Aaron Ch. 30-35

"Therapy? Who are you going to force me to talk to?"

"You'll be fine. Oh, your visitors are coming."

"Visitors? I still want to know who my therapist is going to be. If it's Dr Phil you can get lost, I can't stand that guy."

"Scent them Katie, and then open your damn link. Your pack all love you and care about you, never forget that."

Kate had barely got a good whiff and opened her link to the pack when the door flew open.

Gem came flying at her, "Never ever do that to me again. I thought you were trapped in there, dying, nobody could find you. Never close me out again."

"Calm down pet you're going to hurt the patient." Luc spoke as he and Emily crossed the room at a quarter of Gem's speed. "Katie-girl if you upset my mate like that again I'm going to have to put you over my knee."

"Me? It isn't me, it's the pregnancy hormones. They make a woman crazy. We can get her a bed here, this is the psych ward didn't you know?"

"Psych ward? Oh shit and I was being so horrible, and kept saying you were going crazy and having mood swings and everything. Now you're actually in a psych ward and I did nothing to help you. You helped me and I let you down." Emily cried throwing herself at Kate.

"If you're pregnant Emily I'm going to kick your ass."

"What?"

"Well Gem is a wreck because she's knocked up, what's your excuse? I'm fine a little banged up, can't hear right now, little crazy, which is nothing new, but you're totally losing it, maybe it's genetic and my little sister needs a bed here in the psych ward too?"

"This isn't really a psych ward is it?" Emily calmed down enough to start thinking straight.

"No Em it is just a standard run of the mill werewolf hospital ward. Crazy werewolves historically didn't live long enough for treatment. So Katie here has to be a first. Apparently we all love her so much we're breaking all the rules. Soon we'll be healing crazies left right and centre, but so far she's the first. I had to lend my cuffs though as we didn't even have any of the standard mental hospital equipment. Tranquilisers sure but none of the cool stuff." Luc calmed Emily down. "Lift the blanket she has cuffs on her ankles so she can't escape and if she even thinks of causing a problem I'm cuffing her hands too."

"I didn't even know I had cuffs on. I haven't even tried to move it hurts too much."

"Yeah well in a day or two I reckon we'll need the handcuffs. Gem is right, never pull this shit again." Luc growled at her then gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Did you send him away or is he hiding?"

"I sort of sent him I guess, but Thorn and Luna ordered him to leave."

"Okay then, I love ya Katie-girl but you've got a room full and I better go check on my brother. He's a mess."

"I do love him Luc, and I'm really sorry for hurting him, but its better this way."

"Bull shit. Thorn and Luna have a week and if you're not seeing sense by then I'm going to teach you my way."

"Turning me into a submissive is destined to fail Lucas. Besides Aaron isn't like you anyway, so what would that accomplish?"

"Well we'd have some fun, not just me of course. Gem wouldn't like that, although you make her cry like that again I reckon she'll be taking a turn at the whip. I reckon a week tops, then you'd be so happy to be given back to Aaron when we were finished, you'd never step out of line again."

"We?"

"Well Gem's a bit emotional right now and if I played with you she could hurt us both. So I'd just punish you, a lot, and leave others to play with you. All the Doms from the club would be keen I'm sure."

"How about you keep the threats to yourself and go check on your brother."

"Katie-girl that was no threat. That was a promise. You better work hard because if you don't come out of here whole I will break you down totally and build you up from scratch, and honey I doubt you'd like my methods."

Lucas leaned down to Gem who now sat on the bed holding Kate's hand. He kissed her goodbye and silently communicated with her for a moment before nodding to everyone in the room and leaving.

"That was kind of hot and scary at the same time. I'm too young to have heard any of that communication." Emily looked towards the door Lucas had just closed behind him. "Wow. Fifty Shades had nothing on him."

"If Aaron hears you've read Fifty he will ground you for life. He is scary hot though." Gem grinned. "So what's going on with you Miss Kate?"

"Oh you know, explosions, fighting with myself and everyone else, minor breakdown, nothing much."

