My Hateful Mate

4. Start crawling

DIANA POV

It’s the night of the full moon. What better way to spend it than letting my wolf, Grace, out? The last time I let her out was a few weeks ago. After running for hours, I decided to have a quick bite. There was no reason for me to have my guard up. I’ve done this hundreds of times and never had a reason to. I guess you could say I’d grown careless in the past months.

I was born a Rogue but lately I’ve been spending more and more time in the towns and cities amongst humans. I’m more of a lone wolf now. I’ve even considered getting a job and renting a place of my own instead of sleeping in the woods like I normally do. I have never run into any humans, much less any hunters, while out here.

Now I find myself hurt and depending on a shewolf who is helping my attacker. When she went to mark him… the anger I felt turned into confusion. There is only one reason she would do that, but I couldn’t fathom why the Goddess would punish her like that. What could she have possibly done to deserve that kind of fate? There is no other explanation though.

Everything pointed to that hunter being her mate. The way she hid and waited to the last second to make her presence known. The fact that she didn’t shift and confront either of us when we were approaching her. The biggest red flag was that she didn’t use force to stop the hunter. She could have easily ripped his throat out and ended this mess ages ago. Before I got hurt.

There was a possibility that she was just some peace-loving hippy wolf, but I doubt any wolf, peace-loving or not, would ever mark a hunter, or someone who wasn't their mate, so carelessly. When he insulted me, I could see the hurt flash in her eyes. He was helpless and although she scolded him for being an ass, she never once revealed what she was to him.

Luckily, I was smart enough not to give her away. She was trying to help me and if I had outed her, he would have tried to kill her too. Even with his gaping wound, courtesy of mua, he was still trying to finish me off and I was a good distance away from him. It would be like a hunter to try to kill a werewolf even when they are trying to save their life. Loser.

While all of that is soap opera worthy, I have bigger problems than their drama. “At least she called for help finally.” Grace grumbled. “About time.” I muttered out loud while she hung up the phone. Melanie turned and her eyes widened as if my state of near death finally dawned on her. “Um…” She looked around and then took off her sweater, ripping it.

She slowly made her way over and moved my hand out of the way, tying the fabric around my waist. “If you had a phone, why didn’t you call for help sooner?” I asked, already suspecting what her answer would be. “I… I didn’t know who to call.” She was in a daze, looking back at the hunter who was motionless but still had a weak heartbeat.

I snorted and narrowed my eyes at her. “The police or ambulance would have worked.” I mused. She sighed and nodded, agreeing with me. “They would have arrested him and there is a chance someone would have alerted the local packs.” She finally admitted why she was further risking my life. “So? Shouldn’t he go to jail or one of the pack dungeons after what he did?” I know I was being spiteful, but I couldn’t understand why she was defending him, mate or not.

Those hazel eyes turned fierce in a split second. “By now you surely know why I couldn’t do that. I marked and attempted to turn him after all.” She sneered at me. “She’s our only hope. Don’t piss her off.” Grace warned, but I was growing angrier by the second. I wouldn’t be here, bleeding, if she had just knocked him out.

I pursed my lips and glared back at her. “You should have killed him! Maybe then the Moon Goddess would have blessed you with a second chance! Or do you think he will thank you for turning him into a filthy beast.” I asked her incredulously. “Would you kill your mate if you found him?” She spat at me. “If he was a hunter, yes I would.” I affirmed.

I heard Grace whimper, but I refused to examine that too deeply. “Are you hoping he will suddenly realize how wrong he is and accept you as his mate? Because you are delusional if you believe that. He will try to kill you the second he finds out what you are.” I told her the truth, she needed to hear it. If she was mad before, she is furious now.

She went back to sit next to him, examining him. He was sweating profusely, and his heartbeat was still weak. “Why aren’t you turning?” She whispered. “Tell her he’s too weak.” Grace urged me. “Why should I? He tried to kill us. It’s better if she thinks he won't turn and leaves him to die out here.” Otherwise, he would heal and then hunt his own kind once he turned.

Once a murderous hunter, always a murderous hunter. “She had no say in who her mate turned out to be. By marking him she tied herself to him for the time being.” My wolf sounded sad for Melanie. “That doesn’t change the fact that he tried to kill me! Or the fact that I’m not in a hospital because that would mean he would be punished for what he did.” I argued.

Grace snorted. “She saved us.” She said simply. “He’s not turning because he’s too hurt.” I begrudgingly told her. She stared off into the forest for a moment, probably talking to her wolf. “Thanks. My wolf says I need to be close to him. It will push him to shift.” She muttered before lying next to his side and holding him. “Her wolf is right.” Grace agreed.

I grimaced at the sight of her, holding him like they were a loving couple. Though I do admit that he looks much better when he’s not spewing hate. When he's nice and quiet, you can see how handsome he is. Funny how even someone as handsome as he can look like the ugliest being on earth when his hateful side comes out.

My face softened when I saw the dejected look on Maline’s face. Even though she was holding him close, you could see she had mixed feelings about being so close to him. After everything he said, I was shocked she could touch him. The only way I could manage to do that was if it was my foot connecting with his face. I sneered and looked away.

Wait a minute, who did she call? “Were you able to get someone to come help us or are you keeping me company until I die?” I asked sarcastically. She sighed and looked at her phone. “Someone I trust is on their way. I’m sorry but I'm not sure how long it's going to take.” She explained. “Isn’t your pack around here?” My wound was healing very slowly, and I’d much rather be out of the woods sooner than later.

She sat up but remained next to the hunter. “I’m not from any of the packs around here and I don’t trust any of them to keep him alive. I’m sorry… I know that’s not fair to you but you’re not near death and he is.” She explained with some remorse. “How long do you think we are going to be out here?” I asked, wondering where the hell her pack was and how she expected them to get here before another hunter showed up looking for his friend.

“I… I’m not sure.” She admitted. “Where is your pack?” I was starting to think I was going to heal before help arrived. “Washington.” She answered and I paled. “That’s at least six hours away! I might as well start crawling out of here.” I hissed. This is ridiculous. “Actually… it’s Washington state.” She smiled sheepishly at me. “Start crawling.” Grace muttered.

One of my eyes began to twitch, and a scowl formed on my face. My new friend Melanie turned back to her hunter, placing her hand on his chest. “What’s the point then? Why are we waiting here? Unless they fly here, which would also take over six hours, they will never get here before his back up comes looking for him.” I pointed at the hunter.

She shook her head. “My dad assured me he would be here soon. I don’t know how, but I trust him.” She asserted. She had a lot of faith in her dad if she believed that fairy tale. My parents were amazing, but raised me to be very independent. The Rogue life is hard and depending on someone else can be your downfall. I don’t know her "daddy", so I can’t put my life in his hands. “What are you doing?” She asked when she saw me reach forward and begin pulling my body forward. “Leaving.” Good luck to her.