Healing His Mate
Chapter 23

Aaron POV

The feeling of anxiety runs through me as Aaliyah's fears pass over our mate bond. It's the same feeling she experiences every time I leave her side.

I know my leaving for patrol is concerning her immensely, but we need to take this step. Letting her heal isn't going to be never leaving her side, but helping her to be alright even when we are separated.

I look up at the clock as Thatcher calls out over the pack link, On my way now.

"It's time for me to go, angel," I say softly. I feel her fingers clutch my shirt a bit tighter as the words leave my lips.

Standing up, she moves with me.

"Aaliyah," I pull her away from me and cup her face gently as I see her try to hold back her tears, "It's just a few hours, angel."

"I know," she nods, "We can do this."

I pull her closer and kiss her deeply. I pour all of my struggles of leaving her into the kiss and leave behind the promise to come back to her.

A knock on the door reverberates through the house and I break away from my mate.

"Thatcher's here," Aaliyah says, letting me go.

"If you need me, I'll be here," I tell her as we walk over to the door. I reach for the doorknob when she stops me.

"I know you are alpha and you have responsibilities, but I need you to come back," she pleads with me.

"Of course I'll come back."

"No," she shakes her head, "I need you to promise me. Don't just say you will. Promise me you'll come back to me."

Her eyes shine in desperation and Kiba whines at our mate in such distress.

"I will come back to you, angel. I promise."

She lets out the breath she had been holding and releases me. I feel her relax as she takes a step back.

"Be careful."

"Always," I smile and open the door to let Thatcher into the house. He passes me quietly as I lean down and kiss her one last time before walking out of the house and toward the northern border for my shift.

*****

I near the end of my shift as Kiba huffs in annoyance.

We shouldn't have left mate, he miffs again.

She's safe. Thatcher said that they've been watching movies, I remind him.

So the gamma says, he argues. He hate being away from Aaliyah. He wants eyes on our mate at all times and I can't say I disagree with the sentiment.

If something was wrong, we would feel it.

He just huffs at me again as he continues counting down the time until we get to go back to her.

I walk along the border, keeping my eyes open for any signs of hunters. When we captured the hunters weeks ago, the entire pack has been on edge. We haven't spotted a hunter since and no amount of torture as made our prisoner break.

I feel worry in my stomach with having so much unknown. The hunters were tracking Aaliyah and they were close enough to ambush our pack trackers. So, where did they go?

A crack breaks my thoughts and I whip my head towards the sound. Before I make a move to shift, I spot Zach moving through the brush.

"You're early," I call out to him.

"I figured you'd been chomping at the bit to get back to Aaliyah," he laughs, "But I mean if you want to wait another hour to go, I can just lea-"

I growl lowly at him.

"That's what I thought," he smiles as he walks up to me, "Get out of here alpha."

"Thanks, Zach," I say, taking off at a jog back towards the middle of the pack. Behind me I hear Zach call out the I owe him one, but I just move faster as Kiba pushes me to get back to our mate.

I'm running up the porch steps not even ten minutes later. Thatcher opens the door for me before I can even reach the frame.

"She's asleep on the couch," he tells me, "Luna was safe the entire time you were gone."

I nod in thanks to him and walk into the house. Moving through the door, my eyes land on the beautiful angel curled up on the sofa. Her hair flows around her as she clutches the fur blanket in her hands.

I shuffle closer to her as her breath starts to pick up. For a moment, I think she's heard me and woken up. But after a pregnant pause, I realize her mind is slipping into a nightmare.

"Aaron," she pleads softly and I waste no time lifting her into my arms and cuddling her closer to my chest.

"Shh, I'm here angel," I coo to her and sit back onto the couch.

She rubs her face into my chest and Kiba purrs in my head at the acceptance. Knowing her nightmare is still trying to breach her mind's defenses, I place kisses all over her face and whisper sweet nothings to coax her into opening her eyes.

"Aaron," she says again, her eyelashes fluttering open, "You're back."

"I'm home, angel," I smile.

She sits up suddenly as if her brain as finally caught up with what's happened. Her hands run over my body as if checking for any injuries I might have incurred since leaving her not a few hours ago.

"I'm fine. Tonight was completely uneventful," I laugh gently and scoop her hands into my hold.

"You're alright?" her eyes shine with fear, "I was dreaming that the hunters were here. That they hurt you."

"Not real," I reassure her, "The only non-boring thing to happen was spotting a couple of deer near the field."

"No hunters?"

"Not one," I smile before I kiss her deeply, "We are both safe."

"I know," she tells me, shocking me with her words, "I'm safe here. I'm safe with you."

I don't get a chance to reply to her before she's grabbing my face and kissing me deep. Our lips move in sync as I adjust her on my lap so she's straddling me.

My skin radiates heat from every passionate touch of our lips and skin.

"Angel," I growl in a low moan. I kiss down her neck until I reach my mark. I suck the spot, causing Aaliyah to moan loudly.

"Aaron," she takes my earlobe into her mouth and whispers, "Make me yours."

I pull back in shock, "Angel?"

"Aaron," she says back, clearly unhappy that I stopped kissing her. Her body continues to rub against mine and the heat moves over me.

"Aaliyah," I move my hands to her hips and hold her in place, "Are you sure?"

"I'm yours, Aaron," she smiles, "Now, make me yours forever. Make me yours in every way."

Locking her legs around my waist, I stand up with her wrapped around me. I carry my angel up the stairs and do exactly that.