Chapter 6

**Jade POV**

I woke up to a searing pain on my neck and wrists. Silver. I knew instantly that Victor had chained me to the post out back to most likely finish me off later. Wow, I’d really made a mess of things. I knew I needed to escape soon or die and that I’d just brought my own demise—the one that Astrid specifically warned me about— closer with my big mouth. And to make matters worse I’d done nothing to help the other omegas. I wanted to cry but I just couldn’t find the energy.

I felt the cold concrete underneath me, wishing with all I had that I’d at least been given a blanket. I tried to move but as soon as I tried to sit up, I shrieked in pain. I’d almost forgotten about the extent of my beating. I could feel my lip swelling and I knew there had to be extensive bruising and blood all over my face. I managed to scoot myself closer to the post and leaned against it. It was cold and uncomfortable, but at least I wasn’t laying on the ground like a dead animal.

I heard music not too far off and instantly began to worry that Victor had heard me scream and would be coming to the backyard any moment to punish me further or shut me up permanently. For the first time in a while I began to think about my parents. If what Astrid said was true, I really was of alpha blood. So why did my parents let me go to another pack? Were they truly killed as I thought they were or did they just not want me? Would they be okay with the life I’ve lived or how I’ve been treated? Would they save me if they could? And what would life had been like for me if I’d been able to stay with them? I felt a tear roll down my cheek at the possibility of a life that would never be, and then all I could do was cry. I was alone, outside, in the cold and chained up like a common criminal. The only person I had in the world was another omega who couldn’t help me, and I’d soon be leaving her behind all alone because I couldn’t just keep my stupid mouth shut.  

“There, there,” I stiffened at the sound of Andrew’s voice. Oh no. Not here. Not when I’m chained and cannot physically do anything to fight him off. “I’m here to comfort you. See, my dad has called for your execution. Unfortunately for you, what you did in the kitchen earlier can’t be tolerated amongst the other omegas. Revolutions could start, things get messy, so unfortunately this is our goodbye.” He smirked and my stomach dropped.

“I-I’m going to d-die?” I sniffled, completely terrified. Up until now, I’d suspected my imminent doom, but something about hearing it out loud from the very person on this earth I hated the most was too much for me to handle.

“But the good news is we have the rest of the party to truly say goodbye to one another.” Andrew smiled and touched my cheek and I unconsciously tried to pull away, causing myself even more pain as the silver rubbed against my neck. “Don’t fight me, this will only get more unpleasant for you if you do that.” He chastised me as if talking to a child.

I braced myself for whatever torture was about to begin when I heard a ferocious roar. It shook the entire pack house behind me and I instantly cowered in fear as the sound grew closer. 

“STOP!” The voice boomed. “Get away from my mate!”

Before I could see what happened, everything went dark again.

**Elliott POV**

This party was easily one of the tackiest I’d ever seen. The ballroom of the packhouse was lit up like a prom in an 80s movie and almost every neighboring alpha had brought their unmated daughters or sisters in the hopes of finding them a high ranking mate here. Most of them looked like they’d sooner sit on a cactus than be caught dead at this event, but by the looks of some of the snobby women they’d brought who seemed to have permanent scowls on their faces as they prowled the ballroom, I would guess desperate times called for desperate measures. It was literally a landmine of hyper-vigilant she wolves scanning the room over and over again, and the worst of them was headed toward me.

I heard her before I saw her. Amelia let out her trademarked squeal and came running towards me in a dress that quite honestly showed more of her than it covered. Her hair was up in a sleek bun and her makeup was beyond over the top. Honestly I compared it to when I used to be afraid of clowns as a kid and the clown at my sister’s birthday party came running toward me with a balloon animal and all I’d wanted to do was scream, but the roughly 10 pounds of cotton candy I’d consumed ended up making me throw up instead. Honestly, seeing this spoiled, bratty, entitled girl scan my body with hungry eyes made me want to both scream and throw up. To my intense displeasure, I could obviously tell that Amelia was not going to let me mingle or sneak out of this tacky affair and retreat to my room. The unfortunate truth was becoming clearer and clearer— she was bending over backwards to mate me by the end of this stupid party.

“Elliott!!! Join me on the dance floor!! I won’t take no for an answer!” Amelia screamed, her volume well above that of the music.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to, I just saw an alpha I’ve been meaning to talk to by the bar and I need to grab him really quickly,” I lied, praying that she’d buy it but not pausing to see if she even looked over to the bar to double check.

“Oh you’re so all business!” Amelia materialized in front of me as I was trying to make my mistake, and purred in my ear, causing an uncomfortable involuntary shiver. “Okay, well come and find me when you’re done!” She shouted, attempting to twirl seductively away, but she looked more like a baby giraffe from the zoo as it was learning to walk in her ridiculous heals.

