Mate or Fate

by J. L. Berry

  Mate! His wolf howled in happiness.

  Elijah emitted a low growl as he took in the situation before him; His mate naked with puncture wounds on her neck and Drake, an unknown male to him, writhing in pain.

  Serves him right his wolf scoffed.

  Autumn stared at the intruder, he had a lean towering frame well over six feet and his light blonde hair was accentuated by his deep tan. His face was shrouded with a couple of weeks of facial hair but nothing could mask the piercing blue of his eyes as they burrowed into her soul. Her wolf was agitated unsure of what was before her. She felt scared, frustrated and for some reason a little excited all at the same time. With Drake unable to help her she prepared herself to defend them. She sent an open mind link to her whole pack, help home intruder, and prayed it worked.

  In the second it took Autumn’s concentration to convey the message Elijah was pulling her off the bed by her arms.

  “Get your hands off of me!” she screamed twisting from his grasp.

  Elijah wanted desperately to explain but Drake was finally getting to his feet and so he positioned himself in front of her watching Drake as a low growl rumbled in his chest.

  “You’re going to regret coming here rogue,” Drake snarled.

  In a swift coordinated manoeuvre Autumn kicked Elijah in the back of his knees causing his legs to buckle and him to stumble forward, where Drake thumped his palm against his chest effectively toppling him to the floor. Drake knelt on Elijah’s chest, the weight of him preventing Elijah from standing. Footsteps could be heard thundering up the stairs followed by Alpha Grey and Beta Morgan appearing in the doorway with more pack members behind.

  Alpha Grey’s dominance commanded the room as he moved in front of his daughter.

  “Who the hell are you and why are you breaking into my daughter’s room?!” He bellowed at Elijah.

  Elijah struggled to respond, his breathing restricted by the weight of Drake on his chest. Beta Morgan placed a hand on Drake’s shoulder, “I’ve got him,” he commanded his son.

  Drake stood, stepping back to allow his father to grab hold of Elijah while he wrapped a towel around his own naked body. Beta Morgan pulled Elijah to his feet, roughly spinning him to face Alpha Grey, restraining his arms behind his back.

  “I’m still waiting,” Alpha Grey seethed impatiently.

  Facing his mate’s father Elijah raised his chin to stand tall and proud, looking him straight in the eye, “My name is Elijah Sir, and I am your daughter’s mate.”

  Silence fell over the room as no one dared to breathe. Autumn was in a state of shock and desperately tried to connect to her wolf, what’s going on? Her wolf whimpered in confusion unable to answer.

  “This is bullshit,” Beta Morgan broke the silence, “Drake is Autumn’s mate, he has already claimed her.”

  He gestured to Autumn’s exposed neck. Elijah’s eyes shot to the puncture marks as confusion crossed over his face. “No,” he growled, “She is mine, I still feel it. Her wolf hasn’t accepted the claiming.”

  At this Drake’s eyes snapped to Autumn’s in surprise before they became filled with hurt and his forehead furrowed. She looked at him pleadingly, “Drake, I...”

  “Enough!” Alpha Grey interrupted before things could go any further. “Clearly there is a misunderstanding going on here but we will not continue to discuss this with my daughter and her mate standing naked in front of you all.”

  Elijah growled, “He’s not her mate!”

  “Yes, you’ve made your opinion quite clear but that remains to be seen.” Alpha Grey reined in his composure before issuing his orders, “Drake, pack doctor, now. Morgan, kindly escort the prisoner to the detaining cells. The rest of you out of my house.”

  Autumn’s wolf whimpered as Drake and Elijah left the room; Drake wrapped gently in a towel taking tentative steps, Elijah physically restrained his eyes wild with anger. Once the room was empty Alpha Grey interrupted her confused thoughts, “Get dressed sweetheart and then come downstairs.”

  He left her alone, closing the door behind him. Autumn stood in the candlelight, a sheet wrapped around her, devoid of emotion. Five minutes. That’s all it took for her world to come crashing down around her.

