Two.

Lilah’s POV

The accident replays over and over in my head. How the pull on my heart had strengthened moments before. Was he already watching me? He must have been close enough to have called to me. Could he have had something to do with the crash? Was he responsible for my mum's death?

The doctor pulls back the curtain and smiles at me.

“How are you feeling today?” She was always so damn chirpy!

“Like I was hit by a truck” I snap sarcastically.

“Okay. I just need to do some checks if you don’t mind?”

“Do I have a choice?” I looked at my wrist which had been handcuffed to the bed. I wouldn’t be going anywhere unless Alpha Colt had a say in it.

She lets out a giggle and clips her blonde hair back. Were they all this stupid? Is this what pack life did to them?

My mum had always been desperate for a pack to protect us. She thought it was our only option. Yet I was always secretly grateful when we were kicked out. I hated pack life, hated being told what to do by one person. Hated everyone knowing my business.

“Well, you are looking much better. Still waiting for those bones to heal though. They should speed up a bit after tomorrow.”

Tomorrow, my eighteenth. A day that I had been looking forward to and yet feared at the same time. It was worse now that mum wasn’t here. I always thought that I would get to celebrate it with her,

“Great!” I roll my eyes. But I was fighting back the tears. I didn’t want anyone to see me cry. They would think I was weak.

His musky oak scent suddenly hits me, along with that tug on my heart. He hadn’t been to see me since I had woken up yesterday, something that I was grateful for. But he had already cuffed me to the bed.

He appears just outside of my room. His cobalt blue eyes scanned over me as he rakes a hand through his short dark hair.  He doesn’t move and waits for the doctor to speak to him. It was hardly like they were talking in private, I could hear every word they spoke. 

The doctor tells him that she thinks I’m in pain because of my sarcastic comments. Of course I am in pain, I was in a car accident and both my fucking legs are broken.

“You’re awake.” He states the obvious

“Been awake since yesterday!” I snap in annoyance, refusing to look at him.

“And feeling sarcastic I see.”

“What do you want with me?” After all this time, I still didn’t know. It couldn’t just be because we were mates. Why would he have spent so long looking for me?

There’s a hint of a smirk at the corner of his lips. “It’s rare for anyone to speak to me like that and get away with it.”

“Do you think I care? You killed my dad and most likely killed my mum too.”

He lets out a sigh as he sinks into the chair beside my bed. He scratches the stubble on his chin. “Your father betrayed my father. As for your mother, I wasn’t involved. That was your own doing.”

“But you let her die!” I turn my head away, signalling that I was done.

“You may feel like that now Lilah, but maybe your mother got what was coming to her!”

“What the fuck did you say?!” I was livid. If only I could get out of the bed, I would have punched him in the face.

“You heard me. I am the King of Alpha’s and she has been keeping you away from me. She refused to bow. Her fate was sealed, whether it was by my hands or in the hands of the Moon Goddess.”

“She chose not to bow for a good fucking reason!”

“Oh Lilah, you have so much to learn.”

“I’m not learning anything from you! I already know the truth. Mum taught me everything I needed to know”

“Lilah, you can at least listen!”

“Just you wait until I have healed. I will make you pay for what you said about my mum!” every inch of me was fighting the pull. The desire to be with him, the need to have his body pressed against mine. I hated the mate bond, but it was going to get so much worse tomorrow.

“Just one more day Lilah. You won’t be able to resist me.” He was too calm for my liking. Irritatingly unbothered.

“Try me!” I growl through clenched teeth and he stands up laughing.

“I don’t need to try. I already know.”

He walks out, practically belly laughing as a nurse appears. I hadn’t seen her before and she gives me a smile as she places a jug of water by my bed.

“Hi, I’m nurse Halle.” She looks back as the Alpha exits. “I assume things didn’t go well?”

“No, he is a fucking moron!”

Her green eyes widened at my declaration. “Please don’t call him that.”

“Why do you care? It’s not like you are mated to him! You don’t owe him anything.”

She tucks a strand of jet black hair behind her ear. “He is the King of Alpha’s and your actions could get us all into trouble.”

“What do you mean?” I was curious, how I would have anything to do with them.

“If he punishes one, he punishes all of us.”

“That is fucked up!” I knew there was a reason as to why I hated pack life. It was the same everywhere. Every Alpha punished the entire pack for one mistake. It was how they stayed in control. How no one ever challenged them.

“It’s just how it is around here. It’s easier when he isn’t here.”

“This isn’t Red Bay Pack?” That was the name of the latest pack we had been kicked out of. The Hotel mum and I stayed in hadnt been too far. So why had Alpha Colt taken me somewhere else?

“No, we are one of the smaller packs. White Crescent. You were too injured to be moved any further. Alpha Colt practically screamed at all of us to save you. I hate to think what would have happened if you died.”

My mouth drops open. Why was he so desperate to keep me alive?

“I would have been better off dead!” I remember everything my mum had told me about him. The packs he had brutally slaughtered. The way he would wipe out wolves and Lycans if they stepped out of line.

“Things can’t be that bad. Besides, I think you are lucky to be mated to him. I haven’t even met my mate.”

“Then you have no reason to stay. Escape with me!” I offer. It was a long shot, but I would need help to get away. She shakes her head and looks at me as if I was mad.

“You have broken legs. There is no chance you are going anywhere. And I am not stupid enough to do that.”

I inwardly groan as I stare at my battered legs. She was right though. We wouldn’t make it far. Not when I couldn’t even stand up.

I was left alone for the rest of the day. Halle popped in before she finished her shift, making sure that I was drinking enough. She tutted when she saw my cup from the morning hadn’t been touched. 

“You need to drink and I will see you in the morning.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” I tut, making her laugh. I just wanted out. Why did they think I was messing about and joking?

Closing my eyes, I let out a groan. “Why are you back?” I snort as his scent wafts in.

“I thought you might want this to read.” He drops my book on the bed next to me.

“Where did you get it?”

“My Beta grabbed it from the wreckage.” He turns his back on me.

“Wait –why?”

“It seems important to you. You didn’t have a lot but it's something you kept.”

“Oh,” I was confused by the act. I had only known him to be a psychopath. Not someone who cared.