Chapter 4

"Mine!" The word rang in the air and my eyes widened in fear, surprise, and curiosity at who the man was. I looked up at the man who entered the clearing and two things happened. 1) I realized that the amazing scent of coconut and fresh rain were coming from him and 2) my jaw almost dropped.

He was tall and muscular with a sharp chiseled jaw. He had a mop of brown hair on top of his head that looked so soft that you could compare it to a fluffy teddy bear. The muscles in his back and chest were tense as he looked around until they relaxed when his eyes landed on me. Oh my goddess, his eyes. They were an absolutely gorgeous green. The power around him buzzed with an aura that scared me. Overall, he was the most handsome man I had ever seen. The other man and the two wolves bowed their heads once they saw him.

"Alpha," the man addressed him.

Alpha! of course he's an alpha, but that only made my fear skyrocket. What if he gave them orders to kill me? Or would he just leave me here to die in pain? Oh my goddess, what's going to happen to me?

The handsome man glanced at them then his eyes immediately went back to me. His intense stare had me looking down. His eyes held frustration, curiosity, worry and so many other emotions. 

He tried to move closer to me but at that moment a wave of pain went through me. It was the most pain I have ever felt. I howled loudly. The handsome man looked at me in concern. The pain lasted for a few more minutes and by then my throat hurt from howling so loudly and so much.

"Jared," the beta, Jared, looked up at the alpha, fear in his eyes. "What's wrong with her," he growled out his words.

"I don't know. She's been like this since we found her." The alpha growled again. He looked at me and I tried to back up but I howled once a strong pain went through out me. "Xavier," Jared spoke gently, "Maybe we should get one of the doctors over here." The alpha, Xavier as Jared had called him, growled. Why would they get their doctors? I'm just some rogue.

"She is mine!" Xavier's voice was loud, louder than Jared's when he yelled at me, and I coward in fear. What did he mean by his? I just wanted to get out of here.

"I know but maybe it's best-"

"Don't even say another word. I decide what will happen with her! Now get out of here. I'll mind link you if I need you." Jared bowed his head and he and the two wolves left.

After they left Xavier came closer and I whimpered in fear. I didn't want him to take another step closer. I was too scared for him to come closer.

"Can you shift?" his voice had a surprisingly calm tone to it. I shook my head the best I could but since I was already in pain I ended up whimpering in pain.

He tried stepping closer and I whimpered in fear for what seemed like the millionth time that day. From my past experiences every time someone scary and/or intimidating tries to come closer to you, you should try to get away before you get the crap beat out of you.

He stopped for a minute, giving me time to calm down, then tried stepping forward. I freaked out and tried scurrying away but fell and howled at the immense pain. I backed up into the tree, giving no room for him to sneak around me, and bit my cheek to stop myself from making any sound.

Xavier sighed and tried to move in front of me without scaring me into backing away from him. "It's okay little one," he said as came closer to me. I felt so tiny in his presence, especially in wolf form. He knelt down and tried to move closer but I whimpered and backed up more into the tree. He sighed again before trying again and I tired to put all my fears away as he once again reached out his hand.

I put my head down, hoping that if I couldn't see him, I wouldn't be scared. As I felt his hand on my back and felt tingles explode, I jumped but then relaxed as I got used to it. I calmed down more as he picked up my small frame and held me close before whispering into my ear, "What has happened to you little one?"

Another wave of pain went through me and I howled from how much it hurt. The pain seemed to get worse every time and it was getting to a point where I could not handle it. Xavier cradled me into his muscular chest and the pain lessened.

What did he do? How did he make the pain go away like that? What did this handsome man have that made the pain go away?

My tiny frame seemed to be engulfed by this man's much taller and more muscular frame. I felt tingles all throughout my body and I snuggled into his side, trying to feel the sensation even more.

I looked up at his face and saw he was looking down at me with adoration and still a bit of concern in his eyes. I still didn't understand why.

He started to get up and another wave of pain went through me. Although it wasn't as bad as before I still howled out in pain. He held me closer and the pain dimmed slightly but it was still there. It remained there with every step he took through the woods.

I tried to distract myself from the pain by looking at the beautiful multi-colored leaves. It helped a little.The beauty of the red, yellow, and brown leaves illuminated by the sunlight peeking through the trees distracted me away from the waves of pain going throughout my body.

We eventually came into a clearing filled with more wolves and a few people but all were werewolves. A few of them sniffed the air and growled once they smelt me. They all turned in our direction and stopped growling once they saw me in the arms of their alpha.