  Dressing quickly she blew out all the candles then headed downstairs to face her father. Entering the kitchen, she found both her parents seated around the family table. Her mother smiled at her sympathetically where as her father just stared at the wood, lost in thought. Autumn took her seat and waited, not wanting to start what was bound to be a very difficult and mortifying conversation.

  “What happened?” Her father began. Autumn stammered, embarrassed and unsure where to start. He raised a hand to stop her, “I don’t want the particulars. There are some things a father does not want to hear despite how much I trust Drake.”

  “Drake and I had dinner by the lake,” she started off simply, “And then we came back to the house.”

  Her mother nodded at her in encouragement, while holding her mate’s hand rubbing her thumb gently back and forth over the top to soothe him.

  “Then we... erm... well you know and all of a sudden that guy storms in. I freaked out and Drake got hurt, and then I called for you and then he grabbed me off the bed like he was protecting me from Drake, which was insane, so Drake got mad and we took him out,” the words tumbled out of her mouth without a breath.

  Her mother smiled warmly at her as her father continued to digest the information.

  “Did Drake claim you?” He asked simply.

  “Yes, I mean kind of... we got interrupted,” she replied bashfully.

  “And if you hadn’t been interrupted?”

  Autumn blushed at such a question from her father, “I had every intention of choosing Drake.”

  “Had?...”

  “So Drake is your mate?” Her mother interrupted a hopeful expression on her face, “You felt it?”

  “I.... I definitely felt something, but if I’m honest it wasn’t as clear as I was expecting. My wolf called out for her mate, but with hindsight Elijah was right outside the door.”

  “Surely you can just ask her and she will confirm she meant Drake?” her mother insisted.

  Autumn fell quiet. Her father stared at her then, “What is it?”

  “I tried asking her as soon as Elijah declared himself, but she won’t answer,” Autumn sat fiddling with her hair nervously, “It feels like she’s confused. Is it possible they could both be ours? That’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

  “It’s not something I’m aware of,” her father answered carefully, “But that doesn’t mean it’s never happened. I can look into it. For now let’s all get some sleep. Needless to say it’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.” Autumn nodded and rose to leave but was stopped when her father grabbed her hand, “I’m so sorry sweetheart.”

  “Don’t be, it’s not like this is your fault,” she shrugged.

  With that she left to get some sleep and missed the look of guilt written on her father’s face.

  Chapter 13:

  Drake had been taken to the pack doctor in the early hours of the morning. Dr Matthews was in her late thirties, had a classic hourglass figure and honey blonde hair which she typically kept contained in a sleek chignon. She had been away at college when their pack had all their pups kidnapped. When she returned as a qualified doctor she took extra care to ensure all of the new pups received exemplary medical care. She was the definition of professional and had seen to Drake’s every cough, scrape and break his entire life. He stood in her exam room unable to sit or lie down for the pain until she arrived.

  “Hi Drake, not the call I was expecting to get in the very early hours of the morning.”

  “Trust me Doc it's not something I ever thought I’d be calling you out for.”

  “I imagine not, your father gave me a brief rundown of the night’s events but I’m going to need some more information from you if you don’t mind?”

  “Of course.”


  “Great, why don’t you explain what happened to cause the injury.”

  “Well.... Autumn and I were having sex when that idiotic rogue wolf just barged in! He scared the life out of her and then had the audacity to say he’s her mate!” Drake was furious and could feel his wolf becoming riled which only worsened the pain between his legs.

  Dr Matthews smiled at him sympathetically, “I know it’s been a stressful and traumatic night but let’s deal with one thing at a time. I’m here to help your physical injury first; the rest will get sorted in due course. So why don’t we focus on the more specific components at the exact time of the injury and ignore everything else this second, ok?”

  Drake nodded and sighed deeply. He couldn’t help but calm down. Dr Matthews had the bedside manner of an angel. “Sure. Ok so specifically, Autumn and I had been having sex and I was close to coming when she got startled and jumped away. That’s when I felt a snap.”

  “Ok so you were fully erect at the time, what happened after the snap as you described it?”

