The broken and fragile

Part 3: My fragile mate

Jared's POV:

I woke up to my alarm blaring loudly. Opening my eyes I saw the back of my mates head. Scarlet, I was so glad to know her name. So beautiful like her. Her midnight black hair fell around her shoulder and back shielding her.

Taking my arm off from her waist reluctantly I reached over her shutting off the noisy contraption. I could tell from the sound of her breathing that she was already awake which slightly disappointed me. I wish she could get some more rest. She's obviously very weak. It took her to long to heal yesterday from the burns. 

I feel horrible for burning her. The heat felt perfect to me but I guess her body is more weak then I thought. While I loved holding her in her sleep last night I couldn't help but feel rage when I felt how small her body was. And when she undressed in front of me to take her bath I couldn't help but look at the blackness of her body from the bruises. 

Though she looks better now from what skin I can see of her arms she has somewhat healed. The black bruises now a more purple or yellow color depending on how bad they were before. I guess the food helped her. Although she didn't eat much which frustrates me. How bad were they treating her. I want to ask but she's either mute or doesn't feel safe around me. Which is understandable. How she avoided my gaze all day. And that time she flinched when I went to touch her. I didn't show it but it killed me to know my mate, the one I'm supposed to protect, is scared of me.

Snapping out of all my negative thoughts I realized that I've just been sitting here for 10 minutes just staring at the side of her face. She just stayed in the exact same spot since I woke, not a hair out of place. The only real movement was the slight rise and fall of her chest and the occasional blink as she stared straight ahead at the wall. I needed to fix her, make her feel safe.

Sucking in a breath I decided to speak to her, hopefully to get a response. Even if it was her relaxing her stiff posture. "How are you feeling today?" 

I waited for her to say something but I got nothing. No movement. Giving up after she blinked I got off the bed. Coming around to her side where she laid un-moving I knelt in front of her hoping to meet her eyes. But as I got closer to making that connection she quickly looked down.

Trying to ignore the rejected feeling I decided maybe if I kept speaking to her for sometime she'd feel safe. "How long have you been up?" still nothing "why don't you go to the bathroom and I'll find you a change of clothes for the day" 

She started to move slightly to get up so I stood taking a step back to give her some comfort room since she was still afraid of me. She stood shakily on her thin legs. Her posture remaining stiff she passed me to go into the bathroom keeping her head bowed down.

I watched her retreat into the bathroom just staring at the space she occupied moments ago. Shaking myself out of it I went to my closet to retrieve some of my clothes for her. I'll have to buy her some clothes sometime soon. 

Grabbing a blank black t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts I hoped they fit her. I went to the bathroom door knocking softly to let her know I was there and hopefully not startle her. "There are some clothes here you can change into, I'll just be in the other room for a minute and be right back. Feel free to take a shower if you want." I told her as I knelt and placed the clothes on the floor in front of the door.

Leaving the room I went down the hall a ways to speak with Ben. Knocking on his door he opened it soon after. "alpha"

"Can we talk, about my mate?" I asked him but it was obvious he would never refuse. He opened his door slightly wider to let me in. Taking the chair at his desk he ended up sitting on his unmade bed.

"so what's up?" He asked me, leaning forward so his arms were rested on his knees.

"Down in that cell....how did you find her, her condition, the place she was in" I stated needing to know exactly what environment she was in.

Heaving a sigh he closed his eyes looking down probably to re-call every detail to me. "She was knocked out on the ground in the corner of the room. Laying on top of that ratty old blanket completely naked...The room was cold even for me. I'm guessing they kept it air condition to keep her weak. The room was quite small and damp. Her blood covered the room. Not just fresh blood from the hit to her head. A lot of it was old and dried up, but it covered everything. All of it was her blood, I'm guessing they beat her a lot...did a lot to her. It was dark in there I'm guessing she isn't very used to light. I don't know how long she was down there, it's not possible to tell unless she tells us. But whatever happened in there...from just looking at that room it most likely broke her."

The entire time he was speaking I kept silent except for some growls I let out at my out rage. But he never stopped knowing I wanted him to continue. Just hearing about all the blood, the beatings they gave my mate made me outraged. Knowing that Ben also thinks they broke her down upset me greatly.

She really was afraid of me. Probably afraid of everyone. Probably why she won't speak or even look at me. But I'll fix her, I'll get her to trust me, feel safe around me. And then maybe she'll even speak to me. She'll feel safe her I'll make sure of it. 

And then when she's better and I find out exactly what they have done to her...I'll go for Kane myself. 

I stood up after my moment of thinking and nodded to Ben who was now watching me. "Thank you Ben. I want you to call around see if any packs are missing a girl named Scarlet. I want to know anything about her I can"

"Yes Alpha" Nodding one more time to him at his reply I left the room to return to my fragile mate.

Arriving back at my room I made sure to slowly open the door. I didn't want to scare her anymore then she already was. I needed her to feel safe around me, if it meant being extra cautious around her then that's what it would take.

Taking a slow tentative step in as I opened the door completely I was greeted with the breath taking site of my mate in my room, in my clothing at that. Although she wasn't looking at me I could still make out some of her face. Her stiff posture looked better then before. And the wonderful site of her being dwarfed in my clothing her scent being mixed with mine.

My lips curved upward in a small smile. Even though she was still scared of me and still wouldn't look at me, her slightly relaxed posture was enough improvement to give me the hope I needed to help save my mate. 

Taking cautious steps towards her I stopped a few feet from her and out reached my hand for her to take if she would. " Come little wolf how bout I make you some breakfast" I said as gently as I could.

She reached her hand up to me very shakily and while I hated that she was shaking either from being afraid or weak I was pleased when her small hand was placed in mine. The burning sensation of her skin connecting with mine. Gently taking her hand with mine I began leading her down to the kitchen. 

She stayed a step behind  me at all times. And while I wanted to question her I didn't want to ruin anything. I will find out bout all of that soon enough. For now I just needed to protect her and make her feel safe....hopefully in my arms if she'd allow me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry it's short and I updated later then I planned to, had a busy weekend.

Good and bad feedback welcome.

Let me know if you'd like this story continued.

Vote and comment if you wish.

Thanks for reading :p