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I winced in pain, breathing in the air, hoping to discern some scent. My memory was starting to come back a bit clearer. I’d talked to someone and that someone had helped me. He talked far more than I did. I’d told him too much and yet here I was, safe. He hadn’t turned me in, at least not yet. He’d kept his promise. That still left a lot of questions. Who were they, and where were they now?
Inhaling again, I ended up in a coughing fit, one that led to… let’s just say grossness. But when I took my next full breath, my nose had been cleared and was once again working, and I nearly fell backward.
The scent surrounding me, hitting my nostrils, almost bringing me to my knees, was one my beast and I instantly recognized: Mate.
Mate, my lion roared.
But how could it be? Had I been found here by my mate? Was that who had been helping me? Had I been so out of it, so broken that I couldn’t even recognize him as mine? What kind of twist of fate would that be?
I pushed myself up, only to realize I could barely stand on my leg. The bone had healed, but it felt wrong, twisted somehow. I would likely need a healer to re-break it.
My arm ached, but I could move it easily. The niggling of a memory festering in the back of my mind. Had that break been set by my mate? Was my leg not the only bone that suffered such a fate?
More importantly, would my mate be back? He’d have sensed who I was, surely. I knew at least for me, the scent was unmistakable.
Leaving here wasn’t a good option. I certainly wasn’t going to make it far from where I stood, much less someplace far away and potentially safer. And there was the issue of Steelwork being on my tail.
Steelwick wouldn’t take long to find me, even if I was able to leave at full strength, which I wasn’t. If the Alpha had reported me missing and told them that I had hurt Nathan, perhaps killed him, they would waste no time. The only thing helping me hold it together was knowing that, as of my body being cast away, they hadn’t known where Nathan was. He had a far better chance of being safe than I did, and for that I was grateful.
My stomach twisted. Had they been lying? Was he there, awaiting their wrath? Were they so cold and heartless that they would kill him with eyes on covering everything up?
He’d been alive when I was first attacked. That much I knew. And they implied he had gotten away. I chose to hold onto that and not let all of these messed-up what-ifs impact my decision-making abilities.
I looked around the room… no, cave, for any hints to where my mate might be. The room started to spin, and I closed my eyes. I wasn’t nearly as healed as I thought I was, and I’d been pretty sure I was a mess.
Had my mate found me just to lose me to my injuries, or worse, to the shifter justice system that might not bother taking a deeper look into what really happened?
I slowly cracked my eyelids open again and looked around the cave.
This wasn’t an abandoned cave or one stumbled upon and used for a night’s shelter. No. From everything I could see, it seemed to be a place my mate came often. There were supplies piled in one corner—bloodied rags where he had cleaned me up and a bucket of water. There had to be a decent water source nearby.
I hobbled over to the supplies, drank some clean water slowly, and nibbled on a granola bar I found. I felt guilty for stealing from my mate, but I didn’t see a way around it. My body needed fuel if it was to get enough strength to see me through to safety. What it really craved was a steak.
It was a good sign that I was rallying enough to eat, but what I really needed was a healer. If only it were as easy as that.
I desperately wanted to see my mate again, the pull getting stronger by the second. All I recalled about him was a kind touch and blue eyes. He was a cougar shifter based on his scent. But aside from that… nothing. Not a name, a pride, nothing.
My orientation was completely messed up after being thrown down the hill, and I hadn’t been sure where that hill was to begin with. They had moved me, brought me to someone else’s territory. I tried to think about what packs were near mine, my head pounding and making it difficult to retrieve the information.
Not having even a general notion of where I landed was going to be a problem, especially with my beast still holding back. He was giving me his strength in order to allow me to heal. I appreciated that, I did. But I could really use his help about them.
I was at the mercy of my mate. Had he believed me when I told him I was innocent, or would he come back with Steelwick in tow? It was a great deal to expect him to take my word for it when all he knew about me was that I came onto his land and into his private space without permission, completely broken.
After mustering all the energy I could, I managed to get to the entrance of the cave. Unsure whether or not it was the best idea, I took my first step outside to look around and possibly figure out where I was, but I landed on uneven ground, and a shot of pain radiated through my hip and brought me to my knees.
I crawled back onto my sleeping bag, sweat breaking out on my brow. I would not be going anywhere. Not yet. I had to trust that my mate would return. I lay back and closed my eyes, letting sleep overtake me.
Chapter 6
Pol
I needed supplies urgently. I had brought enough for myself knowing that I was going to be hunting part of the time. It was nowhere near what I needed with an injured mate needing to be provided for.
After taking my fur, I raced back home to get more. I was fortunate to have the necessary days off already planned. It would help any complications. I could go in, grab what I needed, attend the meeting, and be back to him in no time. I also would be able to tend to my mate without worrying that one of my commitments was going unmet and that an omega might suffer for it.
He’d been sleeping when I left him in the cave. He needed it. I thought about waking him to let him know where I was going and that he’d be safe until I returned but thought better of it. If his body couldn’t stay awake long enough to give me the details I needed, then sleep was essential.
Once he awoke, together we could devise a plan for whatever was to happen next. I didn’t know the whole story, and it might be foolish to put full trust in a man I barely knew, but until he proved otherwise, I was going to. I refused to believe that fate would have my mate land on my doorstep only for him to be a cruel alpha, one who was so vicious that he had Steelwick on his tracks.