Luna spoke up from the back of the room where she and Thorn had moved to give the rest space. "Not getting into stuff tonight. Kate needs rest. Hopefully by tomorrow she'll be healing well and have her hearing back."

"Right, then we're off. You sleep well and get to healing so we can really talk tomorrow." Gem kissed Kate's cheek and then moved back to give Emily room to say goodnight.

"Kate, are you really going to be okay?"

"Yes. Can you do me a favour, can you keep an eye on Aaron for me?"

"Of course I will. I love you Kate. Get better fast." Kate hugged her close.

"I love you more Em. Now shoo, I've got healing and dreaming to get on with."

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Kate had been undergoing what she considered intensive therapy for three days when she came to the conclusion she either had to get Aaron to agree to go back to his training and work, or would need to close the link.

"Aaron, can you come visit soon?"

"Is everything okay? I can come now, I'll see you in a few."

"I'm fine, it isn't urgent just when you're free. I didn't mean to make you panic." She bit back the 'again'. Every time she was sad or angry or he uncovered more information about what was in that rotten book or in her past he nearly lost his mind. He had broken a set of outdoor furniture the first day, beaten another wolf bloody in a sparring session that evening. On the second day Lucas had distracted him but hadn't been able to stop him screaming how much he hated her mother and then turning wolf for the rest of the afternoon. Today he had stormed into Thorn's office and demanded he call 'that excuse of a woman and let him tell her a few things'. When Thorn had refused he had suggested maybe her alpha would be interested in dishing out the discipline she deserved, and he should be contacted immediately.

"Do you know what you're going to say to him?" Luna asked quietly.

"I'm going to tell him the truth he deserves that. I've written the letter Thorn requested after he finished in his office. Do you think this was because of Aaron or do you think that was his plan all along?"

"Honey, Thorn has been looking for the best way to deal with this since the second he opened that trash."

"Sending her alpha the book and my letter could cause her trouble, and it won't fix me."

"It better cause her trouble, if it doesn't I think Thorn and Aaron will be making a trip after the wedding. Neither of them will feel this is done until she atones for what she has done. How do you feel about giving up this obsession you've had with the book?"

"I can close my eyes and see every word Luna. Letting go of the book won't make its contents let me go. The pain is deep and I had no idea how much I had let it invade every choice I made."

"So if it isn't sending the book why are you freaking out?"

"She's my mother I don't want her to be killed."

"Then ask her alpha to please take your thoughts into consideration. Explain having her death on your hands would be another burden she would be laying on you and you carry enough already."

"He's her alpha, the decision is his. He hasn't ever met me and my burdens won't matter to him." Kate shrugged.

"So the decision and the burden are not yours then. See, you have no control in what happens with her now. You say goodbye and then let her pack and her deal with that. You focus here, on you and your goals. You and your pack."

"Thanks LJ. Is Rose doing okay? I haven't heard from her for a while now and she wasn't well last we spoke."

"The pregnancy is taking a toll on her, she is due at the same time as Gem and I yet has been so ill she was worried she may not carry to term. You know how risky that is. John has her on complete bed rest which she is doing because she wants this, a family of their own, so bad, but it is frustrating her."

"She's coming to the wedding though?"

"Yeah they will all be here in a week. I can't believe this wedding is finally going to happen."

Kate looked at Luna and smiled, "It is going to be perfect." A knock at the door was followed by Aaron's head poking around "Come in Aaron."

"I'll leave you two to it." Luna stood and left silently telling Kate she was around if she needed her.

"Is this bad? I got the feeling Luna was in a hurry to get out of here." Aaron stood stiffly not far inside the door.

"Look, Aaron come here and sit down." Kate patted the bed she sat on. "I am all healed now I promise. I think the only reason I'm still in here is I don't know where to go and nobody knows what to do with me."

"You're still planning to break the bond." He sat and let out a deep breath. "I hoped you were calling me to say you loved me again, but I knew when I saw your face..." He let his head hang briefly. "Katie, I'm not giving up on us. Please just give it some more time?"

