Chapter 2

(Author's POV)

All through the night, I couldn't sleep as Nathan's words remained alive in my head. I tossed from side to side on my big bed, constantly checking the time to know if the day had broken.

As soon as I heard the first cock crow, I began to prepare to run away from the pack before Nathan finds out. I quietly went down the stairs, ensuring that none of the guards or servants saw me. 

I used the back door and headed out of the pack with no distinct destination in my mind but I knew that I had to run for the safety of my baby. My father's house would have been my last resort in this situation but because what killed my dad is still yet to be unraveled, I can't set my feet there because I don't know who our true enemy is.

But I can't continue to be controlled and used as a pawn in Nathan's chess game. Whatever happened was by mistake and I will have to face the consequences. 

Halfway into the forest, I could hear footsteps approaching me with heightened speed. I knew what that meant, Alpha Nathan and other wolves were after me. 

The fireflies in my vision increase and my lungs feel like they have been lit up with fire. Normally, I can run much longer in my wolf form despite not being athletic. But since I am conceiving.. my oxygen and blood sugar is lower, and I get tired easily. I need to stop to make sure my baby keeps receiving enough oxygen. But I can't risk getting caught by Alpha Nathan.

In a swift motion, out of the blue, I take a sharp right turn and jump from the cliff to the river below. It is not a short jump. It is long and scary. But it is worth it.

Because when my body hits the water hard, the wolves chasing me can only stare from above the cliff. They didn't think I'd jump just like that. 

At least, if not for anything, the moon goddess has endowed me with some healing powers. So even if I get injured, I can take care of myself.

Nathan growls at me in anger. I know he is going to jump in the water next. But their few seconds of hesitation saved me because I quickly swam to the shore and ran into the forest below the cliff.

I force my paws to keep moving, especially when I hear water splashing behind me. I only need to run deeper into the woods until they lose my scent. But as I run for my life, I suddenly smell a strange Cinnamon scent among the usual earthy, misty scent of the forest.

Before my eyes could find the source of the smell, my feet stepped on something and my body tumbled hard to the forest floor.

I whimper as my body hurls. But quickly, I can regain my balance as I turn my body to see what stopped me from running. My breath is scanty. My muscles are sore. At the same time, my eyes focus on the man sitting underneath an oak tree.

"Ahh!" he cries out to his leg that I just stepped upon. When he turns his face to me, he is snarling. Yet when we lock eyes.

No... it can't be.

"Mate," he hisses. 

I look at him wide-eyed. He doesn't seem pleasantly surprised to find his mate when everyone knows that having a fated mate is a one-in-a-million chance. Instead, he looks bothered.

Well, I can't say that I am pleasantly surprised either. The last thing I want is to find a second chance mate. Especially now, when I am being chased by three powerful wolves. It could not have been the worst timing. What if Nathan senses our bond? He will rip this guy apart.

My eyes travel from his dark hair to his toes. He has a deep gash wound on his chest. Blood is still gushing from his open wound, down to his arm. They pool beneath him on the forest floor.

His clothes are ripped apart, revealing half of his torso, which is amazingly sculpted with muscles. I wonder how big he is when he stands. As of now, he is sitting with his back leaning on the tree.

He looks pale, especially on his lips. The way his eyes are looking at me seems to be slightly out of focus, too. The healer in me realizes instantly that he has lost so much blood and is in an anemic condition.

Something clicks shut in my mind. I blink at the same time my wolf howls, "Mate! Mate! Mate!"

It feels like a string has attached itself to our chests at both ends. But the string is loose. Something feels wrong in this mate bond... somehow. The bond, however, allows me to experience some of his pain. 

He is hurting physically and mentally. However, I couldn't feel anything, which is weird. With Nathan, I could feel whenever he was feeling scared, sad, or happy. Sometimes he blocked his feelings from me, but the bond was stronger than any of us and so emotions slipped through most of the time.

But this man seems empty. He seems hollow inside.

I am sure if someone gets a wound that big, he would at least fear for his life. Yet there's nothing with him. He looks around as if he is trying to find something. When he couldn't find whatever that is, he stares back at me, "Little werewolf, are you lost?"

'Little werewolf?' I am still panting and cannot speak, so I send the words through the mind link. 'Seriously?

"You are a werewolf. And you look small," he replies through words, "What are you? Seventeen?"

'I am a woman!' I don't know why I need to affirm myself as a woman. My age is twenty-four, but my face does look young. People know I hate it when they treat me like a child because of my appearance. 

Professionally, it is annoying, because patients sometimes get skeptical of my treatment thinking that I am just some teenage girl who talks big. The man blinks at my screaming through the mind link. He did not expect me to be so agitated by his

comment.

"Wait a minute. What made you think I'm seventeen?' I ask.

"Your scent," he says in a deep voice. How his Adam's apple moves are quite sexy. But his collarbone... "You smell like a young soul And I can sense your arousal too."

"I am not aroused!" I cry out again, which makes him look at me with a blank face.

"Do you shout all the time when you talk?"

I looked at him plainly without uttering any word.

I think he is smelling my baby's scent, that is why he thought I was young. I gulp, hoping that this man wouldn't be as possessive as Alpha Mason. If he does... I need to run away from him too, for the sake of my baby.

I don't care if this stranger is my second chance mate. My baby is my number one priority.

"Do you lie too? Because of your arousal the hormone is really strong..."

"I am not lying!" I can't help to shout. This is embarrassing. My arousal hormones are stronger because I am pregnant. I am hormonal, not a liar!

He looks at me with a blank face. Out of the blue, one corner of his lips tugs upward. He scoffs into a peal of small laughter.

Is he crazy? Am I mated to a crazy person, now? His laughter becomes even louder. It only occurs to me that I have been mind-linking all of my thoughts to him. 

That is why he is laughing! Still, isn't this an exaggerated response to my reaction? The man's eyes are in tears from too much laughter. I know I can be funny, but not this funny. 

But his laughing face looks handsome. He looks relaxed. His prominent jaws are showing, his lips spread divinely on his face. His Adam's apple wobbles deliciously. And his emerald eyes seem to drown me.

I curse myself for being in a daze and losing precious running time. It is too late now. The wolves have arrived at the clearing. They stop a few trees before the tree the man is sitting on. 

"Shit! Shit!"

Nathan's eyes look straight at me. He growls to show his authority and his unpleasantness. I fight my instinct to look down and submit. Instead, I growl at the three wolves. But my feet keep on stepping backward. Panic runs through me. I have run so hard and have gotten this far only to be caught and dragged to the pack again.