Getting down the stairs was painfully slow. I refused to let Finn carry me this time so I took each step one at a time while my mate went ahead of me to break my fall if I slipped, not that I would have. Yes, it would have absolutely been quicker if I let him carry me again, but I only allowed it last time due to pure exhaustion.
Once I finally made it to the bottom Finn guided me into a sort of small living room, I knew it was the main one because we passed it on the way here. This house was definitely huge, not like a mansion exactly but it was clear they lived very comfortably. The had plenty of spare rooms for guests from the many other bedroom I saw upstairs on the way down, unless Finn had about seven other siblings or something.
Inside the room we were currently in were three others. There were two girls; one of the girls and the boy I had seen from when I was in the hospital and the other person was a stranger to me.
"Well, if it isn't the lone wolf," said the blonde.
"You met these two already: Alex and Maeve," Finn explained. "And this is my friend Alexis, Alex' sister."
"Alex and Alexis. Really?" I said rolling my eyes. Alex growled at me at the insult but it's not my fault his parents couldn't get creative with names.
"Be nice Weylyn."
"Weylyn, really? And you made fun of our names," Alex scoffed. Fuck you. I ignored him and took a seat on the sofa.
"I'll see you later okay, Alexis will call me if you need me," was the last thing Finn said before he left along with Alex and Domonique. Hopefully Alexis would like me more than her brother and this wouldn't have to be painfully awkward.
"Trust me, I'm more annoyed at my parents' lack of creativity in naming their kids than anyone else. Our younger brother, he's called Al for fucks sake!" Alexis exclaimed. I chuckled. "Mum didn't do that to you, did she? They didn't tell me much of what happened except that they found you on our land and you refuse to tell them why and that you're Finn's mate!" I assumed her mum must have been the Beta.
"No, your mum didn't do this," I said as I placed a hand on the wound. They'd put stitches over it and I was constantly feeling paranoid that they would rip, not that I had done anything yet that would cause that.
"Who did?"
"What makes you think I'll tell you when I haven't even told my mate."
"You have a point."
After that we chatted idly for some time before putting on a movie. During our chat I learnt that Alexis was nineteen, the same age as me, and her mum was in fact the Beta, her name being Niamh. This was the Navarre pack of which Alex was set to take over as Beta in the next few years as Finn would take over the role of the Third. The other girl I had seen when I was in the hospital was called Maeve (as Finn said earlier) and she would be taking over as Alpha – you didn't see female Alpha's very often, or Betas for that matter. This may have been a pack, but they had slightly more modern views than more traditional packs where they followed on from historical practices of having the males compete in battles to determine the strongest. The winner would take on the role of Alpha, if the current Alpha's first born had been a girl.
Alexis was currently training to be one of the pack doctor's and her younger brother supposedly wanted to follow in her footsteps. If only the doctors had a way to treat wolfsbane related injuries. My very own injury would take at least a week to heal the surface wounds and then another week or two to heal all internal damages. I knew from previous experience, not of my own but of a friend's. The thought of them made my heart ache and any semblance of calm left my body.
When I had been caught by Beta King, I was half delirious from pain and exhaustion, I didn't have time to think of my predicament properly. When I woke up in the hospital panic had set in but then meeting my mate almost made me forget about it and pushed me into a false sense of security. But I didn't know these people. I didn't know what my future held in store for me. I was weak and in the hands of a pack who would shun and punish me if I did anything they could so much as perceive as an attack on their people, even if it was accidental.
When I was finally healed what would happen to me then. I know they would keep me here by force until I told them the truth of why I was on their land, and let's say I did tell them, what would happen after that? If I wanted to leave would Finn even let me? Would I even want to leave when my mate is here and there was no way he would leave when soon enough he would have huge responsibilities on his shoulders as a commander of Navarre.
