Dylan
"Our mate will be all right. She's with Nuu-Chah. We'll wait and see if she'd come to us tonight."
I had to admit that I felt more upset than dreadful although Cherry didn't make it last night. And I'd never felt so sure that Cherry would come back to me soon.
So all I needed to do now was to bury myself in the pack stuff and wait for her return patiently.
With this belief in mind, I went to freshen up, because a long day filled with duties as the Alpha of the pack was waiting for me ahead.
“Morning!” Bert greeted me as I strode into the office. "Cherry likes the renovation?"
"No." I replied simply and went on to snatch the papers from his hand.
"No way! She couldn't be so particular—" Obviously, Bert was waiting for Cherry's flattering words on his idea.
"Cherry didn't come last night.” I further explained the situation calmly. "But she will be back soon. I'm pretty sure about that."
"Oh...she sure will!" Bert, not expecting this to come, echoed after quite a few seconds.
"You want something to drink?" Recovering from the shock, Bert tried to change the subject.
Knowing what was going through on his mind, I simply chose to fixate my eyes on the papers.
“How about coffee? I make exceptional Americano. Iced or hot, you name it!”
“Got it, I'm shutting my mouth." After getting a cold glare from me, Bert run his fingers against his lips, zipping it.
"But don't forget to call Fern today. And you got a message from Alpha Bill.”
As Bert closed the door behind him and left on some errand, I picked up my phone to read Bill's message.
But before I was able to unlock the screen, my eyes got a glimpse of the ring on my finger.
“Baby, where were you? What happened to you? Why didn't you make it to come and meet me last night?” I whispered while staring at the pane of the window.
Unable to focus on working, I opted to soak myself in a bath tub. It was really exhausting after spending the whole night awake in anxiety.
“Dylan?” My mate's voice sounded near my ears when I got drowsy.
Fluttering my lids opened immediately, I found Cherry sitting on the side of the bath tub with a relieving smile.
"Cherry!" I launched myself at her the next minute after realizing that my mate came back to meet me.
“Dylan.” She called my name softly while trying to break free, but I didn't let her go.
“Dylan—”
“No, Cher. I'm not letting go of you. I don't think I can handle this anymore. Stay, baby. Let's face this together. I'll do whatever within my power to heal you, even it means I have to die!” I swore from the bottom of heart, not loosening my hold onto my mate.
"That's sweet to hear, mate. But I think it's better we follow Nuu-Chah's instructions." Cherry cupped my cheeks tenderly.
“How come that you look so delighted while I got tormented by the longing for you?” For the first time, I hated seeing my mate smile.
"That is not true, Dylan." Cherry caressed my lower lip gently. "I'm not enjoying you missing me, but you look so cute and I can't help it."
She giggled before continuing.
"Nuu-Chaah is doing her best to heal me. That's why I didn't come to meet you last night. But I'm just fine, Dylan. And I'll be back in your arms before you even know it.”
I wanted to sigh, but chose to flash a reassuring smile in the end.
In the seek for solace, I moved myself closer to Cherry, but got nothing but the lifeless edge of tub.
It turned out that I was having a dream!
Yet I never doubted the message Cherry sent to me in this dream.
My mate would be back with me soon!
“Nuu-Chah, please heal my mate, your special wolf, with your utmost power,” I mumbled. "I promise to take care of every shifter in your custody."
Later, I mind linked Bert over to the pack house.
"Let's go and visit Jason in the territory of the Whitemoon Pack. How's everything going on there now?” I asked as Bert followed me out.
“Our warriors are marking the land with the sigil of Starsmoon now.”
“Good. How many families have signed up to get relocated in Whitemoon?” I started the engine and drove away.
"Not a single one." Bert sighed in frustration. "A holocaust took place on that land not long before after all."
"I see. Guess I'll have to talk to our pack members in person." I grasped tighter on the steering wheel.
"That would be the best. You gotta tell them in face that Fenrys and Lucy have been vanished to the underworld, and you'd deploy hundreds of epsilons and deltas to protect this land. Dylan, you'll have to assure our pack members that whatever happened to the late residents of Whitemoon will never happen to them.” Getting Bert's point, I nodded my head in agreement as we approached the Whitemoon territory.
"Hey bro!" Bill came over greeting me as I pulled over in front of the Whitemoon pack house.
“Bill?! What are you doing here?” I reached out for a handshake, surprised to see him here.
“I didn't get your reply to my message. So I decided to go for a drive and take my chance here.” Bill gave me a bright smile, patting on my shoulder. "Good job here, by the way."
"Thanks. What's it you messaged me about?"
“Oh, it's just that I heard that you've renovated Cherry's shop in downtown Seattle. I wanna be part of this.”
“Sure! And I'd take your gesture as a recognition of my decision. It's just I'm not sure when Cherry will be back eventually.” I suddenly felt depressed at the thought of all the uncertainties waiting ahead.
"Just go full stream ahead. Cherry will be happy to see what you've done when she'd back." Bill saw through my mind though I hadn't updated him on Cherry's news frequently.
Maybe he had known that Cherry'd be back in the end even before Cherry told me about this. After all, he was able to recognize how special Cherry was the first time he saw her.