Chapter 1

Catalina's POV:

It's been so many months since I ran from my mate. Yeah, I do regret that decision but at that point in time fear prevailed over every decision of mine.

I was scared that he would be like all others. My wolf was a little mad at me but never blamed me for what I did because she knew what I had gone through. I'm still very week. After running away, I got caught by hunters, I truly have the worst luck of all! It all started all over again. The whipping, cutting, and the name calling. The whip had silver spikes, knives were made of silver, coated with wolfsbane and the drink they made me drink was wolfsbane with silver in it. I hadn't been able to speak since then. They would whip me mercilessly and then pour wolfsbane over my injuries so it won't heal quick enough.

Somehow in this state, I managed to run away and now I'm just mindlessly running so they don't catch me. In the midst of this, I never realised that I had entered someone's territory. I only noticed it when I was tackled to the ground by a chocolate brown wolf. I winced. It hurts badly. He got off me and I stayed in the very same position, too weak to move. He shifted back and in front of me stood a guy with brown hair and blue eyes in just a pair of jeans.

"Shift!" He commanded

I made no move to do what he said. I couldn't. I haven't shifted in so long that I had completely forgotten how to shift.

"Shift!" He commanded again

I didn't move at all. It anyways was too hard to.

"Do you know how to shift?" He asked and I slightly shook my head

"Think about yourself in human form." He sighed

I thought of myself in my human form. Palest blonde hair, blue eyes. Soon, I had shifted back. I was sitting on the ground on my knees. Someone threw a shirt at me. I couldn't move a muscle, how the hell am I supposed to get dressed?

"Put it on and tell us why you are on our pack land." He ordered

I didn't move an inch. It was killing me if I even tried to move even a finger.

"Are you deaf? Put it on. Hello, can you speak?" He said

I shook my head with the remaining strength I had. Then everything faded into a abyss of black.

Alaric's POV:

I was making my way to the border because Rigel mind linked me informing me of a Rogue being spotted at the North - West border of the pack. I reached just in time to see a girl pass out. I shifted immediately and put on a pair of pants and made my way to them.

"What the hell happened here?" I questioned

"I don't know. She won't speak or even move am inch." Rigel replied

I turned to see the girl warrior who was supposed to be dressing up. The girl was staring at her back with a horrified expression. Her expression told me that something was not right at all.

"What is it, Harmony?" I asked

"You should see for yourself, Beta Alaric." She replied

I made my way to the girl who was out cold. Harmony made sure to cover her parts with the shirt she had. The moment I saw her back, I took a sharp breath. Rigel came to see what was going on and his expression was no better. Her back was nowhere close to healing and was covered with blood. There were slashes covering every single inch of her back. Harmony pointed at the girl's hands and legs. They were in no better condition. Her hands and legs, mostly thighs, contained cuts which were nowhere close to healing as well.

"No wonder she couldn't even move a bit. She is so terribly injured." Rigel commented frustrated

"Let's get her to pack hospital. We'll see what to do once she is all healed." I said

I picked her up in my arms and the three of us ran to the pack hospital. We burst through the doors gaining everyone's attention in the packed hospital.

"Quick! This is an emergency; she is terribly injured!" Harmony called

Four pack doctors came with a stretcher. I placed her by her stomach on it. The pack doctors took her to the ER immediately. Harmony, Rigel and I waited in the waiting area impatiently. God knows what has happened to her. After hours of waiting, the pack doctors finally came out of the ER. We hurried and surrounded them, asking questions all together.

"How is she?"

"Is she ok?"

"What happened?"

"We need all of you to calm down because we don't know how calm you all will be after what we are going to tell you." Anastasia said

"What is it?" All three of us asked at the same time

"She is in a terrible state. She has whipped lashes on her back and cuts on her hands and legs. The reason she hasn't been healing is because wolfsbane was poured on all her injuries." Anastasia said with a grim expression

"Do you know why she wasn't able to speak?" Rigel asked

"We found wolfsbane and silver in her throat. She won't be able to speak until her throat is completely healed and I would advise that she doesn't speak at all. Even a little stress so she can speak is not good at all. She is very weak and right now she is critical as well. The next 24 hours are going to be hard for her. Pray to Goddess that she may survive these 24 hours... Only then will there be hope for her to heal and recover." Anastasia said shaking her head

"Anything else?" Harmony asked

"She is very skinny. More than normal. I think she wasn't fed properly. It wouldn't be a surprise to find out that she is anorexic when she wakes up. I don't know if you have informed Alpha or not but please make sure he doesn't come here and is here when she wakes up. She might start stressing and her body might shut down. There's no saying what even a little stress will do to her in her such critical condition." Anastasia answered

"Is that all?" I asked

"She has been tortured and abused for what seems like years now. There are scars on her body that can be dated back to years. It also seems like she was sexually abused as well. She is going to be in a terrible state when she wakes up. I'll write down all the medications that will be required once she wakes up. I pray that she does." Anastasia sighed and walked away

"Who is going to inform Alpha?" Rigel asked

"I'll mind link him." I sighed running my hands through my hair in frustration

"I pray he listens and doesn't run here to check what's going on." Harmony said

"I do too." Rigel said

I mind linked Roscoe. I really hope he listens.

