Page 36 of Silence Falls a New Alpha
Chapter 24
Unfolding Relationships
Derrick’s POV
I locked myself in my office after everything I learned this morning. Did Damian not trust me? I threw some paperwork across my office just thinking about how I gave him my all as a friend. I planned on finally telling him I found my mate the day we merged packs and yet here I am questioning my friend. Why did Damian have to keep this hidden, the pack would have supported him regardless of who his father was. Knock knock knock. Great and now someone is here, I don’t want to see anyone right now.
“Go.” I stopped when the door opened to show Jace. He looked confused and unsure whether to hold me or kiss me. My mate was blindsided as well but not nearly as hurt by this as I was, for he barely knew Damian.
“I’ll be fine.” I said to him as he started picking up the papers I threw all over my office. Jace had been a saint since we found out we were mates. Our connection was instant, and we both finally felt whole. His shaggy fiery red hair was a mess, more so than normal. His eyes looked bloodshot as if he had been crying.
“What’s wrong babe?” I asked as I bent down on the floor grabbing his hand. His hands were shaking as if something happened to him. Jace kept to himself before and after the merge which I’m sure people looked at him weirdly for. How can a beta of a pack be so antisocial if you would?
“I’m fine. I promise.” He sighed at me. I hated seeing him like this and so with that I kissed him. His eyes went wide for a split second until he kissed me back. I need to tell Damian about us soon.
“So, you didn’t know?” He questioned me with a bit of hurt in his voice. He thought I knew about Damian’s past and didn’t tell him. Ouch. I pulled away from Jace and went to my office door.
“No. I fucking didn’t Jace.” I looked at him as he stood there in a mess of papers. “However, I was going to tell him about us.” I didn’t care that I was gay. The pack doesn’t care about that type of thing either, not even Damian cared. “I’m telling him about us now. No more secrets.” That was the last thing I said before I left and headed to find Damian. It was well into the afternoon now and I’m sure the pack members were all inside enjoying dinner. As I rounded the corner near the dining hall, I saw Damian and Bradley standing there having what looked to be an interesting conversation. Bradley looked as though he would tuck tail and run while Damian looked annoyed. I cleared my throat as I approached them so if it was something I shouldn’t be involved in they would shut up. Damian looked at me and rolled his eyes, oh he knew I was upset with him and I’m sure he thought I was going to go off on him, however, that’s not why I’m here now.
“I found my mate.” I let him know as I stopped beside the two of them. Damian’s eyebrow raised with curiosity and Bradley shuffled his feet some. “Jace.” I narrowed my eyes at Damian as he shook his head and patted me on the back. His face was happy, which I expected, but Bradley looked upset at the matter. Surely, he would have wanted his old beta to be happy regardless of who his mate turned out to be. It's not like we control who our mates are.
“I’m happy for you Derrick, you deserve it.” Damian told me with a smile as he elbowed Bradley. Clearly, there was some tension going on that I was not fully aware of. However, none of that mattered, what I needed to say was said. I was going to leave before Bradley grabbed my arm.
“He has issues fitting in. You’re a well-known doctor across the eastern half of the nation. I wish you both happiness, maybe you can help him socialize better.” He smiled slightly and walked off. So that’s what it is, he is worried that his beta won’t fit in properly given my reputation. None of that matters to me though as I know Jace will do amazing. He is even picking up on so much already with me teaching him. I should head back to my office and grab him for dinner.
By the time I got back, Jace was gone and my office was clean. Sigh. Of course, he cleaned up, Jace is a neat freak if you would. It was cute and since he knew how I like things in my office I knew he wouldn’t misplace things. With that, I was off to find him in hopes he hadn’t eaten yet. It’s been a bit touch and go learning about each other, but our physical connection was intense as it always is with mates. I am thankful that we haven’t gotten into any arguments this early and pray we never do. Jace is a pushover in his aspect while I’m more of a hard ass so that should never be an issue if I’m being honest. I returned to the dining hall, and he wasn’t there which was odd since we both hadn’t eaten yet. Hm. Maybe he went outside? I headed out the front doors and noticed him in the distance at a tree on the phone. I wonder who he’d be on the phone with so far away? I walked out towards him as his back stayed to me, he was so in the zone with the phone call that he must have not even noticed me creeping up on him.
“She’s dead how-” I heard him saying as I stepped on a tree branch making it crack under my weight. With that, he ended the call and quickly turned around his shock-filled eyes met mine.
“Who was that?” Weird to just hang up on someone so suddenly and who exactly was dead. He looked terrified as I stood there in front of him as if I had caught him doing something wrong.
“It was a childhood friend babe.” But his reply was shaky as if he was trying to cover for himself and possibly see what all I overheard.
“Who’s dead?” I held my stern voice as I thought back to Damian saying they thought Tagon had help. I know he is my mate, but anything is possible, right?
“My mother,” he said to me as he wiped what I assume to be a tear away. That’s right over the last few days we’ve talked about our past. Jace is the only survivor of his family; it must hurt not being able to tell his mother he found his mate. I was able to tell Damian who I view as a brother because this pack is all I have. Jace only has me and I guess this friend of his, I wonder if I’ll ever meet this friend of his. We headed back inside to get dinner in my office before studying some medical documents I found over certain poisons.
