Chapter 6 : Rescued by the Alpha

*Arealla*

The wolves that had burst in very clearly weren't a part of this pack, because Liana and the others all stiffened and bared their teeth. But it was too late for them to shift.

It was a flurry of movement; the wolves were on the guards and the guards were trying to throw them off.

I was so stunned, I couldn't move.

And then there was a wolf in front of me, advancing on me slowly, his fangs bared as he snapped at me. I had no idea what to do, I backed up slowly, but he was huge.

He leaped at me, and I braced for the attack, sure that I was going to die.

But before he could touch me, another wolf rammed into him and ripped his throat out. The wolf then quickly came to my side, wrapping almost entirely around me. He was huge, with rich, chocolate brown fur, much larger than the other wolf that had attacked me. And even though he looked nothing like the wolf in my dream, I knew that it was Marcus.

The fight was over almost as soon as it began, and then Marcus shifted into human form beside me. And I could see him covered in blood, his own blood.

"Leave us!" Marcus called.

I looked around the room, the wolves that had broken in were nothing more than bodies on the ground, and the guard and Liana dragged the bodies out. It was only a moment, and then Marcus and I were alone in the room.

"You need a doctor," I told him, watching as he sat down on the couch further into the room.

"We have healers here. Not doctors. And I don't need one of them. I need you," Marcus said stiffly, laying his head back on the couch.

I blinked.

"I'm not a doc–healer," I told him.

"A wolf," Marcus began, breathing heavily through his mouth, "especially an Alpha, heals when their mate is present. The wounds weren't bad. I just need to be in your presence, and it will get better."

I swallowed hard. I felt a slight tinge of guilt for what I was about to say, but not enough to make me stop.

"I want to leave," I told Marcus simply, but with no hesitation.

I tried my best to keep the emotion out of my voice. This wasn't about him any longer. This was solely about my safety. And I was pretty sure that if I spoke to him from that angle, I might be able to convince him to let me go.

"I know," Marcus sighed, breathing heavily. "But we have been over this more times than I can count."

I ground my teeth together to keep myself from saying anything. We have been over this, that part was true. But he wasn't hearing me.

He kept reiterating the same thing without hearing a way forward, or offering any other alternative.

"I know," I echoed his words, and I sat down to face him. "But I also disagree. I don't think that we have discussed this at all. I have only been saying what I want, and you have only been saying what you want. But maybe there is a way that we can work through this."

Marcus regarded me as I spoke. And I could see that he was trying to process what I was saying. And I could hear a difference in myself and my words, too.

I had been emotional before, and any reasonable wolf or human would have behaved the way Marcus had. It was necessary to just keep me close while I still worked through everything that was happening around me and to me.

But I was over that part now. I was done feeling like I had to just escape no matter the cost. But even though I could see the reason a bit better now, I still didn't want to be here.

"It's clear that you don't love me," I told him easily. "It's very clear that you don't care for me. So even though we may be fated mates, I don't see how you could want or even have a relationship with me."

I also had inside from more information on my side this time. I had been in the pack for two days now, and I could see that everything was very different for the other pack members that had mated.

They actually loved each other, more than I could see any human had ever loved any other person. There was truly something magical about the bonds they shared with each other as a mated pair. They struggled when they were away from each other; they missed the other's presence. And they were the first thing that they thought of each day. They spoke of their partners often and always.

There was nothing purer or truer than the love the mated pairs had for each other.

And it just wasn't there with Marcus and me.

I wasn't sure if it was because I was a human, or because we really just were that badly matched.

But I knew that Marcus had to see it too, probably even clearer than I could. I had only been in the pack for two days. He was born here.

"The Moon Goddess decides in her wisdom," he started to say.

But I knew I had to cut him off quickly if I was going to stand any chance of seeing this through to the end. Once he became enraptured with the decisions of the Moon Goddess, he listened to little else.

