His Little Human Mate

Chapter 6

Nixx

I yank my wolf back as I step away, but not before a chill inducing growl leaves his mouth.

The girl tenses even more as a quiet whimper leaves her mouth, her brown eyes widening to the point of almost falling out.

My gut clenches in guilt, but if I've mastered anything in my days as Alpha, it's how to mask and ignore any emotion that shouldn't be there.

"A he, you say?" I push away the jealousy, mask it as I did the guilt. "Your partner?"

I spot disgust on her face right before she neutralizes her features again.

A family member, then.

"Your brother?" I ask, assessing her for any reaction.

If I had to guess like this with anyone else, they'd probably be dead by now, but something about being here, in this room with her, it makes me feel-

I shake myself. I expected the emotion once I found my mate; the desire and joy I feel, but I didn't anticipate it being this strong or hard to ignore.

"Your father, then." My words are not kind, and as her swallow sounds, I know I hit my mark. "He's dead. Nobody survives in this forest longer than a night."

You could be a little less heartless, my wolf growls.

The girl's chest heaves harder as she glares.

"You don't know that, and your logic has flaws considering I'm sitting in front of you right now."

She looks terrified, yet her chin juts out and her eyes flare. She's stubborn, and I bet she'll show me every single defense she has before backing down.

I walk around to grip the end of the hospital bed, not trusting myself to keep my hands to myself when she looks at me like that.

"You mind telling me how that happened?" I ask.

Her stare turns irritated as she says, "I was chased, I ran, a very tall man dragged me here, and the rest is in your hands."

Plastic groans beneath my fingers, and I push myself away, running frustrated hands through my hair.

"Humans shouldn't-" I stop as her earlier words hit my brain. "Wait, how did you know that I was an Alpha?"

Her breath catches, and my curiosity reaches higher.

Humans are sheltered to their side of the world while our lives are lived out on this side, and the forbidden forest separates them.

I know the stories about how some of the elders tried to blend our worlds, but the humans were too fragile, their minds too light to carry such harsh truths. So they made the forest deadly, made it so that anyone who tried to pass through without a wolf would be attacked, and so that no human made it out to tell the tale.

That's how it's worked for centuries, so how did this girl suddenly waltz through with a couple scratches and claims of knowing who I am?

A tremor goes through her, and the eyes that held so much fire earlier now only hold trepidation.

My wolf whimpers, and I shove my walls back up.

"Please don't kill me!" She blurts. "I promise I mean no harm, and I'll be out of your way as soon as I find my father."

How do I convince her that the only way her father is alive right now is if he suddenly became a new species?

"Your father is dead," I start, but before I can speak again, her arms pull on the restraints, her determination coming back in a giant wave.

"He isn't!" She cries. "I don't know how I know but I just do. He left countless times, but he always came back to me!" She thinks for a minute before saying, "The roses! He used to bring me a white rose every time he came back! White roses don't grow where I'm from. Someone told me they only grow here, in the forbidden forest. It's the only explanation to where he always goes. It's proof that-"

"What is your father's name," I snarl.

My blood started to boil the minute that damn white rose left her mouth. My anger is never in check when it comes to this topic. I despise those flowers. They make me sick, and you wanna know why?

Because the rogue who killed my father felt the need to spread them around his corpse.

The girl stays silent, and I lean forward, pronouncing each and every syllable as I say, "What. Is. His. Name."

Her shaking form cowers, and I distantly feel my wolf scratching, clawing, and howling at me to stop, but all I can process is rage. Pure, unadulterated rage.

"Foxley R-Reese," she whispers.

The man I've been hunting for the last 7 months. Leader of the largest and most dangerous rogue army in the forbidden forest. The rogue who orchestrated my father's murder.

And I just aided his daughter.

Disgust fills me, but I quickly tamp it down. Either she actually doesn't know a single thing about her father, or she's one hell of an actor.

"What is your name?" My words come out calm, collected despite the war that rages within me.

She swallows, seeming to contemplate whether to tell me or not before she says, "Noella."

The word echoes in my head, sending desire rippling through my body, but I stuff it in a box. I don't have time for this.

My jaw ticks, the muscles aching from how hard my teeth are clenched. I take a deep breath, trying to blow every single feeling out with the exhale.

"Ok, Noella, here are your options." I see the goosebumps that rain across her skin as I say her name, but I cross my arms, leaning against the wall, feigning indifference as I say, "You can stay here and help us find your father, or, I can have one of my men escort you back into the forest, where you will undoubtedly be dead within minutes."

I would never actually do the latter, but let her think she has a choice.

"Wait." Her brows draw downward and I can't keep myself from following the motion with my eyes. "Why would you help me? You just said that he's good as dead, and now you wanna help me find him?"

Oh, I can grantee that Foxley is still alive and well, planning his next attack on innocent wolves.

"Do you not want my help then?" My words are harsh, straight to the point. I'm not playing nice just because some fate demands I have to.

Her eyes go wide and she says, "No, no, I do! So, you'll help me look?"

I almost laugh. "No, you are going to help me look."