*Sabines POV*
"Why's she not waking up?"
"I didn't kill her did I?"
"Don't sound so worried Niall, she's fine. Can't you hear her heartbeat?"
I gave out a small croak, and a warm familiar hand was instantly petting my head.
I moved away involuntarily, my body not wanting to awaken.
My brain was practically dead, and I barely had time to see a curly haired guy standing over me before my eyes shut once again.
Except this time I wasn't asleep, I was merely listening.
"Dammit, she went back under." Harry cursed.
"She'll be fine." Louis said, and for some reason panic rose in me at the sound of his voice, but I couldn't remember why. "I'm more worried about these wounds Harry! They aren't healing like they should be!"
Heavy footsteps could be heard entering the room.
Zayn's sudden voice made my ears twitch, but no one seemed to notice.
"It's because they're from an alpha you idiot."
Zayn was clearly not in the best mood, and the others could tell.
"Why are you so pissed Zayn, she didn't even take a swipe at you."
Zayn growled.
"When Niall over here sedated her, she managed to give me a good kick with her back foot, damn thing broke my nose. And that's not the only thing, Paul seemed to have left last night without us even knowing, said there was something important and he'd be back in a few weeks."
Everyone, besides me, groaned at this clearly unfortunate news.
I was still confused, however. The boys were talking about wounds and me and-oh.
With a sudden flash, memories from last night's incident hit me like a ton of bricks, making me sit up quickly.
The sudden blood rush caused a bit if disorientation at first, causing me to sway slightly.
"Sabine are you okay?" My mate asked from beside me.
Thing was, was that I wasn't okay. I felt nauseous and light-headed. Stumbling off the bed, I crumpled to the ground, completely feeling unable to move. I was completely tangled in a mess of blankets and sheets.
My cat was tired and exhausted, as the drugs seemed to have more effect on her than me. She begged me to shift back, and I complied wordlessly.
"What the Hell Niall! How much tranquilizer did you give her?" Harry yelled, an edge to his voice.
"Enough to knock out a full grown tiger...and then some." Niall squeaked.
They all started immediately yelling at each other, and I winced at the commotion.
Since I seemed immobilized, I had nothing better to do than return back to my dreams.
My dreams were always blurry when I woke up, but this time when my eyelids cracked apart, all that swam through my mind was the terrifying nightmare.
I had been a cub again, barely being able to shift into my tiny, yet somewhat large form.
With only miniature sized claws and teeth to protect me, I was no much for the towering wolves who were slowly circling me.
This pack wasn't like the ones Dad and Mom often visited with me, where I would play with the white dog like wolf who sometimes could transform into a silly boy whom constantly teased me.
Now forgetting the nightmare, my mind traveled into the memories of that young wolf.
His name was Nuka.
Nuka was part of an Native American tribe, one of the last that were still able to shape shift..
We'd travel by plane all the way from my African pride to the Oklahoma Native American reserves every year just to visit Nuka and his pride.
He was a nice wolf wasn't he? My cheetah questioned. Him and his pack.
Yea, he was a nice wolf. They were all were.
A sharp pang in my chest came with the memories of Nuka. Not only because I hadn't seen him in forever, but because I knew I never would again.
Nuka was dead.
Nuka and his pack were dead or packless because of me.
It wasn't our fault, my cheetah whined sadly. They didn't know how many wolves had us captured. They didn't know what those vile dogs were capable of.
They were torn apart. I remember hearing each individual scream and howl of pain.
I remember Nuka's death more vividly however, as it happened right in front of my eyes.
I was hiding in the shed, my long overgrown hair blanketing over my fourteen year old form as I cowered in the corner.
Before Nuka's pack had attacked as a rescue for me, I had been sleeping soundly in my "room".
Then there was a howl of alarm and suddenly I was grabbed by the horrible alpha wolf and dragged across the old mansion into the very same shed.
It was hours before the door was knudged open, and surprisingly, a white wolf stood there.
"Nuka!" I had yelled, for it was surely him. No other wolf possessed his snow white fur that made his vivid different colored blue and brown eyes stand out in such an unique contrast.
Nuka tilted his head a little before realization struck him.
He shifted so quickly I barely had time to shield my eyes.
I opened them slowly, and tried to focus on only the top half of Nuka's exposed body.
"Sabine. Oh my God it's really you!" He shouted quietly in surprise and relief.