"And I'm not questioning that," I assured him. "I just wonder if we are understanding this properly."

Marcus frowned then. But he didn't argue with me, he didn't shut me off. And I knew that I had said the right words this time.

Before, I had been so quick to jump at everything. I had told him that I didn't care at all about the Moon Goddess, and maybe that part was still true. But I couldn't very well just keep on insulting his way of living, and his faith.

I was never going to get anywhere with him that way.

And at least like this, he seemed to be hearing me.

"What do you mean?" he asked me. "What could we be misunderstanding?"

I had to tread lightly there. I had his ear, and he was listening to me. I couldn't lose it. And that meant that there were certain things that I just couldn't say.

"I mean," I began slowly. "What if there was more to it than just mates?"

I had no idea if I believed what I was telling him entirely. I hadn't grown up with the Moon Goddess watching over me, controlling if I shift or not, listening to the stories of her.

But I had been introduced to his world, and I was seeing everything from a new perspective. And I wanted to honor that perspective. So while I wasn't sure if I myself believed what I was saying, I wanted to give it a chance.

"You see the other couples in your pack," I implored, opening my arms wide. "And none of them are like this–like us. They are happy, bound to each other. There is peace with them. There is no way that we have the same thing that they do."

Marcus held his breath, and then exhaled deeply.

"You are a human," he said eventually. "This is how it is when the mate is a human. You don't feel what I feel. You don't know what I know. You don't know what it is like to shift, to feel that strength. You know nothing of being a wolf shifter. I don't know how you expect the mate bond to be any different."

His words stung a little. Not for any reason other than the fact that it sounded like he was putting all the blame of this entire situation onto me.

But he didn't even realize the truth of what he was saying. I wasn't the shifter; he was. So all of this couldn't be blamed on me.

It was his lack of feeling, his lack of empathy to me that was the problem.

But that wasn't something that I wanted to go into detail about right then.

So, I swallowed my feelings and focused on what I really wanted to tell him.

"Then if the bond is truly not right," I said to him, "are you very sure that my absence would cause the reaction in you that you told me about before?"

Marcus' eyes shot to my face, and I knew that he had figured out my intentions. But it was okay… because I felt like he truly was ready to listen to me.

He didn't say anything immediately. And he looked away from me, at the wall just to the side. I could tell that he was thinking about what I had said, possibly for the very first time, too.

"Where is this all coming from?" Marcus asked me again. "I don't mean about the bond. You seem… different. You're talking differently."

I knew that; I could see that, too. But it was more than just that. I felt different, too.

I still wanted to leave, but it wasn't that same erratic desperation of before. The battle and the attack had changed my perspective slightly.

Now, I knew that there was nothing I could do to just get away from here, away from Marcus. I was tied to him. And I had to factor that into my way of getting out.

I cleared my throat before I spoke.

"I do want to leave," I told him honestly. There was no point in denying that fact. I would probably not be able to have him listen to me if I wasn't honest on this point. "But it's more than just about being trapped here. I am a human. And these people, all of you, are wolf shifters. How can I be safe here?"

Marcus was quiet for a moment.

"You were willing to come here with Jason," he said, and there was a slight sting in his voice.

I didn't let it get to me, though. I knew that he was speaking from anger, and I couldn't allow myself to lose any standing that I had now. I breathed deeply and let his words roll off me.

"I'm not sure that I was," I told him honestly.

And I was pretty sure that this was the first time that I was saying that truth out loud.

"It was a crazy plan hatched in a crazy moment," I told him honestly. "And even on the way here, I was filled with so much doubt. And now that I have been here, especially after the attack, I know that it would have been a mistake to stay with him, too. I don't belong here. I am human. I don't have the strength to defend myself."

Marcus was silent for a long moment, and I felt a small amount of hope blossom inside of me. Maybe I had finally gotten through to him.

"You don't need to be able to defend yourself," Marcus answered simply. "I will protect you."

And with those words, my hope was gone.