The Rogue And His Human Mate

Chapter Three

~Aiden~

My alarm buzzes on my phone, signaling it's time to go to the bar. I quickly shower and get changed, then leave the small apartment. In the hall, I momentarily stop at Faith's door. Her scent is weak, meaning she's not home. I know she's not working tonight, so that must mean she's out with that other guy. If anything, he seems safe, so I don't have to worry about the other werewolves who seem interested in her. I walk fast to the bar, and upon entrance, an older girl is behind the bar with the owner Joe, talking to him. They stop as soon as they see me.

"Aiden, perfect timing. Tonight, you will be working with my daughter Molly since Faith has the night off. Molly doesn't typically work here due to school, but she can still help you with any questions you have. I noticed you walking with Faith when I drove by. I should have figured that even when I gave her the day off, she still wouldn't rest. But it was nice to see she wasn't alone. She's been through a lot and tends to overwork herself, so do me a favor and take it easy on her when you two work together. She takes on more than she can handle on her own sometimes, and I don't want her getting hurt," he explains.

"Sure," I respond. It's odd, at least in my experience, for a business owner to care that much for employees. Maybe he's her relative or something. As soon as Joe goes to his office, we start working as some people approach the bar. The night seems to pass by fast. It's a weekend night, so the bar is a different scene from the previous night. Lots of younger patrons, and it's packed full at points. Just as it's starting to calm, the door opens and Faith comes in with the guy Josh, as well as another girl who has way too much makeup on. She also looks like she's in a foul mood.

"Faith, I am happy I get to see you," Molly says as they take a seat at a booth. Molly walks away from the bar to talk to them, and I help a few more customers as I watch Molly return and Faith walk back to the bathrooms.

The guy Josh she is with gets up and puts some money in the dart board to start a game, and the other girl they are with comes up to the bar to order some drinks. "What can I get you?" I ask her. She orders, "Two jack and cokes and a water." I ask to see her ID, knowing well that Faith is eighteen. The girl places her card on the bar, and sure enough, she is twenty-one and it does not look fake. "Who is the other drink for?" I ask. "My boyfriend, he is twenty-two. You must be new; we are regulars," she says. "I am sorry," I apologize. "Don't worry about it," she responds with a fake smile as she takes the drinks.

Before she can leave the bar, the guy Josh walks up to the girl. "I'm going to check on Faith, it's your turn in the dart game," he says to her. The girl gives a dramatic sigh. "Seriously Josh, Faith is not a child. I think she can use a bathroom without you holding her hand," but he ignores her and walks around to the restrooms. The girl takes a frustrated sip of her drink.

"Bad night?" I ask her, pretending I did not pay attention to her conversation with Josh. "No, typical. You will learn soon that Josh hovers over Faith all the time. It's annoying, but whatever. I can't throw too much of a fit with what she has been through," she says. "Must have been something big," I say, causing a small laugh to escape her. "You must be new to this town since everyone knows what happened to her. It's not a big town, so it is all over the news.

Faith's father apparently lost his job and went crazy. He was never a big drinker, but he went to another bar and got destroyed and then picked up Faith's mother and her younger sister from a dance recital and lost control of his car on the bridge coming into the city and crashed, causing the car to go over into the water. They all died. Faith was at work, otherwise she would have been in the car with them. That was just a few months ago," she says as she grabs her drinks and Josh walks around the corner with Faith. So she has lost her family, and that is why she is living on her own. I have been on my own most of my life, so I am used to it, but I can't imagine it is easy for someone who has not. I watch as Faith sits down at the table for a moment, and Josh hands her what looks like a few pills.

"Not now," she mutters to him. "I'm not leaving you alone until you take them," he says. Luckily, as a wolf, I can hear their conversation. "Fine," she mumbles as she takes the pills and then drinks some of the water. "Happy," she says to him as she opens her mouth like a child showing their parent they swallowed pills. "Not really, I should not have to force you. You promised your doctor you would take better care of yourself," he explains to her as he gets up for his turn of darts.

Faith gets up right as he starts to throw them. "I'm calling it a night," she says to them. "Let's finish this one round, and then I will walk you home," he says to her. "I can handle walking myself. I have to work in the morning," she claims to him. "We will leave after the game." He stands his ground to her. "Fine," she says, clearly annoyed, as she picks the darts up from the table and starts to make her way to the dartboard. But then the other girl stops her and pulls the darts from her hand. "Go home if you want, Faith," she says as Faith grasps her hand and hisses.