"We weren't sure they had kept you this long, but we had to risk it. We've tracking them for years now and this was the first time we actually got a location. " His multicolored eyes roamed over me again. "It's been too long Sabine."
"Far too long Nuka."
I could feel tears welling in my eyes, but wiped them away, this was no time for tears, we had to escape.
The 17 year old and I shifted quickly, and my cheetah purred softly. It had been ages since she was allowed out.
We each evenly sprinted, although I could go faster than Nuka, I wouldn't leave him behind.
Or so I thought.
When the large light brown alpha pinned down poor Nuka, I knew our chance to escape peacefully was lost.
Nuka screamed mentally, ordering me to go away, that'd he be right behind me, so I fled.
The white wolf was only able to hold off the crazed opponent for nearly half a minute, until, finally, I heard the whine escape him, as well as loud crush of the neck.
Half the pack died letting me get away, letting me have a chance at life.
What a stupid choice.
They had mates, families.
Twenty-four wolves died in that fight.
Yes, they brought down almost all of my captors, even the lunatic alpha.
But for what?
We're alive because of them, my cheetah growled. Don't waste the gift they gave us dying for.
You're right. I sighed mentally and pushed down the depressing thoughts.
Looking up sharply, a certain surprised mate stood in the door.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I just kinda..accidentally..." His accent came out an apology.
An apology for what?
It took me a second to realize my mental barriers were down, and that the presence of someone who was not my cat or me lingered in it.
I shook my head side to side in a panicked way, and looked at Harry with wide eyes.
"You didn't need to see that. You shouldn't have saw that."
Harry opened his mouth slightly.
"Sabine, I'm so so sorry.."
Recoiling back under the sheets, Harry delicately made his way towards me.
I was panicking. I hadn't meant for him to find out this way.
"Sab, baby, please I'm sorry. You're safe now I won't tell anyone."
"Nuka-"
I cringed at the name of my fallen friend.
Harry concernedly placed his large hand on my cheek as an apology.
"He seemed like a great guy. And I'm so glad he saved you, beautiful. Without you where would I be?"
His head leaned in closer, not to kiss, but to simply rest his own forehead against mine.
I relaxed slightly, and perhaps would of moved closer to my mate and hugged him tightly as he wrapped his arms around me, but instead, two specific werewolves decided to burst through the door.
A snarl erupted from me as I recognized them, and I fought myself from shifting then and there.
Harry glared at the two and mumbled, "Bad timing idiots!"
Louis gave a sheepish grin that couldn't help remind my cheetah and I of Nuka.
Of course, Harry caught on to this as my snarl faulted, and communicated me with telepathically.
There are some good wolves out there Sab, I promise. I may not have personally known Nuka, but through your eyes he was a great warrior. I swear these two are just as good as Nuka. Louis has a mate. He's ranked as beta, but until he's able to actually return home again, his younger oldest sister is set to be beta. Zayn's sister is actually future alpha of his pack. He wanted to be a warrior, but with this career...
And me. I could let you into my mind right now and you'd know all about me. You want to, I can feel it. But we're gonna have to wait, sweetheart, especially if you can't learn to trust my band mates.
The last words came off as a plea, and something snapped in my cheetah.
My golden eyes flickered over to the wolves, returning a small smile from each of them.
Maybe we could...be civilized to them? My spotted soul questioned unsurely.
We were torn between the undying lust for her mate, and the bitter hatred she felt towards werewolves.
I however did not exactly trust zayn.
He was an unmated hormonal shifter, who could turn on anybody like that.
Although, Louis's charming looks and silly quirks reminded me enough of Nuka, that I gave defeating sigh.
Fine.
Harry gave a cheeky smile, and pecked me on the cheek, leaving a slight tingle from where his lips had brushed.
I was about to get out from under the covers, when I realized I was completely naked.
Harry! I squeaked, not liking the fact that three males happened to be in the same as my unclothed body. I don't have any clothes on.
My cheetah laughed slightly, before also realizing her mate was standing only feet away from us.
A not so innocent image slapped through my mind, making my blush deepen.
This isn't the time, I growled at her, and I could practically feel her eyes roll around in her head.
Her thoughts ceased to stop, and I could feel the lust building up in me.
Eyeing Harry now, I could see he was also struggling, although it was cute watching him close his eyes as his jaw strained slightly, his fist clenching and unclenching with each heavy breath that escaped his mouth.
A small cough interrupted the room, and our two heads swiveled to the culprit.
"Er, I think we'll leave now..." Louis said with a knowing smirk at Harry, and a wink at me.