I played it cool until she was out of sight and practically sprinted to find any exit that could get me to fresh air. I just wanted to slip into some unknown corner of the pack lands for long enough to then sneak up to my room for the rest of the night. The only solace I took in this horrible trip was that it would be my last one here. I absolutely couldn’t wait to deny all future treaties with this pack and cancel the current one my father had signed 12 years ago when this pack was flourishing due to the influence of a neighboring pack. They’d once looked so promising and here they were, falling apart and desperately looking to attract new packs to sponge off of. It was so disgusting. They’d proven they couldn’t even manage their own funds and yet here they were, looking to drain other pack’s resources only to most likely squander them.

I finally got to a set of doors that seemed to lead straight through to the kitchen. I turned to make sure I wasn’t seen, only to see a very determined looking Cameron weaving through the crowds as he was obviously inhaling as deeply as he possibly could. I stifled a chuckle for fear of drawing attention to myself, and continued on my way.

As I made my way out of what was most likely a service door, I smelled the most alluring scent. It was like lavender and cypress. The most earthy but feminine scent I’d ever smelled. I began to sniff the air, looking for a direction in which to follow so I could find the source of this heavenly scent. As I followed it into a clearing a short distance from the packhouse, I sensed something wrong. The scent I was smelling before was now mixed with more than a small amount of fear and blood.

I heard the unpleasant voice of the alpha’s son, Andrew taunting someone and I hung back a moment to hear what was being said. “Don’t fight me, this will only get more unpleasant for you if you do that.” Disgusted and looking for a way to pounce, I peaked past the tree I’d paused behind and saw the shape of another person on the ground, turning their head away from Andrew as a small pained moan escaped her lips. Instantly, I heard my wolf, Aries, shouting “Mate!” 

Before I could even take a moment to process the information, I was bounding toward them, a growl coming from deep in my chest came booming out of me as I ran. “STOP!” I roared. “Get away from my mate!”

“Your mate?” Andrew looked both shocked and terrified. What a weak future alpha. He started to back away with his hands out in front of him in some sort of lame attempt to protect himself, but I easily grabbed him by the throat and held him against a thick tree. I tried sizing him up, waiting for him to make a move to get out of my grip and was surprised when he was completely still besides the weird breaths he was drawing in, and I realized he was crying. I watched as his face turned blue, fighting with everything I had for my claws not to come out and give him the slow, painful death he deserved. I didn’t have time to explain killing an alpha’s son, my mate needed my help.

“Where are the keys to free my mate from these barbaric chains?” I hissed.

Andrew fumbled with his pockets before producing a set of keys and handing them over to me. “You are lucky I’m more concerned with the safety of my mate than ripping your head from your pathetic body. Now get out of here before I change my mind, and remain out of my sight until I leave here.” I whispered with murderous intent and set him down.

That was enough warning for Andrew. He took off into a sprint, tripping over his own feet a few times as he rushed back into the packhouse. I looked down at my mate. Even with the extreme bruising to her face and body, I could see that she was beautiful. She had skin as pale as the moon, reddish brown hair, and she looked to be only a bit over 5 feet tall with some sexy curves to her body. I shook my head, trying to focus on the matter at hand rather than admiring my mate. I quickly unfastened the locks to her chains and lifted her as gently as I could, taking off in a run toward the clinic of this god forsaken packhouse.

“We need to get her off these pack lands as soon as possible.” Aries’ voice sounded urgent, as if he knew something I didn’t.

“I know, but there’s no way she’ll make it all the way home like this. We have to at least get her checked out.” I felt a great sense of protectiveness over my new mate. I didn’t even know her name yet but I knew if something happened to her I’d never be the same. As I made my way into the small clinic next to the pack house, I mindlinked Cameron and Jasper to meet me there as soon as they could. 

“Oh my!” And older nurse said as I rushed in cradling my bloodied and bruised mate in my arms.

“Get me a doctor!” I accidentally used my alpha tone and the nurse moved faster than she probably had in decades. Before long, a stretcher was brought out and a few nurses were quickly pushing her  into a room with the doctor and I not far behind. 

“What happened here?” The doctor looked over his glasses at me in between writing things on a clipboard. 

“I found her chained up to a pole in the back of the pack house and the alpha’s son attempting to assault her.” I replied dryly, certain that the boy had more than a few other victims. 