Josh immediately goes to Faith and grabs her hand. I can smell blood as he opens up her hand and cusses. "What the f**k, Melissa? You knew she had a cut on her hand," he snaps. "I did not mean to. Faith, you know I would not hurt you on purpose." "I know, it's fine. Stop overreacting, Josh," she says to him. I watch as Josh grabs a wad of napkins. "Come on, Faith, we are going now," he says as he tugs on her arm. "You have been drinking, and you took an Uber here. I will call an Uber for myself," Faith explains as Joe comes up from his office. "What is going on up here?" he asks, looking at Josh.

"Faith's cut opened up, she needs to go to the hospital now," he says. Why the hell does she need to go to the hospital for a small cut? "Aiden, you have a car, correct? Take Faith to the hospital, and I will close up," he requests. "Will do," I say, not wanting to cause a fuss. I need this job. I walk around the bar. "Come on," I say to her, and she quietly follows me. "I'm coming," Josh says, following her. "My car has room for one. I'm still unpacking; the back seat is full," I say to him.

"Faith, message me with updates," he says to her, and she nods her head as he places the wad of napkins against her hand. "Keep tight pressure," he instructs her. "I know Josh, I'll be fine," she says softly as she follows me out and I lead her to my car in the parking lot behind our apartment building. "Thanks," she mutters as she gets in and I put the hospital into the GPS. It is not a long car ride. She remains silent the entire ride as I pull into the hospital parking lot and get out with her.

"You don't have to stay, I doubt I will be fast," she says softly. "It's just a cut, can't take that long," I say to her. "For me it will," she mutters as I follow her in. As we make it to check-in, the lady at the desk shakes her head. "Faith, this has to be a record, sweetheart," she says with a worried look. "I know, it's nothing new this time, cut just broke open," she admits as she holds up her hand. To my surprise, the napkins are soaked. That should not be the case. I saw her bandage it. It could not have been a big cut. "Told you our mate is special, she needs someone to keep her safe," Fang speaks in my mind as a doctor immediately comes up and says, "Come with me" to Faith.

"I'll wait in the waiting room for you," I say to her. "Friend of yours?" the doctor asks Faith. "Co-worker," she responds. "She is going to be some time, so you can either hang out in her room with her permission, or I suggest heading home," he says. "I'll stay with her," I say before she can respond. I'm waiting for Faith to say no, but instead, she just nods her head as I follow them. The doctor leads her to a small private room and immediately asks her to remove the napkins as she places her hand on the table. He sighs as he gets to work, using some sort of medical glue. "Still no infection, so that is good, but your clotting seems to be even slower. You need to take a few days off for this cut to heal before working again, Faith. We can't risk this getting infected, especially since you just recovered from a bad infection. I need you to stay here for a few hours so I can keep an eye on the cut. You know the drill," he says and then leaves the room.

"You really don't have to stay, Aiden," she says. "So you have some sort of bleeding disorder," I ask her. "Yes," she responds.

"They have good treatments for those don't they?" I question. "Yes, but I'm the lucky one where they don't know exactly what is wrong with me. I don't fit the typical case. Look, not many people know, so I would appreciate if you could not talk about this. I don't like being treated differently. I already have one person that babies me enough," she admits. "I understand, I'll stay here with you. It's not like I have anywhere else I need to be," I say to her.

I cannot help but notice her blood has a strange smell. It is different. I wonder if that is due to her having clotting issues or something else. I watch as she leans back in the small medical bed. She hides it well, but it is clear she is afraid of something but also tired. "You should sleep," I say to her as I grab a magazine that was left in the room. "I'm fine," she responds. "You look exhausted. It's clear your friends forced you to stay out later than you wanted. Get sleep. I'll be here to give you a ride when they let you out," I say in a more demanding tone. "Thanks, but I don't want to sleep here," she responds. "Stubborn," I mutter as she turns in the bed so she is not looking at me.

"Nice going, you can already sense she is afraid. Maybe that's why mate won't sleep," Fang speaks in my mind. I watch as her body slightly trembles. There is a blanket folded on the chair closest to the bed, so I get up and grab it and place it on her. My hand briefly sweeps against her, and she startles and makes eye contact with me. There are tears in them. She is not cold; she is crying. For a moment, I want nothing more than to pull her into my embrace and hold her, to kiss her tears and fears away. But I hold back. I cannot allow myself to have feelings like that for her. If anything, I'll watch after her while I'm here until I'm certain she is safe from those wolves that were at the bar while I search for a new job out of town.

"Sorry, you looked cold," I say as I turn to make my way to a chair. But as I do, her unharmed hand grasps onto mine. My entire body reacts to her touch, her soft skin. It is as if my body has a pleasurable electrifying sensation within me. If anything, even for this brief moment, I would do whatever she asks of me.