Chapter 2: Chapter 2

ETHAN

I stand in the corner of the dark infirmary with my arms crossed. My mate has machines hooked up to her that consistently beep, setting my nerves on edge.

I watch her chest rise and fall with each breath. She hasn’t regained consciousness yet, and it’s eating away at me. She looks like an angel, her flawless ivory skin and fiery red curls fanning out around her.

Her body is thin and lithe with gorgeous curves that I’m aching to run my hands over. Unfortunately, I can’t see her most stunning feature while she sleeps.

Her eyes were a gorgeous violet with golden flecks in them. I have never seen eyes like that, and I long to see them again.

The few seconds our eyes met were not enough for me. However, I can’t forget the fact that she has something to do with what happened this evening.

Half a dozen of my men were killed in cold blood at one of the local bars. We followed the scent all the way to the Scourge, and that same scent is all over my mate. She was either there or knows who was.

I’m determined to find out exactly what her connection to this crime is before I allow myself to get too close to her. I can’t afford to let our mate bond get in the way of justice for my pack. We lost good men, including one of our lieutenants. Some of them had mates, families.

My pack and I are out for blood, and hopefully she’ll hold the answers. I just pray that she’ll be innocent. I’d hate to have to kill my mate when I have been waiting to find her for so long.

There is a light knocking on the door, and I turn to see who it is. The nurse comes in, followed by my brothers, Alex and Xander. Alex took after our mother with lighter hair and royal-blue eyes. His skin is fairer too.

Xander and I both look more like our father, with dark hair and harsher features. The only difference for me is that I got our mom’s sapphire eyes, and Xander got our father’s chocolate-brown ones.

I turn my gaze to catch the nurse eyeing me up with a little smirk before she walks over to check the monitors hooked to my mate.

I ignore it and turn to Alex and Xander as they approach me. Alex asks softly, “How is she? Any change?”

My eyes shift back to her sleeping form. “No. No change,” I respond simply.

Alex looks over at her. “She really is quite beautiful…”

“Yeah. She is.”

“So, are you planning on introducing her to the pack when she wakes up?” Xander asks, turning to me.

I scowl. “Of course not. I don’t even know if I’m going to accept her yet.”

“Seriously? But she’s your fated mate, picked specifically for you by the Moon Goddess. You can’t just ignore that,” Alex argues in a tone that is a mix of both a yell and a whisper as he tries not to disturb the sleeping beauty.

Xander lets out a scoff at Alex’s comment but refrains from saying anything. We both know what he has against mates. My irritated gaze turns to Alex before I explain, “But I can’t trust her. She might have killed my men. I need to find out why.”

“Or she may be innocent. I mean look at her. She doesn’t look like a cold-blooded killer,” he replies back as he waves his hand in her direction.

“Shows how much you know. She was ready to pounce on me with a bloody knife in her hand. I think the only reason I didn’t wind up dead is that she caught my scent,” I state.

“And you didn’t catch hers?” Xander questions with a raised eyebrow.

“I did… but it was mixed with the scent we were tracking. By the time I realized that she was my mate, the dagger was already buried hilt-deep in her abdomen.”

Bile rises up in my throat as I remember the heartbroken look she gave me as she realized her own mate stabbed her. And just like before, regret and confusion invade me.

Thanks to the mate bond, I instantly wanted her. I want to mark her and make her mine. But now, everything is so complicated.

I can’t take her as my luna if she did anything to make herself an enemy of my pack.

“So, if you aren’t ready to accept her, what are you going to do with her?” Alex asks.

I clench my fists as I glare at her. My head and heart are at war. If she wasn’t my mate, she would already be dead.

I’ve always been more of a kill first, ask questions later kind of guy. It’s only because of the mate bond that I rushed her to the infirmary to be saved before she bled out.

Finally, my head wins out. I need to put my pack first right now.

“Once she wakes up and is out of harm’s way, she’ll be escorted to the dungeons for questioning,” I say.

“Are you sure about that?” Alex asks.

My wolf growls and so do I. “You dare to question your alpha?” I hiss.

Alex puts his hands up in surrender. “I’m just making sure you’ve thought this through. Everything she feels, you will feel too. Bonds are crazy like that.”

I set my jaw in determination and nod. “I’m sure. I know what I’m doing.”

Alex opens his mouth as if to speak before thinking better of it and closing it once more. He simply sighs and nods, taking my word for it.

Between the two of them, Alex is the one most likely to challenge my decisions. He’s the next oldest and always asks hard questions when I need it. Sometimes I appreciate it. And then other times, like right now, it just annoys me.

I allow another glance at my beautiful mate before turning back to Alex.

“I want two mated guards posted outside her door and another two at each of the infirmary’s entrances. Inform me once she wakes. The only people I want coming in and out of here are the approved medical staff, either of you, or myself.”

Alex and Xander stand straighter, nod, and use our mind-linking abilities to give orders as I leave. I can’t stay here any longer, or I might lose my resolve. It will be best if I stay away until she’s done being questioned.

I briskly strut down the hallway to the elevator and push the down button. As I reach the main floor, I see a couple dozen guards walking into the lobby before fanning out to take their places.

“Alpha.” Two men salute as they approach the elevator I’ve just stepped out of.

I give them a brusque nod before the doors close, leaving me alone to wonder if my fated mate is a threat to my pack.