Are You Hurt?

ELEANOR POV

The stranger grunted while reaching for his side. Instinctively, I reach out for him thinking he had busted his wounds.

"Are you hurt? What's happening?" I asked.

The minute my hands touched his shoulder, a strange sensation distorted my senses. Everything blurred out for me except the feeling. A feeling that was alien to everything I'd ever felt in my life. 

A heavy feeling settled in my chest. It morphed into a sharp pain but I did my best to let it move through me. I removed my hands from his body as fast as I could. Immediately I did so, the pain subsided till it was gone completely. 

He was either a very powerful wolf or my touching him and the pain I'd felt were not related at all. Just a mere coincidence. I checked his aura to confirm and it gave off the scent of a lowly Omega. That was when it hit me. This strange man was my mate. The scent I got from him was undeniable.

My mate! I thought in a frenzied state.

Why?

I decided to keep my discovery at the back of my mind while I focused on understanding who he was and how he had gotten to the position we had found him in.

Why would so many armed warriors want to kill a weak Omega from the Red black pack? There was something about this man that just wasn't adding up. He was a mystery; an enigma and yet he was the only shot I had at figuring out the secrets of the Red blood pack. I planned to nurse him to full health and get him to trust me. Then slowly find out all I need to about the pack that had left him for dead.

"You don't seem too good. Should I call Ladrius?"

He raised a brow at me in a vicious glare. "Hell no!" Then said in a much calmer tone. "I don't like him."

"Well, he doesn't like you too. I think you'll both get along just fine." I grinned.

There was something dangerous about this strange man even though he was just an Omega. His eyes were dark and sinister, hiding shadows and secrets. His dark curly hair and handsomely chiselled face could be used as a weapon to destroy women all over the world. I felt drawn to him and I guessed it was because of the deep bond we shared as mates.

"Tell me about yourself," I said as a means to distract myself from thoughts about his good looks.

He took a breath and then told me how he was a nobody. He was an Omega in the Red blood pack who had said the wrong thing to the wrong person and the authorities had decided he was better off gone; for good. I paid attention to his story with a considerable amount of interest. 

My interest was selfish because it became obvious to me that he knew a lot of the secrets of the Red blood pack which was why they had gone after him. If I played my cards right, those secrets would be mine.

"That's sad. That they'd turn on you like that." I said with a touch of sympathy.

He shrugged. "It's the way of the world. I guess."

Yeah. It was the way of the world... I thought bitterly.

For some unknown reason, my wolf warned me to be careful about this man especially after hearing his story. It all added up and I felt the honesty and emotions in his words but that didn't stop the warning from getting to me. There was something I was missing. My wolf has never been wrong about her gut feeling. I decided I was going to test him to see the type of man he was.

The door opened and Max walked in with a look of urgency on his face. He bowed to me and then looked at the stranger with a well-orchestrated look of disgust.

The stranger raised his hands in the air. "Doesn't anyone knock?"

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the look on Max's face. He gaped as if he had somehow managed to swallow a fly. 

"It's not funny. Not even a bit." He glared at me.

This only made me laugh more. His face changed colour from a brilliant red to something that could be mistaken for purple.

"When you're done, can we get a move on?" Max said walking to the door.

I got up and stretched. My body had tensed up just sitting beside this stranger for a few minutes. There was something about him that I still hadn't figured out yet. Something hidden just below the surface I could almost touch it.

"What's your name?" I turned around to ask him.

Max saw me stop and waited.

He hesitated for a while. "I'm Garrett."

"Hmmm... Garrett. I'll be seeing you soon."

We left the room. Max led the way to our situation room which was two buildings away from Ladrius's statutory quarters. Max was too intense most of the time for a young vibrant wolf. Sometimes he reminded me of my father without trying. Wolves his age chased love or she-wolves in short skirts but not Max. His only drive was his work.

"I don't trust that guy." He said without turning.

"Nobody does. He's from the enemy pack." I pointed out to him. 

He grumbled some words and then said, "Somehow you have managed to grow fond of him."

I'd been expecting him to point that out but I still managed to blush regardless. He was right and wrong at the same time. My interest in Garrett was centred on the things I could learn from him about the Red Blood pack once I won him over. A part of me knew that was just the half-truth. There was something underneath the surface I didn't want to admit.

"I know you're trying to be protective as you've always been. I appreciate that Max but I just want to get valuable information from him." I shrugged. "That's all."

He stopped just outside the door of the building. I almost bumped into him absentmindedly thinking about Garrett and what form of test would be ideal to put him through. 

Max turned around with a determined look in his eyes. He always has that look when he's switching to his over-protective persona.

"Just be careful. I'll find out who he truly is."