  “Everything went limp and I was in agony, I couldn’t even stand up to protect her.” Drake was embarrassed by his answer and hung his head in shame.

  Dr Matthews placed a supportive hand on his shoulder, “That’s completely understandable Drake, and actually very normal given the situation. Don’t beat yourself up over events that have already passed, you can’t change them. Besides Autumn wasn’t harmed although I imagine she’s found the whole situation embarrassing. Let’s take a look at you so we can make sure there’s not going to be long-term damage.”

  Drake’s eyes flew wide, “What?”

  “Take it easy Drake, let me make a thorough assessment before jumping to conclusions, you know the rules.”

  Drake nodded reluctantly, he knew Dr Matthews never took anything for granted. If there was a test to confirm something she ran it, she never assumed.

  “Here, let me help you lie on the table and we can take a look.” She helped Drake position himself on the exam table with as minimal pain as possible. “Ok, now I know this is going to be difficult but try to relax your legs and let them drop outwards,” she placed some latex gloves over her freshly washed hands and lifted the towel wrapped around Drakes’ lower body.

  Manipulating the examination light to illuminate over her shoulder she visually examined Drake’s penis, “There’s a lot of swelling and bruising here Drake.” As gently as possible she palpated his penis and lifted it to assess underneath. Drake hissed through his teeth with pain, fisting his hands on the table.

  “I’m pretty sure you’ve broken your penis Drake.”

  “You can break your penis? It doesn’t even have a bone.”

  “Well I guess technically you could say you’ve torn your penis if you want to be pedantic, an ultrasound will confirm so I’ll just warm the machine up and confirm.”

  Removing her gloves and placing them in the bin Dr Matthews briefly left the exam room and returned with a portable ultrasound machine. Placing the machine on the counter she switched it on and input the necessary data and settings she needed. Taking a seat next to Drake she donned another pair of gloves before applying the ultrasound gel to Drake. He groaned in relief at the cold gel, Dr Matthews' mouth twitched but she did not allow herself to smile.

  Placing the probe gently on top of the gel she felt Drake brace himself with the pain of the light pressure, “Sorry Drake, this will be uncomfortable but I’ll be as quick as I can.”

  She rocked and fanned the probe over his inflamed tissues until she located the tear in his penis. Thankfully there was not a large haematoma present so surgery would not be needed provided Drake could urinate normally. Satisfied she cleaned off the probe and put away her equipment.

  “Normally I’d wipe away the gel but given the circumstances I think you’d rather I leave it be.”

  Drake chuckled, “I appreciate that Doc. So what’s the verdict?”

  “Well I can confirm you have indeed broken your penis. The good news is it doesn’t appear to need surgery. However, it is vital that we get you urinating as soon as possible. Treatment wise you need to ice pack the area regularly and take anti-inflammatories for the pain. I’m sure it goes without saying but absolutely no sexual activity for the next 3 weeks or so.”

  Drake groaned at that. If Autumn’s wolf had indeed not accepted the mating bond then he wouldn’t be able to claim her until he was healed. Sensing his train of thought Dr Matthews continued, “Think yourself lucky, if you were a normal human it would be six weeks at least. She won’t mind waiting Drake.”

  “I hope you’re right Doc.”

  With the arrival of Elijah and the knowledge that he didn't feel the mate bond to Autumn, Drake was feeling very insecure. What if she did feel the pull to Elijah? Where would that leave him?

  With a broken heart and a broken penis his wolf muttered.

  Dr Matthews gathered some ice packs and medication for Drake, ensuring he took his first dose before calling in Beta Morgan who was now waiting outside the clinic.

  “He’s good to go Beta, strict rest, meds and regular ice packs. I’ll recheck him later to make sure things aren’t getting worse but right now he doesn’t need surgery.”

  “Thanks Doc, and sorry again for getting you out this early,” Beta Morgan replied, “We really appreciate everything you do for us.”

