20. Chapter Eighteen
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
MAE
I slowly wake up and feel disoriented. Where am I? Why does my head hurt so much? Why does my body ache?
There are so many questions running through my head simultaneously as I open my eyes. The first thing I see is dirt and grass. Why am I on the ground? Did I fall asleep outside with Michael or Rylee?
But the longer I focus on my surroundings, the more I realize I’m not with them. I don’t feel the pull toward Michael, my mate, at all. I can tell he's not close to me at all.
Where did he go? Why am I not near him?
The past several weeks, we’ve been inseparable. We have grown so close, and we never want to be apart. I know part of it is because of the mate bond. It’s strong between us, but he’s waiting to mark me.
At first, I felt bad for keeping him from marking me since I’m not ready, but Rylee encouraged me to wait until I’m ready. Her mate, the alpha, gave her plenty of time before marking her. That made me feel a lot better, knowing I’m not the only one that’s kept their mate from marking them for a while.
It was unheard of in the community I came from. Normally, mates marked each other on the first or second day. Soulmates are meant for each other, and people didn’t want to stay away.
But I didn’t know Michael at all in the beginning. I had just run away from rogues who killed everyone in my pack. I was scared and definitely wasn’t thinking clearly.
I look over to my left and see someone I recognize tied up. His feet are bound together, and his hands are tied to a pole. I stare in amazement as I take it in again. He’s a pack member. What’s he doing tied up here?
Our eyes make contact, and he starts to rapidly speak. I’m trying to read his lips, but it’s impossible from this position. How are we going to communicate? My guess is he's not one of the few people in the pack that know sign language.
Even if he did know sign language, he wouldn't be able to respond with his hands tied around a pole. I’d only be able to ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions, which could get difficult. What if I didn’t ask the right questions? What if I make everyone more confused?
He stops speaking abruptly, almost in mid-sentence. It’s like I’m watching the realization spread across his face that I can’t hear him, I’m not able to understand him.
Maybe if he didn’t have his hands tied above his head, maybe then I would be able to communicate with him. We could write on each other's hands or even try and find a place on the dirt to write with a stick.
But neither of those can happen.
I slowly push myself off of the ground. Why am I not tied up like him? Did he do something to me? Did he do something against the pack rules, and Michael and the alpha are trying to figure out what to do with him? Are they waiting for me to wake up to punish him and have just kept him tied up?
I don’t know how their punishment system works in the pack. I haven’t asked because I assumed I didn’t need to know. There’s no way I plan on doing anything bad. I want a peaceful life. I don’t want to get on anyone's bad side since I’m so new to the pack, but also because there’s no need.
There’s obviously going to be tension between pack members at some point. We’re all human and will eventually get annoyed with each other. It’s guaranteed, but I don’t want to intentionally start something just because I can.
That isn’t right.
I look around, trying to figure out where we are. I don’t remember there being a pole out in the middle of the yard near the pack house. It’s an open field so pups can run around, people can train, and we can have ceremonies or celebrations as a pack.
Someone walks in front of me, and I take a deep breath. His smell is off, not like any of the pack members I have been around. My eyes widen in realization, everything comes flooding back into my mind. Fear is real, and I can feel it in my bones.
Rogues.
Being attacked.
Michael fighting four at once.
Fighting the one almost suffocating me in his grip.
Being kidnapped.
Passing out in the man's arms.
But who is the man tied up in front of me? Why’s he here? Was he taken before me? Or was I first?
Questions after question floods my mind, and I don’t have any answers to any of them. I know I won’t be getting any answers anytime soon.
I glance over at the guy tied up, and he speaks again. Shaking my head, I point to my ear, hoping he’ll understand.
He has to know I’m deaf. Unless he’s one of the ones that was gone in search of their mate when I was introduced to the pack, accepted into the pack. They all heard about me, but they don’t necessarily know who I am or what I look like.
He nods his head, and a look of defeat washes over his face. He closes his eyes, and I can see his chest filling up with air. I can tell he’s disappointed and defeated.
I can try and mind link him, but I’m not sure what or if the rogues have done anything to us. I’ve heard stories about rogues or other packs capturing people and injecting them with wolfsbane so they couldn’t communicate with each other.
