Six.

Elsa

“No.” He holds his hands up in front of me. “Lola was caught up in something when she was a child. She was bitten. My Dad found her and took her in.”

“Your Dad found her?”

“In wolf form. She was five.”

“Five? As in five years old?” I was shocked.

“If anyone can understand what you are going through, it’s her.”

“Alpha Nate.” A chocolate haired girl comes running towards us. Her face red as she huffed and puffed. “I’m sorry I’m late. There was a problem with the water and….”

“It’s fine Lola, I was just showing Elsa around.” He smiles sweetly at her. The same smile he gave me when he pulled me out of the road.

I didn’t like it.

She smiles at me, her dark eyes are welcoming. Yet I didn’t feel welcomed. I felt protective.

“Lola is going to show you around while I catch up with my guards.”

Lola wastes no time in linking her arm with mine. She turns me out the door, apologising when I wince at the pain in my ribs.

“You’re so lucky.” She whispers as we get out the door. “Alpha Nate has been looking for his mate for years.”

“He has?”

“Loads of the girls are going to be jealous that he picked you.”

“Are you jealous?”

“No. Ewww. You know he is like a brother to me, right?”

“What?” I felt lost.

“He told you his Dad found me, right?”

“When you were five?”

“Alpha Niall took me in as his own. Raised me alongside Alpha Nate. Why do you think he wasn’t bothered by me being late?”

“I don’t understand.”

“He is an Alpha. If anyone else is late, he gets mad.”

“Because he is an Alpha? Isn’t that something to do with American universities? The whole Greek thing for frat houses?”

“Has he not told you?”

We walk past a group of large guys. They start whistling at us. “Who’s the pretty girl, Lola?”

“Guys, back off. Not today.”

“Come on, tell us your name, little wolf?” A blonde guy smiles at me.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” Lola shakes her head.

“Lola, you never introduce us to your friends.” He pouts

Lola smiles at me and gives me a wink. She unlinks her arm, stepping away from me. I freeze, pure panic running through me. The last time I was here, I saw a monster leaving the forest.

“This is Elsa.” Lola tells them my name.

“Pretty name for a pretty girl.” A dark haired guy moves towards me. 

“Thanks.” I stutter

He sniffs the air around me. “New wolf. Have you shifted yet?”

I look to Lola for help. For some reason, she is counting down on her fingers with a smile. I catch the vanilla bean scent.

“I suggest you get the fuck away from my my mate.” His voice cuts the air. I watch the group of guys drop their heads.

“We are sorry, Alpha. We didn’t know.”

“Well now you do. I suggest you take yourselves to training before I come up with another idea.”

They run off, shoving each other as they muttered about being stupid.

“Lola?!”

“What, they wanted to be stupid. Maybe they will stop ogling us ladies in the future.” She grins at me. Her smile was infectious and I grinned back. But I couldn’t help feeling that I was not understanding something.

The guys had panicked when they saw Nate. They bowed their heads like he was someone important.

“While I’m here, I might as well take you to the doctor.” Nate slips his hand into mine and walks me around to the left of the house. 

We entered a small building. A man and a woman were sitting behind a desk. Both jump up and bow their heads the moment they see Nate.

“Alpha Nate, what can we do for you?”

“I need you to check over my mate. I fear she has more damage than what she lets on.”

I frown at him. He had seen the bruises and the broken skin. It wasn’t like I was hiding it. And why did he keep referring to me as mate?

“She’s a new wolf?” The woman with blonde hair asks. 

“Yes, but she won’t shift until the full moon.”

She smiles at me. “I’m Doctor Ally. Come through and let me look at you.”

Nate follows me through. He watches me sit on the bed as Doctor Ally asks me to remove my clothes and put on a gown

“Can you go?” I quietly ask Nate

His dark eyes stay on mine. “I want to see.”

“I don’t feel…” The red rings of his eyes seem to get brighter. “Comfortable.”

“Just while you change.” He mutters with annoyance.

He steps outside as the doctor helps me put on a gown. Returning the moment she had tied it around me.

She spends ages xraying me. Her face screws up as she looked at the prints. “You have a lot of rib fractures. How did this happen?”

“Can you heal her?” Nate asks, not giving me a chance to tell her what had happened.

“No. All I can recommend is bed rest.”

She convinces him to leave while she rewraps my bandages. As soon as he gets the all clear. He picks me up, carrying me out of the hospital and to the house.

“At least I can keep an eye on you here. Make sure that you are resting.”

He carries me up the stairs and into a bedroom. He lowers me onto a bed and presses his lips against my cheek.  “If only I had found you sooner.”

“Why do they bow to you?”

“You haven’t figured that out yet?” He laughs

“They keep calling you Alpha.” I mutter

“That is my role.”

“You’re job?”

“Something like that.” He shoots me a wink. “Now get some rest. No doubt Lola will want to tell you all about me.”

The bed smelt of him. I felt as though I was being wrapped in it. The smell made me feel a hundred times better.

Opening my eyes, I see him.

Nate was laid next to me. Fast asleep wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. He had the perfect toned body. Not stick thin like Bens was. 

My heart hammered in my chest as something inside me stirred. His dark eyes flash open. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing?” I murmur, turning myself over

I could feel my cheeks flaming at how he had caught me looking at him.

“Nothing huh?” He pulls himself in behind me. “It doesn’t smell like nothing.”