  Beta Morgan helped his son make the short distance home, both of them silent about the night’s events. Drake desperately wanted to ask what else Elijah had said but he was exhausted and he felt himself becoming sleepy as the pain meds took effect. On entering their house Drake saw that a bed had been set up in the study for him so he didn’t have to use the stairs. Extremely grateful for his father’s foresight Drake collapsed on the mattress. His father handed him an ice pack wrapped in a towel which Drake promptly placed between his legs. The feeling of relief it brought was euphoric and he moaned out loud.

  Beta Morgan chuckled at his son, “Well it makes a nice change from a woman breaking your heart I suppose.”

  Drake threw his pillow at his father, “Thanks for the support Dad!”

  Beta Morgan cried with laughter at his son’s predicament. “You’ve gotta admit it’s funny! Of all the things that could have happened, your girlfriend broke your penis. You may have scarred her for life.”

  Drake looked horrified at that prospect. What if she never wanted to have sex with him ever again? “Not helping Dad!”

  He left his son to get some rest, still chuckling to himself.

  Chapter 14:

  Elijah spent the night locked in a detaining cell, truth be told it had a bed with a mattress so it was actually the most comfortable night sleep he had had his entire life. Beds were few and far between in his old pack so they were given to those most in need. In the morning a bowl of hot oatmeal was delivered and he thought he’d died and gone to heaven. He’d been surviving on raw meat hunted by his wolf the last two weeks and had almost forgotten what human food tasted like let alone had a hot meal. He was so content he almost forgot for a moment why he was there, almost.

  He lay back on the bed arms behind his head and waited. Only the enforcers had mates in his old pack, he had never known any of the “workers” feel the pull and although there were some couples they were not allowed to claim each other. They belonged to the pack and the pack alone. Lack of allegiance meant one thing only, as Elijah had experienced firsthand. He often wondered whether they knew he survived but presumed probably not or they would be out looking for him. He had been a prisoner in his own pack for as long as he could remember, a few nights in a cell, especially when he was as well cared for as this was child’s play to him.

  His thoughts wandered to Autumn and he smiled. The name suited her perfectly given her russet coloured hair and stormy grey eyes. Even her scent reminded him of the pies they used to make from apples in the fall. He felt himself grow hard at the memory of her naked body. The only blemish on her creamy skin came from the mark that id
iot male had placed on her slender neck. She had looked so perfect and damn was she feisty! He chuckled at the memory of her taking out his knees like he would harm her. He’d show her just how good things would be, just as soon as he got the opportunity.

  AUTUMN WOKE AFTER A restless sleep with bags under her eyes. The events of last night had been playing over and over in her mind. She was sure the intruder must be wrong and she was mortified that she had hurt Drake, both physically and emotionally. She needed to see him and explain. Resigned, she got up to shower hoping the water would wash away her worries and wake her up. As she brushed her teeth, a towel wrapped around her body, her eyes were drawn to the marks Drake had left on her neck. The bruising had already healed and all that remained were two dark circles. She traced them with her fingers and her heart sank as she realised they were beginning to heal. If her wolf didn’t claim Drake today then a bond would not be formed.

  Dressing quickly she left the house with wet hair and without having breakfast to head over to Drake’s. She knocked on the front door and waited, restlessly shifting on her feet. Beta Morgan answered the door but didn’t seem surprised to see her there so early, “Good morning Autumn, come on in, he’s in the living room.”

  She smiled at him gratefully and made her way to the living room. She hovered in the doorway, unsure of herself as Drake watched her enter. Sensing the awkwardness of the situation Beta Morgan excused himself. “Right, I best get to work and leave you two to it,” he said then added to Autumn, “go easy on him his pride is more bruised than his....”

  “DAD!”

  Drake had risen from his reclined position on the sofa to ensure his father didn’t make the situation worse. Glaring at him he inclined his head towards the door. Taking the hint, Beta Morgan raised his hands in supplication and left the house. Drake sighed before returning to his seat, wincing in pain as he tried to get comfortable. He had slept surprisingly well thanks to the pain relief from Dr Matthews but his father was right, in the cold light of day the events of last night left him feeling inadequate.