Out of necessity

"The wounds are lethal. Although there isn't any major injury superficially, her ribs are bruised internally, she needs rest to heal."

"Why she's taking longer to heal?"

I tried to open my eyes but found it to be a struggle. Two diverse voices fell upon my ears as I tried to recognize them, they were distant like someone was talking outside the door. Obliviousness washed over me and all the memories came wrecking into my head. The escape, the woods, the golden-haired wolf before I blacked out.

My lids felt heavy whilst they quivered from my perseverance, just to remain shut.

"I don't know, Alpha. I can sense her wolf but there's hardly any sign of her existence." I felt my coarse eyes open slowly, just to shut again from the bright lights above me. After a little struggle, my eyes finally adjusted to the brightness and I was able to look around.

I was lying in a hospital bed, wearing a light blue gown, the walls were bright white and the floors were concrete. To my right were monitors and an IV bag that connected to my arm. The bed seemed to be filled with a clear fluid, connected to the back of my hand that had my fingertips wrapped in bandages.

I somehow knew I wasn't back in Xerxes's lands for he never treats me after his ruthlessness. I had no idea where I was or who brought me here but that didn't stop me from fear prowling inside me in unfamiliar surroundings. Instead of thinking about who saved me, my mind became paranoid. Why would someone help me? No wolf brought a stranger to his or her pack. The question deduced one thing. I had to leave.

I ripped out the IV in my hand, bringing blood as the needle tore my skin. I raised myself from the bed as I unclipped the heart monitor off my fingers. The moment my feet tickled the cold ground, I heard alarms go off. In a panic, my eyes broadened and I tried to run for the door when my legs gave out. I fell to the floor letting out a pained moan.

The door flew open and in the surge, a man with blonde hair stormed in. His piercing green eyes framed over me as his brows narrowed in confusion. He was wearing brown leather shoes, blue jeans, a crisp white shirt with the top two buttons undone.

"Alpha,"

Another man rushed in, wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope circling his neck.

Alpha.

I started to panic, recalling what happened every time I spend time with my moon blessed, Alpha of Alphas. This man was an Alpha, he serves Xerxes and now he would hand me over to him. He knew me. He knew what I was running from.

"Calm down, you're safe. I'm not gonna hurt you." He said while walking carefully towards me. When I first met Xerxes, he lured me into a false feeling of safety before he became the definition of cruelty. His words how my terror and anxiety exacerbated his pleasure. This man was trying to make me think I was safe, that he was trying to help me, and when I would rely on him, he would hand me over to that monster. No, I would never go back to him. Not again.

I shuffled backward in fear until my back hit the wall, my arms wrapped around myself as I hugged my knees to my chest.

"Hey, don't worry. No one's going to hurt you." The man in the white coat said as he walked closer and crouched down in front of me whilst my eyes remained on his hands the whole time making sure he couldn't make any sudden move to cage me. The man with green eyes looked at me the whole time.

He reached his hand out to my hand which was bleeding from the sudden pull of the IV, causing me to flinch.

"I'm just going to check your vitals. Can you give me your hand?" He outstretched his hand, palm facing up. He didn't make any move to get closer and stared at him with uncertainty and uneven breath.

"Give him your hand." The man with green eyes muttered from behind, my eyes immediately jerked towards him as he held my gaze into fierce one. A sudden sparkle in his eyes startled me and I couldn't look away, he slowly nodded his head at me and I found myself trapped in his gaze. And before I realized I had placed my hand over the doctor's hand.

He gently checked my pulse now had stabilized a little and inspected the spot where IV was injected.

"Your pulse is stable for now but the bleeding hasn't stopped. How about we get you on the bed first?" The doctor gave me a gentle smile while softly pulling my hand to stand with his help.

"Alpha!"

I instantly curled back into a shaking ball on the floor, hugging my knees tightly. Someone had slammed the door open, alarming me. It was a man with dark hair and dark eyes. I could see his muscles stretch and flex as he took sharp breaths.

