2. Jaxon
The girl”s eyes are wide and alert with pure terror. I watch as she rips her hands off the hood and darts into the woods.
I hook my fingers into the door handle. “Wait!”
Her knobbly knees attempt to carry her as fast as she can move. The smell of fear drips off her with every step she takes. It mixes with her scent and leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Fuck. The last thing I want is to scare her further, but it’s clear she needs medical attention.
It doesn’t take long to catch up to her with my long legs. She’s weak, but she’s obviously pumped full of adrenaline and is likely using every last drop of energy. Her brunette hair is a matted mess as it cascades down her back and over her shoulders.
“Please, stop,” I say gently. “I want to help you.”
Her breathing hitches at the sound of my voice echoing across the trees. Somehow, her legs pick up speed, her feet dodging the roots that have overgrown and are protruding out of the ground.
I manage to catch up with her, but I know better than to touch her right now. I have no idea what she’s been through or where she’s come from. Her wide eyes look up at me in shock as she stops in her tracks. The loudness of her lungs is all I can hear, along with the heavy thumping of my heart.
Now that I can finally get a good look at her, she’s severely malnourished. The clothes she’s wearing are hanging off her bones, dirt marks smearing across what’s left of the fabric. There is a large gash that covers her abdomen, along with other bruises and wounds that look infected.
As I take one cautious step forward, she takes a small, shaky one back. Her bare foot crunches on a fallen branch, and it cracks under her weight. I blink, and her whole body loses balance. She falls down onto her backside, a quiet hiss escaping her mouth.
My hands hold up in defence, somehow trying to prove that I’m not going to harm her, but something tells me it’s not going to be easy. She scurries backwards on her hands until her spine hits the stump of a tree with a thud.
Those petrified eyes glisten with tears which soon fall down her cheeks, rolling over her pale skin. “P-please don’t hurt me,” her quiet voice begs.
I lower down to her level, attempting not to seem intimidating, but she flinches anyway. Her body curls into a ball as if she’s trying to protect herself by hiding behind her knees.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I whisper as I drop my tone.
The girl”s breathing becomes harsher. Her gaze hesitantly wanders over my face and studies my body language.
“It’s okay,” I say. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
I glance over my shoulder for a split second to gauge how far we’ve moved from my parked car. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her scramble and run off with a strangled cry.
“Please, stop.” I stand and follow after her. “I want to help you. You’re hurt.”
Before she can get too far, I lean forward and wrap my hand around her wrist to stop her. I know I shouldn’t have touched her. It’s the last thing I should have done, but I can’t let her go—not after my wolf’s discovery.
As soon as our skin touches, tingles race through my arm. It paralyses my body for a moment, and I resist the urge to close my eyes at the new sensation—a feeling that is all too familiar yet completely different.
“I’m sorry,” I say, my heart straining. I release her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you.”
“Please,” she whimpers, her body trembling with panic. “Please, just let me go.”
Her bottom lip quivers as tears continuously fall from her red eyes.
“You’re hurt and clearly in danger. Please let me help you. I’m not going to hurt you,” I plead, but I realise how hard it must be for her to trust a stranger.
My wolf is clawing at me to do more, but I don’t know what else I can do. I refuse to force her and bruise her trust further. It’s the last thing she needs. I can’t let her run off into the night, not knowing if she’s safe or if she’ll make it.
She shakes her head vigorously. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
I sigh. Lucy. I need your help. Right now. I demand through our mindlink.
My eyes remain focused on the girl my wolf screams is our mate. I’d be a liar if I said my mind wasn’t a mess right now, but I can figure everything else out later. Her well-being is a priority, not my newfound emotions. Mate or not, she needs help.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I say again. I could say it a million times, but I know she’s not going to believe me. I dread to think what awful events she’s been through. “I would never hurt you. I won’t touch you again. I promise.”
She scrunches her eyebrows together, her head pulling back slowly. “I don’t believe you.”
What’s wrong? Are you okay? Lucy’s voice echoes around my head.
I quickly take in my surroundings and tell my sister where I am. She’ll see my car on the edge of the road. Despite my wolf screaming at me, I ignore the lightbulb flickering in my head.
Okay. I’ll be five minutes.
“You don’t have to believe me right now,” I say gently, even though she continues to tremble with what must be uncontrollable fear. “But I promise you can trust me.”
Her expression twists into a look of horror. I curse in my mind.
“You don’t know me!”
The words she screams are pure distress. It makes my wolf wince to even imagine what she’s endured. I choose to push it to the back of my mind for the sake of not losing control.
“I know I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, but I can get you to safety. I can get you the help that you need. I know it’s a lot for you to trust me right now. I’m a total stranger, I get it. But please, I won’t hurt you,” I try again, but it’s like I’m at a dead-end. “I only want to help.”
“Please, I don’t want this,” she sobs. “I just want to get away. Please. Please.”
I open my mouth to speak, but the sound of Lucy’s voice floats through my head. Jaxon, we’re here. Is it safe?
Yes.
My eyes stay trained on the terrified girl when I hear footsteps behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stand as I sense Lucy and Sebastian’s scents. “What’s going on?” my sister demands.
