Chapter 7.
This broken, beautiful, pitiful woman, was my mate. My second chance mate. And she was dying. Why was she chained? I could feel Ryko going insane. He was fighting for control to shift, I couldn't let him out, he was practically in a frenzy. He would slaughter everyone in here.
I felt Sebastian put his hand on my shoulder. He placed calming aura around me, and it was not working. Ryko wouldn't be calmed. He was furious. I saw Lili going to my mate's side, she placed her hand on her chest and felt for her heart beating. She looked relieved and Ryko finally settled just a little. I walked towards my mate and the guard beside her visibly shrank, the coward. I snapped his pathetic neck and took the keys from his belt. I unlocked the chains binding her and she fell weakly into my arms. Ryko was frantic feeling her pulse weakening. I roared for their pack doctor to follow me to the hospital immediately, but Luke intervened.
"He will do no such thing Beta, WHO do you think you are, commanding MY pack members around? Putting your hands on MY ex-mate! Put her down this instant. Put her down and leave! Get off my land!" he seethed, anger causing froth at the corners of his mouth. He looked somewhere between a rabid dog and a toddler throwing a tantrum.
"Ex-mate? Yeah? The one you just tried to murder? Well, now she's MY mate and I'll be leaving alright, but she's coming with me!" I spat back turning to leave with my bleeding mate wrapped in my jacket. A warrior from the pack grabbed my arm to stop me.
"I suggest you remove your arm mutt, before I remove it FOR you!" I growled. Before I had to lift a finger our own warriors and Sebastian came forward. While they held off the warriors I ran for my car. My sleek black Escalade was waiting by the door parked on their lawn. I hastily buckled her into the passenger seat while two warriors of our pack crammed into the back seat and I floored it towards the gate.
"Beta Jasper, there's a call." The warrior said as he connected to the phone to the car's Bluetooth.
"Jas, take her to the Red Dawn pack to the north. It's about a half hour. Their alpha has already contacted the hospital, they'll be set and ready to take her immediately. It's a full on shit-show here. The witnessing packs are outraged and disgusted by what's happened here. They are almost all pulling their alliances with this pack. I don't think our plans will have much more problems moving along as they've just broken about half a dozen council laws. This may even pull the attention of the Lycan King himself." Sebastian said his voice was informative with just a tinge of smugness.
"I'll be to Red Dawn in 15, let them know I'm coming straight through, she's losing too much blood."
I drove like a madman possessed. I couldn't lose her. Not now. Not after losing Kiera. I didn't even know her name. if she had a wolf, I couldn't feel it. But none of that mattered, what mattered was saving her. The rest could come later.
I pulled up to the pack hospital after the gate guard waived me straight through. The doctor and several nurses were waiting inside the door with a gurney and an IV kit ready to give fluids and blood. I growled when the doctor took her from my arms and placed her onto the stretcher, but I caught myself and apologized. I was instructed to wait in the waiting area and to give them space to work. My aura was all over the place and it was making the staff nervous. I sighed and gave in settling on pacing rather than busting through the doors and being in the way.
-In the examination room Dr. Kindel's POV-
"Nurse! More blood. Jesus what did they do to this girl!" her body, bone thin and malnourished was a roadmap of horror. There were dozens of whip marks, bruises, cuts and what I strongly suspect are mis-healed broken bones everywhere. The bones would have to be reset, but right now I don't think she'd survive it.
She'd lost so much blood a nurse was squeezing bags in as fast as she could while the others were stopping the bleeds all over her body. We worked for what seemed to be hours before we finally got her stable enough to begin accessing the other wounds. A few were infected, the slash on her face was by far the worse of them. It would need stitching as well ad many others along her back and torso.
I scrubbed the blood off my arms and hands and changed into fresh scrubs. She was sedated and the medications we were giving her along with rest was the best we could do for her right now. Her body needed to heal. If she had any chance of surviving this, rest was key. I stepped out to talk to Beta Jasper but found him with Beta Sam and Alpha John with Alpha Sebastian and Luna Lili holding council in the waiting area. They all turned to me as I entered.
