'love is a difficult, eternally hopeful thing that is difficult to kill'
-unknown
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Lily's POV
Voices. That's all I heard. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I felt warmth spread through me.
I quickly opened my eyes to see I was back in my human form. I was in the same bedroom I was staying in, and I noticed the long scar running across my arm.
I trailed my finger over it,feeling the jagged and disfigured skin.
I felt exhausted. Every fibre in my body was telling me to go back to sleep. I couldn't, though, because I had a lingering feeling about who had stitched up my cut.
Placing me feet on the floor,I froze as I saw a long cut going down my leg. The skin around it was bruised and blotchy.
The cut was bleeding heavily. My breath hitched as I saw the door to my bedroom opening. My mate walked in,carrying a cloth and bowl of water.
He strolled over to me,his eyes gazing into my own. He said nothing as he placed the bowl and cloth down and lifted my legs back into the bed.
A warm feeling consumed me as sparks sprouted through my body. I revelled in the feeling,savouring it because I knew it wasn't going to last.
As quick as it came,it went. My mate carefully reached for the cloth and wiped the blood off from the cut.
It stung a lot. As if my mate could tell,he reached for my hand. I saw how hesitant he was, never less though,he engulfed my hand in his large calloused one.
His fingers smoothly rubbed over my skin, soothing the pain. He continued to dab the over wound,his hand still stroking patterns on my skin.
After a while,he stopped. He placed the bowl down and took a seat on the bed.
"Why were you out near the border?"he asked me. It was a simple question, but I saw the emotion that was behind it.
"I was just going for a run with Elisa. I hadn't shifted in a long time, and I needed to let my wolf out."I responded.
"You will have guards with you from now on."he announced, certainty in his voice.
"I don't need guards,Alpha."I said. I watched as he winced at the title. He hadn't given me his name,so I was left to assume he wanted me to call him by his rank.
"This is not up for discussion, Lily. I will not have my mate put in harm's way."he said.
I clenched my fists tightly. How dare he?!
"I am clearly not your mate.If was your mate,you wouldn't avoid me. If I was your mate, you wouldn't have sat at the table with another female's hands all over you! You don't want me,you made that very clear when we first met!"I shouted at him.
I have never raised my voice before ,let alone at the Red Blood Alpha, but his words had made me want to release the hurt I had been bottling up.
I may be just a weakness or a liability to him,but that didn't mean he could hurt me. He knew I was hurt that he was letting Clarissa touch him at breakfast.
He clearly could tell how uncomfortable I am with the pack whispering and judging me all of the time.
Yet he never decided to do anything about any of those things.
I clearly didn't matter to him.
I watched as his fists clenched tightly at my words. He growled loudly, making the furniture shake.
"Whether I want you or not is another thing. But fate brought us together. Whether I or you like it or not doesn't matter. You are my mate,you will have guards and be protected!"he shouted and stormed out of the room.
As he left me alone,he took a piece of my heart with him.
Why had fate been so cruel and paired us together?