Katie’s POV
Rose and I barely ventured out, and when we did, we’d always stick together to either eat out at the Diner or shop for fresh food and water.
It didn’t help how more werewolves were now present and would always watch our every move for the last two days, until the third day, which is today, some just couldn’t handle it I guess.
Rose screamed as the girl chased us into the nearby woods.
We’ve been running from them for the last ten minutes.
I swear these assholes are toying with us. They’re having fun chasing after us as if we’re prey. These bastards.
I grit my teeth when I notice two more werewolves appear on our sides, two boys who look royally pissed. And that makes me angry even more because we didn’t do anything and they’re chasing us with the intent to kill!
I chance a look back at Rose I’m practically dragging behind me. I growl by how she looks about ready to faint. She shouldn’t even be running in the first place.
A movement up ahead catches my attention; I snap my head up when the strong stench of a group of werewolves hit my nostrils.
“Shit!” I curse.
Spotting a huge boulder up ahead I stop in front of it and sandwich Rose between me and it.
Our attackers shout nonsense before shifting into their wolf and circle threateningly around us.
“Spies!” One wolf growls with many more growls following after.
“The West Clan sent you guys didn’t they?!”
“You have guts stepping in our territory!”
Many more threats and nasty comments were thrown at us before one wolf finally pounced.
I didn’t waste a second and lunged towards the wolf, punching its jaws, ignoring the fact that the mutt is twice my size. He flew back into the werewolves clustered together.
I could feel my eyes bleeding black and my inner wolf beginning to surface as I try to hold it back.
I can’t shift here. Not yet.
Counting to ten in my head I calm my breathing and rising temper.
“We are just passing through!” I try to remain civic.
One wolf snarls unconvinced and the other werewolves start doing the same.
Immediately all of them attack together.
I do my best to just throw the freaking idiots aside instead of attacking. I need to remain calm and—
“Ahh!” Rose screams in agony from behind me.
Remain calm? I tried being civil!
It’s all it takes for my hair on the back of my neck to stand and fuck it because all I can smell is Rose’s blood.
I whirl around as I shift and snap my jaws onto the brown wolf that’s biting into Rose’s shoulder, ripping him away from her before slamming him into a nearby tree with all my strength. He yelps in pain.
I snarl at the surrounding wolves to freeze them in place as I slowly trudge to the whimpering wolf.
All I can see is red and the werewolf who hurt someone from my pack.
The brown wolf continues to silently whimper from the pain but his eyes remain defiant.
All of my focus was on avenging, revenging, to just kill, especially this unapologetic mutt.
When I’m close enough, I loom over the shivering brown wolf.
I can smell his blood from his wound, I can also smell his blood that's staining my white coat from my assault earlier.
The fear radiating off of the other wolves only encourage me to growl more and it’s enough to have my inner wolf take over.
This mutt will pay for spilling Rose’s blood. It’s bad enough she ran almost a mile because of these pieces of shits when she should be resting.
My wolf growls again because of my added anger.
Suddenly, a strong scent between danger and warmth mixed with something spicy and sweet bombards my sense of smell. My inner wolf struggles from which to pursue: that oh so addicting scent or Rose’s blood on the enemy’s body.
In the end, I nudge my wolf to the more important matter at hand, willing my wolf to kill the bastard in front of me. My wolf needn’t be told twice and as she lunged.
“Stop!” Rose surprises me when she throws herself in front of me and hugs my wolf form.
I do my best reigning back my inner wolf to not knock Rose back and do more damage to her.
What the hell does she think she’s doing?!
‘Katie! Listen to me!’ Rose’s voice in the mind link is weak. ‘Please! I’m fine! I’ll be fine! Please…!’
I growl in response. Fine my ass! My wolf and I aren’t even close enough to be satisfied the least bit if we walked away from this.
‘It hurts, Katie…’
Now that snapped me back to reality. The blackness faded from my eyes and Rose smiled when she saw me coming back into control.
I switched just in time to catch her on my neck, immediately shifting back to human form to catch her, gently cradling a blooded Rose.
How could I have not notice that Rose was in pain? And shit she looks worse than when we were running for our lives.
Then, that alluring scent once again fills my sense of smell and I turn my head up to come face to face with a naked man, ignoring everyone else. Shockingly, I had enough time to realize he was handsome, and that he was also the source of that scent.
“I am Jackson,” the naked man introduces himself, “the Alpha of the East Clan. We don’t mean you harm.”
His voice sends shivers down my spine and it takes all my willpower for my attention to zero back onto the wolf that injured Rose. It pleases me when I see a shivering naked teenager in its place stained in his blood. He’s lucky he’s being protected by other naked men or I would have—
I stop myself before my anger makes me do something I might regret later.
“You,” I spat in all my fury at him. He jerks back, wincing once he does from the harsh movement to the huge holes in his torso. “If she dies, I’ll kill you even if it’s the last thing I do!”
Even though I’m clearly at a disadvantage, and may be making our situation worse, I still need to take my anger out on someone. Though I meant what I said.
I notice the surrounding werewolves tense at my words.
“But,” I add as I look back at the Alpha, ignoring the alluring scent, “If you help her, at least try to, I will be in your debt. Please, she is my only family.”
