Mate

Chapter Three

((The picure is of Delvon's Wolf))

((The White she-wolf's POV))

Pain the likes of which I had never known tore through every cell of my being. HE had injected me with something as punishment for making HIM have to tell me to shift. I lay there on my side panting shallowly in the corner of my cage as my body shook and trembled. It had been hours since HE had injected me and the pain was only getting worse.

I knew HE wouldn't kill me; I was too precious a Toy to kill. The sound of my rapid heart thundered in my ears and lights flashed behind my eyes. The Hellhound in the cage next to me was watching my twitching with blank eyes. A week or so ago he had been injected for scaring one of HIS buddies during a viewing. Another tremor shot through my spine and cut off my wandering thoughts.

My eyes opened as the tremor got worse; the world appeared as blurry shapes and shadows. Probably a side effect of the injection. I struggled to focus on the Hellhound; he slid in and out of focus. My head began to throb with the effort of keeping the Hellhound in my sights so I closed my eyes and rested my head on the cool floor.

HE came again to feed us; time was slipping away from me in this state. When HE got to my cage I opened my eyes and tried to focus on HIM. HE just looked at me and nodded with a cruel grin on HIS face. HIS mouth opened to say something to me.

BANG!!!

The door to the basement slammed open and one of HIS men stood in the frame. HE turned to face him with a cross look.

"Why are you bothering me??!" HE snapped. The brute in the doorway flinched back from HIM before answering in a gruff voice.

"We're under attack sir."

HE stared at him for a few moments before starting to bark orders. With long strides HE quickly left the basement. I let out a low whine as another tremor racked my body. All the other Toys were looking at the door; sounds of battle could be heard now. Howls and screams of pain and rage echoed oddly through the door.

Another tremor came but this time it was bad. My back bowed and my paws scrabbled uselessly. A whine passed my muzzle and the lights behind my eyes grew brighter. With a final jerk I lay still. Twitches still racked my muscles and my sides heaved as I tried to take in as much oxygen as I could. My thoughts faded as I finally succumbed to the blackness.

.........................................

((Delvon's POV))

I pushed open the basement door. There were twenty cages in two rows; they looked to be ten-by-ten feet. The wolves I could see were all looking at me with blank dull eyes. That intoxicating smell was coming from the back. Jack pulled a ring of keys from one of the hulks and began running from cage to cage unlocking it and flinging door after door open.

The wolves stayed where they were.

"My Toys know better." A voice from behind me drawled. I whipped around and saw a greasy man with dirty blond hair. He was dressed in a fine white button up and black slacks with his hands shoved into his pockets. "They know that they will get punished if they do something as stupid as getting rescued." He continued in a sneer.

Behind me Jack snarled and shifted into his big grey wolf. I heard my inner wolf howl and fur sprouted on my arms. Closing my eyes I took deep breaths and calmly told my inner wolf to let me handle this. I only got a garbled word and a snarl.

"They are not your toys, Collector, they are Werewolves." I growled. Jake was creeping forward with a fierce look. The Collector just threw back his head and laughed coldly.

"They may have been once oh mighty Alpha." He mocked, "But now they are MINE." He made a grand sweeping gesture with his hands, his sneer more pronounced. A movement behind him caught my eye but I kept my attention solely on him.

"The Elders say otherwise." I stated. With a jolt of satisfaction I saw his eyes widen in fear before he covered it with a neutral expression.

"So?" He said, "They have no say over me. I quit following those old geezers long ago."

It was my turn to sneer; the Collector took an involuntary step back. Behind him the movement was closer.

"Fool." I said softly, "You don't just stop following the Elders."

The Collector opened his mouth to say something but he was suddenly distracted by something behind me. Jake let out a soft yip to tell me that I wasn't in any danger just as I felt a shaggy pelt press into my side. Looking down I saw an old Desert Wolf, his light tan fur flecked with grey and his milky eyes trained on the Collector.

The Collector's face was turning an ugly blotchy red in his rage. He looked like he could not believe that one of his 'toys' was disobeying him and turning against him. I reached down and laid a hand on the old wolf's head. I grinned evilly at the Collector.

"Looks like even your prisoners know that your time has come to an end." Jake's wolf came to stand on my other side and the three of us watched as the blotches on the Collectors face got even uglier.

"You're wrong!" He spat as he took a couple of steps back. My grin widened as I heard the alarm in his voice.

"Now." I said and a look of confusion passed over the Collector's face before pain and terror replaced it as a mousy brown she-wolf pounced from the shadows behind him. Blood sprayed in a great arc onto the bars and floor nearby as Marie tore out the Collector's throat.

The Collectors body hit the floor with a sickly thump. The old Desert Wolf beside me let out a feeble whimper, half terror half happiness. I bent down to look the old wolf in his milky eyes.

"You're safe now. You're free, you're all free." The old wolf leaned into my touch as big fat tears wet his muzzle. I stroked his shaggy pelt as more wolves with open doors came out and crowded around me.

"Alpha! Come quick!!!" Jake yelled from the back of the room. I stood and ran to the last four cages.. They were slightly bigger than the other cages, fifteen-by-fifteen maybe. Jake was at the last cage desperately shoving key after key into the lock trying to get the door open. On the floor in the corner of the cage lay a pure white she-wolf, her body was twitching and her eyes were closed.

My inner wolf suddenly said one word so clearly that it nearly stopped my heart. Mate. My eyes widened and I stood ridged as powerful emotions battled inside me. Love, happiness, fear, anger, and hope.

"Mate..." I said in a shaky voice just above a whisper. Jake's head snapped up to look at me, a key half way to the lock. I took a step closer.

"Mine." I growled and the wolves around me flinched away at the alpha in my voice. Jake quickly started to put the key in the lock and he turned it with a loud click. The door swung open and I was running inside scooping up the she-wolf in my arms. The intoxicating scent was coming from her, midnight and lavender. I took a deep breath trying to take all of her scent into my body but the sour smell of diluted wolfs bane had my eyes widening. With a pale face I looked up at Jake.

"Wolfs bane." I choked and Jakes eyes nearly popped out of his head. Through the pack link I heard Jake yell for a doctor. I curled around my mate in fear. Hands pulled at me and I snarled, MY MATE. MINE. Jake was there trying to get me to let the doc look at her. I snarled, my wolf close to the surface, as hands touched my mate's beautiful white fur. Something flashed and I watched as they injected the yellow antidote into her. Incoherent noise invaded my ears as I watched my mates twitching stop. She finally went limp in my arms.

People jostled me, urging me along as I clutched my mate tightly in my arms. I couldn't take my eyes off her as I was pushed into a car. The whole ride home was a blur to me except for the peaceful rise and fall of my mate's chest. When the car stopped Jake walked beside me as I took my mate into the pack house and down the halls to the infirmary. I laid her gently on one of the beds and whined softly as the doc worked on her. I could vaguely hear Jake talking to people as I buried my hands in my mate's soft fur. Exhaustion pulled at me and I laid my head down next to my mates. The last thing I saw as sleep took me was her.