Chapter Thirteen

The ride to the hospital had been a little awkward given the tension Alex's father was creating in the car. They had all decided to go to make sure everything would be okay. Alex's dad had driven them, peeking up at the rear view mirror every now and then to glare at them, while his mother sat in the front passenger seat reminding her husband to pay attention and keep his eyes on the road. Sovereign couldn't sit normally in the back seat, needing to prop his broken leg up, so he sat sideways, with his back to the window and his leg resting on Alex's lap.

It had been a somewhat uncomfortable journey, with occasional bumps in the road jostling Sovereign's injured leg. It didn't help that it seemed as though Alex's father was deliberately driving into pot holes and steering roughly. Alex glared pointedly at the back of his father's head every time Sovereign winced from the pain, while his mother chastised her husband for not driving more carefully and safely.

When they had arrived that the hospital's A&E, they ended up waiting for around an hour before being seen. They did an X-Ray and checked over all of Sovereign's wounds. The doctor they saw was not impressed.

"Well, I don't know who did the stitches, but they're dreadful. We're going to have to take them out and redo them." The Doctor said solemnly, shaking her head. 

"Redo them?" Sovereign asked, wincing as she looked over his back injuries.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. If not, you're going to have some nasty scarring and there's a high chance of infection. Of course, I'll do what I can to numb the pain while the stitches are removed and redone properly. Honestly, you really should have come straight to the hospital last night. You said you were attacked by a wolf?" She asked, looking highly concerned.

"Yes, there were three of them. I barely got away." Sovereign replied, a dark look on his face knowing that Mr Blackwood hadn't even tried, possibly even done a sloppy job on purpose.

"Right, okay... what we'll do is we'll remove the stitches, clean out the wounds properly, do some new stitches where necessary and redress the wounds, okay?" The doctor explained, placing a hand on Sovereign's arm, sympathetically.

"Let's leave them be and get them some snacks from the hospital shop. We need to have a word." Mrs Blackwood said to her husband, a furious look in her eyes as she dragged him from the room.

Alex felt a hot fury burning in him as well. The fact that his own father had deliberately done sloppy work and possibly further harmed his fated mate made his blood boil. He couldn't believe that someone he trusted could be so cruel and heartless. He thought that, at least, even if his father didn't like that his mate was a rogue alpha, he wouldn't go so far as to deliberately harm him.

"I'm so sorry." Alex apologised to Sovereign, voice heavy with emotion. 

"It's not your fault." Sovereign said, reaching out and holding both of Alex's hands in his, softly running his thumbs over the backs of them.

"I didn't know he was doing this... I never thought he would do something this cruel... if I had known, I never would have even let him in the room with you. I would have brought you to the hospital myself. I should have brought you here myself. I'm so, so sorry Sovereign, I don't know how I'll ever make this up to you... you deserve so much better." Alex looked at the ground, filled with anger and shame at what his father had done and his own inability to to protect his Moon.

"Alex, look at me." Sovereign said, waiting for Alex to look him in the eyes before continuing. "This is not your fault, in any way. You did everything you could at the time to help me. We can't change the past, but we can choose how we deal with things in the present. I'm not going to lie, I am extremely upset and hurt by what your father did to me and it hurts to know that he hates me, but that's on him. None of this is your fault, Alex. You saved my life." 

"I don't deserve you." Alex said with a small smile, squeezing Sovereign's hands.

"Of course you do." Sovereign replied, leaving no room for further protest.

"Alright boys, if you're ready, I'm going to prepare the cast and then work on the other wounds. I'll have my assistant in here too. Alex here can stay if you want, or he can wait outside." The doctor explained, gathering what she needed for the treatments.

"I'd like him to stay please." Sovereign replied, holding tightly to Alex's hands.

So, Alex stayed in the room the whole time to keep Sovereign company and offer him comfort. It was much less painful this time, having the stitches removed and redone, but it was still highly uncomfortable. Alex was just glad that Sovereign was being treated by someone who actually wanted to help and cared about his wellbeing. 

He didn't know if he could ever forgive his father for what he had done. It was too cruel, too heartless and vile. He thought to himself once more that he couldn't believe, couldn't really comprehend that his own father would do something like this, do something like this on purpose, to cause deliberate harm to someone Alex cared deeply for already. 

He could understand being bitter or worried or even a bit angry over the fact that this would cause tensions to rise with their neighbouring pack, but he didn't for one second think that his dad would ever escalate to the point of deliberately injuring and harming his fated mate this way. 

His mind was alight with confusion, anger, sorrow and the thrumming, aching pain of such an immense betrayal. He should have been able to trust his father to do the right thing, to help him, but he had done the opposite. He was untrustworthy and Alex didn't know what to do with that distrust. 

It took a good few hours for the doctor and one of he nurses to finish applying the cast and dealing with all of he stitches. Alex stayed with Sovereign the whole time, even when his mother had knocked on the door to let him know that she'd brought them some snacks and bottled water. 