Zayn shook his head, bounding through the door, words like, "Sex-crazed mates." And, "Uncontrollable" mumbling out of his mouth.
Louis chuckled, and followed him, shutting the door.
Harry seemed to be less lust crazed now, more than likely completely embarrassed of his unruly desire to mate with me.
I too, was completely chagrined about my own wanting to have him on top of me, kissing me, showing me a whole other side of him that I would ever only see.
But then I remembered Harry was no virgin. My whorish mate had been with a dozen, maybe more, females, humans and mythics.
My cheetah rumbled angrily at the idea of someone even looking at her Harry in a lusting manner.
But still, at least we'd be the only one to see him unwind like that. Only his mate would give him absolute...pleasure.
My cheetahs bittersweet suggestion caused me to bite my lip nervously, along with the intense heat from my mark. I could feel it almost glowing.
Harry must have felt the same way for he instantly pinned me down against the bed, and his lips were on my own, as if they had always been there.
He tilted my head up and went along my jawline, and I accidentally bucked under him as he reached my neck.
The fact that only a thin cloth sheet lie between him and my exposed body had me pulling him down nearer towards me.
He groaned, grinding against me.
"Sab." He gasped, eyes closed. "We need to stop. It's too soon."
I could feel the disappointment in his voice. He didn't want to stop. If I wanted to, I could ignore him and keep going, to however far we could get. But this wasn't exactly a romantic area or time.
"Okay." I responded regretfully, pulling away from his body. "We'll wait."
Harry smiled with amusement at my frustration, so I did the same back.
After Harry fetched me his oversized undershirt and some of his shorts, the awkwardness subsided.
Pretty soon we were just talking and laughing.
No sexual desires or mad make-out frenzy. We were just bonding. Even our cats were content.
This is what a mate, a real mate. was.
Someone you could just talk to.
__________________________________
"So, Alpha....." Harry smiled as he addressed me by my rightful title.
I furrowed my brows in confusion.
"How do you know that?"
Rolling his eyes, he shook his head.
"Louis's claw marks from you weren't exactly healing, and c'mon its not exactly difficult to tell."
"Oh."
There was an awkward silence for a moment before Harry spoke again.
"Why didn't you just return to the remaining half of the pack? Or to your own pack if Africa? Surely they'd want their future pride leader back."
A sigh escaped my lips when he finally finished the question.
"I did. I went over and over and over. Back to the same location they lived in. I scanned all 300 acres of their land looking for them. They moved on. I wasn't built to track, and I rarely crossed into wolf territory when I was on my own. I might never see them again. And my own pride is thousands of miles away. I couldn't return home even if I wanted to, which I don't. I don't want to live where I used to play with my living parents everyday. I don't want to rule over others."
My hand rose to wipe my watery eyes, but another one beat me to it.
"Don't cry precious." He murmured, his accent so deep and thick.
His green eyes glinted with compassion and love and pity, even maybe understanding.
"I love you Sab, with all my being, you know that?"
I nodded knowingly. I knew he loved me, just as much as I loved him. Maybe more.
Harry watched me expectantly, and I knew right away what he was yearning for.
A reply.
A reply that would show I felt the same about him. That I loved him.
I did, I really did, but I couldn't say it. He was my mate, yes, but he was also my kidnapper and almost even my rapist.
He would have to wait for me to accept him as a trustworthy partner. Just as I would.
After Harry realized I was not going to respond to his statement, he asked me another question, this one being a bit more personal.
"You've been with other guys, I'm guessing?"
My caught-off-guard expression must have has him keep talking.
"I mean, that defiantly wasn't your first kiss or anything when I pecked you on the couch." His voice was monotone, almost as if he didn't care, but the jealousy seeping off him had me giggling with lightheartedness.
"No!" I breathed, still laughing. "Of course not! I'm twenty-one Harry! I've been alone for seven years! Of course their were guys in my life....and not like their weren't any women in yours!" I added coldly as he released an irritated growl. "Hell, the first night I ever saw you, you were about to fuck some random fan!"
Harry shied away as my voice intensified.
"...I'm sorry Sab. I'm twenty-four. I've been looking for my mate since I was 18. It's frustrating, having girls practically throw themselves at me when I was looking for you. I gave in after a few years. I was weak Sab."
I stared blankly at him.
"That's no excuse."
"It never is." With that harry gave me a brisk kiss on the cheek and walked out of my room, leaving me to ponder his words.