when you finally calmed down."
"Did I ever calm down?" I chuckled.
"You did," she laughed as well, and sniffed the air. "It happened around the same time this scent appeared in your clothes."
It took me a few seconds to realize she was talking about Oliver's scent. I turned to look at the basement door, wondering why Oliver was taking so long. When I turned to look at Mom, again, she had a knowing smirk on her lips.
"I must say, I'm not surprised that your mate is a male," she said quietly. "You and Arch were always way too close..."
"Mom!" I groaned in embarrassment as she giggled at me. "For your information, guy friends can be way too close too."
"I'm kidding. I know Arch and Tilly are siblings to you," she said.
I just snorted at her and turned to look at the basement door again.
"You know... You do have what it takes to be the Alpha," she said slowly. "I have no doubt about it, but for now, I promise to back off."
"You're just saying that because you're my mom," I told her.
"Nope," she muttered. "I'm saying it as the high guard of this pack."
I turned to take a glimpse of her, and it was then, when Oliver finally showed up. He opened the door timidly, so I knew he had already heard my Mom. I stood up and walked to him, giving him a reassuring smile.
"Mom – this is Oliver. My mate," I told her. Mom stood up and walked to us, looking down at Oliver – she was at least four inches taller than him. "Oliver Attwood."
Oliver flinched a little when I mentioned his last name.
"I'm Thisalee Abner, the Luna and the high guard of this pack," she introduced herself. "Jaden's mother."
"N-Nice to meet you," Oliver said politely, but timidly.
"Attwood..." Mom whispered and smiled. "You look so much like your father. I am sorry for your loss."
"I never met him," Oliver said quietly.
"I wish he was still here – he was a good man. A great warrior. We suffered a great loss when he died. I am sorry I couldn't protect him," Mom spoke just as quietly.
Oliver was getting emotional, so I wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"I may be able to talk to him in the spirit realm," Oliver spoke, sounding hopeful. "There's still hope I'll get to meet him."
"Yes – I almost forgot you are a Spirit Walker. We haven't had any of you guys in our territory in a while," Mom spoke with a smile. "I wish the circumstances were different though..."
"Thank you for allowing me here," Oliver said.
"Your people gave us this land – we wouldn't turn our backs on one of them," Mom said almost the exact same thing my dad did. "On my son's mate."
Oliver smiled shyly, and I hugged him tighter. "We should go back to the safe house. Oliver is having visitors."
"Of course," Mom said, and turned to give Oliver a smile. "Once we're done with the Shadow Walkers, I'd like to show you our land."
"Sounds great," Oliver smiled back at her.
I grabbed Oliver's bag from the floor and led him to the door. We said goodbye to my mom and stepped outside into the cold. I told Oliver what we talked about with Mom, and he was glad to hear Mom had apologized to me.
"Communication is the key," he said just when we reached the safe house.
I pushed the gate open, and waited for him to get through, before closing it again. Aurora came to open the door for us before we had even climbed up the stairs.
"Just in time – the food is still warm," she said with a smile, letting us in. As we were walking past her, she sniffed me, and wrinkled her nose. "You didn't take a bath?"
"Oh, right... Mom was home and I ended up talking with her instead," I told her while sitting down at the dinner table.
"You really need to take care of your hygiene," she said in a scolding manner.
"Yes, Mom," I sighed.
She let out a short chuckle. "I'll boil you some water later so you can at least wash your hair. And armpits..."
I groaned at her, but she ignored it completely as she started filling up our plates with mashed potatoes.
Oliver was pretty silent while we ate, and I couldn't help but notice how slowly he ate. He sometimes seemed to forget what he was doing, holding his fork in midair, staring in front of himself. There had to be so many thoughts going on in his head... I wished I could stop things happening so fast. Secret after secret after secret... He was being bombarded with new information left and right. I couldn't even imagine how hard it –
"Your Echo is being cute again," he suddenly laughed.
I let out a deep sigh. Never mind then... He was just playing with my Echo...
"What is it doing now?" I asked.
"Can you show Jaden and the rest?" Oliver asked from thin air. But all of a sudden, a small ball of blue light jumped out from nothingness.
That moron was just jumping around the goddamn table like a complete idiot.