Both of his parents were waiting outside the door on the chairs that lined the hall outside of the room. He was frustrated. He didn't know how he would react to seeing his dad again knowing everything that he had done. He knew that he wouldn't be able to treat him the same way he used to, wouldn't be able to look at him the same way again.

Everything was different. At least he could still rely on his mother and his friends. He knew that they would be on his side, that they would be there for him.

When everything was done, Sovereign looked a lot better. With the fresh bandages tied a lot more neatly and professionally and seeming like they would be much more comfortable than what had been there before. 

"How are you feeling?" Alex asked as Sovereign stood from the doctor's bench.

"A little bit numb, but overall much, much better." He replied, offering Alex a lopsided smile. 

"That's a relief. I'm so sorry about all of this, Sovereign." He said.

"Alex... don't beat yourself up about it. You didn't know and you did your best to look after me. I'm glad that I have you." Sovereign answered.

"Alright, now that that's done, I have written you up a prescription for some pain killers and some special cream for the larger cuts. If you have any further issues, please make an appoint with us right away. I've scheduled you a check up appointment for a week from now to check on your progress. The stitches should heal within seven to ten days. The leg however, will take about six to eight weeks, so you'll be needing some crutches while it heals." The doctor explained and passed Sovereign his prescription and appointment card. "You'll want to avoid getting any water on your injuries, too, at least as much as you can." she advised.

"Okay, thank you both." Sovereign replied, accepting a pair of crutches from the nurse and letting her adjust them to his height.

"It's no trouble, sir." The nurse said, smiling.

"Of course, I'm just glad you didn't wait any longer before coming to the hospital." The doctor added. 

"If anything else happens I'll bring him back straight away" Alex promised and with that, they left the room and went out into the hallway.

When they stepped out, Alex first with Sovereign following closely behind on his crutches, his mother immediately stood, his father standing silently against the wall with his arms crossed and a deep frown on his face.

"Mum, thanks for waiting out here." Alex said, leaning down to hug her.

"It's no trouble at all sweetie. I picked up some snacks for the two of you from the store. You can eat them in the car or wait until we get home. There's some water too." She offered and Alex took the small plastic bag from her hands gratefully.

"Thank you, I know we could both really do with the energy." Alex said.

"And you, honey, how are you feeling? You're welcome to stay with us as long as you want to." Mrs Blackwood said, turning her motherly attention to Sovereign. 

"Oh... I... Thank you, but... I wouldn't want to impose on you." Sovereign replied, looking down and off to the side, not wanting to meet her eyes knowing how little he could trust her husband.

"Nonsense, honey. You could never be an imposition. You're my son's Moon, that means you're part of the family now. Alex isn't the only one who wants to keep you safe." She assured and Sovereign felt a little better knowing that she was on his side.

"Thank you ma'am, I really appreciate it more than you know." He replied.

The journey back to the farm was awkward to say the least. Sovereign took his place next to Alex again, but sat normally in the seat rather than sideways. With his leg in the cast and his stitches done properly, he felt a lot more comfortable. 

About half way back, he felt both tired and a little bit spiteful, and so he leaned his head on Alex's shoulder, partially just to annoy his father who he knew was watching them through the rear view mirror again. He smiled though, thoughts slipping away from the cruel man when Alex placed an arm around him and held him close for the rest of the drive.

When they arrived back at the house, Alex grabbed the bag of drinks and snacks and took Sovereign up to his bedroom. 

The room was warmly lit, the sunlight making patterns of light on the carpet and bed covers. It wasn't the biggest room, but it was of a reasonable size, enough to fit in Alex's king sized bed, a dark wooden desk and a chest of drawers. The window stretched over most of the wall up to the desk and had thick, cream-coloured curtains.

On the bedside table there was a simple little lamp and on the desk there were some scattered papers and a pencil pot full of cheap ballpoint pens. The room smelled distinctively of Alex. It was all freshly cut grass, petrichor and a hint of orange. It was perfect.

"Smells like you." Was all Sovereign could say, bringing a quiet chuckle from Alex.

"Well, it is my bedroom." He replied. "You can lie down if you want, it's got to be better than standing around or having to lie downstairs again."

"Yeah, I think I'll take you up on that offer." Sovereign agreed.

He walked over to the bed and leant his crutches at the side, wincing as he sat down and scooting himself over to lean lightly against the headboard with one of the pillows tucked behind his back. When he was settled, he looked up at Alex and patted the space next to him expectantly. Of course, Alex went over and took his place without waiting another second. 

Alex felt a need deep within him to be as close to Sovereign as he possibly could and he wondered if Sovereign felt that way too. Before he could think too much though, Sovereign was once again leaning his head on his shoulder and Alex couldn't help but smile.

"You want some snacks?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, what is there?" Sovereign replied.

"Hmm, well, there's a couple of caramel chocolate bars, some barbecue flavoured crisps and a couple packets of gummy candy... there's also bottled water." Alex listed, sorting through the contents of the plastic bag.

