Kale's POV-

I was pacing. I don't usually pace, but that's the only thing that my wolf and I could agree upon at that precise moment. Back and forth. Back and forth. The repetitive action was giving me comfort as it was timed with the beeping of the heart monitor. Back (beep) forth (beep) back (beep) forth (beep). I was being pulled in two different directions. I was being tethered to two different women.

Raven, that was the rogue's name. Beautiful, beautiful Raven. I squeezed my eyes together and focused on the steady beeping of the heart monitor instead of the incessant thoughts in my own mind. Ridiculousness, that is what this was... ridiculous.

I wasn't supposed to have any mate. None. Now suddenly I have two?! This shit is fucking ridiculous!

I could feel Lucy's wolf-side call out to me through our bond; my anxiety was probably making her recovery even harder. I had no control over my movements as I rushed over to Luce's side and grasped her delicately bandaged hand in mine. I couldn't stop the swell of anger at myself as I looked at her not peaceful face. I caused another PTSD episode for her. Me, I caused it.

She was supposed to be mine that night. I was supposed to accept her, and we were supposed to be mates. She was supposed to be my Luna.

I sighed deeply as I ran my fingers over her healed cuts that were turning into scars on her arms. I've caused nothing but pain for this girl. I've caused nothing but complications and doubts for the two of us. I was such a shame.

Now I wasn't sure if we even stood a chance in hell together. I found myself very bitter at the timing of the universe. Was this a sign that Luce is not supposed to be mine or was this a test of some sort? I was sure I'd fail if this was a test.

I was just so angry and disappointed; she was going to be mine. I wanted her to be my mate. Obviously, Raven complicated things a bit though. I couldn't just ignore the bond I felt with her. What if she was to be my mate? Not Lucy...

"Kale," Lucy whimpered and squeezed my hand tightly.

My heart squeezed as I let out a soft whine at her pain; pain that I caused. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Luce." I kissed the back of her hand softly as I sat there and stared at her, wishing for her to come out of her nightmares.

The contrast between my two mates was astronomical. There was no way to even compare the two women. It would be like comparing apples and oranges; too different to even compete.

"Alpha..." I heard from the door hesitantly. Lexi stood there with tears in her eyes as she looked at me. "C-can I come in?"

I sighed and nodded slowly opening my arms to hug her. She instantly ran to me and let me wrap her up in a big hug while letting out sobs.

"I-is she okay?"

"She'll be okay," I answered her softly as she turned around in my lap to look at her.

"She's in pain," Lexi spoke softly and touched Lucy's hollowed cheeks affectionately. "I don't want her to be in pain."

"Me either, Lex." I sighed. "Talk to her, Doc said that she can maybe hear us. Maybe you can help her."

"What exactly happened? Have you talked to her yet?"

"It's complicated, Lexi. And I have a little bit, but I don't think she'll want to hear too much from me right now. You talk to her."

"Hey Lucy," Lexi said softly and tried to dry her tears up. "I don't want you to be in pain. You are my bestest friend; I don't like it when my bestest friend is hurting." She kissed her cheek and hugged her gently. "Alpha Kale says that he doesn't think that you want to hear him, but I know that that's stupid, so I'll make him talk to you. Wake up when he does though, just to prove him wrong."

I chuckled at her statement.

"Luna Lucy," she sighed deeply.

I hated that I had let so many people down.

"I love you, Luna Lucy."

I almost cried at her statement and had to bite my tongue in order to not whimper in front of the small girl. I hated that I was such an imbecile.

"Alpha, talk to her. She loves you, of course she'll want to hear you." Lexi hugged me tightly. "Don't worry, she'll wake up soon... Just talk to her. I have to go now; my parents didn't know that I had left... I'm sure they're frantic. I had to come though. I saw you carrying Lucy and she looked hurt."

I smiled at the small girl to show her that she wasn't in trouble. Then I hugged the little girl and walked her out of the room while mind-linking Nat, who was in the waiting room, to take her to her parents.

