Safe In Dangerous Arms

   Ava's POV 

   My eyes snapped open with a broken gasp.

Pain followed immediately… hot, sharp, everywhere, like my body had been dragged through fire and left to cool in ash. My muscles screamed when I tried to move, and even breathing felt like work.

This wasn’t my room.

  The ceiling was too high. The air smelled wrong, clean, expensive but somehow familiar. Not the pack house. Not the forest.

Panic rose fast in my chest.

 The last thing I remembered were the rogues taunting me, circling, laughing, their voices sticky with cruelty. My wolf was too weak to shift again. My legs giving out beneath me. Dirt against my cheek. Fear crawling into my throat.

   Lucien had asked his warriors to leave me at the Pack borders the moment I regained consciousness, not caring that I was injured. I remembered dragging my injured body across the forest 

    My wolf, already weak, couldn't heal me. So when the rogues appeared, talking about how they were going to have fun with me, I was at their mercy until…

   The door creaked open and a girl entered, relief flashing across her face when she saw my eyes open. She hurried to my side. “You're finally awake, Luna." She said.

  “Where am I?" I asked her, my voice barely above a whisper, ignoring the title.

  Another wave of pain shot through me as I tried to sit up. “uhm…Alpha brought you in two days ago…you're in safe hands.” She said instead, placing a tray beside me. "I'm just going to check your wounds to make sure you're healing properly.” She added softly, as if scared that if she was any louder, I'd break.

   She checked my body, changed the bandage on my leg. I frowned, not remembering how I got that. After she was done, she murmured something along the lines of getting some rest and telling someone but I barely heard any of it as I felt myself drifting back to sleep 

    The next time I opened my eyes, I wasn't alone. Someone…one that smelled familiar was sitting beside my bed, holding my hand, sending a wave of spark through me.

  My body was in a much better shape, the bruises in my hand had significantly reduced. I still couldn't talk to Rhea but unlike before, I could feel her presence.

    "You're awake,” the sleeping man said, lifting his head and my eyes snapped to him. 

   I froze.

  It was him! The man from the party!

   Looking at him up close was different and I felt something shift inside me in a way I didn't like…maybe liked too much. He didn't take his eyes off me and I couldn't help but wonder how he found me.

  "Are you okay?” He asked softly, voice rough with sleep, his thumb brushing slowly over my knuckles.

The contact sent a sharp spark up my arm.

My heart lurched.

  I yanked my hand out of his grasp like I’d been burned. And I didn't miss the way that his face fell. “Don’t,” I snapped, my voice hoarse but fierce.

   “Okay little wolf." He said, earning himself a glare which didn't affect him. He took a deep breath, “just tell me, are you in pain?" 

  I looked away, knowing if I looked at him for more than one minute, even in my present state, I didn't trust the words that would come out of my mouth. “Where am I? How did you find me? Who are you?" I fired instead, grunting a bit as I tried sitting up on my own. The handso…the man was on his feet immediately, helping me up.

   "Dammit Ava, focus.”

  "Why don't we take it one question at a time, little wolf?" 

   “I'm not little." I snapped.

  A smirk played on his lips, “I know baby, I can call you mine instead…take your pick.”

   My face turned a bright shade of red. "Just answer the question. Who are you really?” I asked again.

   "Dominic Ravin.” 

  I paused, swallowing hard. I knew that name, everyone who understood the werewolf world knew who that was. "Oh no! W-what the fuck did you do Ava?” I thought, staring at the man who looked like sin itself.

   My face burned. Of all people. Of all wolves.

Him.

  Dominic Ravin, the Alpha no one joked about, the one mothers warned their daughters about, the one packs either feared or obeyed.

And I slept with him. My stomach twisted.

 “You look like you’re about to pass out again,” he said quietly, studying me too closely. “Relax. You’re safe here.”

 Safe. The word felt strange in my chest.

“I wasn’t safe the last time I trusted an Alpha,” I shot back.

  Something dark flickered in his eyes, not anger at me, but at the truth behind it.

  “Then it’s a good thing,” he said slowly, leaning in just enough for his scent to wrap around me, “that I’m not him.”

My pulse stumbled. Stupid heart.

 “How did you find me?” I asked again, forcing my voice steady. “Is this a part of your plan?" I heard myself add and a wave of guilt washed through me for asking but not getting the answers to my question was driving me insane.

  "What plan?”

 "I don't know, Alpha, you tell me.” I replied. "I'm not Alpha to you.” He said it so softly that my heart definitely skipped a beat…or two.

   But I was quickly snapped out of it by the part of me that wanted to make sense of what was going on. 

   “If your plan was to get me kicked out of my Pack, you succeeded.” I told him, "is it because of that night? I mean, people do one night stands all the time and nothing…" 

 He was close to me in seconds, his face barely a few inches from mine and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe. His eyes darkened and his hand formed a fist. "A one night stand? Look at me…really look at me and say that again, I dare you.”

  I swallowed hard, opening my mouth to say something but nothing came out so I shut it, unable to take my eyes off him.

   "The moment I saw you,” he started, "I knew you were mine. I looked for you.”

   "I-I'm not yours.” I managed to say, "you're not my mate.”

   I'd learnt my lesson once, despite how for whatever reason I couldn't seem to keep my eyes off him and how my body was reacting to only his touch, I just left a relationship that promised me forever, with scars that weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

   “You're not mine yet," he said, his eyes falling to my neck. “But I'm sure as hell going to make that happen." He promised.

   “I want to be alone." I told him, and he frowned but didn't say anything.

   He swallowed hard, “okay, little wolf." He replied, “I'll have someone bring your food." 

  His gaze remained on me for a few minutes, like he'd forget what I looked like if he looked away too quickly. He finally did and the room suddenly felt dull.

  I shouldn't be turned on by how hard he stares at me, shouldn't be wishing he'd act stubborn and sit beside me so that the heat from him would at least make me feel something.

  "What exactly do you want, Ava?” 

 The question didn't have an answer and I was going crazy trying to figure it out. But why the fuck did I like it when he said he'd make me his?

  Yea, I'm definitely crazy!