His Scarred Mate

Chapter 1 - Savior

Freya stepped inside the busy kitchen, the lovely smells of different kinds of pancake syrups, as well as freshly baked chocolate cookies flooding her nose. She had put up a strong, confident front, or had tried to, for that matter. It was her first day at her new work place, and she wasn't willing to look vulnerable in the eyes of any of the male workers there. She was determined to appear strong, and independent, so that no man would dare to even look at her with sinful eyes.

She made her way inside, aware that she still looked awkward in that room full of professionals. The metallic clatter of the dishes and spoons made her head throb, transporting her back to the very days she was fighting so hard to forget about. But deep down she too knew, that those memories would not just 'go away'. They were going to haunt her forever.

"Excuse me, Miss?" A voice broke her out of her line of thoughts. "I don't think you're supposed to be in here."

Freya glanced at the person in front of her for a tiny second, before her eyes were back to the ground, even though she didn't intend them to. It was habitual now, shying away from all males, and not being able to make eye contact with the opposite gender, as every eye contact reminded her of that one eye lock that should have never happened. She instinctively stepped away from the guy, and folded her arms, hugging herself; a gesture that made her feel slightly safe and sheltered. She took a deep breath, before finally finding her voice.

"I am supposed to be a waitress here," she replied, her voice softer than she had intended it to be.

"Are you sure? I mean I've never seen you around," the young man in front of her replied. He looked to be around her age, and wore spectacles. That was all she had noticed in that split second, where her eyes had dared to raise to the man's face. Oh, and he had freckles.

"Yeah, I'm new. I was hired yesterday," she replied, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, another evidence of how awkward she felt.

"Are you sure it was Cafe Chocolatte and not some oth-" the guy started to say, sounding annoyingly skeptical, before a raspy, female voice cut him off.

"It was indeed this cafe," the woman who had hired Freya the previous day, Mrs. Morgan, said, walking over to them. "Chris, this is Freya Osbourne. She will be working as a waitress with you from now on."

"Maggie, no pl-" Chris started to object, but was once again cut off.

"I'm not listening to any of your arguments. Don't worry, your salary won't be affected," Mrs. Morgan, or Maggie added, waving her hand in a dismissive way.

"Okay, then," Chris shrugged, looking relieved, a friendly smile now playing on his lips. He extended out his hand for Freya to shake. "Nice to meet you Freya."

Freya at once flinched away from his hand, gasping, as she looked down at it in fear. It took her more than a few seconds to realize what she had done, and to recover from it, and Maggie and Chris had already observed her reaction. She gulped and looked up at the woman in front of her in panic, and the confused yet worried look in Maggie's eyes reminded Freya of her mother. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and at that precise moment, she knew that she couldn't stay there any longer.

"I'm sorry, can I start next week?" She squeaked out, her eyes begging for Mrs. Morgan to consider.

"Uh..." Maggie looked not only puzzled, but also shocked at Freya's request. It was Freya herself, after all, who had been so adamant on starting as soon as possible. "Sure, Monday it is," she added, still looking a little doubtful.

"Thank you," Freya whispered, and ran out of the cafe, her mind hazy, her vision blur. She needed to feel the warm sunlight on her face, and the fresh air to caress her skin. The memories of the cold, dark place were threatening to haunt her mind, and she had started to shiver from the fear. She closed her eyes tightly, as she continued to run, trying to think of the happy times.

"I love you Freya, my beautiful, perfect daughter," her mom laughed, pulling her into her arms, as she giggled like a baby.

"Don't you think you pamper me a bit too much, mom?" Freya asked, wrapping her arms around her mother's waist.

"You're my only daughter, of course I'm going to pamper you," her mother replied, brushing Freya's blonde, curly locks away from her face, as she planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

"But that's not fair, I want to be pampered too!" Her younger brother whined, stomping his foot on the ground lightly, obviously jealous of the amount of affection Freya received.

"Aww, come here, Dave, I'll pamper you," Freya cooed, pulling away from her mother as she pulled her little brother into a warm, sisterly embrace.

Just then she was snapped out of her heart wrenching thoughts as someone caught hold of her arm, and she was pulled into a rock hard chest, her back tightly pressed against the man's front. Her eyes shot open to see the huge truck that zoomed past them, and her eyes widened when she realized that she would have been hit by it.