"That's not cute," I snorted.
"Yes, it is," Oliver said, shielding the Echo with his hand like he was trying to protect it from hearing me or something. "You should be kinder to your own Echo."
"It's causing us a lot of trouble," I reminded him.
"It's not his fault," Oliver said, picked up the Echo and put it on his shoulder. "Don't you listen to the grumpy wolf. He's just jealous he can't be bouncing around the table," he cooed at the damn thing.
I rolled my eyes and suddenly heard gagging sounds. I turned around and saw two more morons dying of trying to hold back their laughter on the couch. I glared at Tilly and Arch for a bit, but it didn't help. It only seemed to make things worse. Oh well, at least Arch seemed to be doing much better now. I had been worried about him, since he rarely got as sick as he did at Mrs. Bundt's house.
"They are beautiful, aren't they?" Aurora asked quietly, watching the Echo with a tender smile on her face. "I'm glad I got to see one again. It's been such a long time..."
"I've never seen anything as beautiful," Oliver said, watching the Echo roll down his arm. "I can't believe my imaginary friends were actually spirits."
"This all must've come as a big shock to you," Aurora said gently.
"Yeah... But at the same time, it feels almost normal, you know? Like, this world makes so much more sense to me than the regular, gray human world," Oliver explained.
"Well, you grew up with spirits. They must've told you many tales from their lives," Aurora guessed. "You simply forgot."
Those foster parents were the ones who made him forget... I didn't say it out loud so I wouldn't ruin the mood now that Oliver was feeling better. To see something like that... Shadows in their true form... No wonder he shut it all out. Even I would've lost my mind if I had seen them in such an early age, and not knowing what they were...
"I can't wait to talk to Natalie," Oliver said. "There's like a thousand questions in my head..."
"I'm sure you do," Aurora said. "She should be here soon."
We continued eating in silence for a while, watching the Echo roll around pretty much everywhere. How could something originating from me be so energetic and... bouncy?
"Are you sure that's my Echo?" I asked.
"I'm sure," Oliver chuckled.
"I'm having hard time believing that," I muttered.
"You can act all high and mighty if you want," Aurora spoke, "but you can't hide the fact that you're playful as a puppy by nature." Tilly and Arch found that funny, but they were silenced, when Aurora added, "you all are."
"Excuse me, but my mother called me a wild one," I snorted at her.
"A wild puppy, perhaps?" she tilted her head.
"That's adorable," Oliver cooed.
"Is that how you treat your future Alpha?" I asked as a joke.
"Oh, baby – you have so much to learn," Aurora smiled. "All three of you will always be my little puppies, no matter how old you grow."
I couldn't help but smile at her words.
"I think I need to go lie down..." Arch suddenly muttered, and I turned to look at him when he stood up from the couch. His legs gave up under his weight and he would've fallen, if Tilly hadn't caught him.
"Arch?" I rushed to his aid. He was turning pale, and his breathing grew faster.
Aurora was by my side in a heartbeat, and together we helped him into the bedroom.
"Arch? Can you hear us?" Aurora asked, placing her hand on Arch's forehead. "No fever..."
"Something's happening," Tilly said, placing a pillow under his head. "Something terrible..."
"Arch?" His eyes were closed, and I wasn't sure if he was conscious anymore. "This happened way too fast..." I muttered in worry.
Arch let out a quiet groan, like he was in pain, and sweat erupted on his face.
"Wait," I heard a silent voice coming from the doorway, and I turned to look at Oliver. "I can hear a wolf..."
We all stared at him as he walked next to the bed. He stared at Arch without even blinking. "I can hear someone..."
"What?" Tilly and I spoke in confusion.
"Is it his spirit?" Aurora asked, and it was then, when I realized Oliver was hearing a spirit.
He shook his head slowly. "Different... Familiar... I know you... Who are you?"
"Oliver?" I spoke in fear, but he didn't even flinch when I stood up and placed my hand on his shoulder.
"He can't hear me..."
"He? Who's he?" I asked, turning to look at Arch again.
Oliver pushed me gently aside and sat down on the bed, placing his hand on Arch's.
"Oliver?"
"Let me listen..." he whispered.