The doctor clicked his tongue and pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something, but thought the better of it. “She’ll need some fluids and x-rays to check for breaks. I have a portable machine, I’ll just bring it to the room to avoid moving her more than we have to until I’m certain there’s no internal bleeding. You’ll have to step out of the room for a few moments while I’m taking the pictures, but you should be fine to stay with her after that.” He paused for a moment before leaving the room and then turned around to me. “I’d recommend staying with her. If they used those god awful chains they probably have even more unseemly plans for her.” I stifled a growl, grateful for the heads up and watched him walk out the door. I stared at the bruised yet still beautiful face of my mate. She looked barely of age. What could she possibly have done to deserve a punishment so severe and quite frankly illegal? I was inclined to call the elders to investigate this entire pack right this minute, but I would need some more information before making a call like that.

Jasper and Cameron came rushing in at that moment. For a second they both looked confused until a small smirk came across Jaspers face. “So,” he mused sarcastically. “Who might this be?”

“Shut up, neither of you were right since I didn’t find her IN the pack house.” I retorted weakly.

“Wait this is your mate?!” Cameron practically lit up with excitement. As quickly as his smile came, it was wiped away as he took in her physical state. “What happened to her?!”

“I’m not sure. She was chained up outside and she looked like this when I got to her. If I’d been about 5 minutes later, the alpha’s son would’ve assaulted her before most likely killing her. I’m not sure if he gave her this wretched beating or if it was someone else but I intend to make it my personal mission— and therefore your’s too— to find out what was the cause of this.” I sneered the last few words. Whoever did this would have more than just the elders to worry about. I was more than prepared to rip their head off on the spot. As I thought that, Aries growled in agreement.

“If you want to know what happened to her, I suggest asking the other omegas. Your girl is one of them and this is not uncommon.” The doctor said as he wheeled in a massive machine. “The only thing that is uncommon is being allowed to treat her. Omegas are prohibited from bringing themselves to the clinic unless pregnant or accompanied by a ranked member, which pretty much never happens.” He looked fully disgusted by the practices of his own pack.

“Why on earth would the omegas of this pack be treated that way? Who is doing this to them?!” Jasper demanded. If there was one thing my beta absolutely would not tolerate, it was people treating those with less power than themselves cruelly. He looked sympathetically at my mate before turning his glare back to the doctor.

“I’m not permitted to answer. I could put my own family in danger. The only thing I can suggest is to speak with the other omegas as discretely and quietly as you can, or there will be repercussions for them as well. If you can, investigate their living quarters. That will tell you everything.” The doctor looked nervous, as if he may have been under some sort of surveillance and it made me want to get to the bottom of this even more.

“I’m going to go investigate now while the party is under way. That may be the best way to work under the radar. Cameron will stay back and stand guard on the outside of the room in case our new Luna has any unwelcome visitors. I’ll let you know what I find out.” Jasper said, turning on his heel and quickly exiting the room before I could even utter a thank you. I had to say it was times like this that his intense nature was exactly what I needed.

“Actually, if you both would be so kind as to step out of the room while I do the x-rays, I should be done in about 5 minutes.” The doctor directed us to a waiting area just outside the room. I noticed the nurses didn’t come in until after we left made our hasty exit, which made me wonder if he’d told them to hang back so he could speak to us more freely. It occurred to me that I could possibly offer him a spot in our pack clinic where he’d at least have the freedom to speak without worrying for his own or even his family’s safety. Besides, our clinic was large in order to accommodate the size of our pack and we were always looking for extra medical personnel.

Before I could bring up the idea to Cam, the doctor emerged from the doorway and let us know we could come back in. “I took some blood to do a full panel since I’ve never seen her before, and I have her hooked up to fluids now. I also put a few pain killers in her IV, which should keep her unconscious for quite a while so her wolf can have the rest it probably needs in order to assist with her healing. I’ll get the results of the blood work and read the x-ray, then I’ll be back in a little while to let you know what I found. Make yourselves comfortable in the mean time. There is a tv, and the remote is connected to her bed. Since I believe I’m correct in guessing that she’s a future luna, I did give you one of the ranked hospital rooms, so there’s a connected bathroom with a shower if you need it.” He smiled reassuringly and went to leave the room.

“Thank you for all of your help doctor….?” I left it an open ended question so I could get his name.

“Doctor Boeing. If you have any questions or need anything, there is a call button on the remote. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything.” With that, the doctor left the room lightly shutting the door behind him.

“I’m going to stand watch now. If you need me I’ll be just outside.” Cameron clapped my shoulder and exited the room, shutting the door a bit more clumsily than the doctor. 

And now I just had to wait for my mate to wake up. I snorted when I realized I didn’t think to ask the doctor what her name was. Guess she’d have to tell me herself.