~~

Artem

~~

The Peterson estate was the most remote of the homes we had visited over the last month. Consequently, it was the furthest from the pack house. We had wanted to take them by surprise and had opted for walking there.

It wasn’t that big of a deal for me but I didn’t think it was a good idea to have to walk back with the unconscious girl in my arms. I needed to get her back and call Doc to have him check her out.

Doc was a friend of mine I met while I was away at school. He was, as the name suggested, a doctor. He’s a few years older than me and my crew. He had been in the first year of his residency when we met him a couple years ago. We may, or may not, have done something stupid which led a concerned citizen to semi-force us to go to the hospital. Doc is a wolf too and knew that we didn’t have to be there, but also knew that the human wouldn’t understand that.

Doc was not from that local pack either and was considered a nomad for not having a home to go back to after his medical training so we convinced him to come back with us. We would need someone to help us with all the beaten and abused pack members and he was a kind hearted person. It was a win-win.

While I carried the unconscious girl that I didn’t know the name of, Kent called a ride for us. Within five minutes a dark green Jeep Wrangler pulled up. It was a convertible style and the top was off completely.

“Why didn’t you put the top up Chay?” I complained as I climbed into the back with the girl on my lap.

“Kent told me to hurry. Did you want me to spend twenty minutes putting it back on before I left?” The girl behind the wheel snapped at me as she took a sharp u-turn to take us back to the pack house.

“No, I guess I wouldn’t want that.” I conceded. Whether I was the Alpha or not, my sister was still very annoying, but I loved her anyway.

“So, who’s the dead chick?” She asked brashly as she drove back home. My growl must have alerted her to the fact that she had screwed up. “What’s wrong?” She eyed me in the mirror.

“You just insulted his mate.” Kent told her from his spot in the front seat.

“What?” Three voices rang out. I hadn’t told Toby or Morgan about it yet, had I?

“The girl is his mate. He scented her when we were in the process of tracking her down. I don’t think his wolf has settled down yet.”

“Wow!” My sister looked like she was about to burst. “I, Cesya Cooper, never thought I would see the day when my big brother found his mate. Aren’t you too busy saving the world to find love or some shit like that?”

“I can’t pick and choose it, Chay, it just happens.”

“And your wolf told you she’s your mate?” She was actually asking it seriously this time.

“He hasn’t stopped telling me since I smelled her.” I looked down at her face, so pale, so thin, but still so beautiful. Her features were soft, and pretty, she almost looked like a china doll. So soft, so cute, so fragile. “But I think she might not accept it.” I could hear the depression in those words, the sadness I felt when she looked at me with eyes so full of fear.

“Why?” Chay wanted to know.

“When I told her I was the Alpha, she looked like she’d rather die than go with me.”

“They probably conditioned her to be afraid of Alpha’s, Artem, just like the others were.”

“I know.” I just hung my head as we drove back home.

The girl hadn’t moved at all. When I laid her on the couch in my office she didn’t stir. When Doc came by to see her she didn’t flinch when he touched her injuries. And when he suggested I take her to his office on the second floor, where he had a fully equipped medical room, she didn’t move when I picked her back up.

Doc examined her while she was out cold. He took x-rays of her injuries, dressed her wounds, and splinted her leg. He said if it didn’t start getting better he was going to have to re-break it to set it right. I didn’t like the sound of that. Also, I didn’t leave her side while Doc was working.

While Doc was working, Cesya came in and helped us to clean her up. That was the only time I left her side. My sister said, mate or not, I couldn’t be there without her consent. She was right though and I wasn’t going to push it.

When Cesya was done and allowed me to come back in, she had done her best to clean the girl’s hair and clean off as much blood and dirt as she could. She looked a million times better, which only made me fall for her more.

There was nothing we could do about the clothes right now. If she woke up changed she might freak out. But after she was properly cared for I wanted to lay her down to get some rest. Cesya vetoed my plan of putting her into my room so I could keep an eye on her. So, I put her in the room across the hall from mine.

I couldn’t wait until she woke up and I could finally learn her name.

~~

Star

~~

I had woken up at some point when I was being carried. Or more accurately, when someone was laying me down on something soft. It was way softer than my bed back in the cellar, that’s for sure.

There were two men in the room with me. They were talking about me, about my injuries and about why I hadn’t woken up yet. I was really good at pretending to be asleep.