"I'm not breaking the bond. Well not any time soon. I am still working through a lot of stuff Aaron." She handed him the letter and nodded to indicate he should read it. "You didn't need to have a go at Thorn he already had things under control. He's a good alpha, and a good brother. He had me write this letter to send with the diary to my mother, via her alpha. He will be also sending a letter for her alpha."

"You okay with this baby? They aren't pushing you into something you're not ready for?"

"I love you so much for that alone Aaron. I know how much you want to ring her neck, scream at her, wipe my mind of everything that it clings to, and protect me from her ever hurting me again. Yet you still ask if I am okay saying goodbye to her. Telling her I no longer want or need her in my life. You are a good man Aaron."

"Can you say that again, please? I know it makes me sound all weak and needy and not all manly and strong, but I fucking love it when you say it."

"I love you Aaron. I love you and I know you love me. I know it isn't just some mating bond thing. Our love started before that. I'm broken Aaron and I am sorry that hurts you, but I'm going to hurt you even more, and I can't believe what I'm going to ask you to do, but I need it. I need you to go back to work, to your training, back to Captain and your team."

"You're sending me away?"

"I can't deal with this stuff and worry about how much it is hurting you every day. I can't have you keep running in to comfort, protect and fix me, every time I uncover something bad. If you and I have a bit of distance I swear I'll keep in touch with you, I'll link with you apart from during sessions, we can text and skype like we did before all this. But if you don't leave I'm going to have to close the link completely because I need to do this and I can't do it if I'm trying not to upset you or let you down, or disappoint you or hurt you. Do you understand?"

"I'm trying, give me a minute. You're not cutting me out, just wanting a bit of distance?"

"I promise I'm not cutting you out. I'm not mentally fit to make any big decisions right now."

"Okay then I'll head off in the morning on one condition. If you need me back, promise you'll call me and I will be here."

"Thank you Aaron. Thank you for doing this. I know it is selfish and unfair and..." He leaned in and kissed her silent. When he raised his head she was flushed pink and he kissed a freckle on her nose.

"Only because I love you baby. I'd do anything for you."

"Good to know. Can you hold me for a bit? I've had a pretty bad week."

"Me too so hold me back." He pulled her into his body and she tucked herself into him on the couch like they had been doing it for years.

"Did Luna tell you we are going to have three sons?"

"Guess we make it through this then. Three sons eh? Damn I was really hoping for a little girl with freckles and pigtails."

"Yeah sorry I don't think that will happen. You Donald boys seem to be destined to produce males." Kate kept his future daughter a secret.

"I caught up with Miguel and Juan today. The medic and pilot that flew us home. They asked after you."

"The coyote and the cat? They don't even know me."

"Puma, I made the mistake of calling him a cat, think it was like someone calling us a dog, he was not impressed. They are good guys Kate, I think you'll like them both and their mate Sophia sounds like she'd fit in here too."

"You got to know that much on the flight?"

"They stayed overnight and kept me occupied while you were being treated and were unconscious."

"That was really nice of them. I should write a thank you card. Can you get their address to me?"

"I'll make sure I have it to you before I leave. Do you want Emily to stay or head back to the city and school? Glen has offered to keep an eye on her but a school friend has invited her to stay. They're pack and you would know the girl's mum, Hope is the youngest of Marcus's sisters."

"Of course I remember Hope, I didn't think her daughter was as old as Emily though. It seems like not long ago she was still being carried everywhere. If Em is happy to go back I think her keeping up with school and work and her new friends is better than sitting around here worrying about me."

"I'll fill her in when she and I go out for dinner soon. I'll just hold you until I have to go meet her. It will really suck letting you go and knowing I won't see you again until the wedding."

"It's just over a week, we've done this before, and we'll be fine."

"But we weren't fine were we? You had all this stuff going on and I went off clueless and then I got so busy I didn't even notice you were thinking I wasn't crazy about you. Totally gaga over you. No chance of me looking at any other women in the world, only have eyes for you, in love with you."

"Part of me knew, knows, but part of me believes you could do better. Part of me remembers the girls you used to date and sees them as better than me. Part of me sees the monster I am and knows you don't deserve to have a mate like me."