I walked back to Luce and looked at her beautiful face. "I'm sorry, Luce. I am so sorry. I am sorry that I did that. I'm sorry that I let my anger take ahold of me. I'm sorry that I let this happen. I'm sorry that I tried to order you around again. I'm sorry that I let my body act in that way to someone else. I'm sorry that there is someone else. I'm so sorry."

I couldn't help the tears that slid down my face as I felt her pain through our mate-bond.

"I'm sorry that I didn't accept you. I'm sorry that tonight didn't go the way I had planned. I was going to accept you, you know. I love you. B-but now... now I'm so confused."

I sat heavily on the chair as I breathed deeply through the deep pain in my chest.

"Not about you though, Luce. I-I love you! But there's another part of me that's pulling me to her. I am so sickened with myself. I want you!"

I stood up and threw the chair that I had been sitting on down then backed away from her because I knew that I was hurting her. That's all I did... hurt her.

"B-But I want her too," I whispered and looked out the window into the darkened night sky. This is too fucked up and I was so angry at myself.

There was a knock on the door. Before I could say anything, the person opened it and came through. I immediately growled, feeling so tightly wound up.

"It's just me," she said simply with a misplaced smile.

"Out." I growled fiercely at her. "Get out of this room and away from her," I spoke with barely contained anger.

"I-I just wanted to see you though," she said and came up to me grabbing both of my hands.

I felt awful for liking her touch. I looked at Lucy and then wrenched my hands from her grip. I felt my eyes turn black and my wolf speak in command. "Get out of this room. I will be out there shortly if you would like to speak to me. You are not welcome in this room with her. Leave."

She nodded her head once and left with no arguments.

I almost laughed at the contrast of how that would have gone if it were Lucy in the situation. She'd stay just to spite me for talking to her in that way. She would have felt belittled. After all, she doesn't like to be told what to do. It would have pissed me off, but I would have respected her for challenging me. Very few Lunas challenge their mates, and I had never heard of one doing it as Lucy did. She kept me on my toes, and I actually liked that about her very much.

"Luce, I will be right back. Nat or Sam will come in to keep you company in a second," I said and kissed her forehead gently.

I walked to the waiting room which was vacant except for Nat, Cory, Sam, and Raven. "Nat, would you like to go in there with her?"

"Absolutely," she said eyeing Raven distastefully. "I want to make sure that my future sister-in-law is okay."

I glared at Nat letting her know that she had crossed a line with that statement.

"Sorry," she huffed. "Is it okay if Cory comes as well? You know that we're all fond of your ma-Lucy."

I nodded and let the two pass me before turning my attention back to Raven.

"Your sister is a bit disrespectful," she commented nervously when I said nothing.

"What did you need, Raven?"

"I- well, do I really need a reason to want to see you?" She paused and when I didn't answer she continued. "You are, after all, my mate."

My jaw ticked as she spoke. I was angry because all I fucking wanted to do was throw her into the wall and fuck her right there in the waiting room. I sighed as I rubbed my temples to combat the major headache in response to being pulled two totally different directions.

"This is fucked up," Sam eventually said as we all stood there in silence.

I could almost imagine the way that Lucy would have cracked up at his 'astute' observation. It made me smile just thinking about it. Raven, however, scoffed and shook her head at him.

"Look, I'm sorry that this probably isn't how you wanted this all to go," I started calmly. "But right now, she is my priority."

Raven growled at my declaration. "You're my mate!" She exclaimed angrily. "I'm sorry that you stupidly got involved and attached to someone that isn't your mate, but I am your mate. So, you playing house or whatever you do with her is over and now its time to focus on me, your future."

Sam's eyes widened as my eyes turned black and my wolf tried to clamber its way out of my body in anger. He backed up a few feet, and when Raven didn't follow, he pulled her back by the shirt.

"You do not order me around, bitch!" I said loudly while trying to calm myself. "For the record, I also share a mate-bond with her. I don't know how you could have possibly missed that during the fight that we had right in front of you a few hours ago, but that is what that was about... She's my mate as well, apparently."

