Thor's POV
Dammit!" I angrily swear under my breath as I enter the car and close the door. I recline the car seat and lay back with my eyes closed as Eric starts the car and drives away from where we dropped my mate. I'm not happy to leave her behind and the thought that I'll be seeing her the following day is not enough to fill the vacuum space I'm feeling in my heart.
Eric says something that I don't quite catch so I open my eyes and look at him
"What?" I ask tersely. I can't keep the irritation out of my voice because of my sour mood
"Wow!... Is being separated from your mate that awful?..." He repeats what he said before. "You've been growling like you were in pain ever since you left her, you know." He says, his concern for me clearly displayed on his face
I sigh and adjust the chair back to how it was before. I knew I was swearing under my breath but I never realized I was projecting the frustration of parting from my mate to my wolf who hasn't even met his own mate yet.
"I want to take her away from this pack right now, Eric! I don't want my mate to stay in this pack another minute longer, working as a fucking maid while she is being abused in the process!" I growl out in anger
"Yeah, I understand but you know you can't do that right!?" Eric worriedly says to me. I can see from his expression that he's afraid of what my next decision might be
"This is not Denmark man, this is America. The law here says a she-wolf can't move from her pack into another pack until she's of legal age. She cannot even live with you, her mate, unless she's eighteen! You understand that right!? You understand that you have to wait till she's eighteen. You can't just take her out of her pack without her Alpha's knowledge Thor, doing that could mean war between the Silver Moon and Night Howlers pack and we can't risk war over Silver Moon when we've not even fought the duel and..."
"What the fuck man, take a chill pill! I hate it when you're being a control freak! What do you think I am? Stupid?" I snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence
"No, not stupid, crazy is more like it! Knowing your mate is being bullied, I've known you long enough to know you might want to forcefully take her away from her pack and damn all consequences! I just want you to hold on for a moment and think, Thor! This is not the right time to thirst for war and the Night Howler's pack is not a pack we can go to war against, at least not during this period...
Alpha Nate generously accommodated your dad and what's more, it seems your dad trusts him! Aside from that, he's a worthy ally, we can't afford to make an enemy of him right now, cos who knows, we might need him in the future.
We also need all shifters and humans to trust and not detest you. We've been away for so long, I don't want war to be the first thing on your agenda when you assume the position of the Alpha. We don't want them to see you as the monster you were rumored to be.
Even when I know deep down in me that Eric is not wrong about my thirst for war. I roll my eyes upward at him in exhaustion from the unsolicited lesson he just finished giving me.
That's why he's my best friend and Beta. He knew me too well to know I would want to take revenge and possibly bring war over the pack that maltreated my mate and also knows my brain tends not to think things through whenever I'm angry hence the lecture to appease my better side and make me see reason.
"You know you're wrong about me wanting war right? Yes, I was angry but not to the extent of thinking about war ..." I lied through my teeth.
"Yeah right, I was!" He replies to me with sarcasm since he also knew me too well to recognize when I'm lying
"She's going to be eighteen tomorrow anyway, I can certainly wait for some few hours to get her out." I say in resignation.
"That's great then! Since tomorrow is the duel, does that mean we're going to be having a double inauguration?... You know, the Alpha and Luna's ceremony at once" He teased
"Yeah right! Can we now move on to the matter at hand, please?"
"Matter at hand? Do you mean your dad?"
"Yeah. I'm kinda confused about what he said in my office... you know judging by the way I'm feeling about my mate right now, I think I now understand the reason he left us to some degree"
"Some degree?" Eric asks with a raised eyebrow and a hint of a smile on his face.
He doesn't understand what I'm driving at but I understand the look he's giving me. He wants me to admit that I finally understand the mate bond and how my dad must have felt when he abandoned my mom and I
"Yes, I admit that I now understand how my dad must have felt back then but understanding it just got me more confused..."
"More confused? How?"
"Now who's not thinking with their brain!?" I say when he didn't quickly understand what I was driving at "You were in my office earlier, you also heard all that my dad said about him never stop loving my mom!...
If I'm to judge by the way I'm feeling about Ash, then I'll say my dad can't have a mate and still claim to have feelings for my mom... Do you understand what I'm saying? I ask but he just nods which isn't a good enough answer for me
"You don't have a mate so I'm not sure if I can put my feelings into words enough for you to understand how strong the mate bond is and how untrue my dad's words sound"
"Yeah, you just found your mate today so I guess that makes you an expert on mate bonds and it's okay for you to look down on the rest of us that haven't gotten our mates..."
If not for the fact that I'm discussing a serious matter and I want him to be serious, I would have laughed at the look he was giving me. "C'mon man be serious!" I tell him
"Yeah, yeah, I am. Go ahead"
"Okay, what I'm saying is even though I just met my mate today, there's this painful hollow feeling I'm having right now for leaving her behind. The assurance that she will finally be mine tomorrow does not make me feel any better about missing her already. I just want her with me, by my side right now! Not tomorrow but now!
Now if my dad feels the way I'm feeling towards his mate then how could he say he never stopped loving my mom who wasn't his mate? All that he said in my office about Mom, how could he have felt that way towards her when he already has a mate and their mate bond?
"So are you saying he was lying?"
"No! I know he wasn't lying, just that it doesn't make sense! The more I try to understand the more confused I get! Do you get what I'm saying?"
"Yeah man, I got you! Good thing he's awake since he's the only one that can shed light on this for us!
"Yeah, good thing he's awake"