Chapter 2 - Nothing makes sense!

Asher

I am out for a run, minding my own damn business and trying my best to get rid of some of my frustration when I smell a strange scent coming from the border. Nights are becoming more difficult after the loss of my mate. It has been over three years, but it is not getting any easier, and I just can’t sleep in that bed anymore. The closer I get to the border, the more the strange scent pulls me in.

It’s not exactly human and it’s not entirely wolf. While I try to find tracks or evidence that I’m not going entirely insane, a small pale girl comes running out of nowhere, and before I can stop her, she runs right into me. She bounces back, looking just as astonished as I feel, but I am so stunned that I don’t think to catch her in time.

I hear her skull crack when it hits the rock on the ground, and I can instantly smell blood all over her. She looks as though she has been a prisoner of war. She just ran straight into me out of nowhere! In the blink of an eye, I pick her up and rush to our pack hospital.

On the way, I mind link my mother, who is also our pack doctor, to meet us there. The second I decide to save the girl, I feel as though my life is about to change in a huge way and I watch in horror as they cut her clothes away to reveal horrible bruises. She is so pale and thin. Where has she come from? Who is she? Who did this to her?!

“Mate.” Niklaus growls inside my head and I block him. It can’t possibly be. Niklaus is always on the lookout for a new mate. We already had a mate. I was the reason she died. That is the reason I was out there in the forest tonight. That is the reason I am out in the forest every night. I can’t imagine the moon goddess ever giving me a second chance. I feel my wolf’s anger at me slowly growing, but I keep him under lock and key in my mind.

“Son! You need to give us space to work.” My mother’s voice bre4aks through my thoughts, and although I feel I can never leave the young girl’s side, I nod and step out of the room.

“Dude! What happened? One minute I was following your scent and the next …” My beta, Chris appears and I take a deep breath. As I close my eyes, those very first moments play through my mind over and over.

“I think I found my mate.” I frown, and when I finally looked him in the eye, I see the shock.

“You can come back in now.” My mom’s voice interrupts whatever Chris was about to say, and he follows me into the examination room. The scent of blood hangs thick in the air.

My mother explains the injuries they found so far, but also that she wants to run more tests. Since there isn’t much more we can do until they know the full extent of her injuries, and we would just be in their way, I am forced to return to the pack house.

“Where did you find her? She smells human.” Chris speaks up as soon as we are alone in my office, and for the first time in a very long time, I am at a complete loss for words.

“Near the south border.” I sighed, trying to calm my racing heart while pouring drinks for each of us. I hand Chris his and I can see his mind is processing everything.

“Do you think she could be from them?” Chris looks horrified but hopeful at the same time. There have been horrific rumours about the pack to the south of us for many years, but since nobody could find proof of what they were doing, they were never taken on about it.

“I don’t know.” I pull my fingers through my hair. On the one hand, I want her to be from there. I want her to wake up and tell us so that we can wipe that pack off the face of the earth. On the other hand, I’m scared. If she is from there, what did they do to her?

As the sun starts to rise, I check in with my mother, who promptly informs me they are still trying to figure things out before Chris and I leave to check out the area where I found her. The rain had finally died down, but it was pouring earlier.

Chris and I check the entire area, but her trail seems to have been wiped out by the rain. We are just about to leave when I hear something rustling in the brush on the opposite side of our border.

“Show yourself!” I shout the second I catch the scent of another wolf. Silence falls for a moment before a young man jumps up from behind one of the bushes. He is wearing a pair of shorts, which explains why he didn’t speak immediately. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” I growl feeling Niklaus pushing close to the surface.

“Hi. I’m Adam. I was just out for a run. I think I got turned around. I’m new to the area. Is this your territory? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep or anything.” He looks around nervously, and is rambling. I squint my eyes, trying to figure out if what he is telling is the truth.

“What do you want Adam?” I growl, noting the sudden anger flash across his eyes, but he sticks a fake smile on his face.

“I lost my sister on the run. As I said, we are new to the area. You haven’t seen a young girl with black hair and green eyes by any chance?” He places his hands on his hips in an attempt to make himself look bigger, but I just shake my head. I wasn’t even sure if she had black hair, but I knew for a fact that she had green eyes. Her eyes had been haunting me since last night.

“Okay, well, I guess I will be going then.” The young man disappeared into the thick brush and I looked at Chris who was studying me.

“Why didn’t you tell him that she is here?” Chris frowned.

“I need to know what happened to her first.” Until I knew who she was and what happened to her, I wasn’t going to tell anyone that she was there.