"Well, I'm sorry, I was recovering from her throwing me into a wall!"

"You charged her... after she even warned you. You're lucky that she didn't kill you," I defended.

"I thought that you were mateless?" She asked after ignoring my rationalizations.

"So did I," I muttered bitterly.

"I'm better for you than her," she finally said after a moment of silence.

I saw Sam's eyes widen and he backed up a few steps away from her.

"I am better than her," she repeated and bravely got closer to me. "I would have never treated you how she did in there... Yelling and screaming, physically attacking you. And now... she couldn't handle what she started, so here we all are."

"Raven, I suggest you shut your fucking mouth," I said in a quiet irate voice. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"What's it going to be? Me, the girl you should be with. The one who is actually Luna material. Or her? The one that couldn't finish what she started and could never make you happy."

"Shut your mouth about her, harridan," I ordered. "We will not be discussing this or her when she is not here to defend herself." I sighed as she nodded respectfully and shut her mouth. "Was there something that you needed? Or did you just pull me away from her for no reason?"

"Well... I was getting quite tired," she said feigning innocence.

"Okay, Sam... Will you walk her to the pack house? You can give her the room across from Lucy's for now," I asked. 'Keep an eye on her and tell the others to too.' I added via mind-link.

"Well... I was actually hoping that you would come with me. I was hoping that maybe we could go to your room and... get to know each other better," she said seductively, making me swallow hard and focus on Sam instead of her beautiful face.

"I am going to stay with Lucy until she at least wakes up, probably until she leaves here... if she lets me," I said dismissively.

"You're going to let an unmated male walk me to bed?" She asked accusatory.

"Yes," I answered with an eyeroll. "I know that Sam would never doing anything inappropriate. Goodnight, Raven."

She pouted but quickly wiped the look off her face and nodded. "Okay, that's fair. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

I nodded once, and before I could react, she kissed me deeply and thoroughly. I felt dazed for a second. She then flashed a dazzling smile and walked towards the door, leaving me and Sam stunned.

"Goodnight, mate." She walked through the door.

"You know, Lucy sincerely disrespected me and pissed me off when we first met, and I still liked her better that very first day than I like this girl right now. She's insane, Kale." He sighed when I flashed my teeth at him in reflex for him speaking about Raven like that, even if it was true.

I nodded in acknowledgement. "I... I don't really have a reply, to be honest. I suppose you can confirm to everyone that the attack is off for tomorrow. Her visions say she needs to be there with us, and also... I really don't think I could leave her here in this state anyways." I sighed and shook my head, not caring if my Beta saw my turmoil about this situation. "This truly is so fucked up."

"It is," Sam agreed with me. "I'll tell everyone about the battle, maybe this is The Moon Goddess' way of telling us to hold off," he said hopefully. "Good night, Alpha," he bid respectively and went to escort the girl to her room.

---

I walked into the hospital room and just stared at Lucy. She was shaking and shivering while sweat poured down her face; it was the worst she's looked since her episode started.

Nat looked like she was going to cry as she leaned on her mate. "Lucy..." She whimpered as Luce let out a loud sob.

I felt overwhelming pain come through our bond and I couldn't help but buckle under the intense pain. I could barely breathe as the pain consumed my heart. I couldn't imagine what kind of pain would cause that intense of feelings to come through our bond. If I hurt like that, then that meant that her hurt was astronomical.

"Stop, please stop." It was a plea that left her lips as she thrashed around.

"Nat, call Doc or Hannah... just someone. The sedatives must be wearing off," I said through the pain that left me feeling debilitated.

After a few moments Hannah came rushing through and gasped at the sight of Lucy's struggles. "The sedatives should still be working. We dosed her for six hours; it's only been a couple," Hannah said as she tried to calm Lucy by shushing her. It obviously didn't work.

Doc came through the door and winced. "We'll give her another dose of a muscle relaxer and anxiety meds. The sedatives should have worked," he said calmly.

"It's the pain in her mind... Those memories are strong, and I don't think that any sedatives could combat the pain that she is reliving in there," Hannah stated ominously as she helped doc get new meds in her IV.

