The Rouge

Chapter 11

"No!" I screamed and struggled. Scared. Terrified. "Let me go!"

Oh God, I'm going to die. He's going to kill me. I shouldn't have slipped up. I stopped running. Why did I stop running. Everything stuck out. His cruel sadistic laugh. The dark forest. The new moon in the sky giving off no light. My heart pounding in my chest.The fear pulsing through my vein. My screams echoing back to me in the dead silence of night. No one around to help me. Alone. The way I've been since the age of 7. Left alone, die alone. The map for my life. 

But I can't die yet. Not yet. I thrashed against the strong arms around me. Trying to get away. But they held me. Trapped me–

–Arms around me. The first and only thing I noticed when I woke. I reacted on pure instinct as the automatic fear kicked in. I tried to get out of the strong arms. They held me even tighter and my mind cut off. I heard words but they were like rushing water. My mind couldn't comprehend them. My dream flashed back to me in vivid detail and I freaked. I bit in clawed and tried not to drown in my fear. I broke free and my back was against the furthest wall from my threat. I growl and got into a fight position. 

My heart pumped adrenaline through me. It felt like hours before the fear lessened enough to hear again. "–Ally, it's okay. I won't hurt you."

I blinked as and tried to place the familiar voice. Not Jonah's. "Where is he?" Jonah knows what to do.

"I'm you're mate, Alicia. Marcus."

The man in front of me? But... "You're an Alpha. You're lying!"

The man flinched. He looks hurt. He's not my mate. I can't have an Alpha mate. "Where am I? Where am I?"

"It's okay, Ally." A woman entered the room. 

"Lydia! Where are we? How did I get here?"

She walked to me slower and knelled down so our eyes were leveled. "Deep breathes, Ally. Calm down and you'll remember."

"The Alpha," I whispered. Why is she calm? We have to go! Now! "Lydia the Alpha. We need to run!"

"The Alpha is gone, Ally. You're safe. Marcus is your mate." 

The name calmed my body a fraction. "Marcus?"

"Think, Ally, you need to calm down and think. Close your eyes, deep breathes."

I did as she said and after a while everything came back to my and my body dropped out of it's fighting stance. But it was shaking badly and tears threatened my eyes. I saw Marcus in the corner of my eye. Concern, hurt, desperation, and worry were written on his face. A part of my wanted to be in his arms but the dream was still too real. Too fresh. Not really a dream but a memory of what had happened when I was 14. I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut to block it out but the scene would play over and over in my head. But the whisper slipped from my lips anyway. "Marcus."

He was holding me on his lap in the next second. My face burrowed into the pit of his neck and he soothed my hair with on hand and rubbed my back with the other. "It's okay, Alicia, you're safe. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."

I heard Lydia start speaking softly to Marcus. "I'll bring up a tray. The rest of the pack she be kept from her, Alpha. The last thing she needs is to be stressed. Keep her awake for now. She'll want to go back to sleep but it could make it worst. Hopefully she'll be fine in a few hours."

"This had happened before?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, Alpha. But the last one this bad was a little over a year ago. It happens if she wakes up with someones arms around her."

"Why?" Marcus demanded.

"All I can tell you is it brings up less than pleasant memories from her past. The rest is Ally's story to tell. For now just please, keep her in a stress free place. I'll have the twins come up in a bit." 

I heard Lydia retreat and Marcus sigh. "I'm so sorry, Ally." He picked me up and carried me back to bed. I could feel his guilt through the bond. Why does he feel guilty?

I moved to look up at him and pressed a shaking hand to the side of his face. He covered it with his own and kissed my forehead. "I-i'm t-tire-red." I was shaking so badly that my teeth chattered with my body.

"You can't sleep. I know you want to, but not yet." I frowned but nodded and put my head back on his shoulder.

~~~~~

Marcus's P.O.V.

We were so close to mating yesterday. If it hadn't been for the damn phone. And now, my mate's fear through our bond. Stress free place. Alicia won't eat so the tray Lydia brought up sits on the desk untouched. She hasn't spoken since I carried her back to back 2 hours ago. Her cousins came but she refused to see them. I don't know what to do. "How are you feeling, Alicia?" I asked. She moved and looked up at me for a second before putting her head back on my shoulder. 'Please talk to me.' I linked with her. "Please Ally."

"I should have kept running." 

"What?"

She looked at me, "I should have kept running. I stop running and he finds me. Like when I was 5. And 7. And 14."

"14?" The bastard that killed her parents found her five years ago.

She nodded like she didn't see me. "He would have killed me. His arms around me. Blacked out. Had to get away. He's going to find me again. I stopped running. He'll find me."

I pressed my lips to her's to cut her off. "He won't. I will protect you. You aren't alone. I won't let him hurt you, Ally. I promise."

What she said next is something I'll kill that bastard for. "Good, because I already have a mate. I don't want him."