I slowly tip toed my way out of the dark room and into what I assumed was the living room.
It was pitch black as I looked around in hopes of spotting any clue which would lead me to the kitchen.
Instead of finding a clue, I found my mate sleeping on the couch in front of the television. He had one of his legs dangling off the couch and one of his arms draped over his eyes.
His chest rose and fell at a slow pace which surprisingly calmed me down.
I swallowed and that is when I remembered what I had come outside to do in the first place.
I just randomly walked through a doorway and it turned out to be just what I was looking for.
Luckily, I found a glass placed on the first counter my eyes fell upon.
I rinsed the glass before pouring myself some water and gulping it down in one go. I poured another glass and gulped that down as well.
When I was completely hydrated, I went back to the room but not before gazing at my mate for a couple more minutes.
He was so perfect but that didn't mean that I wasn't scared of him. I somehow knew that he was nice but the 'what if's scared me to no end.
I was so pathetic but I couldn't help it. Pain was all I had ever known for the past 13 years. It was weird to be loved and cared for and it scared me.
Scared me that I would never learn to love and to be loved ever again.
***
I was sitting on the couch present in front of the bed with me facing the window and was just lost in thought when my mate's scent hit my nose.
"Oh, Izzy, you're up? I thought you would sleep at least a little more," he said as I heard his footsteps coming towards me and stopping just a couple steps away from me.
I inwardly sighed and turned to face him. I flinched back when I noticed how close he was but he didn't seem to notice and just stared at me with a weird look in his eyes.
I looked down at my bare feet as I played with my fingers. A small pout formed on my lips before I heard a sigh.
I glanced up to see him going towards the bathroom and I could feel the tension leaving my body with each step he took.
When the door to the bathroom closed, I picked up my phone from the bedside table and quickly found my aunt's number.
After pressing the call button, I put the phone to my ear and waited.
Soon, I heard the familiar click sound and her soothing voice flowed from the speaker.
'Hello? Isabelle? Are you ok? Did your mate do something to you?' She said just as she picked up which made me smile and my heart swelled up with love for her.
"N-No, he didn't d-do anything," yet, I said and heard her sigh on the other end.
'That's good, darling. So, are you eating well? Or is he starving you?' She asked with motherly concern coating her words.
"H-He gives me f-food 3 times a-a day and s-so much food th-that I can't e-even finish it a-all,"
'That he should! You are a growing young girl, you need all the food you can get! Oh, Leah wants to talk to you,' she said as I heard some shuffling before I heard Leah's familiar sniffle.
'Hey, Iz! 'sup? Life, or should I say, mate treatin' you well?' She asked making my smile widen.
"Y-Yeah, so far s-so good. What a-about you, Leah? D-Did you find y-your mate?" I asked, genuinely hoping that she had found her mate and he was treating her well.
'No, not yet but I promise, you'll be the first to know when I do,' she said, finality in her tone and I soon heard Ben's voice.
'Leah! I am going to meet your stupid mate first so I can tell if he is a creep or not, then Iz can meet him so he doesn't try anything,' Ben said, showing his overprotective brother side and I heard Leah growl.
'My mate ISN'T stupid. YOU are the one who's stupid,' Leah said in a dangerously low voice and I could practically see Ben shaking like a leaf.
'Whatever,' he said and I assumed he left. That made me want to have a brother. As much as they fought, I knew that they loved and cared for each other and no matter how hard I tried, I won't be able to have such a close bond with either of them.
'So, what's your mate's name?' Leah asked and I could imagine her leaning forward in her seat.
"H-His name's E-Ethan," I told her and heard her breathe hitch.
'E-Ethan? As in A-Alpha Ethan of B-Blue Moon pack?' She asked and I frowned.
I remembered my ex-Alpha mentioning the name 'Blue Moon pack' before when talking about 'the guest' so I knew Ethan was of Blue Moon pack.
"Y-Yes, w-why?" I said as my palms got a little sweaty and leaned forward in my seat.
'Oh, Iz, you don't know? He is known as the world's most ruthless Alpha! He is merciless and kills anyone who dares to step in his path! He is not good for you, Iz, you need to escape!
Did he really not hurt you yet? Oh my god, god knows when h-' she got cut off by a low growl which came from...me.
I didn't like her talking about my mate like that. He hadn't shown me a single reason for me to hate him, except that he was an Alpha, which wasn't really his fault, so I wasn't going to believe something I didn't see with my own two eyes.
"L-Leah, listen to me, h-he hasn't done anything th-that would hurt me. H-He is super nice t-to me even though I t-treat him coldly.
S-So p-please, don't say th-things like that about M-MY mate. Anyway, I-I'll talk to you l-later. B-Bye," I finished with a powerful tone and hung up the phone.
'Damn, Iz! You on fire!' Liz said and a small smile took over my face before it fell.