I felt guilt eating me from the inside out. This was my fault. I put her into this state, and I felt absolutely awful.

Lucy's movements calmed down and all she did was whimper loudly. The pain in my chest began to subside as Lucy settled further into the bed. The pain was still there, making me feel suffocated and lost, but it was more bearable this time. But I deserved the heart-stopping hurt from before. I deserved to feel the pain for her.

"We need to get her to wake up. The longer she is in this state, the more memories she will relive," Hannah said with a nod. "I can tell you from experience, the more memories she relives, the more lost she'll be when she wakes up. I'm afraid that when she wakes up, if she stays like this for too long, that we'll never get her back."

My mind panicked as she spoke. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when I was in one of my episodes and stayed in my mind for more than a day once... I tried to kill myself when I finally reawaked. Now, I'm not saying that Lucy will try the same, but it is something that we need to keep in mind. She's strong as hell, but she is also a recovering torture victim who is reliving that all again in her mind."

"H-how do we wake her then?" I finally asked.

"You remember the first time, right Alpha? Talk to her," Doc spoke slowly. "She woke up when you started speaking to her."

"Yes, but I'm sure she wouldn't want to hear from me now... After everything that I've done."

"You share a bond with her. Regardless of what has transpired between you, her wolf-side calls to you just as yours calls to her," Doc said with a nod.

"Kale, we can figure all this mess out later. Right now, we need to get her out of her own head. We need to pull her back to the present," Hannah said with a sad smile. "She's hurting."

"We'll give you some privacy," Doc said and ushered everyone to the door.

"Just talk to her. Believe in her. She is your oracle. She is your mate. I know that you love her, so let her know that. I know that you didn't mean to hurt her; she knows it as well. Remind her of how strong she is. Remind her of her worth," Nat said gently before she walked from the room.

"That feeling that you have in your chest when she's hurting or away from you," Cory began. "...use it. Let that feeling remind you of your love for her. The mate bond is sacred; it's powerful. Your instinct is to protect her above all else; protect her from herself," he said wisely and followed my sister out of the room leaving me alone with Luce.

"Luce," I began and let out a shaky breath. I traced her facial features softly with my fingers and let her scent consume me. "You are so beautiful, you know," I commented.

"During our fight you said that you would never be able to give me what she could... You were right, you never could. But she could never give me what you can either." I sat down in the chair and looked back at her. "I don't want an out, Luce. I don't want to lose you. I don't know what will come from this whole fucked up situation, and I am terrified."

I paused and rested my head on her chest listening to her quickened heartrate.

"I am terrified of making the wrong move for the pack. I am terrified that I am not a good Alpha. I am terrified that I'll be the demise in our fight against The North. But most of all, I'm terrified of losing you."

I lifted my head from her chest as her heartrate slowed.

"I don't deserve you. It's not the other way around Lucy; it's me. I don't deserve you. I messed all of this up. You were supposed to be mine, and now I'm afraid that this is how the Moon Goddess is taking you away from us. Us, your pack, your family... It's supposed to be ours. I disgraced her and her beautiful gift to me by not accepting you soon enough; this is the outcome of it."

I sighed and picked up her hand. "I hate that girl. I hate that she came and ruined my plans. I hate that she even exists. I hate that I have some sort of sick need for her. But most of all, I hate myself for wanting her. I hate myself for hurting you."

I no longer thought about the words coming from my mouth, I just let them spill out hoping that the Divine would guide my words like they had before when I was speaking to her.

"Luce just wake up. I know I hurt you, and I can't promise that I will never do it again but I'm trying. I love you, and I know that we'll figure this out together."

I nuzzled her wrist and kissed the two healing scars on her arm.

"The past is the past. What they did to you can never be fixed, but you getting up and living, will show them that they couldn't break you. You aren't broken because of them. You are strong and you are worthy of the world. Don't let them tell you differently."

