an Everlasting Pursuit

twelve

"The reason I am alive is that your Alpha dragged me here." I stated.

"You would've died if he didn't." Eve shook her head.

"And what if I wanted to? What if I would rather die than be here or there?" I quipped.

Rio flinched at my words, as though they burned his very soul. Eve had tensed beside me and I wondered why, but she didn't respond to my question.

"Nothing to say back to that?" I wondered, looking down at her. "Why did my potential persuade the Alpha to save me? Why not feed me to his wolves?"

She sighed, her shoulders relaxing. "I don't have jurisdiction to tell you why."

"Well, I fucking do." Rio snapped. "The Alpha brought you here because you are his mate. So do not go around saying you would rather die."

My sudden confidence died down as though a bucket of cold water had been poured upon me. Rio stared back at me, his face passive and hard as he watched my reaction. Time seemed to stand still as I stared in horror. I was never good at hiding my emotions.

After a moment, I caught my breath and swallowed down the lump in my throat. "I'm his what?"

"You are his mate, his intended. You are his." Rio huffed, standing from the chair.

I could practically feel his anger in the air; it left a bitter taste on my tongue, a twist in my gut. Why I could feel his anger, I wasn't sure, but I didn't like it one bit.

"Rio..." Eve began, but he cut her off with a growl that had me shrink into the bed more.

"No. She needs to know. She cannot spend her days cooped up in here anymore." He growled before turning his steely gaze to me. "This is your life; you need to accept that."

I felt my jaw click. The temptation to snap back at him was too strong. But I conformed and bowed my head in respect. I have learnt to not question an angry man, to agree with what they're saying left me safer than disagreeing. This man was a wolf, a purely instinctual creature that could tear my head from my neck with ease.

With a final grumble, he stomped out of my room; the door closing behind him. I remained silent, staring down at my thumbs with a frown. Eve shifted, and I felt her eyes burning into the side of my face as she waited for my reaction.

"Ailia?"

I sighed, raising my head to stare her in the eye. She was concerned, that much I could tell, as she scanned my face for my emotions. I gritted my jaw at the sad look in her eye, not wanting the motherly attention she will give me. If anything, I have learnt since becoming friendly with Eve, was her uncanny likeness to a mother bear.

"Why couldn't you tell me?" I wondered.

"It was not my place to," She sighed.

"Why not?" I probed, looking back at her.

"I hold no rank in this pack. I work at the hospital and train... as the others do." She grimaced. "I am half-human, and therefore I am lower than the blood born full wolves. It is just how it is. No-one else knows of your importance other than me as your nurse, and the four head wolves."

I acknowledged her confession with a slight nod of my head. She was bound to wolf law, or ranking, or whatever it was. How I looked at it; she was being bribed and condemned to not say anything of importance. She had taught me the little information I needed to know, and that was enough.

"You say, four head wolves?" I wondered.

The corners of her lips quirked, and she turned to me, her thigh falling further onto my mattress. "Yes, four. The Cardinal pack has four head wolves."