I don’t know everything about wolfsbane since we didn’t talk much about it in the pack, but I know it keeps werewolves from being able to communicate, and it makes them heal slower. There might be some other effects, but I don’t know them.
Taking several deep breaths, I turn my head to the right, doing my best to figure out where I am and how we can get out of this. I can see several tents set up around us.
What’s going on? I’ve never seen rogues set up like this. They’re normally in groups of three or less. My parents always told me that most of them preferred being alone or in small groups rather than big groups.
It seems like this could be a large group. Why would that be?
I have no clue how many are here, but there are a lot of tents set up. Over ten at least.
Should I get up? Should I try and run to get help? Will they harm me? Will they harm the guy if I leave?
I turn back to the guy and start to finger spell words slowly, hoping he’ll catch on.
“Where are we?”
He’s confused and doesn’t understand, I can tell by the look on his face. I try again, slowly moving my fingers to spell each letter. He still doesn't understand. How in the world am I going to communicate with him? How am I going to figure out where we are, and how are we going to get out of this?
Is there anyone looking for us? How long have we been here? Have they given up trying to find us?
I know I shouldn’t be thinking such negative thoughts about all this, especially since I know none of it is true. Michael will never stop searching for me, ever. He would never give up. Deep down, I know that, but, I just, what if he wasn’t?
What if this is exactly what he wants. What if he doesn’t want to have a rogue as a mate?
I wasn’t a rogue for very long. I didn’t want to become one, but if he hates them so much, it doesn’t matter. It may be something he can’t accept or be comfortable with forever.
Rylee told me Michael understands that I didn’t have a choice and that it doesn’t matter to him, but still. Deep down, it could be eating him alive that I was a rogue. Michael could have pretended all of this time.
I shake my head. I need to get control of my thoughts. They are only distracting me from what I need to focus on. Our escape. Michael wants me, and nothing has happened to change that. He spoke with me about what he wants in our future together the day before I got taken. He wouldn’t have shared those things if he didn’t mean it.
If he didn’t mean it.
But that’s not Michael. He’s a man of few words. He says what he means, he told me that. So, I don’t have to worry, but I am. I always worry about everything, it seems like. It’s hard not to when most of the people in my pack didn’t interact with me.
I was the outcast of the pack.
Nobody wanted to be around me because I was an unknown. A werewolf being born without hearing, that was unheard of where I came from. We are superior than humans, and yet, I wasn’t, I’m not. I could shift and run faster, but I couldn’t hear better.
I couldn’t hear at all.
I look back at the guy tied in front of me and notice his eyes are looking just past me, above my head. What’s he focused on? Why is he staring intently?
Excruciating pain spreads across my scalp as someone clasps their hand around my hair, yanking it back. I scream out in pain as the yank brings me off of my butt. My hands fly up, hitting the person's hands as I desperately attempt to get them to let go.
I continue to struggle as their grip tightens and tugs on my hair. Tears pool in my eyes and begin to fall to my cheeks as I hit their hands several times.
The man in front of me appears to be yelling. What he’s saying, I have no clue, but I wish I did. He looks angry but also worried. His gaze connects with mine, and I can see the desperation on his face.
The guy releases his grip on my hair as he throws my body to the ground. I catch myself right before my head slams into the dirt. My head is already pounding from the intense pain caused by him holding my hair tight and yanking my head.
I watch as he saunters over to the guy who is tied up. I know the rogue’s talking from the way the guy’s face changes. Fear, worry, concern. His gaze connects with mine before quickly looking back at the huge rogue standing above him.
Two more rogues come forward and hold the pack member still. What are they doing? Why are they holding him down?
The man who held my hair pulls a syringe from his back pocket. How had I missed that? I watch as he jabs the needle into the guy's neck and pushes all the contents into him. What is that? Are they going to do it to me?
All three men leave. I watch as the man tied to the pole starts to move. His face contorts in pain as the injection makes its way through his body.
What was it? Why didn’t they inject me with anything?
It takes several minutes before the man calms down and looks over to me. I’m paralyzed with fear. I’m not chained to anything, but I know if I move or try to get away, they will beat me.
The man tries to smile at me and closes his eyes. It dawns on me at that moment.
Wolfsbane.
They had injected him with wolfsbane so he won’t be able to contact anyone. But why haven’t they injected me?