Chapter Three

Kate had woken up feeling uneasy. She had slept on the couch, having given her room to Laurie. She didn't mind but had found herself resisting the urge to sit outside the door of her room just to watch over her. It was an instinctual thing. Her kind was protective of their mates and seeing as she had just found hers and Laurie was human, that protective instinct was multiplied tenfold. Logically, she knew Laurie was fine, she was sleeping in her room for god's sake, but she couldn't help how she felt.

Kate glanced at the clock she had on top of the fireplace mantle. 9:57 am. It had only been a few hours since they had gotten back. Their search for Laurie's house had been a bust but she wasn't too sad about it seeing as the other woman was now sleeping in her room. Wearing her clothes. Kate was practically preening at the thought.

She hadn't gotten much sleep though. The sheer knowledge that Laurie was in the other room was enough to keep her up. Kate hadn't put much thought into the things her mother had told her about mates. She knew that it was rare to find one's mate and not everyone did. In her pack, she only knew of two couples who were mated. Her parents and her friends, Connor and Iris. The latter went through quite the ordeal to be together. Kate had resigned herself to the thought that she wouldn't find hers, or maybe she just didn't have one. Boy did Laurie catch her off guard.

 

Being near Laurie made her feel things she had never felt before; and being in contact with her, touching her made Kate think and feel things that she should definitely not be thinking of right now. Kate didn't know just how much she would crave to be near her mate at all times until she found her. It was now that she understood why she almost never saw Iris and Connor from each other. She had thought that it was just because their relationship was relatively new but now she could understand. Being even just a few doors away from Laurie was putting her on edge; it was almost painful. 

She also had to figure out the whole human thing. How was she supposed to tell Laurie? "Hey, I know we just met but I'm a werewolf and the universe decided to make you my mate so.." Kate whispered into the air, sighing and burying her face into the couch cushions. 

Telling Laurie about her kind scared her more than she liked to admit but she would have to do it soon. If she learned anything from her parents and Nate's inability to keep his mouth shut, she wouldn't be able to keep away from Laurie. She could barely stand to sleep in another room. How was she supposed to explain to Laurie why she would need to be close or at least know where she was when they were apart? 

"She'd probably think you're a stalker and run away." Kate sighs heavily, reaching for her phone that was on the coffee table in front of the couch. She had sent Iris a text a few hours ago asking to find the house Laurie moved into, knowing it couldn't have been far-seeing as Laurie had walked here. 

Kate: I need you to find something for me (1:52 am)

Iris: A girlfriend? I knew you'd break (1:52 am)

Iris: Give me an hour (1:52 am)

Kate: What? No! (1:53 am)

Kate: A house. Newly moved into. Probably not too far from mine (1:53 am)

Iris: It's 2 am (1:54 am)

Kate: It's important (1:54 am)

Iris: On it (1:54 am)

Iris: Found it (3:22 am)

Iris's last message came with a picture of a house and Kate was relieved to know she knew where it was and that it was relatively close to her own. She also realized why she and Laurie had not found it; they had been looking in the wrong direction. She really needed to show Laurie around. 

Kate pulls herself up from the couch, heading for her room to wake Laurie up. It was nearly 11 am and she knew Laurie would want to go home. 

Kate lightly knocks on the door before opening it, her gaze falling on a sleeping Laurie. A smile grew on her face as she took in the sight in front of her. Laurie was curled in on herself and bundled tightly in the many blankets Kate had given her a few hours back. Her head was the only part of her peeking through the blankets and her blonde hair was spread out over the pillows. 

Kate walked into the room and upon closer inspection, noticed Laurie trembling. Smile falling off her face, Kate sat on the bed beside a sleeping Laurie, reaching out to touch her forehead. 

"Damn it." Kate curses as she feels how warm Laurie was. She had been afraid that this would happen, knew that staying out would not be good for Laurie and she had been right.