The rest of us exchanged worried looks.
"Pain... He's terrified... I can't... The wolf is too loud... I can't hear him," Oliver spoke almost silently. "There's so much pain..."
"Who is in pain?" Aurora asked calmly.
"The wolf... Arch's... And... There's someone else... Another wolf... He's scared out of his mind..."
"What's going on...?" Tilly whispered.
"Who are you?" Oliver asked again, his eyes glazed over like he wasn't with us anymore. "How do I know you...?"
"Can you go to him, Oliver?" Aurora asked. "There should be a pathway somewhere."
I turned to stare at Aurora. Did she know how Spirit Walkers did their thing?
"I... I can't... it's so dark..." Oliver muttered, turning his head.
"Look around – it has to be there," Aurora said calmly.
"I... There's something, but it's really hard to see," Oliver said.
"That's odd... Can you follow it?" Aurora asked.
"How?" Oliver asked in return.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the door, and we all jumped. I couldn't stop my claws from coming out, and neither did Tilly. Aurora looked at Oliver, then at Arch, before she hurried up and walked to the door. I stayed next to Oliver, who turned his eyes towards me. He blinked a few times, and then slouched over, like he had lost all his strength.
"Whoa..." he breathed out as I caught him.
"Where is he?" I heard Natalie's voice coming from the living room.
"Here," Aurora said, and they both hurried back to us.
"Oh dear..." Mrs. Bundt breathed out, gestured us all get out of her way, sitting down on the bed. "I'm sorry, dear boy, I know it hurts..."
I hugged Oliver tightly in absolute horror. I had never witnessed anything as scary before.
"Oh dear... I can't... Let me see where you're hurt..." Natalie muttered, holding Arch's hands in hers. "Diviner spirits are so complicated... It's attached to everything... Hold on... I'm trying to find the source."
We waited in anxiousness while she did her thing. She was silent for a long while, her face frozen in desperate frown. Her small frame shivered every now and then, and Arch seemed to be doing worse and worse...
"This? What is this...?" she muttered.
"Talk to me," Aurora begged – she looked just as worried as I felt. "I need to know what's going on."
"It's his wolf... He's in pain and I found... I think this is a withered bond..." Natalie spoke.
"Withered bond?" Aurora frowned.
"I'm not an expert in werewolves, but I think this is one of the possible mate bonds Arch never accepted. But it's not dead, it's just... withered," Natalie spoke quietly.
"Why is it hurting him if he never accepted it?" Aurora asked.
"Hold on..." Natalie said, and we were forced to wait a little longer. "It's silent... I can't hear anything... I wish I knew more about your kind... This is... odd... the bond is being fed, but not by Arch."
"Man..." I breathed out, and Tilly looked at me with sadness in her eyes. "There's someone who still considers him as their mate."
"They haven't given up," Tilly nodded.
"Who is it?" Aurora asked. "Maybe we can find her and –"
"Him," Natalie corrected, surprising us all. "That's all I know. He's weak. He's... wait... what...? Who are you?"
Natalie's whole body jerked, and she fell silent. She was completely immobile – even her breathing stopped.
"Oh no," she gasped, and suddenly, her guardian spirit appeared in the room, and immediately vanished inside Arch. "Get off me!" Natalie yelled, and pushed Arch's hands away so hard she almost fell off the bed.
"What happened?!" Aurora asked.
"Annabelle!" Natalie yelled. "There was a shadow – a bad one. He saw me!"
We all turned to look at Arch, who was now radiating blue light. I could hardly breathe in my fear... And then, a bright flash of light almost blinded us all, and when I could see again, Annabelle was standing next to the bed.
'We need to call the others,' Annabelle said, sending chills down my spine.
"Who was it?" Natalie asked with a weak voice.
'It was Henry.'
Natalie turned completely white. "No... It can't be... Anthony...?"
"Who's Anthony?" I asked in fear, but it wasn't Natalie who answered.
"He's the Shadow Walker who killed Kevin, and escaped from us," Aurora said with a murderous voice.
"Not only that..." Natalie whispered, turning to look at Oliver. "He is Attwood as well."
"What...?" Oliver breathed out.
"He's your Uncle."
'And now he's back.'