Alpha's Runaway Mate

Rescue & Temptation

3

Maximus

I had been pacing outside the medical room from the moment Katrina took her inside. As an Alpha I had every authority to break in and poke my head in her affairs but she would feel strange while treating her in my presence. Also it would be unusual of me to worry about a stranger in front of her.

"Because they don't know that she is our mate," Gunnolf argued. Ever since he had seen her, he couldn't stop admiring her and this had been the first time he ever acted this way. I had been with many girls but he always hated me for being with them blaming I was cheating on our mate—which partially I agreed and took the blame.

The medical room's door flung open, rendering me turn around. Katrina was taking off her gloves that had blood stains on, I noticed and couldn't resist the frown that sat upon my forehead.

"What happened?" I asked in a slightly urgent tone.

She took a big sigh and looked at me. "She needs a lot of rest to heal. She looks like the last meal she had was a year ago." My frown morphed into hard lines as I pursed my lips to resist the temptation of scolding her. I didn't like her tone. "There were thorns in her feet, bruises on her arms and forearms. I have injected some medicine, she will open her eyes by tomorrow." Katrina further explained. Hearing of her injuries tugged the hidden string of my heart, which I was experiencing for the first time. If she was actually my mate, then I would burn the world for giving her such pain.

"Where did you find her?" Kat broke the chain of my thoughts.

"In the woods, Callum found her, she was running," I told her, nonchalantly.

"What are you planning to do with her?" Her question flitted my eyes in a flash. I was notorious for punishing the trespassers in a way that made people wish for death. But in her case they knew I would be lenient. Because first she was a human which meant no threat and second, she looked minor.

"I will wait till she opens her eyes," I said and turned my head to watch her through her door-hole. Now that Kat withdrew curtains from around her bed, I could finally take a glimpse of her. A frail figure laying on the mattress with her eyes closed, her hand that had needle injected in her vein was on her stomach. Her hair was brushed aside and she looked so sound in her sleep. I took in her face features, small mouth with lips that were chapped but their pink hue was returning. Innocence was all over her face. Sunlight was casting over her from her left side which made her hair shine dark brownish. She looked like a piece of art even in such a state. I could tell she would turn into a beautiful woman in the coming years.

"Are you staying here, Alpha?" Kat's voice echoed in my head. I nodded slightly while keeping my eyes on the girl. "Right. I will return in a moment. I have to check up on Nikita. She got injured during training this morning," I nodded again, least interested in hearing about her.

As Kat left, Gunnolf woke up in my head. I knew he had a lot to say.

"I won't spare whoever hurt my mate."

"We don't know if she is our mate or not yet," I responded calmly.

"Of course she is, can't you feel it? Tell me when you touched her, you didn't feel the sparks," Gunnolf didn't like my answer. He had never been like this before.

"It could be a false call. We are desperate to meet our mate but that doesn't mean I will jump on anyone that would make me feel sparks in my bones." It would take more than just a spark to prove that she was our mate. Mother told me stories about her first time meeting dad. I wanted to feel all those consuming energies that she had experienced.

"She could be a minor which is why we can't sense the bond," He reminded me and it wasn't something I didn't think about. It could be a possibility. In order for mate bonds to activate, the partners must have to be adults, which means they could exude mate bond's energies once they'd turn eighteen.

"True,"

"Go closer to mate, I wanna see her from close," Gunnolf lolled his tongue out in my head. I fisted to control the urge to go inside.

"No, not yet," I could not afford to go all over crazy on a minor human. It was hard for me to swallow that I was actually fighting myself for someone weak and vulnerable like her.

Before Gunnolf could force me to get inside, I spun around and trudged toward my office. This wasn't happening, I wouldn't let my composure loose just because of a damn spark.

****

It had been hours since I resisted going to the medical ward. I knew if I had, Gunnolf would get out of control. I concentrated on work as much as I could, but how much could it be when all my attention drove back to that little girl. I had sent Callum to find out about her, he and his team were already out to collect her info. She hadn't even opened up her eyes and spoken up to me yet I was practically drooling over her in my mind. The thought itself was pathetic but I couldn't help it.

It was almost sunrise and I was done holding myself in my room. It felt like if I hadn't seen her, I would collapse. The desperation was getting the best of me and so was Gunnolf's stonewalling. Deep down, I also wanted to feel the sparks again. It was something I never felt before. No matter how much I tried resisting her but some force in me was pulling me back to her. And it was a shame in the alpha's name that I was letting it control me.

I was walking toward her direction, my feet were in a kind of haste. I reached the room and stepped inside only to find it quiet. The little one was still in the same position, only a few lines on her forehead graced her some more innocence. I halted near the footboard of the bed and scrutinised her deeply. She looked like such a cute baby. Someone so pure and washed from all the evils. I was really curious to know what she was doing in the woods.

I was feeling a little tug at my heart with every step I was taking towards her. My eyes were locked on her small hand. I was desperate to feel the sparks again. So desperate that I didn't notice her forehead lines growing prominent. I rubbed my thumb over her knuckles and a rush of sparks travelled through my veins and straight went to my heart. I gulped and almost began panting.

Gunnolf was feeling the heat and it was becoming hard to control the big bad wolf. "We shouldn't do this, Gunnolf,"

"I just want to be around mate, hold her hand, let us feel her," He insisted but I was reluctant. "Please, let me feel her before she wakes up. I know she wouldn't let us touch her," Gunnolf pleaded and this wasn't the usual him. His sudden change of behaviour was astonishing. From a barbaric wolf to a lovesick puppy.

"Alright but this won't happen again," I grumbled.

Gunnolf prepared himself for the megawatts of sparks as I grabbed her fingers and put my hand underneath hers. The sudden burst of electricity exploded in my system and I was left breathless. My heart thudded thunderously and heat swept under my skin. It was intense. It was extreme. Of all hundreds of women, only she did whatever her touch was doing. I had to agree. Something was odd here. I needed to find out what and who she was.

I left her hand the next instant. If I had kept holding her hand for another second, I would have lost my self-control completely. I spun around and ran a hand on my scruffy beard. Closing my eyes, I was calming myself until I heard a little muffle. I swivelled around, dumbfounded, only to watch her eyes moving behind her eyelids. Slowly, she opened her eyes and blinked. I didn't fail to observe her dense, long eyelashes. My Lord, her eyes were beautiful. She was staring at the ceiling with her weak gaze but even in that state she held a strange power over me. I couldn't stop staring in her eyes. Her eye-colour was the brightest shade of oceanic blue. So deep that it was drawing me in.

Her lips parted and she mumbled the word. 'Water'. I hurriedly grabbed the bottle and stepped closer while tearing the seal. Her eyes quickly darted toward me and she looked up at my face. Just when she acknowledged my presence, her eyes widened in horror and before I could calm her down, she started to fumble and scream.

She got scared of me.