Kate moves to pull her hand back but stops when Laurie seems to move closer, running her hand through blonde locks instead. Laurie was shivering and Kate's heart clenched with worry. The mound of blankets wrapped around her didn't seem to be doing anything. Moreover, Kate wasn't prepared for this. She could count the times she had gotten sick in her entire life on one hand and therefore didn't know what to do. 

Kate did the only thing she could think of and called her mother.

After receiving a lengthy scolding from her mother about not telling her as soon as she found Laurie and letting her mate sit in the cold for so long, making Kate feel like she was twelve again instead of her twenty-eight-year-old self, her mother came barging through her front door not thirty minutes later armed with medicine and a bag of food.

She handed Kate a glass of water and a bottle of pills with instructions to wake Laurie and have her take some before heading off to Kate's kitchen, muttering something about leaving as soon as she made her soup. Kate's mother was a feisty woman with honey blonde hair and green eyes. She was also small. Kate was nearly a foot taller but she and every member of her pack knew better than to incur the wrath of one Patricia Vaughn.

Kate set the water and medicine on the nightstand, moving across the room to close the curtains, blocking out the sun and dimming the room before sitting back on the bed next to Laurie. "Laurie," Kate says, softly running her fingers through the smaller blonde's hair. She calls her name again, gently easing Laurie out of sleep. 

"hmm no." Laurie mumbles, curling into herself more.

Kate shifts closer, gently rubbing up and down Laurie's arm. "Laurie, honey you have to get up. You're sick and you need to take some medicine." A light blush spreads across Kate's face as she lets the pet name slip, silently hoping her mate hadn't heard.

Laurie's eyes slowly blink open, falling on Kate before she shoots up. Kate leans back quickly to avoid being headbutted. Her mate did not need a concussion. "Hey, Woah. You're fine, you're okay."

"What-oh I'm sorry," Laurie says after realizing it was Kate in front of her, wincing as pain shot through her throat. Her voice was hoarse, she was cold and her head was pounding. She felt like complete and utter crap. 

"Is it time to go?" Laurie asks, slowly unraveling the pile of blankets wrapped around her and cursing herself as she felt a chill through her body. She was sick. 

"Laurie, you're sick," Kate says, staring incredulously at Laurie.

"I'm fine," Laurie says, wincing as her voice cracks. She knew she wasn't fine, but she didn't want to burden Kate more than she already had. She was a doctor and was fully capable of taking care of herself when she got home. Right as soon as she found and unpacked the boxes with the stuff she needed.

Kate reaches for the pill bottle and hands it to Laurie. "You're not. You have a fever. Here, I figured you knew how much you should take." 

"Thank you," Laurie says, looking at the bottle and taking two before giving it back to Kate. She's handed a glass of water and gives a thankful smile to the other woman before downing the pills.

"I found your place by the way. I had a friend look at me when we got back."

"That's great. Should we leave in a bit?" Laurie asks, falling into a coughing fit as soon as she gets her words out.

Kate resists the urge to comfort her, not knowing how she would react to Kate touching her. Laurie's words catch up with her and she bristles at the thought of taking her mate home like this. She was sick and Kate wasn't about to leave her on her own. "I don't think I should take you home like this." 

Laurie lets out a small smile at how concerned Kate had sounded. "I'm a twenty-seven-year-old woman. And a doctor. I can take care of myself, Kate." Laurie says before shifting so she sat beside Kate now, her feet on the floor. The small action left her breathing heavier.

"Hey, maybe you should lay back down," Kate says, worried.

Laurie ignores her and stands up, hand moving to her head as a wave of dizziness washed over her. Kate stands, reaching out to steady her before she could fall, using her right arm to pull Laurie into her body and sitting them both back down on the bed. "Okay, maybe you were right," Laurie says, leaning on Kate, suddenly feeling very tired.

Laurie lets her head fall on Kate's chest and Kate's left hand instinctively goes to start running through the smaller blonde's long locks. Kate was surprised that Laurie had not moved away as soon as she had touched her. She knew how she felt about Laurie but she had no idea how the bond they shared would affect her very human mate. It seemed that maybe Laurie was being affected by this too. Kate had heard of werewolves having human mates but didn't really know much about how it worked. She'd have to ask her mother.

