Page 24 of Fated
I tried to keep my outer appearance happy and upbeat but inside I couldn’t stop thinking about how little time I had left with her. It was also difficult to stop thinking about Blake and worrying about what his reasons were for wanting to mate. Despite what he said, I wasn’t convinced that he was telling me the truth.
I spent a little while with my mother before I pulled myself away so I could find Curtis and get an update on her condition. The bouts of coughing had worsened and her chest sounded really bad. Curtis was talking to a nurse when I approached him.
“Hey,” he greeted me with a smile and I felt myself relax for the first time that morning. The nurse gave me a brief nod before she left.
There weren’t many people that I let in and trusted, but Curtis I trusted completely.
“How are you?” he asked as he scanned my features. He knew how much of an emotional toll I’d taken the day before when I’d buried Victor.
“I’m okay,” I replied and he arched an eyebrow at me.
“What’s really going on?” he asked. He knew me better than sometimes I even knew myself.
“Blake wants to mate and I just don’t know if I can trust him and his intentions,” I said, opening up as I rubbed my forehead. “He said that he has changed his mind.”
“Maybe he’s being honest. Any guy would be lucky to be your mate,” he told me and I smiled at him. Sometimes Curtis could be too trusting.
“We’ll see, time will tell. I wanted to get an update on my mom,” I said as I felt the nervous knot form in my stomach.
I wasn’t expecting any good news but I was nervous about the degree of bad news. I needed to know how much time she had left and deep down inside although I knew she was going to die I was hoping to have a little more time than he’d initially told me.
He kept my gaze.
“It isn’t good,” he started and I felt the dread creep up inside of me. “I don’t think she will last another four days.”
Four days?
It wasn’t fair. Initially he’d said a couple of weeks and now we were down to a few days. I drew a sharp breath as I processed what that meant.
I felt the sting of tears as I felt Curtis pull me into a hug. I hated feeling weak but I gave myself a moment to lean against him before I took a deep breath and released it, trying to get over the shock. Emotions under control again, I pushed away from him and he let me go.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he brushed a stray piece of hair out of my face.
“I know.”
What little time my mom still had left was the most important thing to me. I would have to shift all my other responsibilities to other pack members to make sure I could spend every moment I could with her.
“I need you to do me a favor,” I said.
“Anything,” he replied softly.
“I want you to be my beta,” I told him. I didn’t trust anyone else the way I trusted him and I needed someone who would watch my back to be my second-in-charge.
He looked surprised.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “It might make it difficult in a fight if I have to see to the injured.”
It was a valid point, but I was sure we would be able to work around that.
“Yes, I’m sure. Will you?” I asked as I looked up at him.
“Of course I will,” he answered. “It would be an honor.”
I felt relieved. It had been weighing on my mind and now I felt lighter. I could concentrate fully on my mother.
“You okay to handle things for the next few days?” I asked.
“Yeah, of course,” he said, nodding his head.
