What does that make me?

I don't even know how long I've been asleep, but I think it's the first time I had a good night's sleep in a long while. I was finally waking up when I heard voices around me. I heard a deep, rumbly voice speak my name. He called me by my full first name, and it made me cringe. I only ever heard my name being called like that when I was in trouble. My eyes still felt heavy, so I kept them closed. My lips, on the other hand, did not.

"Call me Kwen."

I felt when a body moved closer to me. The person grabbed my hand gently. They smelled of the forest and had a gentle aura about them that made me feel safe. I slowly opened my eyes to find the face of the man that I've only seen in pictures. A face I believed to be long gone from this world, was now staring me dead in the eyes. He looked older but young at the same time. He had full black hair that had a slight wave to it, parted in the middle, where a few tresses laid neatly on his forehead. His brown eyes were kind but sharp. His nose matched mine in its pointiness, and his jaw had a thin layer of black hair covering it, etching out his strong jawline. He was every bit of handsome as mama said he was. He was also huge as I don't know what. This man was sitting, yet he still towered over me. He had huge wide shoulders, and his muscles protruded underneath his shirt. He smiled at me, and I gave a small one in return.

" Sorry. Calling me Kwenali like that makes me think I'm in trouble. Mommy played no games."

I shivered, then smiled slowly at remembering my mother. The man who did nothing but stare at me gave me a quizzical look.

"You, you know who I am?"

It looked as if he would break if I told him no, but he also wore a hopeful gleam in his eyes. As I stared at him, tears made their way down my face. I removed my hand from his and slowly made my way into a sitting position. I couldn't look at him. I know it wasn't his fault for just now finding out about me, but I couldn't help but feel... I don't even know how to feel towards him. Mommy had always said he loved us, but he didn't even know I existed. If he loved her the way she claimed, why wasn't he there? I stared down at my hands and allowed the tears to flow.

"Yes. I know who you are. You're... my dad... Mama has always spoken so highly of you. She used to tell me all kinds of stories about how you two met and the adventures you went on. How much fun she had with you... how much she loved you. I can see now, it was most likely one-sided. Yes, she already explained that you didn't know about me, but you can't love someone like that and disappear from their love for all that time. That's not love."

I looked up at him, and I could see how distraught he felt at my words, and it broke my heart. I don't know. Maybe I wanted someone else to feel how bad I'm feeling right now.

"She never loved anyone else besides you. She never dated. Never even entertained the idea of having anyone else. But I'm sure you moved on quickly. Probably have another family and everything, right?"

My tears were hot, but they were pouring down my face. He looked at me and then towards the other man in the room. I kinda forgot he was there.

"Dr. Mason, could you give us a moment, please?"

The man nodded his head and left. I couldn't look at him. I didn't want to believe that I could have another parent. I didn't want another one. Why? So that he could leave me too, like he did, mommy? I can't believe anyone else could love me the way she had, and it would hurt too much if he didn't even want the job. He came and sat on the bed beside me. I kept my head down.

"Kwenali."

I didn't respond to him and didn't look his way. I felt a hand gently touch my chin and lifted my head to meet his. He, too, had tears in his eyes, and I immediately felt horrible for being the one to put them there.

"Look at me, Kwenali. I am so sorry. I have nothing to say or nothing I can say to make it up to you or to make you understand that I would've never left you if I had known about you. I truly did love your mother, but something expected and unexpected happened. I honestly didn't expect to fall in love with your mother. I fell and I fell hard. That was the unexpected. The expected was me meeting my mate."

I scrunched my face in confusion. What in the world is a mate? And why is that the excuse he's tryna give me right now? He noticed my face and sighed deeply. He stood up next to the bed facing me. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, they weren't the same kind brown I saw earlier. They were a burnt orange with a shimmery red rim around them. I gasped and began to back away. He held up his hands, expressing he wasn't trying to hurt me. My body began to tremble. Where the heck was I? Who's this man. I started looking around tryna spot some exits. Then, all of a sudden, my mother's word fluttered in my mind: He won't hurt me and trust him. He stood completely still in hopes that he won't startle me more than he already had. I began taking deep breaths, and his scent changed slightly. It went from a calming forest breeze to a firewood smell that still had his forest scent underneath. This smell, too, was calming to me. I didn't feel threatened at all, in fact. I finally calmed down and turned towards him. I looked into his eyes, and they were just as inviting.

"What are you, and what does that make me?"

He seemed to relax when I looked calmer and asked questions. He didn't move from his spot, only talked.

"I am what you call a werewolf and to top it off, I am an Alpha wolf. An alpha is sort of like a king or lord over his people. He keeps them safe and protected. His people and the community they're in are called a pack. Right now, you are currently in my pack."

My eyes widened when I heard him speak. He already had a deep voice, but now it's even deeper and more gravelly.

"My voice and eyes changed because this is my wolf presenting himself. I am Axel, my little pup. I am truly happy to meet you, little one."

He smiled a kind smile. I was totally freaked out, but also very intrigued. Is that why I have a a crazy sense of smell, speed and strength?

"And to answer your question, you are technically half wolf, but I don't smell a wolf on you. As of right now, you are strictly human. You may inherit some wolf attributes later on, but I've never heard of anyone getting a wolf later on in life if they weren't born with one."

Oh. Well, that just dashed my hopes of getting one. Although I already have attributes of a wolf. Maybe that's just as far as it goes for me. His eyes finally returned back to brown and his scent went back to being a calming forest breeze. He looked at me and gestured if he could sit next to me. I scooted over and dangled my legs over the side of the bed. He made his way next to me and sat down.

"A mate is a gift from the Moon Goddess given to all her children. It's our other half. Someone literally created for you. When you meet your mate, you automatically know even if you've never met that person before. Having your mate is crucial for an Alpha. She makes him better and helps guide the pack alongside her alpha. That is what a mate is and how important my mate was specifically for me. Your mother didn't know I was a wolf until the day we met up and told her I found my mate. I explained to her what it was and how important it was. She saw I was struggling to make a decision. Never in my life have I ever thought about not being the Alpha to my pack... never, until that day. I loved your mother with everything I had. But she was better than I was. She chose me. She loved me enough to let me go. She told me she couldn't live with the idea of having taken me away from my duties or my people that I loved so much. She left so that I didn't have to make that choice. I fell deeper in love with her that day... I've never really stopped loving her. But I did move on with my mate and do have children. Everything you said was true in that aspect, but the lack of love was never in question."