"I think I'll take a bag of that gummy candy and a packet of crisps, the bottled water too." Sovereign chose and Alex passed them to him. 

For a while, they sat together in silence eating their snacks and relaxing. It felt good to relax after everything that had happened in such a short amount of time. It almost felt as though several days had passed them by, when in reality it had been less than twenty-four hours. 

Eventually some questions came, both of them being interested in knowing more about each other. It was Alex who broke the silence though.

"So... I have to ask... why were you out in that territory? How long have you been a rogue?" Alex asked slowly, not wanting to upset his mate with such personal questions.

"Well..." Sovereign paused for a long moment. 

"You don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable." Alex interjected.

"No, no. You're good. It's just... why I'm a rogue is a bit of a painful subject. You should probably know though... seeing as you're my fated mate and I have caused you some trouble with your neighbours." He stopped to take a deep breath before continuing. "I'm a rogue now for several reasons really... and you need to know them to know the answers to your questions. The first reason was that my pack, they had some weird rules.

 One of them was that the child of the pack leader would be matched with the daughter of the second strongest family in the pack, in order to produce the strongest offspring... when they told me I had to mate with... with a woman... with someone I didn't know or love, someone who wasn't fated to me... I couldn't. I refused to follow their twisted traditions. Even without you being my Sol, I've always known that I'm gay. The fact that I was gay and the fact that I was refusing to do what they demanded of me is what sealed my fate. 

My parents... they were furious... they humiliated me in front of the whole pack, threw me to the floor and told me I had a ten second head start before it was open season for everyone there. I was the prey, and they were going to hunt me. Obviously, I transformed into my wolf form and ran as fast as I could into the trees. I had to create as much distance as possible between me and them. I could hear them gaining on me as I ran. 

Luckily, I made it into the neighbouring territory before they could get to me. They knew they couldn't follow me in without violating their own treaties and laws.

I was nineteen back then, and I'm twenty-eight now. I've been on my own for nine years... just... roaming, I guess, searching... for something, anything. I don't know... I don't know what I was looking for... I wasn't really living, just... surviving. Sometimes I would be welcomed into territories as a passing traveller and sometimes, like the time you rescued me, I would be seen as a threat and attacked." Sovereign finished looking down at his hands, which were resting on his lap. He didn't entirely want to look up, afraid of the look that would be on Alex's face. 

After a long silence stretched between them, Alex not knowing what to say to all of that, Sovereign spoke again. "I know it's a lot." He said. "I know that it's a lot to take in... knowing I've been shunned... I understand if you don't want me anymore."

"What?" Alex exclaimed, shocked, whipping his head around to look properly at Sovereign. "I would never stop wanting you over that! Your old pack are monsters for what they did to you!" 

"Alex..." Sovereign trailed off in surprise at the outburst. 

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through something like that. I can't even imagine how difficult it must have been for you to deal with that. Your family exiling you, setting the whole pack on you in an attempt to kill you... having to fend for yourself, all on your own all this time, I... Sovereign... you never have to go through that again, okay? I promise. As long as I'm around, you'll never have to face anything alone." Alex resolved, putting an arm around Sovereign and holding him close, like he had done back in the car.

"Alex... I want to trust you, I do... but what about your father? You've known me for a day. Is that really enough for you to throw all this away? I don't think it is... This is just... difficult for me." Sovereign said, matter-of-factly. 

"Sovereign... I don't intend on throwing anything away. I care about you deeply already. My mum loves you already. If my dad can't learn to accept you then that's his choice. I'm not going to abandon you. He's already lost my trust after what he did to you and how he's been treating you." Alex replied, linking his fingers with Sovereign's. 

"I just don't want to get in the way... I don't want to cause a rift in your family." Sovereign admitted.

"If anyone is getting in the way or causing a rift it's my dad, not you. Besides, you are a part of my family now." Alex replied honestly, trying to reassure his Moon. 

"It's just... I've put my trust in people before... and every time, I got burned." Sovereign answered and it seemed that it would be hard to convince him that Alex fully intended to be something permanent. 

"You know, I think I ought to introduce you to my extended family, Sovereign. I wanted the rest of the day to just be us, and to just relax up here, but I think that you need to meet them." Alex said, fishing out his phone.

Alex was going to call in his reinforcements to try and put some of Sovereign's worries to rest. He knew that there were only two people around that could maybe give his Moon some more confidence in his place beside him, and as a part of his family. 

Sure, he hadn't known Sovereign for long, there was still far more that he didn't know about the other than what he did know. But, what he did know was that Sovereign was his fated mate, his Moon and that came above anything else for him. He was looking forward to getting to know Sovereign as a person, to finding out his likes and dislikes, the things he enjoyed and he looked forward to discovering new things together with him as they grew closer. 

He just felt that he needed to show Sovereign that he wasn't on his own anymore, that he had people in his corner who would accept him and look out for him here. Not just in Alex and his mother, but also in his friends, Luna and Hazel. He was sure that the two of them could offer Sovereign some reassurance and, if nothing else, some much needed friendship.