Big Bad Alphas novel Chapter 14

My eyes wave open and closed, as they are still sticky from my nap. Rubbing my knuckles into them, I sit up and tame my hair with my hands. Wondering the time, my eyes turn to the clock, I have been asleep for four hours. I wonder if Caroline is still here.

I slowly climb out of bed and wander down the hallway until I hear chattering. My ears perk up, and I zip down the staircase and into the kitchen.

Marina and Caroline are both in the room, Caroline eating of course. "Look who's up," she lightly cheers and pulls out the stool beside her for my to sit. Marina smiles and places a plate in front of me.

"I supposed you told him the truth?" She questions, knowing the answer.

"Yes, I did. I find I rather difficult to tell fibs to Eric as if the mated side of me thinks it is against the law."

Caroline sighs then takes another bite of her omelet. "I wish I had a mate. Even though my brother makes me want to chuck things at him, you guys are kind of adorable in a we-aren't-going-to-kiss-until-we're-eighty kind of way."

Dropping my fork, I look to her. "What is that supposed to mean?" I smile, amused.

"I dunno," she mutters, abandoning the subject. "All I'm saying is that I want a mate too."

Marina cuts in, "Don't you worry Caroline, your mate is out there somewhere. You'll find him eventually."

"That sounds promising," I add on. "But we need to focus on the search for Olivia's mate right now; you know before she strangles me again."

Marina pauses and gives us a weird look. "When I was a young girl looking for my mate, my father sent me off on a trip with my sisters. We would visit every pack until each of us found our mate."

"Did it take long?"

"I found my mate at the seventh pack, but my younger sister, a sweet girl who just turned eighteen, discovered that her mate was killed, as on our trip she felt an extreme longing in her heart and she could not stop crying. Us older girls did not know what was happening, so at the end of our trip, when she came up empty handed, our mother told her what she was feeling was death. She never found out who he was or how he died."

With a sorrowful expression on my face, I peer at Caroline, who is on the brink of tears. "What if my mate dies!"

Marina places her arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure that will not happen to you. It is an unusual occurrence now, yet back then, when multiple packs held tension between each other, many people died during attacks and battles."

I feel as if my heart has slowed down. A new fear has now been established in my head, lovely. "Well, I now feel depressed."

"I didn't think you girls would worry so much," Marina ponders and goes back to cleaning up from breakfast.

Caroline looks to me. "What if Olivia's mate is dead? What if she's feeling death?"

Before I can answer Marina shoos us outside. "Stop thinking about death and go live. You," she points at me, "be with your mate, and you," she points to Caroline, "you'll find your mate. No one is going to die." With that she closes the front door, leaving us standing in the breeze alone.

"Well, now what?" Caroline asks, and I shrug.

"You can show me where the training grounds are?"

She nods and motions in one direction before leading me on. We walk together in the morning dew, both thinking hard about something. Caroline, maybe her mate, and me, well, finding Olivia, her mate. He cannot be dead. Caroline just said that to say it. Right?

"So how did Eric reach to the marks?" She glances at me as we slowly make our way hopefully to the grounds.

"Well, at first he thought he did it—which was strange—but when I told him that..."

Caroline cuts in, "Wait, Eric thought he caused the marks?"

I nod. "Yeah. Is there a reason why, because as of now I am out of ideas." She peers away from me, avoiding my questioning eyes. "What is it?"

"It's just, Eric—I don't know if I should talk about it."

I stop walking and grab her arm, forcing her to stop also. "Is it bad? Goddess, I feel so in the dark. First his issues with his dad and now..."

"He told you about his fight with our dad?" She asks, expecting me to say yes, but I shake my head rather quickly.