He took us to a beautiful, huge house. It was made of wood with all the lights set around to illuminate the space. There was two separate sets of stairs, one on each side of the front room. The front room had a brown couch that wrapped around the coffee table in the center of the room. In front of those was a flat screen TV and a DVD player. Across the front door, on the other side of the room, was two doors. Overall, it was like a dream house. And this was only the first floor.

"I'm going to take you to our main pack doctor, Zay. She's a friend of mine, so you'll be in good hands."

A huge wave of pain went through me and I howled in pain. He quickly brought me to a door that I didn't see because it was hidden behind the stairs. He pushed open the door with his shoulder and laid me on the white bed.

I looked around the room. It was a light blue with diplomas and some land scene artwork hung on the wall. The land scene artwork was beautiful. They were paintings of mountains, rivers, the sunset, and the ocean.

I hard Xavier talking to someone and I glanced over at him. He was talking to a girl in a white lab coat kind of thing. She was beautiful, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was only a bit shorter than Xavier with tan skin. It wouldn't surprise me if she was with Xavier.

The girl walked over to me and smiled at me. "Can you shift for me?" I laid my head down, knowing I can't shift. "Please, just try."

I took a deep breath and tried to shift. I howled out in pain but kept trying until I couldn't breath. I looked up at Xavier and he was right by my side. The girl came forward and put her hand on Xavier's shoulder. He looked at her for a second before his eyes went back to me. "Alpha, I know you're worried but I have to be able to get to her to shift to be able to figure out what's wrong with her." Xavier moved away from me and I found myself wishing he didn't move.

"Just figure it out Zay. Figure it out before I lose it." So this was Zay.

"Yes Alpha." She came up to me and placed her hands on my stomach before pushing them down. I whimpered in pain and she moved her hands towards my neck and once again pushed down. I whimpered again. She continued her action in various places getting the result of me whimpering each time.

"I can't tell what's wrong with her in this form, so..." She went into a cabinet and pulled out a large needle filled with an orange liquid. She came over to me and I backed up the best I could. She sighed.

"Alpha, can you hold her." Xavier picked me up and I was engulfed by sparks. He sat down and held me to his chest. I nuzzled closer to his chest. "This might hurt." She picked up the fur on my neck and inserted the needle. A sudden pain went through me and I crumpled in Xavier's arms and howled. After what felt like forever I felt my bones start to snap into a different place. My fur retracted into my body as well as my tail and my claws. Soon enough I saw my hands, not my paws, but my hands clinging to Xavier's shirt.

"Maybe she should rest before we continue this. The shot I gave her is probably going to make her tired. Common side effect," she said with a shrug that was aimed at Xavier. I looked at Zay. She was smiling at me.

I felt myself being carried and I shut my eyes. I was placed on a soft, fluffy, plush surface. I smelt around and realized I must have been in Xavier's room. I looked up at Xavier and his eyes were black. I looked down at myself and saw that I had no clothes on. I brought my knees up to my chest, ignoring the pain, and wrapped my arms around them so I was in a ball.

He came up to me and took off his shirt. I tried to back up but he picked me up. He removed my arms from my knees and put the shirt over my head and put my arms through the sleeves. He set me back down and his eyes turned back to their original color.

"I don't even know your name, little one."

"Celeste." My voice came out raspy and my eyelids began to drop.

"Celeste," he repeated, "That's beautiful. So are you." I looked down and shook my head. My eyelids began to drop more. He laid down in the bed and picked me up, cradling me in his lap.

"You're so tiny. Like a little child." He brushed the hair out of my face and I felt the sparks. I gasped at the sparks but I couldn't tell him to pull away. It was comforting but why were they there?

"Why does that happen?" My voice was laced with obvious exhaustion.

"What, little one?"

"The sparks." He laughed a little but brushed his hand through my, probably mangled, brunette hair.

"That, little one, is because we're mates." 

"M-m-mates?" It couldn't be possible. I was just a useless little runt. How could I have a mate?

"It's okay little one. There's no need to be scared." I backed up on his bed but I groaned at the pain that was still coursing throughout my body. I glanced up at Xavier, fear in my eyes. He gently steps towards me and sits next to me on the bed. "You do know what that means, don't you?" I nod but wince. This pain was really starting to get annoying.

"Of course I do. It's just that. . . I thought I would never have a mate. The elders that were left of my pack said that it is rare for a runt to have a mate."

"That doesn't matter. You need to rest little one." He reached his hand out towards me but I flinched away from him and then flinched from the pain of flinching. Does that even make sense? He sighed and smiled gently at me.

I laid down and closed my eyes, easily falling into a dreamless sleep with Xavier's scent floating around me.