The Alpha and Me

80. I Won't Let You Die, Mate

80. I Won't Let You Die, Mate

Manik's POV

"Mate? Did I hear it correctly!" Conor asked while the others stared at me, waiting for me to say something.

But I was too perturbed to open my mouth. I'd thought I was a mateless wolf. There was no partner assigned to me by the Moon goddess. I was free to select my mate and be happy.

As I felt the beat of my heart getting extremely wild, the warm feeling of finding a soul mate rushed in. My wolf groaned. He whimpered and said that our mate was hurt. His whimpers turned to cries and he insisted that I look for her quickly.

"Alpha!" I peered up at Nathan and his uneasy facade.

Sweat formed on his forehead and he dared to look away at the truck he brought. The one filled with girls. My eyes followed, making the others look in the same direction.

My heart galloped wilder now as I realized my mate was in the truck. Suddenly my eyes blurred out with tears emerging from feeling her pain. I was hesitant to see her in a bad condition.

Although I was not expecting to meet a mate, now as I stared across from me at the truck, I wished it was in any other situation than this.

"I say you check on the girls first, Manik." Evan said, his voice strained with concern.

But the soft sobs coming from the truck, and air that flew from the front carried raw fear and the smell of salt from their tears. I was not ready to see her. Not now. Not ever.

But I have to do this. For my wolf. He has always supported me in every decision I took. In every war I fought. He never said no to me even though I knew I was going on the wrong path. How could I say no to him? So I sided my allies and beta and got up.

I took three deep breaths to gain some composure then strode ahead. The lock on the truck was broken, the door slightly opened. A soldier was watching the truck to prevent any attack happening on the girls inside. He moved away, bowing at me.

Stopping before the truck, I stared at it. Should I go in for her? Was I ready for it? It was not just fright and tears the air carried with itself. The smell of blood too. Both fresh and stale. The whimpers and sobs of the girls sent eerie tingles of otherworldly chills up my spine.

'Please Manik, do it. I want to see her. She's in a very very very bad state. At least help me talk to her once before she dies.' That hit like a punch in my gut.

"Is she really so hurt?" I dared to ask my wolf even though I could hear some of their hearts beating poorly.

'Just move in.' Was all he said.

Closing my eyes, I took another deeper breath before I pulled the door open. The girls whimpered. Some cowering away, hiding their faces against the metal wall of the truck. Some looking coldly at me as if they were ready for the torture... As if their soul was dead and body could be forced to do anything with. Some were really really young.

The common thing between them was that they were all naked. A serial number branded on their wrists and blood covering their bodies like a flimsy sheet of cloth.

I wanted to assure them they were safe, but my eyes swept across me in the far corner at her. She was barely breathing. Barely sitting up straight. Her mouth was open and tears were flowing like streams from her eyes.

I quickly bent down before her, avoiding her gaze as it was weakening. "You are safe. All of you." I forced that out my mouth, only my voice was hoarse and a little shaky.

"I've come here to your rescue, and you'll soon be taken to hospital for treatment. Please do not be frightened. You can relax as you are in the right hands now." I felt her gaze prick holes in my face.