“I think they were in on it” I said heavily, standing up and joining him “I don’t think it was just the Alpha and his son that abused her.”
“Is it any wonder she might not want to live then?” Cody asked me skeptically “how are you going to guarantee her safety if she does survive Jaxon? You can’t be expecting to just turf this poor girl right back into their clutches again?”
He sounded disgusted at the mere thought I might do that.
“I’m not that ruthless,” I said heatedly as he gave me a sidelong glance “and I’m well aware that she can’t just be taken back out there. I planned on having her live in the pack house where a close eye can be kept on her.”
He still looked doubtful. “Who’s going to keep watch on her?” he demanded “All of us are busy with work. Are you going to entrust her safety to the omegas?”
I hesitated. I had thought exactly that. I let out a low growl of frustration “Don’t push me, Cody, I’ve already passed the invisible line between Alpha and omega volunteering my blood and visiting her. She’ll be perfectly safe with our omegas” I insisted lowly.
He met my eyes “This girl is wolfless and you said she has no voice?”
I nodded “I’m well aware. But she survived in her old pack just as well, she can survive this one. The hair fascinates me” I said studying it “sometimes I swear it almost looks like it’s shimmering in the light.”
“It reminds me a little of the ocean” Cody commented, reaching down to finger it and jumping when a growl came out of me, without warning.
Why had I done that? He wasn’t about to harm her. But the growl had come without my knowledge and a feeling of protectiveness had washed over me. Or was it jealousy? Why would I be jealous of Cody touching Riley? It made no sense.
Cody met my eyes, a wary expression on his face. The doctor glanced between us. “Her hair is natural,” she said softly “I don’t know if that helps, but it hasn’t come out of a bottle. As for not being able to speak, we plan on doing some tests to see why that’s the case when she wakes. There’s damage to her vocal cords but we worry there is emotional trauma as well” she advised us.
Emotional trauma? From all the beatings and abuse? I wanted to ask more, the questions hovering on my lips when I happened to look down and see the slightest twitch of Riley’s fingers.
“Doctor” I said, pointing as she glanced down “she just moved.”
Riley’s fingers twitched again. Without thinking about it, I grabbed her hand, feeling how cold they were. Tingles ran down my hand and I felt the sparks that flew between us. My wolf began to growl and an overwhelming desire to claim her, to make her mine and mine alone swept over me. As her eyelids fluttered open, the words came bursting out of my mouth before I could prevent them, causing a look of triumph to sweep over Cody’s face.”MATE.”
Riley POV
It felt like there was a leaden weight on my eyelids as I forced them open, my mouth parting open in shock as I felt tingles spreading through my hand where it was being held, a word spoken out loud by the Alpha as he stared down at me, a word I never expected anybody to say in regards to me “MATE.”He had to be mistaken. I was nobody’s mate. There was no way this was the mate bond. Wouldn’t he have known with our first meeting that we were mates? I stared at him in disbelief and saw the same expression mirrored on his face. Even if we were, I realized quite quickly that he had no intention of remaining mates. He looked as though he had been doused with a bucket of cold water and the person with him, looked shocked but happy for his friend.
He yanked his hand away from mine. The tingles faded. I sat upright as the Alpha took deep breaths attempting to calm himself. The doctor came forward.”How are you feeling?” she asked me kindly and I frowned.
Had she forgotten I could not speak? I made a motion and she gasped, realization dawning.
“Just nod if you feel any pain or shake your head if you don’t” she compromised.
I took a moment. Now that I was awake, there was no pain, and nothing felt wrong, in fact, I felt quite healthy. I slowly shook my head, keeping my eyes fixed on her. The doctor looked pleased, but then, I noted, so did Alpha Jaxon.
“The second lot of blood you gave her seems to have done the trick,” the doctor said excitedly to Alpha Jaxon who glanced away from me.
Second lot? He had donated a second lot of blood to me? I was stunned. It was unheard of for Alpha to help omegas so much but perhaps this mate bond had already influenced him more than he realized. I stared at the doctor.
“Your vitals are good, you appear to have healed nicely,” she told me, beginning to pull out my cannula and unhook the machines “but I want to keep you under observation for one more day to ensure there are no sudden complications.”
“That seems like a good idea” Alpha Jaxon’s friend spoke from the doorway “It’s better to ensure that she’s completely healthy while we come up with a suitable plan for her accommodation, isn’t that right Alpha Jaxon” he said pointedly.
Alpha Jaxon glared at his friend even though I was confused and a little frightened. Was I to remain in this pack or was I going to be made a rogue? No doubt the pack members had made stories up about me while I had been unconscious. I stared at Alpha Jaxon with pleading eyes and he hesitated before he softened slightly.
Why didn’t he just reject me and get it over with? Was it because I couldn’t speak the words to accept? “I intend on having you live in the pack house and help the other omegas with their work,” he told me quietly.
I nodded, not surprised in the slightest. So I was not to be treated as his mate. I looked at him meaningfully and he stared at me as I mouthed ‘rejection.’
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