"She's critical." I said "But stable for now. I have her sedated. She needs to heal. Have any of you managed to get any details about what happened to her?" I asked "It may be helpful to how to treat her."
"Sit down Doc, it's an ugly one." Sam said as Lili blessedly handed me a cup of coffee.
Over the next few hours they pieced together the story they were able to gather. Her name was simply Lisa. No last name. She was a found orphan. She'd been mated then rejected by the Alpha of Thorne, forbidden to accept and return the rejection, lived through the daily betrayal, forced into slavery, then whipped over 100 times, locked away and abused by another guard in the dungeon there. The whole time the others spoke, Beta Jasper's face was growing more red, he was livid. I wondered if I'd have to sedate him too. Not that I blamed him. Had anyone done this to my Hannah, I'd set the world on fire to get to them.
I listened as they talked about going back to Thorne to make sure there were no others like her hidden away being abused and I assured them that if there were, they'd be safe here for treatment with my Alpha's blessing. He nodded his blessing. I would do all I could to treat anyone, especially those oppressed.
As they discussed plans on how and when to storm the pack, something kept bothering me. Lisa was odd. I didn't sense a wolf in her. In fact, she didn't seem like anything I recognized, not even human. Just what was she? Not that it mattered, of course, but it comes with the territory of medical curiosity. I made a mental note to draw some blood in a few days when it had time to acclimate to her DNA and do some testing.
The Alphas and Beta Sam left to meet up with a few other Alphas of other packs to coordinate storming Thorne. I tuned to Jasper.
"Your bond could help her you know. She may not know you're mates, but her soul does. And it can help her to start healing." I offered. "You only need to be near her. Touch her, hold her hand, speak to her. Ive seen it do many wonders."
He nodded and I led him towards her room. I stopped outside the door and held out a hand to stop him before he entered.
"She's not going to smell the same. We had to replace most of her blood, and she has wires everywhere. You'll need to be careful. Also, most of her face is bandaged because the wound there is infected and deep. Be easy with her Beta, and keep your aura in check."
He nodded and opened her door. His gasp was audible and a small push of aura shot from him but he got it under control quickly. I nodded and he went to her bedside and gently he picked up her hand. Her heartrate picked up but didn't get too crazy so I left the room to go do my rounds and paperwork while nurses started prepping more rooms for the potential incoming members they find in Thorne.
-Jasper's POV-
She's so still, and small. I don't know how she's survived. I am immensely glad she has, but I wonder what all this has done to her. Will she even want another mate? Who would after her experience with one. My mind wanders as I sit there lost in my thoughts the memory of my own first mate comes to mind. Would she want ME as a mate.
I'd been 19 when I met Sandra. She had just turned 18 and was so beautiful. Too beautiful. We met at a mating ball in her pack lands. We realized almost immediately we were mates. But rather than the happiness I expected, she was mad. Her blue eyes were full of absolute coldness. She was already in love with another wolf who hadn't quite yet turned 18. She rejected me that night in favor of her current love. I was devastated and spent some time out on my own traveling on my motorcycle, picking up side work and camping. Just letting my wolf out when I couldn't handle my human emotions anymore. I was somewhere outside of Myrtle Beach when I got word that she'd died. I spent more time running for a while before I could manage to come back and be the Beta I'd been born to be. I just figured someday I'd take a chosen mate, maybe someone who, like me, was rejected by their mates. Second chance mates weren't unheard of but rarely happened. Now I had this miracle. I wouldn't lose her. I couldn't, surely the Moon Goddess wouldn't do that to me.
Sandra made her own selfish choice to chase Axel in hopes he wouldn't find his mate, or better yet would reject his mate for her. When he met her a year later, he chose her, not Sandra. She took a massive dose of wolvesbane after realizing that he absolutely wouldn't change his mind. I don't hold it against him, and in fact think he's pretty nice. He's the pack doctor over there now, he and his mate Joanie. We socialize with their pack a few weeks in the year during mate balls and other gatherings.
Somewhere in my reminiscing I fell asleep, my head on the rail of her bed, her hand in mine. I dreamed of her face and how I hoped she'd accept me.