I heard the one man, a voice I hadn’t heard before, say something about me needing x-rays and a full examination.

“I need to check the set of these bones, and she needs these wounds dressed.” His voice was soft, gentle, and he sounded like he wasn’t all that old.

“Fine we can go right away.” The man from earlier, the one who I watched kill Liam, seemed eager to go. One of the two of them picked me up.

There was that same scent from before. It was full of spices, but I don’t know which ones. It made me want to smile, but I resisted that urge.

The man carried me into another room that was bright and smelled very clean. But still I didn’t flinch. This time I was laid on something else. It was softer than the bed in the cellar, but harder than the last thing I was on.

“Do what you need to do Doc.” The spicy man was speaking now.

“I will Alpha.” The soft voice answered him. So was this man a doctor? Based on the things he was doing I would hope so.

I felt the man press all around the bite mark on my neck, the one Liam had left here when he caught me from behind. The man checked me over, inspecting the shoulder that was still bruised and sore, the leg and foot that were broken, and everything else he could get to without stripping me.

I didn’t want to move but I felt off somehow. I didn’t know why, he hadn’t done anything wrong but I didn’t know him and I didn’t trust him. So basically, I didn’t want him touching me, especially considering he had pulled the top of my collar down and lifted the hem of the shirt. He didn’t have to do much with my bottoms, I was already wearing shorts.

There was a loud machine that made strange noises. The doctor had said he was going to look at the images so I guessed that it was an x-ray machine. Well, the bones were probably healing now so what was the point?

Turned out there was a point. The bones weren’t straight yet and if he couldn’t fix it with a splint he would have to re-break my leg. That didn’t sound fun, but I could also hear that it didn’t sound like something he would like.

I had to wonder if they knew what rank I was. If they did, would they still help me? Probably not.

After the doctor was done a girl came in and kicked the two of them out. I was curious about her, since all the women in my family hated me more than the men did. But this girl seemed nice, and was very happy.

“Don’t mind that big idiot.” She was rambling on about something that I hadn’t paid enough attention to. “He’s big and stupid, but he is a great Alpha. He’s strong, the best fighter there is, and he was strong enough to kill the last Alpha.”

‘W-was she warning me? Was she telling me to steer clear of the Alpha.’

“He could kill anyone that he needed to. He plans to use that power and strength of his to destroy-.” I needed to count this bad memory away, I had to try to drown out her words before she could describe how the Alpha was going to kill me.

I continued counting until she was done. Apparently, prisoners here couldn’t be as dirty as I had been, since she had spent that whole time while she was talking just cleaning me up. I was glad that she hadn’t tried anything and neither did the other two guys, but what exactly did they want with me? What were they going to do to me?

I was afraid to actually move, I was afraid to open my eyes and look around. This was an Alpha’s house. The Alpha was here. And Alphas hate weak wolves like me. Would I make it out of here alive, or was I just trapped in another prison?

After the girl was done cleaning me up I heard her start to talk to the men from before. They were talking about where to put me for the time being.

“She will be in my room.” The Alpha said. I thought I was going to die right then and there.

“Absolutely not.” The girl told him. Was she his girlfriend? Wife? Did she not approve of him taking a slave to his room?

“I think she’s right, Artem.” The doctor agreed. Good, I didn’t want to be in the room with the Alpha, who knew what he was likely to do to me if I was in there.

“Fine, then I will put her in the room across the hall from mine, so I can keep an eye on her.” They knew I was the type to run away, so they were going to guard me. It will be even harder for me to escape from this place now.

After they had decided where I was going the Alpha picked me up again. This felt so strange to me. I had been carried before, obviously. Usually when my family carried me it was done roughly, dragging me about or tossing me away. But the Alpha was treating me like I was breakable. Maybe he wanted me for the same reason Uncle Howard did. If he wanted me to be a sex slave he might try to keep my body from becoming damaged, that way I would look better and be functional sooner. If he were to beat me and break me now, he wouldn’t get much fun out of me for long.

I refused to be someone’s slave though. I would find a way to escape this place eventually.

But, for now, the gentle rocking motion from the Alpha carrying me was lulling me into a peaceful sleep.

‘No, dammit! I don’t want to sleep. I want to run.’ I screamed internally at myself but it was pointless, I was asleep in no time at all.