The movie continued to play but our conversations had ceased some time ago. My thoughts continued to swirl around my head and an impending sense of doom and uncertainty plagued my mind. I watched out the window at the trees that I desperately wished I could run through. In my healthy form, free of injuries, I knew I was faster than any wolf here, faster than even the Alpha. Lone wolves tended to be more agile and quick as our ancestors learnt to hunt alone or with few members of our families. Whereas the pack wolf populations grew to be muscular and strong as the size of their packs allowed for them to surround and trap prey.
Eventually, the movie ended and with impeccable timing my mate returned. He no longer had a jacket on and with his short sleeves I could see the tattoos that covered his right arm. It was a blackout tattoo so his whole arm was black and the bits that weren't formed the different designs, basically the opposite of regular tattoo sleeves. It looked cool and his beauty was distracting for a moment, but my mind had already become overrun with insecurities and doubts and even his presence could not change that now. I needed to figure something out, anything. Even just a plan of what to do in the next week would help calm my nerves. I hated the unknown, it always drove me insane. I was much like my mother in that way.
He sat down next me as Alexis bid me a goodbye and left. "Did you like Alexis? Majority of the time it will probably be her keeping you company if I can't be here." Finn explained.
I nodded. "Yeah, she was nice," I said quietly in return before I went back to staring out the window.
"Hey, you okay?"
"How can I be? I'm in pain that no one or anything can help with and I'm basically a prisoner here."
He placed his hand over my shirt exactly where my bandages were underneath. "I can help with this can't I."
"And what are you gonna do? Walk around with your hand at my side at all times?"
"I wouldn't mind," he mumbled. "And I suppose technically you're a prisoner here, but I promise I'll make you as comfortable as you can be." I scoffed at that.
"I wish I could go for a run."
"As soon as your body is up for it, I'll take you for one."
"Finn. I..." I sighed. "Say my side finally heals, and say I told your Alpha how I really ended up here. I would technically be free, right?" He nodded. "So, what would you do if I told you I wanted to leave?"
He let a small growl escape his lips and his eyes turned shades darker before he looked away and closed his eyes with a shake of his head to calm himself down. He faced me again and told me he would let me leave if that was really what I wanted.
I didn't like that. I didn't like the thought of him forcing me to stay here but I didn't like that he would be so willing to let me go either. It even made me slightly angry. What was wrong with me?
"Why? Are you not even going to fight for me to stay?"
"Well of course I would want you to stay but Weylyn I... as your mate I care about you. I may not know you yet, but I do care and it's my duty to look after you and make you happy. But if your happiness isn't going to reside with me here then I don't want to be the one holding you back from whatever it is you desire in life. I hope, I pray to the Moon Goddess that you'll want me, but I want you to want me out of your own free will. Don't think that I'm not fighting for you. I'll fight every fucking day for your affection but I won't force it."
Goddamn this man was going to make me cry if I wasn't careful considering I was kind of turning into an emotional mess right now. My parents would have adored him after that declaration, but I had to change the topic before it all gets too much for me, and he was looking straight at me waiting for a response.
"How old are you?" I barely got out while avoiding his eyes.
"Twenty-two," he said with a grin. I told him I was nineteen and that was the end of that conversation.
We had dinner together shortly afterwards, just the two of us. I wasn't ready to interact with Finn's family yet and I think my mate also just wanted us to spend time alone together. I didn't mind but I didn't have much to say so Finn just kept asking me mundane questions like what my favourite colour was and my favourite foods to pass the time.
I really appreciated what he had said to me earlier about letting me choose what I wanted myself, instead of forcing me into this relationship. I could tell he was a good guy and it made me want to get to know him beyond just his favourite colour but I didn't know how to steer the conversation in that direction, so I just stared at him drinking in his chiselled jaw, the strength in his muscular arms, and I bet there were abs under that shirt.
"You're staring you know?" he said with a tilt of his head.
I shook my head slightly. "Sorry."
He smiled and I blushed. "I didn't say I minded."