She almost felt thankful to the stranger for saving her life, before she realized that he was practically hugging her, and the memories started to infiltrate into her thoughts. She knew she had to get as far away from him as possible and hence she instantly pulled away from him, rather harshly, muttering a small 'thank you' before continuing on her course. A small part of her, for some unknown reason wanted to turn around and see the face of her saviour, but the situation reminded her of what had happened the last time, and she decided against it. Wiping her tears away, she ran straight back to her... House, the word 'home' being something completely forgotten and foreign to her now.

OoOoO

"I saw her again," Zavian announced as he stepped inside the familiar room.

"Did you see her face?" Alec asked in a bored tone, continuing to play Dr. Driving on his phone.

"No," Zavian replied in frustration as he plopped down on the bed beside his best friend. "She almost got hit by a truck, and I literally hugged her into safety."

"Woah," Alec said, now sounding slightly thrilled, as he kept his phone to the side. "So is she the one? Is she pretty?"

"That's the thing, I still don't know!" Zavian gritted out, his jaw clenched. "I've seen her twice, and yet I'm still not sure if she's the one or not. I still haven't even seen her face! I just saw her back and pulled her backwards."

"So you're saying she didn't even have the etiquettes to thank you for saving her friggin life?" Alec asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Man, she didn't even bother to turn around or glance at me, she literally just muttered 'thank you' and ran off," he explained, huffing at the end.

"So you still didn't make eye contact?" Alec asked, almost in disbelief. "You could have just spun her around or something, and hey you touched her, didn't you feel the sparks?"

"I didn't know she'd run off like that, or I would have spun her around. And secondly, I think she was sick or something, because she was wearing a full sleeved T-shirt, boots, a muffler, and gloves, so our skins never made contact," Zavian replied, rolling his eyes.

"What?" Alec asked, his mouth agape. "In this heat she was wearing all that?" He asked.

"Yes. Maybe she's got a cold or something, or maybe she's a foreigner who has moved here from a really hot country," Zavian replied.

"Bro, even still, that clothing is just excessive," Alec commented.

"What's excessive?" A familiar, cheerful voice asked, gaining their attention. At the doorway stood Alec's sister, Celine, in her usual badass glory.

"Nothing. Long story," Alec replied, rolling his eyes at his sister's 'nosiness' as he liked to call it.

"You guys never include me in your discussions," Celine pouted, making her way to them.

"That's cause you're always busy," Zavian commented, and Alec nodded in agreement.

"Oh come on, you know how my position works. I'm the Beta's mate, of course I've to accompany him to all the important meetings and stuff," Celine replied, pouting.

"You accompany him to many other things," Zavian replied winking, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips. One would think Celine's cheeks would tinge a dark red, but she was too fierce for something like that. She only ever blushed when Jacob, her mate was around, and flirting with her.

"Of course I do," Celine replied, unfazed. "Do you want me to list the things that keep me busy?" She asked with a mischievous smirk of her own.

"Guys... I'm still her elder brother. I don't wanna be a part of this conversation," Alec reminded, his face scrunched up in disgust at his sister's offer.

"Yeah well, then I better not get to hear about anything you do when you find your mate," Celine stated, finally sitting down on the bed, beside Zavian.

"Course not, I'm not gonna share my bedroom details with the whole world," Alec muttered with an eye roll.

"Aww, I'm glad you think I'm your whole world," Celine teased, knowing full well his brother hated to admit his love for his sister.

"Ew, no. Have you seen your face? My world will be beautiful," Alec replied in a duh tone.

"Of course," Celine commented, rolling her eyes at her brother's mean comment. "I hope your mate looks like a pig."

As Celine and Alec were busy arguing and making fun of each other, Zavian's mind wandered back to his mysterious blondie. He knew he had to see her again, as the way his beast yearned for that one girl was almost supernatural. He just wanted to have an eye contact with her once, just once, and everything would make sense. Or maybe he could hold her hand, or touch her face, and feel those mesmerizing sparks that he had heard everyone talking about.

He wanted to be sure about who she was. He wanted to know whether she was his mate or not. Because if she indeed was the one, he wanted to start courting her, he wanted to start getting to know her, to first become her friend and once she would fall for him, he would reveal his true identity to her. All Zavian wanted was to have his mate by his side.

All he wanted was to make her his.

OoOoO