"You are not a monster Katie. Not a single thing about you qualifies for that. You have such a caring heart. You are loyal and hardworking. You're outside beauty is only surpassed by your inner beauty. You know you aren't a monster don't you?"

"I could say what you want to hear or I can tell you the truth. I know I'm a wolf just like all my family, friends and pack. But I wasn't born of something pure like you all were. I was born from a violent act. My genetics are less than desirable an out of control rapist for a father and an emotionally and mentally abusive, manipulative murderess for a mum. I hope I can find a way to believe I am not a monster, or at least know I can control that part of me. But I don't know."

"The therapist knows this is what you think? Is she helping?"

"She is helping. She knows some. Its early days. You better go Emily will be dying of starvation."

"I'll come by in the morning before I leave. I love you Katie."

"I know. I love you too." She kissed him as he leaned in and felt his surprise as it was the first time she had done so in weeks. "I will miss you, so please try not to get too busy for me."

"Never too busy for you. I need to tell you about the missed skypes. Kate, every time we skyped it just made it harder and harder to be apart. I would end the connection and I would pace the room holding my keys thinking I would just quit and come home to you. If I stayed busy and didn't see you on the other side of the screen I could almost get by, but at what cost? I am so sorry I didn't realise what me skipping those sessions was doing to you."

"Hey, if I wasn't all kinds of crazy I would have just yelled at you, demanded skype or an explanation and we would have been fine. This isn't your fault Aaron."

"Mating set it all off though, and then me being a dick escalated things. Don't lie I heard Luna and the therapist and the doctor before you were even conscious. I will spend my life making sure you never doubt how much I love you."

"Lucky me. Now stop feeling guilty because you shouldn't. Scram because you are late mister."

"Squirt gets a little moody when she's not fed, so I'll run. You should ask Luna about going back to our room tomorrow after I leave. You'll feel better there than in here." Aaron suggested as he reached the door.

"I will. Have fun with Emily." Kate sighed as he left. Then contacted Luna, "That went too well. I think I missed something. Or maybe he just isn't going to leave."

"He's speaking to Thorn right now, he's listening to you Kate and doing what you need. He's trying to prove himself to you."

"Wow. Okay I need to take an hour or three to digest that."

"Make it ninety minutes because by then Gem and I will be there for our dinner date."

***

Kate stood outside for the first time since her return. She lifted her face to the sun and willed the tears to hold. "This is so hard."

"Okay, that's me. I'm off. I think Stiles has chewed his way through the place by the sounds of things so I'll get some training started when I get back. You look after yourself and try not to get lost in all this stuff. You are amazing Kate and you will be back to the feisty redhead that didn't take shit from anyone, but cared about everyone no matter size, age, popularity or even if they were a grade A moron. Find my Katie again."

"I'm in here. I just don't know how much to keep and how much to throw away. I'll touch base every day."

"Skype every second night please because I need to see you're okay."

"It won't make it too hard for you?"

"Not any more. Things are different now."

"Okay. Let me know when you get home. Juan coming to get you was a huge surprise."

"He said he had to see what you were like awake and vertical because Miguel hadn't stopped talking about how pale and pretty you were."

"Funny he told me he was just hoping his gaydar was wrong and he could get you to switch sides on the way back to the city." Kate laughed as Aaron picked her up and swung her around.

"Only room for one drama queen around here and you claimed that crown when you were running from the swans."

Kate smacked him in the back of the head, "Don't say that word around me. I'll have nightmares."

"I can stay and keep you safe." He offered, clearly not joking.

"Nope, get your butt in the helicopter and sit on it before Juan checks it out again."

"You're a mean woman Kate. I like to check out his tight buns in those sexy cargo pants." Juan laughed as Aaron growled at him and climbed into the chopper. "You be okay?"

"Yes. I'm going to be fine. We both will be. When you get home you thank Sophia for the lovely gift and you make sure to have some energy for her and Miguel. You're going to need it." At his confused look she continued, "You're going to be a Papa soon and the fun part will be this week."

"She is..." He vibrated with his sudden arousal. "Now?"

"Not yet. But soon. I had a vision when I opened the gift she sent me."