"What?" The man with green eyes growled, snapping his head towards the door as he bared his teeth at him. I immediately closed my eyes shut. This was it. He was angry and now he would punish me for disobeying him.

"I-I.... you're awake! Finally! Alpha has been so worried." He panted at the doorway. "You've been out cold for two days." He continued walking into the room. "I thought...." He trailed off as he finally realized that I was a shivering mess on the floor.

"Good job, Avi! Just when we were advancing, you just had to barge in here freaking the crap out of her. Now she's in worse condition than before." The man with green eyes growled that I had to hold back the urge to run for hills. His barbaric tone was deep and dominating that I almost felt myself curling into a mess.

"M-My apologies, Alpha. I just... didn't know she was up." Said Avi as he looked fearfully towards the green-robed man who scowled. My eyes slowly took in his form. He was tall, muscular and his defining muscles were visible through his shirt. His blonde hair clipped into a decent cut as a few strands fell over his forehead.

And when he turned his eyes towards me sensing my gaze on his, his eyes softened a bit.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I barely have any clue, Alpha. A plausible presumption is, she's been tortured. This describes her actions when she found herself in a strange place."

"Crap...I should've been more careful." Avi muttered and the doctor tending to my wounds gave him a hard glare.

The green-eyed man nodded, his eyes never leaving mine as he started walking toward us.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, that wasn't my intent. You don't have to be terrified. I'm not gonna harm you, no one's going to. My name is Augustus. What's yours, cupcake?" He was now nearby, crouched down to my level. His tone was strangely calm and soft unlike the hard musculature of his body. His green eyes softened as he regards me with his gaze.

"K-Katarina." I stuttered out in a whisper, looking down again.

I couldn't hold his gaze. It was too intense and intimidating.

"Katarina." I felt a tingly feeling in the pit of my stomach as he summarised it. I could feel my skin igniting.

"You're a shy one, aren't you?" A deep chuckle resonated through his chest. "Let's get you up on the bed first. You're injured and should be resting." Slowly he stretched his hand for me to seize. I pondered as I unsurely placed my hand over his whilst he gave me a small smile. I looked fascinated at him as his cheek dipped into an adorable dimple.

Just like Xerxes-

My body tensed and he tightened his hold on my hand.

"Come. I'm not gonna hurt you." Slowly he helped me stand and sit on the edge of the bed.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you, cupcake? I found you while I was...umm... roaming in the woods. Your condition wasn't stable when I found you....you were scarcely alive."

My breath hitched as I murmured lowly.

"I-I don't want to talk about it." I glanced at Avi who was just standing a bit farther back than the doctor, his mouth slightly gaped open as he stared at the man in front of me. A look of startelment in his eyes.

"That's fine. You can take your time." He said once he sensed panic in my eyes.

"Do you have anyone you want to contact? Family? Friends?"

I thought about my family.

"No," I muttered looking at the floor.

Family. What do I call a family? A dead brother? A dead mother? A dead father?

"No worries. Do you have any memory of your last pack? Where do you live?" He asked cautiously enough to not scare me anymore.

Pack? One that had been massacred? Or the one that never treated me like their Alpha's mate? Where do I live? Where was my home?

"I-I don't have any." Words were whispered into the air and he caught them.

"That's not a problem. You can stay here. We've enough spare rooms in the packhouse. Once your condition is stabilized, I'll have one of my wolves arrange for your arrival." He said softly and I nodded.

"For now, you can rest here after James changes your bandages, okay?" He talked like he was soothing a child and I barely could look into his eyes as I meekly nodded.

Standing up, he walked towards Avi and looked over his shoulder before his eye met mine.

"I'll be back to check up on you. Till then take good care of yourself." With this, he left before saying something to James.

James was quick to change my bandages and checked my vitals. Just because they hadn't done anything to me didn't mean they were good. I couldn't let my guard down no matter how nice and genuine they seemed. I had to stay alert.

Just because I agreed to stay here didn't mean I was going to stay here forever. Just until I was healed. I needed to leave this land before Xerxes find me. I had to get away as far as possible. This was just a temporary arrangement I made out of necessity.