Chapter 3

Edric's POV

I kneel next to my mate, inspecting her head wound. Blood pours from the broken skin, seeping into the ground. Her scent mixed with the coppery tang of her blood is driving my wolf insane. Taking my t-shirt off, I press it against her wound and mind-link our pack doctor, Clarke, to tell him he needs to go to the clinic right away.

I pick Maya up from the ground, holding her tightly against my chest. She weighs almost nothing – poor thing was just a bit of bone and skin. I wonder when last she had a decent meal. My wolf is concerned and elated at the same time. ~ Finally. Our mate. ~

* Yes, yes, calm down, * I tell him.

~ She’s unwell. ~

* I know, bud, we’ll get her sorted out. *

Earlier, when I chased her down, I almost lost control of him completely. He caught her scent when she exited the car, and he had one goal. To get to our mate. He would have claimed her there and then if I hadn’t stopped him.

At twenty-five, I am still without a mate. It’s rare in our world, but it doesn’t bother me as much as it bothers my father. I have been Alpha for only two months, and I don’t have a Luna. A pack without a Luna is a dead pack, and my father is getting just a little concerned, because we've been without a Luna for a while now.

I told him yesterday that he has to stop worrying. No one knows, not even Luca, that The Moon Goddess visited me once, many years ago. She told me that I would meet my mate later than most, that I would only meet her when the time was right. The Goddess also told me that she would be my only mate – I will not get a second chance like other Alphas.

I carry Maya up the steps of the front porch and into the massive pack house. Ours is one of the biggest and most influential packs in the country, wielding power in both the human and wolf worlds. Naturally, the humans don’t know what we are, but we have to do business with them, and as long as we don’t reveal ourselves to them, it’s allowed.

My father finds me on the way to the clinic. He takes one look at me, and starts grinning. “This is her? Your mate?” he asks, just to reassure himself.

I can’t help but smile back. “This is her. Didn’t I tell you not to worry?”

He doesn't question where she came from. The Fates work in mysterious ways. “Finally. Thank Goddess.”

“Yes.” I look down at my unconscious mate. She’s pale – too pale, with dark purple bruises under her eyes, and a swollen, crooked nose.

The injuries were caused by Daniel slapping her around earlier tonight. He is a good warrior, but he has a quick temper and never thinks before he acts. I really need to talk to him about his behaviour. It would be expected of me, especially since he put his hands on our Luna, but he didn’t know who she is, which makes it slightly more complicated. Besides, without a Luna, all the wolves are on edge. We need her. She’s the heart of the pack, and without her we feel lost.

Doctor Clarke Lewiston waits for us at the clinic door, looking grim and serious as always. He is actually a kind man, like most doctors, he just has one of those faces. He takes one look at my weak mate, and tells me to lay her down on the examination table.

Turning to my father and me, he tells us to wait outside. My wolf immediately objects. ~ No. Don’t leave her. We have to protect her. ~

* She’s in good hands. Doc needs to check her out. *

He starts fighting me for control. Screaming at me to let him out. I want to, I really do. Another wolf is touching my mate, but at the same time, I realise that I’m being irrational. Doc will never harm her. No one in our pack would.

I pace up and down like an expectant father in a maternity ward. Nervous. Anxious. What if I lose her on the same night I finally met her? That, too, is an illogical thought. It’s just a bump on the head. Nothing that won’t heal in a day, but she’s so frail -- half-starved, and weak already. What if she dies?

“Sit down,” my father finally orders, using his Alpha voice. It still works on me, but it won’t for much longer. “She will be fine. It’s going take more than one little fall to kill her.”

I do as he commands, drumming my fingers together, shaking all over. I have heard the stories, of course. Luca told me in full Technicolor about the day he found out my sister, Jolie, was his mate. What it felt like, the thoughts that went through his head, the emotions, how his wolf reacted.

Finally, Doc steps out of the room, carrying a tray of test tubes filled with blood. I jump up, eager to hear how Maya’s doing. “Well, she’ll live,” he says. “She needed a few stitches and I had to reset her nose. She’s weak. So is her wolf. I’m not sure she’ll be able to shift in her condition, but we’ll have to wait and see. Because her wolf is so weak, it will take some time for her to heal. Two or three days.”

I’ve heard enough. “Can I see her?”

“Sure. Of course.” Doc grabs my arm as I walk past. An action that would earn any other wolf a stern reprimand. “Who is she?”

My wolf is pissed. I look down at the hand holding my bicep, and can’t contain the growl that rumbles deep in my chest. Quickly, the doctor drops his hand. “My mate,” I say at last and push past him.

Maya lies on her side, facing the door. When I walk in, her face lights up, but her eyes are impassive. It’s strange, she doesn’t have a lot of expression in her deep brown eyes. They’re almost…well, dead is the only word I can think of to describe it. Her blonde hair, which I’m sure isn’t her natural colour, is knotted and matted with blood, and her sweet face is covered in dirt and dry blood, but she’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. “How are you feeling?” I drag a chair closer and sit next to her, taking her hand in mine without asking. My wolf sighs, content for now, and finally settles down.

“I’m okay,” she mumbles.

“Why did you run away from me?”

She doesn’t answer me right away, just stares up at me with big eyes. My heart does a backflip, and I have to restrain myself from kissing her. “I was scared,” she says at last.

“Of me? Why?” I ask, surprised. She felt our bond, I know she did, surely she knows that I would never harm her.

She avoids my question, hitting back with one of her own instead. “Where am I?”

“In our pack house.”

“What’s a pack house?”

“You don’t know?” It’s becoming very clear that something’s not quite right here. She doesn’t seem to understand anything about our world.

She doesn’t answer my question. “Luca said you wanted to see me. Why?”

I can’t tell her, not right now. The Fates really can be cruel sometimes. “It can wait.”

“No it can’t.”

“Why are you in such a hurry to know? You’re hurt. You need to heal, get your strength back, and then we’ll talk.”

“I’m leaving. Right now.”

Immediately, my wolf reacts, starts screaming in my head. ~ She can’t leave. Our mate. Mark her, mark her now. ~

* Relax, she’s not leaving. *

“You can’t go anywhere. You are too weak. Stay, just for a little while. At least until you’re better. What harm could it do?” I ask.

I can see the emotions warring on her face. Can practically feel her confusion. She at once wants to stay and go. I have to fight with my wolf. He isn’t happy with the way I’m handling the situation. He wants to do things his way, the wolf way, but I won’t let him. I don’t want to start our relationship that way.

“Okay,” she finally relents. “But only one night.”

Satisfied for now, I nod. It’s a start, and I’m sure, almost to a degree of arrogance, that I can convince her to stay.