Why did I defend him?
Right, he was MY mate, so only I was alowed to say stuff like that about him, not her.
"Did you just..." I heard Ethan's voice and my entire body tensed up.
Did he hear everything? Oh my god, what if he went on a rampage and killed the only family I had left? Leah was dead meat if he decided to get rid of her after he was finished with me.
"I-I-I'm s-so sorry f-for e-everything my c-cousin s-said, please d-don't k-kill her," I begged as I quickly jumped up from the bed and turned to him.
He looked like he was in shock. He was probably in shock to hear somebody say those things about him, now he was gonna kill me and Leah.
If Ben and aunt Karen are home, he might get rid of them too, just for fun.
'Leah's words really played with your already messed up imagination. Look at mate, he is so innocent and sweet, do you think he would kill us? And if he wanted to kill us, he would've done it sooner. He had better chances,' Liz said.
Her words made me significantly calmer and I took a deep breathe.
"Did you just defend me?" He said and I started trembling.
"N-No, I'm s-so s-sorry. I d-didn't me-" I cut myself off in the middle of the sentence and gaped at him.
He didn't care about what Leah said and just cared about the fact that I defended him? He was weird. So weird.
"Wh-Wh-What...?" I said as I blinked slowly and he just stood there with a huge grin.
"You defended me, didn't you?" He said it like it was some unbelievable fact. Honestly, he looked kinda cute.
'Be strong, Iz and say something you would normally say. Something you would say to me, or for starters, Leah,' Liz said which made me gulp.
She sounded hopeful, like I would really be able to do it and I didn't want to disappoint her. So, I said it. Said what I would normally say to Leah or Ben.
"Y-Yeah, I-I d-did defend you c-cause y-you are m-my mate. A-And o-only I can s-say th-those th-things about y-you, not her, o-or-or a-anyone else," I finished quite weakly and my once raised gaze was now on my feet.
'That was amazing. Better than I expected actually,' Liz said, lifting some of the weight from my shoulders. Maybe things won't turn out so bad.
'Thank you,' I was proud of myself as well for saying that out loud. A firm pat on the back for me.
I lifted my eyes up slightly for them to fall on his wide face. Like, literally everything on his face was wide, his eyes and mouth standing out.
I bit on my bottom lip and tried to look away but failed. I inhaled and exhaled as slowly and deeply as I could.
He tried to compose himself and say something but ended up looking like a fish. That was it, a snort left my mouth and I burst out laughing.
To dash with the fact that he might kill me for this, but Imma laugh my dash off!
I bent over, clutching my stomach as tears fell from my eyes and slowly but surely, the laughter died down. Once it did, I saw that Ethan was crouched down and had his head in his hands.
'Comfort mate! Mate is sad, comfort him!' Liz started shouting and I quickly kneeled down in front of him.
Was he sad because I laughed at him? Oh god, what did I do?! I made him sad.
My heart clenched when I heard a little sniffle from him and I looked around all over the place.
How did you even calm an Alpha down?
I reached out my hand and placed it on his back very gently, barely there. Atleast me being his mate might make him feel better.
His eyes snapped to me, then to my hand and then to me again and I noticed no tear marks or red eyes or runny nose, nothing.
I quickly took my hand back and placed it on my lap with my other hand. He was feeling ok, so my hand didn't need to be where it was, on his warm and tingly back.
He reached for my hand and gently picked it up. Sparks erupted from the place of contact and my eyes widened as I watched him bring my hand towards him in horror.
He was definitely going to cut my hand for touching him without his permission but I still didn't yank my hand away from his and run away.
'Progress,'
'Shut up,'
I blushed a dark shade of red when he kissed the back of my hand and placed it against his cheek. My hand was touching his perfect face.
My hand was quite pale in contrast to his tan skin but I liked it. I liked that it was my hand on his cheek and not someone else's.
God, I was totally losing it. And I wasn't even scared anymore. I was ready.
"Damn, Izzy, why-no how are you so beautiful and kind and cute and amazing and sweet and oh so perfect? And how are you so innocent at the same time with being all that? It's marvellous," he said with shining eyes and I couldn't stop a tear as it escaped my eye and slid down my cheek.
He thought all that about me? He really thought that all could be me, was me? How? When did I give him the reason to believe that? All I showed him was my weak and pathetic side 5 months ago, and now.
I didn't even know if I had a better side than this.
"Aww, Izzy, don't cry, my flower," he said with a small smile as he reached for me and pulled me in his arms, securing me in between them as I sat on his lap.
Right then and there, it felt like it was the safest place in the universe. I hadn't felt safe in a long time, even in my own house, always staying on alert but this was amazing.
He wiped my tears away and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead which made my heart do summersaults. He called me perfect, but real perfectionism was him. Him and only him.