Bearly alive

2

I look around, not understanding what is going on. Is my mate here? I must have run around like a headless chicken searching for him, because for the life of me, I couldn't see or hear anyone, yet my wolf keeps repeating that magical word like a mantra.

Knowing I'm only getting further and further away from the spot at the border that hosts a road, I let my wolf guide me until I hear something. The grass whooshes, some tree branches snap, and if it wasn't obvious I'm about to stumble into a fight, the grunts, punches and distinct smell of blood, sure is.

Holy crap!

I freeze for a brief second, weighing my options. The fight sounds closer to the Thunderbolt's border, so naturally I should have turned and left. But my wolf is howling in both pain and excitement, insisting our mate is there and he is hurt, so without further thinking I start running as fast as I can. Like skinny old me could ever help in any way, but tell that to my wolf.

The scene unfolding a few feet away from me is brutal. I recognise the patrols from Thunderbolt by scent, yet the bloodied man on the ground is a mystery. The only thing I know is that he's my mate. Or so my wolf and my body, say.

I have no idea what possessed me to do it, but I start to pant dramatically, trying my best to look like a woman on a mission, hoping to catch their attention. I guess I sort of am on a mission, but not the kind that my fellow pack mates will learn about.

"It's…" I stop abruptly, wheezing heavily. "It's a trap. Margo is…" I pause again, dramatically catching my breath. I may not be acting as much, because both my legs and my lungs are burning from running. "Margo is coming back here to be with Alpha Benjamin. He sent me to warn you. This is a ploy to prevent her from entering the pack. She ran away from her mate and he is furious and trying to stop her from seeing Be… Alpha Benjamin."

I only had seconds to concoct a story, and I've always heard that the most convincing lies are the ones closer to the truth. I actually am a little impressed with myself, to be honest.

Puzzled, the guards all look at eachother. Then, because everyone knows Margo was always Benjamin's favourite toy, always acting like the next Luna, all five of them sprint into action.

"South border. She's coming through the South border yet you are here in the North!" I add, cringing as I realised that might have been overkill. Luckily, they didn't think that, quite the opposite.

A string of oh shits and f**k followed, and then everyone shifted and took off running, their clothes now not only full of blood, but also in shreds. No one stopped to think that they were leaving me alone with the intruder. Of course they would never care that I might get hurt. To them, I have served my purpose and I am as disposable as a piece of paper with a note written on it.

Luckily, this is my mate, so hurt is the last thing I would be. Unlike him. He doesn't look too good.

After I tentatively take a few steps closer, I notice the reason why the intruder is not moving. A syringe is lying nearby and the thick needle still sticks out from my mate's neck. That does not look pretty.

I take a moment to take in my mate. His huge frame looks out of place sprawled on the grass like that, but as I inch closer, I notice that his face, his incredibly rugged yet handsome face, is clean. I have to put in quite the effort to move my eyes from staring at his face, and notice that his hands are covered in blood and so are most of his clothes, but aside from being heavily sedated, he's unharmed.

Despite not knowing how much of that stuff must have been injected into his body, I also know that a guy his size would wake up in no time, so I blew a relieved breath knowing he'll be just fine. Or hoping he will.

Not wanting to scare him, or worse, have my mate think that I would betray him even before we met and that I'm in cohorts with the guys he was fighting with earlier, I walk away.

My wolf insists I should stay with him until he wakes up, but I think that's going to be soon and I have to make sure I get Benjamin's note to Margo if I don't want to upset my future Alpha. Otherwise, when my mate wakes up and senses my lingering scent around him, he won't have a mate to come looking for in Thunderbolt pack.

Walking back to where the road enters my pack's territory, I arm myself with willpower and patience. I couldn't say if what I'm eager to happen first is for my mate to wake up and find me, or for Margo to arrive and finally be done with my errand.

I guess one should always be careful what they wish for.