The Fallen Mate

Backstory

Olivia's POV

After about an hour of organizing, we finally had all of my new clothes put away. There was also makeup and accessories in the bag and I arranged them on the vanity.

"What would you like for dinner?" Lex calls from his position on the couch. I'm sitting in one of the arm chairs as he lounges opposite me on the couch. I shrug to his question.

"I don't care really," I say. I feel more comfortable with him now. Maybe it's the mate bond or maybe it's the fact that he's one of the first people to show me kindness in 12 years.

"Ok, I'll call down to the kitchen and get them to deliver a meal up here" he suggests. I nod. Thankful that I don't need to meet anyone. Lex taps away at his phone. Once he's finished with his order he sets his phone down on the coffee table in front of him and looks at me.

"How old are you?" He asks

"17," I say looking down at my now very interesting nails.

"I'm 18, when's your birthday?" He asks. I look at him. He's looking at me with a slight smile. I can't help but blush at the effort he's putting forward in order to get to know me. I allow myself to relax a little not realizing how tense my shoulders were.

"January 16th. You?" I ask. My voice not sounding as small as it usually did. A frown covers Lex's face and I can't help but frown as well. What did I say to upset him?

"That was a week ago," he said. I just nodded.

"But that mark on your neck has been there for longer. And you smell like other wolves" he points out. I grip the blanket I had thrown over my lap. I really didn't want to have this discussion, ever.

"Yeah" I whisper.

"Which means you mated with people before you were allowed to," he says. His tone is angry. As if he's trying to hold back his wolf.

Tell him

Phobe urges me.

He won't want us

I point out.

He's our mate. He will always want us. Oz isn't angry at you he's angry at those other wolves. He knows that you didn't want it. They can tell that you suffered years of abuse. Trust him, Olivia.

She whines. Practically begging me too.

I look back at Lex who's staring at me with an intensity I can't place in his eyes.

"I'm going to walk you through it, but please don't interrupt or do anything rash right now because I will probably clam up and not say anything" I warn him. I'm trying to put on a strong facade. He simply nods. He grabs a pillow next to him and starts squeezing it.

"When I was five my parents were killed by the Alpha. I was under my bed hiding and I heard all of it. The screams, the tearing of the skin. All of it. They found me the next morning still under the bed clutching a stuffed bear and sobbing. From that day on, they treated me differently. I wasn't allowed to go to school with the rest of the pups. Parents herded their kids away from me so I never had any friends. When I turned ten I was locked into the attic with a blanket and bucket for the bathroom. People came in to take their frustrations out on me. I'd get beat up over and over again. I stopped fighting back when I was twelve. They didn't start to assault me sexually until I was fourteen. I tried to fight then too. I stopped after a while. It would be so much worse if I kept trying to fight. Phoebe tried to take over so many times but I didn't want her to get hurt. On my sixteenth birthday, the beta was so sure I was going to be his he was in there raping me at twelve at night just so he could feel the connection and finalize it right there. Fortunately, it didn't come. This made him angry. I was kept in the attic for that entire year. Food was given to me once a week. Usually a crust of bread but sometimes if I was lucky I got the end parts of vegetables. The day before I turned seventeen I escaped. The beta was planning on forcefully mating with me then. So I ran. And here I am" I finish. I was staring at my hands the entire time. When I'm done I finally look up to find the pillow in Lex's hands destroyed. The feathers all over his lap.

"What. Pack." He asks through gritted teeth. He doesn't look at me.

"N-nowhere" I stutter. Lex brings a fist down onto the coffee table shattering it. I yelp and squeeze myself back into the corner of the chair.

My scream seems to snap Lex out of it because he looks at me with his brown eyes full of worry. He looks down at the now cracked coffee table and quickly unclenches his fists.

"I'm sorry," he says resting his face in his hands. I'm still shaking in the armchair.

Go to him

Phoebe tells me.

He could hurt us.

I reply.

He won't

She responds.

How do you know?

I ask.

He's our mate.

Those are her words and I know she's right. I stand shakily and slowly make my way over to the trembling man on the couch.

I sit down next to him slowly and place my hand on his back. It tenses at the touch and I pull it away.

"Don't?" he says softly. I put my hand back and let the tingles flow throughout my body at the contact. Lex sits up and looks at me. His eyes are red.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," he says. Tears falling down his face. I move my hand from his back and before he can complain I wipe the tears off his face.

"You didn't know," I say. I feel my own tears streak down my face.

"I should've," he says as he takes my small hand in his. I turn so that our knees are touching.

"No. I'm with you now and you're the first person in a while to make me feel safe," I say and move closer to him so that our noses are almost touching.

"I'm sorry" he whispers looking down at our intertwined hands. Before I can think about what I'm doing I move my lips forward to meet his. It only lasts a second but it's the best second of my entire life. When I pull back I'm greeted by his surprised face. He opens his mouth to say something but I beat him to it.

"Don't apologize. You didn't know it was happening and I trust that you'll never let it happen again" I say resting my forehead on his. He nods.

"Never"