Chapter 8

Warren

I awoke to the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg flooding my nose. My mind struggled to remember where I was and what happened. Then, all of a sudden, it came flooding back. I met her, my mate, Yara.

I jolted, ready to sit up quickly to make sure she was still here, but Arric held me steady.

“Easy, Warren. You’ll wake her up,” he said, practically purring in my mind.

I opened my eyes and saw her with her head on the edge of my bed, fast asleep. Whether it was Arric or just my instincts, my hand was in her hair, gently rubbing her head while she slept.

She was sitting in a chair, leaned over the bed, and she looked terribly uncomfortable. I looked down at my leg and realized that she must have finished putting my bones together while I was asleep, having also sewn my leg closed and wrapped it in bandages.

“Thanks, Arric. You’re the best,” I told my wolf, and it was true. I’d be dead hundreds of times over if it wasn’t for the strength of my wolf.

“You can thank her this time. Being with my mate is making me stronger. The sooner she allows us to mark her, the better for both of us. We still have at least three, maybe four, Alphas trying to kill us,” he said.

It’s true. Brady was only one of several. I also have Quinton and Thomas fighting against me nearly once a week, and then there's Simon. Alpha Solomon wasn’t the kind of man to fight a war just because he enjoyed fighting, and I had never given him a reason to fight. However, his son is a completely different story. Simon’s an idiot who has more brawn than brains. He likes to fight, and he enjoys the kill. We’ll have to be more careful now when we run through the general areas between the pack lands. Simon is one who will set booby traps, just so he can watch someone die a slow death. He’s worse than Brady.

I looked down at my mate. At least I had her now. The likelihood of my pack surviving, even in these war-ridden times, just increased. It’s another reason I can’t let her go. She’s too valuable as a doctor, but as my mate, she’s irreplaceable.

"Alpha, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” my Beta said in the mind link, sounding exhausted.

“Charlie, when’s the last time you slept?” I asked him.

“A while,” he said.

“You need to get some rest. I’m awake now. I can manage the pack.”

“Thank you, Alpha, but there’s something we need to discuss first.”

“What’s that?”

“I’d prefer to show you. Is our Luna still asleep?” he asked. So, he knew she was in here with me.

“She is. Was she able to get the other warriors treated?”

“She was. I hope it’s okay with you, but when she gave an order, even if it was twenty-four hours down, I told the warriors they had to follow her orders.”

I looked back at my mate. She seemed to have an inherent ability to know what was needed, what would strengthen the pack. Or at least, that’s what it seemed like to me. Maybe I’m too close to see it clearly.

“Did you agree with her assessments?” I asked.

“Honestly, I think she’s seeing more than I am right now. She was able to tell that Carson was too exhausted and was making mistakes. He’s one that she cut on recovery time for twenty-four. I didn’t even realize he hadn’t slept in days. It was affecting his performance in battle.”

I looked back at my little mate, smiling proudly. Yes, she would make a fine Luna for me.

“Her orders stand,” I told him. “What else?”

“It might be better if I show you," he said. Since I could hear how exhausted he was, it must be important for him to come over to the hospital for me to see it.

“Okay, don’t knock, just come in. Yara is still asleep. Do you know when she came in here?” I asked him.

“Only a few hours ago. She went to see every single warrior, Alpha. Every single one in the hospital. She did an assessment of them, put some on recovery time, told others if they don’t get sleep in the next twenty-four hours that she’d put them down officially too. She’s pretty impressive. Honestly, she makes Dr. Stevens look, well, lazy.”

Yeah, I’d gotten that same feeling before I passed out.

“And, uh, at the risk of you getting angry with me, I think I understand why you like her,” he mumbled.

Arric growled low in his chest. “Why is that?”

“It’s funny. I can’t remember the last time I smiled, Alpha, or laughed. She’s funny and witty, and even the warriors were giving her looks like they couldn’t believe some of the things she mumbled.”

They all better know that she’s mine, I said possessively.

“I told them, they’re good. But as a Luna… damn, Alpha, she’s exactly what this pack has been needing, in more ways than one."

"I couldn’t agree more," I told him, just as I felt him outside the door. "Quietly," I said, not wanting him to wake my mate.

He stepped into the room, looking at Yara and smiling at her. I growled softly at him. He and I shared a type when it comes to women, but I had no intention of sharing my mate with anyone, and if he ever tried to take her from me, I’d kill him. It doesn’t matter how much I like him.

He looked away, knowing that I knew he felt a pull to her. He can love her, adore her, appreciate her as his Luna, once my mark is on her. Until then, I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable with my Beta’s attention toward my mate.

“You have some things to figure out with her, Alpha,” he said before laying the trackers on the bed beside me. I carefully pulled my fingers from her hair and began looking over the trackers.

“Where did you find these?” I asked, still talking in the mind link so we don’t wake her.

“On her car.”

I stopped, looking up at him. “All of them?”

“Yes. Some inside, although the key was where she told me it would be, and some outside. One in the trunk, two in the motor, one under the driver’s seat, and one shoved between the seats in the backseat of the car."

I stared at the trackers, now deactivated. Five? Who the fuck is so desperate to get to my mate that they put five trackers on her car?

And her clothes were gone.

I slowly looked up to my Beta. “Scents?”

“None I recognized. I couldn’t figure out which Alpha they worked for, but we could definitely smell wolves. One of the packs did this. Someone is looking for her.”

I looked back down at my sleeping mate. She’s been in a human university for several years. She could have gone to a werewolf university to study medicine, but she didn’t. She’s hiding, and she’s been in hiding for a very long time.

“I need you to do one more thing for me before you get some sleep. I need you to assign someone to go to the human medical school north of here. You know which one I mean?”

“Yeah, but isn’t she a resident? We need to go to the local hospital or medical center too, right? You want us to find her records and remove her from their system?” he asked.

“Yes. We need to eliminate any trace of her before whoever is looking for her finds her.”

He nodded, then looked up at me. "Alpha, if they want her this badly…"

“I know. Eventually, they’ll come looking for her. Hopefully when that day comes, she’ll be wearing my mark. No one will ever take her from me, I’ll kill anyone who tries,” I said.

“The pack would too, once they know that she’s our Luna,” he said.

We both got lost in our thoughts for a moment, until I heard her sweet, sleepy voice.

“What are those?” my mate asked, looking at the trackers.