Broken Mate

Chapter Three

I feel now I am laying on something soft but I can't seem to open my eyes. 

"Oh my goodness..." A woman that sounds like the pack doctor says but I can only hear some parts of the conversation. "... the moment I saw her there, I knew this would happen." She says. 

"Don't tell anyone it was me who brought her here." The man says and that's the last thing I hear.  

When I wake up again, my head feels heavy and I see daylight. 

I look around and see Dr. Julien standing over me.

She sighs when she sees me awake. "You are sick. Celeste wanted you to go to work when you woke up but I manage to keep her at bay till tomorrow." She says.

I look at her not surprised at all. 

"Who brought me here?" I ask her. 

"One of the warriors." She says. 

(Whoever that warrior is, is going to get in trouble for sure.) 

"Rest, ok? You are safe here." She says and leaves the room. 

I lie my head back and close my eyes and sleep takes me. I wake up the next afternoon feeling much better and of course, Layla walks right in. 

"Celeste, right?" I ask knowing that I am right. 

She nods. "Yea, she told me to come and get you." 

I sigh and get up. 

We get to the packhouse and I immediately go upstairs and change as fast as I can. I come back down and go into the kitchen, I am surprised at all the people I see there. 

(Why is-......oh yea the moon festival is tonight, so they are here to help cook.) 

"Of course you are always late. So useless." Celeste says handing me a bowl with vegetables. 

“Cut those.” She says and walks away.  

I quietly go to a corner and start cutting carrots and doing everything Celeste tells me to do. 

After cooking for the festival, I head to my room to change and get ready. On pack festivities are the only times that those with low rank like me get to participate or on ceremonies where the whole pack is required to assist.  

I walk up to my room and stop in my tracks when on my bed, I see a dress I have never seen before. I look cautiously around my room but I don't see anyone. I quickly go down and lock my door and come back up looking at the dress. I lift it up looking at it curiously. It's a short black sundress with sunflowers. It has a deep v neck in the front and also a v neck cut in the back with no sleeves. It looks like it would fit me perfectly, hugs the top while the skirt part is tiered and short. It's really cute but.......I'm not using it. I don't wear anything that shows my scars. 

"Who the heck even left this here?" 

I put it to the side and go to my small closet where all my old clothes are at. I take my white dress with a high round neckline, it has scalloped hem long sleeves, and embroidered waist panel that hugs my waist. The fabric is thin and it is shorter than I would like, five inches above my knee because I outgrew it a bit but still fits good. 

I put on some white old sandals that are still in good condition and brush my hair leaving it down so it hides me a bit better. 

I look back at the dress and I am puzzled as to how that ended up in my room.  

"Maybe it was Layla...no she knows about my scars." 

I look in the mirror and see the scar on my neck from the silver chains already healing. The permanent scars that I have, are all from before I got my wolf and I didn't have the healing that I have now. 

Feeling ready, I head downstairs and walk out the back door to the clearing where a big bonfire is roaring, just next to where I was chained a day ago. 

Our pack, the White Claw pack, has two packhouses. The main one is the one we are at now and the other one is two miles from this one, our territory is pretty big. We are an hour away from the city of Minneapolis in Minnesota. Because of that, the town near us is bigger than most packs tend to have. 

"Rain, over here." Levi says. 

I walk over towards him and Layla.  

"Hey." I say. 

"The Alpha is about to give a speech." Levi says. 

(Yea like I care.) 

The Alpha gives a speech that I don't really listen to, once he is done people start dancing and drinking. 

"I want one of those drinks." Layla says. 

"You're too young."Levi and I say in unison and she pouts. 

"Can we at least go dance in that corner over there Levi?" Layla asks him. 

He gives her a small smile. "Sure." 

While they leave, I sit on a log just watching.  

"Why doesn't she stay in her room?" I hear Heidi, the beta's daughter, say and I know she's talking about me but I ignore her. 

"She thinks that my cousin wants her." She says and she and her friend start laughing. "As if anyone would ever touch her."  

(I wish that's exactly how it was.)  

She walks over to me with a smirk. "Hey Rain, go get me a glass cup from the kitchen." She says.  

I look at the table next to her and there are plenty of plastic cups but I don't argue. I get up and start to walk inside, I get one of the nice cups because knowing her, she'll make me go back for it. I walk back out of the packhouse and someone bumps into me. I go falling to the ground expecting it to really hurt but whoever bumped into me steadies me.  

