Chapter 5

CLINTON.

Never had I been so dumbfounded and rooted to the spot as I was now.

When I was still very young, growing up with Seraphina, I always thought we'd be fated mates. And I wasn't the only one who thought so as well. Everyone believed us to be mates, and it was easy to fall in love. But now, nothing made sense anymore.

I had a mate.

And it wasn't Seraphina.

I didn't know how I felt about that fact, but I didn't wait to think much about it as I looked at the woman the moon goddess blessed me with.

She was an epitome of beauty, with her brown skin drawing me like a moth to a flame. My fingers itched to touch her, to carry her in my arms and make sure she was okay, but my legs refused to move.

I couldn't claim her, and I didn't want to break her heart. So, to avoid that, I decided to call Asher and order him to take her somewhere else for now.

I looked around for my phone and realized I didn't have it. Shit! How would I go about it now?

Glancing at her, something tugged at my heart at the way her chest rose and fell. I didn't wait to think about my next decision when I found myself moving slowly towards her, until I was standing only a few feet away from her.

Mate.

Kai repeated the word gently in my head, and I didn't miss the hurt I heard in his tone.

I bent down and gently picked her up, marveling at the sparks that shot through my body. A smile tugged at my lips, but it twisted into a grimace as I took in her bruised form—fucking bruises, still fresh and marring her skin.

Who did this to her?

And why wasn't she healing?

A deep, mighty growl escaped my lips, anger spreading through my hands like a creeping fire.

All I wanted to do was wake her up and demand an explanation of who did this to her, who dared lay a hand on my mate, but I couldn't.

Kai whimpered in my head, demanding blood for what they did to our mate. I could feel him wanting to take over, feel him wanting to tear whoever had a hand in this, but something held him back.

The same thing that was stopping me from waking her up and demanding answers.

“Let's at least get her wounds treated,” he grunted.

I fought hard to control my rage, my jaw twitching as I gently laid her back on the ground and walked away, scanning the trees for spare clothes—boxers and tops always supplied in case anyone shifted and needed something to wear.

Spotting a carton-colored knicker and a dark red top, I put them on and carried my mate back in my arms, her breasts pressed against my chest.

∞∞∞

The moment we arrived at the hospital, nurses rushed over to take my mate from me, but with one look, they all backed away, gesturing towards where I should take her.

I entered the room, laid her on the bed, and sat beside her with her hand in mine when the pack doctor strode in with a navy blue medical kit in hand.

I nodded at his greeting and returned my gaze to my mate. She was so beautiful that it hurt to look at her, and I still couldn't understand why she wasn't healing. She obviously had a wolf; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to sense that she was my mate.

“She's not healing?” I jerked my head up to look at the doctor. Doctor Ezra lifted up a hand to touch her, but with a growl from me, he dropped his hand.

“I need to touch her if I'm going to heal her,” he said, fighting a grin.

“How about you call one of the nurses?” I said gruffly, not liking the idea of any male laying hands on my mate. I was well aware of what he would think about my claim on her, but right now, I didn't give a fuck.

“They were scared to attend to you. This could be the first time anyone in this pack got scared of their Alpha.” The grin he had been struggling hard to suppress finally emerged.

I grunted, realizing he was right. So I allowed him to treat her wounds, anger filling me up at any slight movement she made due to the pain she was feeling.

After the Doctor was done, he gave her some injections which he told me would lessen the pain she was bound to feel once she awoke. Then he walked out, leaving us alone.

I spent the time savoring her features, each detail a feast for the senses, while struggling hard to control myself from taking her in my arms again, when Asher's voice rang through my head, telling me how the rogues whom I had ordered to be kept in the dungeon nearly escaped.

........

A/N: Daily update begins tonight. There will be at least two chapters a day until the book finishes. Thank you for reading!