Innocence {discontinued}

Chapter #3

~Axel's POV

I watched as Erik quickly shut the door, feeling all of the anger slip out of my system as I looked down at my mate.

She laid comfortably in my arms, her body limp. Her eyelids shielded the beautiful and deep blue orbs from me. Walking back to the corner of the room, I set her gently onto the plush mattress, leaning down and brushing my lips across his forehead. 

Honestly, I still didn't want a mate. I didn't. Or did I? Now that I thought about it, I think my thoughts are changing... I haven't talked to her much- but I knew enough already.

She was perfect.

I loved how she'd trusted me so much to help her during her first shift, how she was feisty, yet as sweet as they come. She was independent, yet reliant on me, which I liked. I was an Alpha, meaning I was quite dominant, especially of my mate. So, of course, I'd want to be the leader of the two and wanted to be the protector. I want her to rely on me, love me, and trust me.

As I reminded myself of her first shift, I wondered why it'd just happened when she saw me. I'd searched her up while she slept already, finding out that my her name was Ariel May, she was 19 (She'd be turning 20 in two weeks), she worked at The Blue Moon, she has no family since she's an orphan and never adopted, and she'd mysteriously disappeared four years ago from the orphanage.

I decided to go ask the pack doctor, Rick, about why she'd started her shift once she saw me, when she actually should've shifted at 16.

Without knocking, I burst through the door of Rick's office, plopping down onto one of his tacky orange chairs.

"Oh, uh, evening, Alpha. Did you need something?" He stuttered. I knew why he was scared- When I'd rushed in here with my mate after she'd went unconscious, he'd said I was overreacting and I flipped my shit. 

Sure, I admit, I wasn't the nicest person, but I'd never gotten that mad so quickly over the words, 'You're overreacting'. But, in my defense, I'd just found my mate, she might've gotten hurt severely during her shift, which was pretty common with late shifters. They'd hurt themselves too badly because their body had became accustomed to being a weak human, so it'd be too much to handle for them.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case for Ariel, but she'd be extremely sore for the next few days and wouldn't get her full strength for around a week or so, give or take.

Either way, he had reason to be nervous around me at this point in time.

"Well, Rick, I just came down to ask why Ariel started her first shift the moment she saw me...?"

He gave me a timid smile, walking over and taking a seat in front of me. He ran a shaky hand through his greying hair, relaxing back into the chair. 

"Well, Alpha Axel... I believe your mate, since she was an orphan, was never told that she was of our kind. She'd obviously had a hard life, sir, so I think her wolf was so depressed along with her, that she just didn't shift. We know she lived alone, probably meaning she was both lonely and sad, but once she and her wolf saw you, they realized they had something to live for, so... Her wolf took over."

By now, my eyes were wide and my jaw was slack. Wow. Talk about the power of the mate bond, eh?

Just as that thought entered my mind, I felt fear and panic rise within me, but the thing was, it wasn't my feelings.

"Thanks, doc. I have to go," I muttered, jumping up from my seat and bolting up the stairs, into my room. 

Grabbing the key from my pocket, I pushed it into the lock to see my angel curled up into a ball on the bed, sobbing.