'Alpha, a rogue was spotted at the North - West border.

'

'Bring him to me.'

'Can't do that Alpha.'

'Why?'

'She is in pack hospital and terribly injured.'

'I'm coming.'

'Please don't, Alpha.'

'What do you mean?'

'Pack doctors advised that you shouldn't come here for at least a day after she wakes up.'

'May I know the reason?'

'They say that she might stress and her body might go in shock if you are barging in here for answers. It's better you wait for the next two days, Alpha.'

'Fine. I won't come to pack hospital for next two days but I wish to be informed when she wakes up.'

'Yes Alpha.'

With that I cut the mind link off. I saw Harmony and Rigel looking at me expectedly.

"He said that he would wait for next two days." I said

"I hope that'll be enough. While you were mind-linking Alpha, Harmony brought the list of medications from Anastasia. We should go and buy it from the pack pharmacy." Rigel replied

I took the list of medications from Harmony and scanned its contents. It was an awfully long list. Three sheets filled with different medications. We went to the pharmacy to get them. It took a good hour to buy all the medications. We had at least two bags filled with medications.

"We should buy her something to eat and also some clothes." Harmony suggested

"Yeah, I think it will be good." Rigel agreed

"Let's get her some clothes and then we'll get her something to eat." I said

We went to the mall in the pack to get her some clothes. Store after store, we kept buying her clothes that would be comfortable for her. The softest clothes we can find. Some soft sports bras and a few undies. Once we were satisfied with the amount of clothes, which was a lot of it, we went to grocery store. We took a trolley, placed all the bags we had in it and took another trolley and headed straight for fruit section.

On our way to the fruit section, we bought pancake mix and a few packets of cereal and some milk. We bought tons of fruits. Apples, oranges, sweet lime, dragon fruit, kiwi, peaches, avocados, mangoes and whatever caught our sight. We also bought some chocolates. After borrowing the two trolleys, we made our way back to the pack hospital. We took the two trolleys and went straight to the second most luxurious ICU room there. We kept the trolleys aside and sat on the couch waiting.

The next morning when we woke up, we saw no improvement in her state. We asked for our breakfast, lunch and dinner to be brought in there. Shortly, our breakfast arrived. Pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. We ate in silence and then waited. Soon before we realised, it was time for lunch. We were eating our lunch when I saw her stirring. I quickly got up and made my way to her sitting on a stool beside the bed. The other two joined me as well. Her hand weakly reached out and Harmony took it in her hands. Soon, slowly but surely her eyes opened. Blinking to adjust to the light. Once her eyes were open completely, she looked around taking in her surroundings, when she saw us, she panicked.

"No no no, it's ok. We won't hurt you. Just calm down, you're in a packed hospital. If you keep panicking, you might end up worsening your current state." I said softly

She slowly calmed down. Rigel called for Anastasia. Anastasia examined her thoroughly and left saying that she would need to rest, eat and take her medications on time. She is to take a few tests after a few days to see how she really is. She looked around as if searching for something.

"What is it that you want?" Harmony asked

She lifted her free hand and pointed at her throat.

"Do you want something to drink? Are you thirsty?" Harmony questioned and she a slight nod

"Would you like water or milk?" I asked

She hesitantly lifted her free hand and showed two fingers. Her eyes brighten up slightly. I was confused at first but soon understood. I poured some milk in a glass and handed it to her. She took it with trembling hands. Harmony placed her hand on hers and helped her drink it. Once she was done, she held out the glass towards me and tilted her head slightly towards one side with a small pout on her lips.

"Do you want more?" I asked and she nodded

I offered a small smile and poured more milk in the glass. She drank it happily. Rigel came and sat on the other side of the bed with a bowl in his hand. In the bowl, there were peeled oranges, mangoes and apples that were sliced and cut in small cubes, kiwi cut in two and some diced peaches. There was a small spoon and a harpoon fork. He held out the fork with apples on it to her mouth. She ate it happily. After a few bites of different fruits, she shook her head. Rigel kept the bowl at a nearby cabinet and covered it. She drank the last glass of milk and immediately fell asleep and just then Anastasia came in.

"What happened?" Anastasia asked

"She ate only a few bites of fruits. She is anorexic." Rigel said

"She seems to love milk though. Emptied the whole carton." I added holding out the empty milk carton

"That's a good sign. Milk contains a load of nutrients, so it will help her heal but we still are far from it." Anastasia replied and left

The girl slept the rest of the day. She woke up the next morning. After eating half of the pancakes that Harmony brought for her. She fell asleep again, only to wake up just in time for dinner. She ate a little more than half of her soup after a bit of coaxing and fell asleep again. I didn't know what was going to happen to her next. Tomorrow, Roscoe will be coming here himself to check on her. I pray for her sake that everything goes well. For some odd reason her scent seemed very familiar to me but I can't place where I had smelled it.