I twist my body slightly to face her, and Lucy immediately looks past me to see the girl sitting against the tree, crying her heart out. “Oh my Goddess,” she gasps quietly. “Are you okay?”
She pushes herself further into the tree, digging her heels into the dirt. I watch her mouth, but she says nothing. She flicks her eyes between Lucy and Sebastian hesitantly.
“Are you hurt?” Lucy tries again. It’s obvious she’s injured, but making small talk is better than nothing. The presence of a woman might help her trust us.
The girl shivers against the tree from the crisp night and lack of clothes on her body. “I-I just want to get away,” she murmurs again.
“Then, let us help you,” Lucy says softly. “We can get you all the help you need. You’re safe with us. You’re injured. We can help get you cleaned up, and then we can get you to wherever you need to go.”
For a moment, I see her guard drop. It’s clear she’s battling with herself whether she should believe us or not. I get it; trauma doesn’t go away in seconds. But I fear she’s about to make herself incredibly ill if she’s not seen to soon.
The sound of a branch cracks behind us, and I spot Sebastian inching closer. I tense my shoulders to find her trembling from the unexpected noise. Lucy shoots him a look, and Sebastian moves away. “Please, please, please,” she begs desperately.
“Hey,” Lucy’s hand moves forward, but she doesn’t touch her. The girl eyes her fingers. “Hey, easy. It’s okay. It’s–”
I watch as her eyes roll into the back of her head, and she slumps against the tree. “Shit,” I curse. Her exhaustion must have forced her body to shut down.
“What should we do?” Sebastian asks.
“Take her home,” I state.
Lucy looks at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am. But she doesn’t know the main reason I want her to come home with us. “We can’t take her home. That’s literally kidnapping, Jaxon. We weren’t brought up to be those kinds of wolves.”
“What do you expect us to do?” I hiss under my breath. “Drop her off at the police station? Goddess knows who or what is after her, and I don’t trust those shitty cops. She’s already in an emotional state and clearly vulnerable. The safest place for her is our house.”
Lucy’s blue eyes flick between mine rapidly. “Or the damn hospital, Jaxon. She’s a human.”
“And?”
“She doesn’t belong.”
My jaw grinds. “And she’s about to die if we don’t get her seen to as soon as possible.”
Sebastian sighs from behind us, and Lucy glances at him. “And when she wakes up?”
I shrug because I haven’t thought that far ahead. I want her safe first. “We’ll figure it out. Please, just trust me. I need to do this.”
Lucy’s eyes are weary, but she nods after a few moments. “Fine,” she huffs. “But only because her injury looks severely infected, and even I can’t heal something that serious, especially on a human.”
“Can you keep her in a deep sleep until we get home?” I ask. “Use your powers to keep her safe for the time being. The last thing we want is her waking up mid-drive and trying to throw herself onto the road.”
“I don’t like this, Jaxon,” she grumbles but moves closer. “I want her healed, and I want her to find her family, friends, or whoever can help her after whatever she’s been through.”
I bite down on my tongue before I say the wrong thing. “Agreed.”
Lucy gently casts a hand over the girl’s face. A wave of energy emits into her body which will keep her asleep for a little while longer. Once she’s in a comfortable, deep sleep, I scoop her up into my arms and carry her to my car.
I choose to ignore all the sensations running through my body. Now is not the time to be having a revelation when she’s fighting for her life. I might be desperate to know more, but her health comes first.
“The infirmary?” Lucy suggests.
I nod. “Then we can get her settled in one of the spare rooms for privacy.”
Once we get back to the house, I carry her towards the infirmary. A pack doctor inches closer to see the injured human in my arms. “Alpha?”
“She needs her own room.”
“Right this way.”
I step into the private room and let her down onto the soft bed, her frail body dropping as she rests against the pillows.
“Jaxon?” Lucy grasps my attention, but her voice is too loud for my liking. “Are you going to tell me what on earth is going on?”
I press a finger to my lips and shake my head once.
She’s still sleeping. I shoot through our mindlink.
One of Lucy’s brows flexes, and she places her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer. I love my sister to death, but it’s annoying that she always figures out when something is wrong, even when I feel like I’m good at hiding it.
I hold her stare. She’s my mate.
She doesn’t move. She doesn’t say a word; she just stares at me.
What do you mean?
She’s my mate. My wolf felt it. I felt it. Something is there between us, and I know that sounds crazy, but I can’t explain it. I just know.
Lucy looks dumbfounded. I am, too. Jaxon, are you su–
Yes. Yes. I’m sure. I’m not going crazy. I know what I feel.
How? Second-chance mates are a myth.
Evidently not. I know what I feel. Just trust me on this.
Her eyes wander over my mate as she sleeps against the white bedsheets. What’s her name?
I don’t know. We didn’t get that far. A deep sigh escapes my lips. I study her chest as she breathes, every movement rigid and harsh. But I know whatever she’s gone through has been hell.
My fists tense, and I grit my teeth in anger at the state I found her in.
I turn back to Lucy. When she wakes up, can you please be here to help? She’s petrified, and maybe seeing another woman will help her calm down. I’ll have the doctors on standby.
Of course.She nods and she reaches out to take my hand, giving it a quick squeeze. I can’t believe this, Jaxon.
I can’t believe it either.