I breathed in her scent and let my wolf bask in her amazing smell. "Don't let them control you anymore. You can't be controlled, Luce. You're a beautiful force to be reckoned with, and no one can stifle you or hold you down. Not me, not them, not anyone. You are the Moon Goddess' Oracle. You are stronger than anyone. Believe it, Luce. Believe in yourself."

I felt her take a sharp breath and her eyes shot open widely.

"Luce! Lucy!?" I asked while shaking her.

Her beautiful electric eyes were swirling in Divine sight, and suddenly the self-inflicted scars that I had been tracing on both of her arms were covered by bright purple markings that were connecting together intricately. I couldn't help but to stand there and stare in awe as the marks continued, coming from absolutely nowhere, and finally all connected in a symbol that I recognized as the 'triple Goddess' symbol.

Lucy finally let out the deep breath that she inhaled as the markings started and laid there panting.

"Luce, are you okay?" I asked when I saw that her eyes were no longer swirling.

"I think so," she said as she sat up slowly. I helped her sit up as she stared at her arms in shock.

"What was that?" I asked as she sat there tracing the intricate lines of the beautiful symbols. Everyone would now definitely know that she is an Oracle.

She looked from the symbol to me and took a shaky breath. "Acceptance... of myself."

I tilted my head at her and wordlessly asked permission to touch the new lines that now took up the whole of her forearms. She put her arms in my hands, and I delicately traced the patterns of the lines. You could still see the scars underneath the purple lines, but they were more difficult to see with the lines obstructing them.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She asked quietly.

"It is... though, I thought that the scars before were just as stunning."

Her eyes met mine in shock and I just smiled at her.

"I'm sorry, Luce. I didn't mean to hurt you," I finally said as I still traced the designs on her skin.

"I know," she said to me calmly. "I... I didn't handle that very well."

"No one would have handled that very well. At least you didn't kill anyone like I would have," I said seriously.

"I felt..." She paused as she searched for a word to use. "Like nothing next to her. I felt unworthy and unwanted. You didn't accuse her of anything. You didn't push her away. You didn't try and make her leave. It made me feel like I didn't belong with you. It made me feel like you were just biding your time waiting for someone better to come along."

"Luce no, I-I-" I tried but she cut me off.

"I realized something when you were talking to me though... I felt that way. Not you. It was me who thought that," she said softly. "I understand that you got swept up in whatever pull she has on you and acted without thinking, just like you did at first when we first met. I know that you didn't mean to hurt me. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like I did. I was just so angry. I felt like I had absolutely no chance with you because of her. I mean, you hadn't even accepted me when it was just me, and compared to her... I felt like I had no chance in hell with you up against her."

She grasped my hands and kissed my palm. "But as you spoke... I heard you. I heard you say you love me, and I heard you say that you were sorry and that you were going to accept me tonight. You were going to accept me."

She giggled softly and shook her head. "Something that Hannah said during our last meeting stuck with me, I can't love you properly if I don't love myself. When you spoke, all these doubts kept telling me that you would never pick me, you would never actually love me. And I realized that those doubts- they weren't caused by you, or Harrow, or Fleming. They were caused by me because I never accepted me, and I never loved myself. I didn't understand how you could love me when even I didn't love me. So... I decided that I love myself and everything that I am. The good, the bad, the ugly... It's all a part of the divine being that I am. And I am divine, Kale."

She smiled at me and shrugged as she continued.

"I know that she complicates things, obviously, but I also know that the Moon Goddess made you for me and me for you. She reassured me of that right before she gave me these marks." She held her forearms back out for me. "She said that I just have to trust myself and you enough to get through this. This was not foreseen by her or by me, but she said that with love... We can get through anything. I have to believe that."

She kissed my cheek softly before settling back into the bed.

"I also realized that I have to be okay if you don't choose me. You are my mate, but you're not my everything. You can't be my everything. You can reject me, and yes, it'll hurt like hell, and I might even die without the other half of my soul... But I will stay here because this is my pack. I love them. This is my home, and this has become my family, no matter how unwelcoming they've been or how wounded they are from all your previous hurts. I belong here... whether you accept me or not."

