Mated To An Enemy

Bell stepped out of the room when she saw his name on the screen.

She quickly answered the call, pulling down the top half of the environmental suit.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” he replied with a smile in his voice.

His voice purred in her ear, and she closed her eyes to momentarily relish the feeling.

“Galen,” she replied.

The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable. On the contrary, she felt him near her, like a warmth she had never known before.

“How’ve you been?” Bell asked, choosing to terminate the sensation before it moved her too much.

“Been better,” he sighed.

“Everything alright?” she asked with genuine concern.

“I’m ok,” he replied, with another smile, “thanks for caring.”

She felt the blush in her cheeks.

“Caleb is having a hard time,” he said, shifting the subject. “He made the announcement to the pack last night. But already through himself back into work. He refuses to take the time he needs.

Thankfully, the mourning ritual requires him to take at least twenty-four hours–”

“Hang on!” Bell interrupted as his words finally reached her through the hypnotic effect of his voice.

“Announcement to the pack? Mourning? What are you talking about?” Bell asked.

Galen was silent. Bell looked down at the phone, wondering if he had hung up. But the call was still connected.

Galen let out a scoff and then took a deep breath.

“You didn’t even notice I left Winter, did you?”

Bell closed her eyes, leaning back against the wall. She hung her head.

“No,” she replied softly.

He was quiet.

“To be honest, I haven’t really left the hospital since I last saw you,” she said quickly, “once Peter cleared me, I just jumped right into Renee’s treatment.”

Bell bit her lip nervously.

‘Why am I so worried?’ she wondered, ‘I am supposed to pull away from him. I should tell him that I didn’t care that he left….’

“Then, you don’t know about Ashleigh?” he asked.

Bell stood up straight and glanced into the room where Ashleigh stood over the sleeping Renee.

“What about Ashleigh?”

Galen sighed. He shared with her the details Caleb had managed to give him. Ashleigh’s twin, the shared bond, and Granger being her true mate.

“She’s making a mistake,” Bell sighed and shook her head.

“Maybe,” Galen sighed.

“Maybe?” Bell questioned. “You know what kind of person Granger is and what kind of person Caleb is. The choice seems obvious.”

“It is,” Galen replied, “but she keeps making the wrong choice, so maybe, it’s what she thinks is right for her.”

Bell scoffed angrily.

“She is my friend! How can you–“

“And Caleb is mine,” Galen said. “This isn’t the first or second time she’s rejected him. So yea, maybe.”

Bell paused. She thought about when Caleb came to visit her in her home, how he had kept her secret. Her friend.

“Is he ok?” she asked.

“No,” Galen replied truthfully, “but he will be.”

Bell looked back at Ashleigh; she didn’t understand how she could choose Granger over Caleb. But she was going to find out.

“I gotta go, Galen.”

“Wait,” Galen said, “the mourning ritual… I won’t be able to talk to you for at least twenty-four hours. But I didn’t want to miss this window.”

Bell smiled.

“I got the initial results from Ashleigh’s tests.”

Bell felt embarrassed suddenly.

“Right, yes, the results,” Bell said awkwardly. “Did you find anything of note?”

“Well, your original thought that it was an external source was absolutely right,” he replied. “We found small traces of chemicals that aren’t naturally occurring in the body. So, something had to have introduced them into her system.”

“I knew it….” Bell sighed. “I think whatever it is, Renee got exposed too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Renee has a lot of the same biological responses that Ashleigh had and similar symptoms. But hers is different. More extreme, but Ashleigh’s heart stopped, and that hasn’t happened to Renee… so maybe I’m reaching,” Bell sighed.

She was tired, and it was starting to show.

“Do me a favor,” Galen said, “send Renee’s tests and her chart over. Then, we can compare that to Ashleigh and see if there are any other tests we can think of.”

“Ok, yea, I’ll do that.”

“You might be right that they’re connected,” Galen said. “There is a reason Ashleigh’s heart stopped, and Renee’s hasn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Bell asked, feeling a sense of dread at his answer.

“The reason that Ashleigh’s heart gave out was the wolfsbane in her system. Whatever it was she was exposed to reactivated the infection in her heart. If she hadn’t already been in the hospital, under your care. She would have died.”

“Oh, Goddess…” Bell said, “I need to figure this out… whatever is doing this. There are other wolfsbane survivors, and if they get exposed….”

“Yea…” Galen sighed. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“Thank you, Galen.”

They were quiet again, and Bell could once more feel his warmth. Like she was leaning against him, her head relaxing on his chest.

“I have to go,” Galen sighed.

“Ok,” Bell said, with a hint of sorrow.

“Bell?”

“Yea?”

“It wasn’t just the results,” he said. “I also just wanted to hear your voice.”

***

“It seems that Summer is in mourning,” Holden smiled.

“Has there been another battle? I didn’t hear about it….” Alice said, checking through her messages.

“No, Alice dear, this is on a much more personal scale.”

Holden smiled his wicked grin, making Alice nervous.

“The official news will come out in a few days. Alpha Caleb had lost his mate. They mourn the Luna that never was.”

“What?!” Alice shouted as she jumped up from her chair. “Ashleigh didn’t die… I made sure that her antidote accounted for the wolfsbane. So how could this happen?”

Holden’s eyes darkened.

“Alice…” he said sweetly, “I thought I made myself clear.”

“Of course,” Alice replied quickly, sitting back down in her chair, “I was just… surprised.”

“Miss Ashleigh is very much alive; she just chose the better beau,” Holden smiled.

“She chose Granger?” Alice asked, not masking her surprise. “That’s a shock.”

“Of course, she chose him,” Holden said, “I take care of those I like and get them the things they need to get what they want.”

Alice put on her best fake smile and turned her attention to the information gathered before her.

Holden’s phone rang. He looked down at who it was and stepped away from the table, just on the other side of the door, out of earshot.

He only did that when he was trying to hide something she might not like. But, something told her that she needed to know this time.

Carefully and without a sound, Alice moved out of her chair. Taking cautious steps towards the door.

As she got closer, she heard jumbled words and partial sentences. But they were enough to draw her suspicions.

“Yes,” Holden replied to the person on the other end of the line. “…few more days….win…ack…. “

Alice gasped as her mind put together the meaning of his words. She leaned too far, and the boards below her feet groaned. Holden paused and mumbled something she couldn’t hear. She quickly moved back to her place at the table just as Holden opened the door.

“Alice?” he called to her.

“Hmm?” she answered, not looking back.

Holden lifted the phone to his ear.

“I will call you back soon.”

Holden sat down across from Alice and observed her.

“Now, I know I have an adorable face, but this is too much. You’re making me quite bashful,” Alice smiled playfully.

Holden gave her a dark look that turned into a wide grin. Alice swallowed down the fear that crawled up from deep within.

“Let’s have some tea together, Alice. It’s been too long.”

Alice smiled and nodded. Holden lingered for a moment, but he got up to prepare the tea. She licked her lips nervously until she heard him leave the room.

Quickly she went across the room and removed a book from the bookcase. Inside was a phone. Alice turned it on, and after a long series of keystrokes and menus, she shut it off and pulled out the sim card.

Alice replaced the phone and put the book back. Then, sitting down at the table once more, she considered her options. The tea would be ready soon, and she wouldn’t remember this anyway after she drank it.

She swallowed the sim card just as Holden came in with a steaming hot cup.