I try to hold back the tears threatening to fall from my eyes. I can’t lose Rose. I’ll throw away my pride if I have to. If it’s between my pride and Rose’s life, there’s no need to choose between the two. I’ll plead if I have to, especially to the enemy Alpha.
Some of the people look taken aback by my pleading voice, but I only focus on the only person who can save Rose.
Jackson doesn’t hesitate and nods once.
Trish appears from behind the group, clothed. She takes an extra cloth and ties it around Rose’s shoulder before looking me in the eyes and sending me a small apologetic smile.
“Shift back to your wolf form and follow me.” I hear Jackson say from beside me. “We’ll take you to the pack’s doctor. The rest of you, go to the pack house and wait until I’m finished with them. I’ll send Sally to check on those injured.”
From the corner of my eyes I see the werewolves flinch back from his alpha voice.
I hope they all fucking run into a goddam tree on their way back to wherever the pack house is. I shift back into my wolf.
Trish gently places Rose onto my back and secures her by taking Rose’s scarf and tying it around her and my body.
Trish and some other guy who must be Jackson’s beta follows Jackson and I to the pack’s doctor.
After running for a little over five minutes, we arrive to a small building surrounded by many medicinal herbs and fruits, but since we aren’t there for a tour we make haste inside the building after shifting back.
“I’ve already prepared the room for the injured rogue. Follow me,” A young man says as he shows us the way.
I carefully place Rose on the white hospital bed and take the offered gown from Trish. Quickly sitting on the chair in the room as the doctor begins to survey the unconscious red head.
“You should leave,” the doctor kindly suggests to me.
I don’t let my eyes leave Rose’s deathly pale body. “I’m not leaving her alone even if you are a doctor.”
She shouldn’t be that color, she should be glowing instead.
I hear the doctor sigh. From the corner of my eyes I see him turn to the other three occupants in the room. He nods at them and they quietly leave the room.
The doctor looks back to me and smiles, “I’m Nick. Don’t worry, I’ve never lost a patient before and I don’t plan to start today.”
I don’t answer and Nick goes on to fixing up my bleeding friend.
She shouldn’t be bleeding either. I inwardly regret telling Trish about our origin.
***
The doctor exhales after he puts down his tools. “All finished,” he looks at me and smiles, “she’s going to be fine. She just needs to rest.”
I finally look to the doctor. My eyes soften, and I send him a small smile.
“Thank you,” I say softly, and try to put all my emotions out there for him to see how really thankful I am.
He looks surprise for a long moment before he clears his throat and sends me a reassuring smile of his own, “Just doing my job.”
I nod my head and look back to Rose as Nick leaves.
***
Jackson’s POV
I sigh for the umpteenth time in the last hour to my third-in-command. My Gamma, Samuel, is really starting to annoy me.
“Sam, can you calm down already? Nick just told me he’s done okay?” I try to calmly say.
Of course my dear blonde friend isn’t having any of it.
Sam whines dramatically, “But Jack! I can smell her! The rogue that’s injured in there is my mate! How can I calm down?”
His baby blue eyes are full of worry as he throws his arms in the air for dramatic effect.
I bite back the words that I want to tell him he’s not the only who isn’t calm. I may look it, but I am anything but. I can smell her.
Though she may not have been the one injured, I’m also worried about my mate. I finally met her.
Thinking back to when I first smelt her I immediately knew one of the rogues was my mate. I had mind linked Daniel, my beta, about it.
When I saw her, she sat on her legs holding her friend in her arms. My eyes discreetly looked over my mate and somehow I wasn’t disappointed despite the situation. I did my best to not growl at the rest of my members for looking though.
A cough catches my attention and I look to Danny, his real name Daniel.
“You coming?” He smirks as if he knows what I was just thinking. Bastard. I shove him aside as he snickers behind me.
“What you laughing like that for?” I hear Trish say from beside him.
“He doesn’t even know anything about her except she’s a rouge and from the West Clan yet he’s already in love.” He’s quick to come up with an excuse.
I don’t know if he’s talking about just Sam or me, but from the eyes I feel burning holes into my back, I think he’s talking about the both of us.
“Well, duh! She’s my mate, Danny!” Sam says in a matter-of-fact tone.
I grunt, annoyed as Danny and Trish walked by my side.
Trish playfully bumps Danny’s shoulder with hers. “Look who’s talking, if I remember correctly, you were all goo-goo-gaa-gaa all over me when we first met,” she laughed.
Danny made a face at that and Trish burst into more laughter. Their first meeting was nothing like that.
“Even if this isn’t a hospital, the setting and rules are no different. How many times have I told you guys to use your indoor voices?” Nick was leaning against the wall watching us, eyes gleaming in amusement.
“Nick! How is she! Is she okay? Is she going to live? Can I see her?” Sam was in Nick’s face in seconds.
Nick shoved him back playfully, “Right, your mate. I can hear you from down the hall you know.”
“Can we see them now?” I ask. I’d really like to see my mate.
Nick nods with a small smile. “Yes, you can. By now the injured rogue should be awake. As for the other rogue, from what I can see, she doesn’t look injured. I doubt she’d let me check her until her friend wakes up.”
With that, we all walk back to the room.
Nick knocks on the door before we’re all entering and her scent washes over me.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I'll be publishing every weekend if I have Wifi at the time.