She looked at me seriously as she met my eyes.

"I need your word that if you reject me, whether she likes it or not if you accept her, you won't kick me out of the pack. You'll allow me to stay here and fight for the good of the pack and our world. I want to help defeat The North, and my visions are very clear that this is the pack that I do it with..."

I swallowed as I looked at her. Her whole demeanor had changed in a matter of hours. She seemed lighter but also more focused. It was beautiful seeing her come into her own, seeing her shine with her divine gift. She was mastering it, and I had never seen such beauty.

"I already told you that I won't reject you," I said truthfully.

"I have seen many futures, Kale," she said harshly. "While it's hard for me to see around that girl, I have seen it with my sight. There is a very real possibility that you might reject me. So just promise me... please?"

I sighed as I looked at her.

"I won't make you promise me to not reject me because if that is what you think is best, then I won't get in your way. But this... I need you to promise me this. You can't kick me out."

"I wont, I promise. You are my Oracle. I won't kick you out of the pack even if I reject you. I won't make you leave our home or our family... I promise," I pledged.

She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded once. "Thank you... a-and I love you too, Kale."

I smiled and wanted to kiss her, but I couldn't bring myself to do it knowing that Raven had kissed me just a little while before. I wouldn't disrespect her like that.

"Now, what do we know about her?" She asked as she studied me.

"Shouldn't we get Doc in here to examine you or something?" I asked, trying to avoid this conversation.

"No, I want to make sure that the pack is in no immediate danger. Now... What do we know about the she-wolf that claims you as her mate?" She said strongly, making me look at her wide-eyed.

"Self-acceptance really becomes you," I said with a small smile. She was already a strong she-wolf, but now she was self-assured and level-headed as well. It was beautiful. "Her name is Raven."

She snorted and shook her head. I raised my eyebrow in question. "I just think it's funny... being described as a darkness really suits her and her name, doesn't it?"

"We don't know if she is the darkness clouding your visions."

"Right..." She said sarcastically. "What else do we know?"

"That... is pretty much it," I said slowly.

She looked at me with narrowed eyes. "You haven't even interrogated her yet?" She yelled.

"Well, no, I've been in here with you..."

"Don't you dare use me as an excuse. What if she really is an assassin wreaking havoc on your pack while you wasted time in here with me?!"

"Sorry for being fucking worried about you," I yelled back.

She took a breath and calmed herself. "You're right, I'm sorry. Thank you for helping me wake up. I'm glad that you got me away from the memories. I just... I don't have a good feeling about her, and I don't know if it's because she's trying to claim you or if it really is just a bad feeling," she said calmer. "I am okay, can you please go and interrogate her and learn her story now? Or at the very least, get some warriors to do it. I'm sure Dillon, Sam, and Trevor will be happy to do it."

"Sam might break her neck if I let him do it." Her eyes widened at my words. "He likes her even less than you when you first got here."

She stifled a laugh and didn't apologize when I gave her a warning glare. "You have to admit, that's funny! Sam growled at me and tried to maneuver me by my neck. How the hell does it get worse than that, save a physical attack?"

I chuckled slightly at her words. "That is true..." I sighed and sagged a little at the thought of leaving Lucy. "I'll go interrogate her now. I'll send Nat here, since I'm going to bring Cory with me. Sam will probably be here too, since I can't trust him to not harm her."

She nodded her head. "Be careful, please. I know that you feel a connection to her, but we know nothing about her. Just be weary about her like you were of me and stay on guard. I have a bad feeling about her, and I know that my 'feelings' are clouded because of our situation... But be mindful. I can't bear to think about her hurting you."

"I will, Luce. I'll be back as soon as possible." I kissed the crown of her head and let my fingers linger on her forearm markings for a few moments.

She was right... I had to go into this interrogation with a level mind and thoughts about Lucy- about my Oracle. She was who I wanted, not this girl. I had to be careful and be sure not to get swept away by this new she-wolf. I needed to get to the bottom of this screwed up situation.