Bear Shifters (Book 3)

Chapter 2-Kai

"Wait, please stop. I'm your mate, you can trust me! I don't know what's happened to you, but please stop fighting," I cry out, staring down at my mate.

She looked terrified, but also so, so angry. She had bolted as soon as she saw me, attacked everyone that tried to stop her, and jumped out of a three-story window! Something happened in her past to make her act this way, and I wanted...no, needed to find out.

Not to mention the scars covering her body, and the brand! I want to kill everyone and anyone who hurt her. No one touches my mate!

I snapped out of my angry daze as I looked down at her figure. She was beautiful, even with all of the scars. She was tall and skinny with a body made of pure muscle. She had pale skin and striking blue eyes, but her hair was the most unique. Her hair was snow white and fell in long curls down to her waist. Her heart shaped was smooth, except for three scars over her right eye. Luckily, her eye wasn't damaged, but the scars still stood out.

"Please stop running, I promise I will never hurt you, just trust me," I say, kneeling down in front of her.

She looks around at the gathered crowd with a glare. I could tell they made her nervous.

"Everybody, leave!" I growled through the pack link, sending the pack scurrying off in different directions.

I raised a hand to brush a strand of white hair out of her face, but she lets out a snarl as she flinched away from my hand. I brought my hand back to my chest and looked over her facial expressions, but it was set in a blank mask.

I stood up, realizing that she didn't want to be touched or helped. I held my hands up and offered her a smile, which she didn't return. She hesitantly rose to her feet, staying at arm's length.

"Come with me, please, I won't hurt you," I say gently and she gives me a stiff nod.

I start walking back towards the pack house, hearing the soft thud of her footsteps behind me. As soon as we made it into the house, I walked into the kitchen, my mate following. She sat down at a bar stool with her back tense and her beautiful blue eyes following my every move. I stood across from her on the other side of the island and leaned onto my forearms.

"I'm Kai Tavion, Alpha of the Southern pack. What's your name?" I ask, trying to start over.

Her brow scrunches up, as if trying to remember. Her face is one of frustration and confusion. Seconds pass before she actually speaks.

"M-Maxine King, but...I think my f-friends and family used to call me...Max. I was...the heir to the Northern pack," she tells me hesitantly.

"Where have you been? Your family asked all the packs for help years ago. They said you went missing, that humans took you? What happened?"

Her eyes hardened and her jaw was clenched, along with her fists. I knew I pushed too far at her expression. I was about to open my mouth to tell her it was okay, when she spoke.

"The human's took me to a 'research' facility called the Basement. They kidnapped me and some rogues from around the area. They did 'research' on us and tortured us, testing our healing, our strength, our instincts, just everything that makes us what we are. They made us fight each other for 'research' purposes and for their stupid entertainment. They bet on us. They bet on who would win, they made us...kill each other. I was undefeated. I...I fought thirty six times, that's how many rogues I killed. They would have made us fight more, but they had a limited supply of 'subject'. The men...the men...they r-r... raped me, along with the other girl there, but she died three years ago..." she trailed off, looking down at the ground.

I fought the urge to howl and shift, I knew it would scare her. As glad as I was that she told me, I was so angry now. I wanted to kill them all. I push away my anger and move over to Max's side. she stiffens for a second and I stop, but then she looks at me with such pain and vulnerability in her blue eyes and I can't resist the urge to hug her. I slowly pull her towards me. She stiffens in my arms, but finally relaxes, wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her face into my chest.

I loved the feeling of my mate in my arms. I have waited twenty one years for this moment, and now that it's here, I don't want it to end, but all good things come to an end sometime. Max suddenly pulls away from me and takes a few steps back, looking around the room as she hugged herself. She finally looks back at me, her blue eyes held so much pain and suffering and I wanted nothing more than to comfort her.

"I...I'm not ready...for any of this. I...just the slightest bit...of physical contact...and I panic and...I attack...I hurt people...I have been doing it for the past eleven years. I...I can't be the mate....to an Alpha. I'm to damaged. Your pack...needs a caring Luna...I am not what a Luna...what a Luna should be," she says brokenly. "I'm sorry you got me as a mate," she whispers.

I stare at her. How could she think that I didn't want her as my mate. She was my mate. The person that was meant for me. My other half! I wasn't going to give up on her, because of her past. We would figure everything out.

"Max, don't say that. Don't you ever say that. I wouldn't want anyone else as my mate. You may be broken and scared, but we are going to get through this, together. You will make a great Luna, or Alpha, or anything, you are perfect," I tell her, walking closer to her hunched form.

She looks up at me through broken eyes, a few tears glistening in her clear blue eyes. I slowly place my arms around her and pull her back into a hug. She stiffens at the contact, just like last time, but eventually relaxes into me, making me smile as I kiss the top of her head.

I was one step closer to getting her to trust me.