His Unidentified & Untouchable Mate

Worse Yet

Zahraa POV

I stared in disbelief at the splattering of my own blood against the stark white tiles of the pack house’s bathroom. The dark crimson specks weren’t enough to run in streams down the wall, just enough to make what I had just cleaned look like a crime scene.

A sharp pain in my leg elicited a new cry of pain from me, and I returned my attention to my attackers.

Belle and Dawn, also omegas, distant friends of the trio I’d spent my morning evading, loomed over me with twin expressions of disgust. “If you were smart,” Belle said, continuing a monologue I hadn’t been listening to. It’d been hard to listen with my head ringing from all the times she’d slapped me. “You would’ve left this pack after hurting the son of our alpha in front of us.”

“It’s not like that,” I hissed, trying and failing to rise to my feet again. Belle had a foot on my ankle, and the pain in my ribs from Patricia’s kick earlier was extremely limiting. “You know that I never wanted to hurt anyone.”

They should have, at least. Most omegas in this house were aware of my limitations. When I’d turned fifteen, and they’d put me to work, they had whispered about them behind my back. For a while, it was a ‘challenge’ among young gammas to sneak up behind me and touch any exposed skin I might be showing that day, resulting in excruciating moments of pain for both of us.

Those days were over, but the memories lingered. I could tell by the way everyone avoided me for the most part.

Until now, apparently.

“It was an accident,” I emphasized. “Just an accident.”

Dawn seemed to hesitate, but Belle had always had an awful temper and an inferiority complex. The pressure on my ankle grew, and I squirmed under it. “You’re just lucky he rejected you in private,” she hissed. “Because if he’d done it in public, they would’ve chased you out of here like a mob. I wish they would’ve, you snake,” her foot left me, but the relief gave way to a flinch as she pulled it back to kick.

Luckily, the door opened before she had the chance, and I sagged when I saw a familiar figure.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ingrid came in like a raging bull, charging and slamming into Belle, taking her down to the floor.

“None of your business,” the girl replied as Dawn, her friend, retreated through the open door. They rolled, pulling hair and scratching with nails that looked partially transformed. When their skin began to ripple with an oncoming transformation, I stood, limping out of the bathroom just in time to hear the shattering of porcelain and the rushing of water.

Dawn was nowhere to be seen – but two prominent figures were approaching.

Alpha Rowan and his beta, Charles.

“Zahraa,” Charles said, voice hard as he took in the water rushing into the hallway, and the thrashing coming from the bathroom. “What’s going on here?”

“Charles, break that up,” Rowan said, nodding into the bathroom. He waited for his second to disappear before looking at me. “Are you okay? You look… spooked.”

Spooked was putting it mildly. I could only shake my head, bowing it before my alpha, hiding the welling tears. I’d faced bullying when I had first come to this pack – from wolves and other wards alike. But I had worked hard to become likable, to make friends, to correct misinformation until I had made my way from target to invisible.

I hadn’t wanted that to change. Especially not like this.

Rowan’s fingertips were feather-light as they brushed against the fabric of my shirt, and I met his concerned stare. “Don’t worry,” he said, “Whatever it is, I’ll correct it.”

Oh yeah. And that.

Rowan had been instrumental in getting people to leave me alone.

Before he’d been alpha, he seemed to know that telling people not to bully me would only escalate things – so he took up my campaign. Correcting people on my behalf, redirecting their attention, as if I weren’t worth their energy.

But I remembered the way he’d always glance back at me, meeting my eye, as if to say I’m sorry.

Charles reemerged with Ingrid and Belle in tow, jerking them around by their arms. “I’d like to see the three of you in my office. Rowan, I can take care of-”

“No,” Rowan said, sternly. “My office. Now.”

Charles didn’t seem all that surprised. “Yes, alpha.” He was a little rougher than necessary as he pushed them forward, releasing their arms. “Alright, girls. Walk.” He followed behind, casting only a glance at Rowan.

“Come on,” the alpha slipped his hand on my lower back, pushing me forward. “We’ll clear this up. But I’ll need to hear what’s happened so far.” He seemed to already know as his eyes met mine. “All of it.”

Tattling had never worked against a bully, and I didn’t think it would now. But Rowan knew what I’d been through before, and more than anyone else in this pack, I trusted him. “Okay,” I whispered, “But… not here. Please.”

“Sure,” Rowan led me gently to an empty room, then closed the door behind us. It looked like a meeting room designed to be comfortable over anything else. There were overstuffed chairs in front of a stone fireplace, with a coffee table between. “Have a seat,” he said, as the lock twisted into place.

I hadn’t been truly alone with Rowan for years, I realized. Perhaps I never had – though there were plenty of stolen moments, like in the van before dropping us off, or when he asked me to dance after.

I found myself suddenly nervous as I settled into the last chair in the row, sinking into the soft stuffing. Rowan chose the chair next to me, but he pulled it so it faced me and only me, giving me his undivided attention.

I shouldn’t be so self-conscious around him – not when I was his brother’s mate.

“Go on,” he said, his tone soft and sweet, like melted chocolate on a warm day. “Tell me everything.”