I look up and see the most beautiful smoldering olive green eyes I have ever seen attached to the most handsome man I have ever seen. He has dark brown hair slicked back with a short stubble on his strong-looking jaw. His eyebrows are low so he looks like he's always angry. He is tall and muscular with broad shoulders and a tattoo on his left deltoid and triceps. And his scent is so good, cinnamon. 

"Mine." I whisper and I immediately cover my mouth feeling horrified at what I just said.  

I gasp internally and he stares at me and I swear I can see a small smile appear on his mouth but his expression quickly turns stern. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath then he looks at me and his eyes run down my clothes. He looks displeased and then turns around walking into the crowd. 

I stand there shocked. 

(My....my mate.......why.... why didn't he reject me? He should have....) 

I walk over to Heidi feeling dazed and my mind is completely blanked out. I hand Heidi her cup not really looking at her. 

"About time." She grabs it and walks away. 

I sit on the log looking at the ground. 

(......that was........that was Kayden. He's much older now but I recognize him.......oh no, this can't be. He's my....my...) 

I take a deep breath feeling like an anxiety attack is about to start. 

(No! I won't say it. I won't accept this. He is the worst thing someone can be, an Alpha. Entitled and cruel.) 

I look up at the moon. "You really hate me don't you." I whisper. 

"Who hates you?" Levi says walking back with Layla. 

"No one, I'm over this. I'm gonna go sleep." I say getting up. 

"But it's so early." Layla says. 

I shrug my shoulders and walk away. I go up to my room and lock my door like I always do. I go up the stairs and lie on my bed.  

This is my safe place.... and so I cry. 

I can't deny that deep, deep inside me, I had some hope that by some miracle Layla would be right and that I would find a good mate who would take me away. 

I wipe my tears. "But it's fine, he will reject me in the next couple of days and everything will be fine. But why didn't he do it right at that moment though?" I ask to the emptiness of my room feeling puzzled. “Maybe he was too shocked?” 

After crying so much, I feel exhausted and fall asleep. I wake up early in the morning and try not to think of everything that happened yesterday. I take a shower and put on jeans with sneakers and a t-shirt that has short sleeves and a neckline that goes high. All my clothes are like this, they have enough clothes to cover my scars but they are not in good condition, some even have holes. 

I put my hair in a low ponytail and look in the mirror. Through the mirror I can see that sunflower dress behind me, I turn back to it and pick it up. 

"What do I do with this? It's beautiful and certainly not meant for me." 

I put it back on the bed and decide to deal with it later. I go downstairs and into the kitchen to start breakfast.  

"You stupid girl! Use that olive oil, not that other one!" I hear Celeste shouting at Layla. 

I come into the kitchen when Celeste slaps Layla on the face. I stop and take a deep breath. I can't say or do a thing because we will both be punished if I do. 

"Sorry." Layla says slowly getting up. 

Celeste looks at me. "Go make the juice, make sure it's orange juice. The young Alpha likes fresh orange juice."

I nod but feel horrified.  

(He's eating breakfast down here? His parents, the Alpha and Luna never come down for breakfast, so this is a surprise and a horror to me... I have to see him again?) 

I start squeezing the oranges and Levi rushes in. 

"You are late!!" Celeste yells. She takes the spatula that was just under the oil and hits him on the arm burning him. Levi yanks his arm back and closes his eyes holding his arm and hissing in pain. 

(Thank god he already has his wolf or that would leave a very bad scar.)  

"I shouldn't have to be doing your work for you!" She shouts handing the spatula to Levi. She goes to the dining room to set the table up while we continue to cook breakfast in silence. 

"Are you ok?" I ask Levi. 

"Yea, my arm is fine. I came late because I slept late, I'm not feeling too good." He says and he does look a little pale. 

We finish cooking and head to the dining room to serve the food and of course, Celeste is chatting away with the other pack members like she is the nicest person in the world. 

We have a huge long dining table that can sit up to forty people. But not every pack member that lives here eats here, there are a lot of pack members that enjoy eating in their rooms, so we prepare the food and they take it with them. Those with families tend to have houses on the pack territory and those that choose or have no choice like me, live here in the packhouse. 

I look around and am relieved that he isn't here. We start serving breakfast and then he walks in... Kayden. Our eyes meet and I feel my heart jump out of me.