Kate moves closer to Laurie, virtually eliminating any space between them. "Is this okay?" Kate asks, tightening her hold on the smaller woman. Laurie nods, sinking into the feeling of being wrapped around Kate. She had never felt more comfortable in her life. For whatever reason unknown to her, Kate made her feel warm and safe. Everything about her was drawing Laurie in; her voice, her smile, how she felt against her body. Something inside Laurie was telling her she needed to be close to this woman. Logically, Laurie knew she should not be having these kinds of thoughts about someone she has known for a day but at the moment, she was going to choose not to question it. Besides, it didn't look like Kate was going to ax-murder her.

Kate notices Laurie's breathing evening out and looks down to see the smaller woman's eyes closed. She drops her hand from Laurie's hair and moves away slightly. 

Laurie opens her eyes and starts to move away, thinking Kate was getting uncomfortable with holding her. "Sorry."

"Hey no, I was just moving so you could lay down." Kate whispers and Laurie nods, letting Kate help her move up the bed to lay down. She hadn't noticed that her right hand had taken hold of Kate's shirt while she was holding her and had accidentally pulled Kate down with her. The awkward positioning of their bodies made it so that when Laurie had moved to lay down, Kate had landed right on top of her.

Kate lay stunned on top of Laurie. She wasn't expecting the tug on her shirt and had reached out to steady herself, one hand on Laurie's hip and the other on the bed next to her head. She looked down at the smaller woman and found her staring, a light blush coloring her cheeks. Kate stared back for a quick second before taking her weight off of her and moving to lay beside her instead. She figured Laurie wouldn't mind.

An awkward silence fills the air before a thought pops into Kate's head. "So you're a doctor."

"Yup."

"A surgeon." 

"Yeah," Laurie says, confused as she was pretty sure she'd already told Kate about her job when they were gallivanting through the woods.

"But you just said you're twenty-seven. Aren't you a bit young?" Kate asks. She had been too busy taking Laurie in and had only now realized just how young she was.

"I graduated pretty early. Skipped a lot of grades." Laurie croaks out, turning on her side to face Kate. 

Kate shifts closer, turning her head to face Laurie. "So you're like, a genius." She asks. Her mate was getting more impressive the more she talked to her.

"I liked school." Laurie shrugs, a small smile on her lips. "Not a much as my sister did though. She pushed me a lot. I probably wouldn't be a doctor if it wasn't for her."

"You have a sister?" Kate asks and regrets it as soon as she does when she sees Laurie's smile drop.

"Had. She uh, She died. My parents too. Car accident." Laurie kept it short, her voice barely above a whisper. 

"I'm sorry." Kate's heart broke for her mate. From what she could tell, with Laurie moving here and what she had just learned, she was alone.

"It's okay. I'm getting through it. Dana would haunt me if I let myself wallow. She was pretty crazy. We both were. We did not make it easy for our parents." A giggle escapes Laurie's lips as she thinks of the last time both she and Dana had been home. They went out one night and their parents had freaked out when they saw the tattoos.

"Tell me about them?" Kate asks. She had found Laurie giggling to be the most adorable thing she'd ever seen and wanted to hear it again. 

Laurie launches into story after story, her throat protesting as she talks and Kate has taken to handing her water and then eventually tea after a while. Kate hung onto every word, sharing stories of her own. Baring those that involved her kind, of course. She'd save those for later. 

It wasn't until hours later when Kate had convinced her to take a nap that Laurie had realized it was the first time in weeks she had talked about her family without bursting into tears. Talking to Kate had been almost therapeutic. She asked the right questions, listened, and made her laugh more than she had in her life. All that while managing to care for Laurie and fussing over medicine and blankets and tea. It was then that Laurie knew Kate was someone she could see herself being around. Something about them felt right.