Cross My Heart

Chapter 5

I darted down the street, making sure to avoid any oncoming traffic. I didn't have time to think. Jacob had woken up a lot sooner than we had anticipated. Mia took over since her reflexes were a lot better than mine and managed to get us to the clinic in one piece.

I burst through the door and stopped. The nurse behind the desk looked up and just nodded at me. She grabbed the phone and dialed a number. After a few rings I heard a gruff voice on the other side.

"She's here." She nodded and hung up the phone before leading me through the doors to the patient rooms. We walked past the other rooms of warriors that were wounded in the rogue attack. Some had their mates beside their bedside, others had their door closed. We made it to the end of the hall and stood in front of a plain white door with the number 14 on it. 

I thanked the nurse. She simply nodded and walked back towards the front of the clinic. I swallowed the lump in my throat before placing my hand on the door handle.

"I know you're out there." A gruff voice called out on the other side. I opened the door and was immediately hit with the smell of rotting flesh. I knew he was a rogue but still couldn't get over how putrid they smelled. 

I moved the privacy curtain out of the way and gasped. The boy that sat in the bed in front of me was not the same one I brought in just a day ago. His face had filled out nicely, revealing a chiseled jaw line. The dull green eyes now sparkled with life. His wounds, from what I could see, had healed nicely. His hair was still matted with blood and other gunk. I made a mental note to bring him some toiletries later.

I sat in the chair beside his bed and looked up to him. 

"Who are you?" He rubbed the back of his head.

"My name is Jacob." I nodded.

"What happened?" He sighed and looked down at his lap.

"I-I'm not entirely sure. I was the beta of a very small pack not far from here. Black moon." He paused and looked at me.

"I thought you were rogue?" 

"I wasn't always. Up until about three years ago, I was part of a pack. Our pack had never been involved with anyone other than a few trading deals the Alpha had done. We were small and kept to ourselves. One night, rogues found our pack lands and decided to attack. We tried the best we could to keep everything together, but there were so many of them that we were overthrown." He sighed trying to recall the memories.

"Go on." I felt my voice crack.

"The leader of the rogues came forward after his minions captured the leaders of the pack. He gave us all a choice, either join him or be executed right there. The Alpha was first. He asked him to join his cause. When he refused, he shot him in the head with a silver bullet. He gave the same option to the Luna. She couldn't bear the loss of her mate so she decided on the later option." He stopped and wiped a stray tear away.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." He nodded and took in a deep breath for continuing.

"When it was my turn, he gave me the same option. I almost chose death but my wolf told me to go with him. So I listened. I went against my better judgement and joined his so called pack. From then on we were treated as slaves. My wolf was the only thing that kept me going. He told me we had another purpose and this was all part of a plan."

Was this why Mia was nagging me to save him? Our wolves knew something and weren't speaking up. 

"So for the last 3 years I stayed with him. We barely ate, the training was rigorous and so uncoordinated. He had his upper hand guys who would beat us for no reason."

"Why did you stay?"

"He made it very clear that if any of us tried to scape, he would hunt us down and kill us."

"And your wolf wouldn't let you eave?" He shook his head.

"No. He told me to push through that we were almost there, whatever that meant." He shrugged.

A knock on the door broke my train of thought. A nurse came in holding a tray of food. She looked at me and bowed before setting the tray down and checking the machines that were still attached to him.  

"If there's anything you need, just press this button here." She smiled at him before looking to me. "Beta." She bowed again and left. He wasted no time in digging into the food she put in front of him. I watched as he devoured everything on that plate. I've never seen someone so hungry. I guess that's what being a prisoner for the last few years does to you.

He finished his last bit of food before wiping his mouth and looking at me.

"Sorry you had to see that. At the camp, if we didn't eat fast enough, someone else would take our food. And we barely got enough food as it was." I nodded. "So you're the beta?"

"Beta's daughter." I corrected him.

"I thought you looked too young to be a beta."

"I'm not that young. I'll be 18 in a few days." I said matter of factly. Suddenly a thought occurred to me. If our wolves were trying to get to each other does that mean.....

"Are we mates?" I blurted out before thinking. He nearly choked on his drink when I asked. I guess he would already know if we were or not since he was over 18, he would have felt the mate pull. But seeing as he's not trying to rip my clothes off here, I guess we're either not mates or he doesn't want me.

Even though I barely knew the guy, the thought of him possibly rejecting me stung a little.

"No, we're not mates." He wiped the water from his mouth. "Why, you think I'm cute huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me and smiled. He was handsome, I'll give him that.

"You said your wolf wanted you to go with the rogues. Now he's quiet since you got here, or at least I think he is. Mine hasn't shut up about helping you. That was the first thing I thought of when our wolves are constantly wanting to help each other." 

He stared at me for a moment with a blank expression. Almost as if he didn't quite understand the connection. Then his face lit up, as if a lightbulb went off.

"My wolf says my mate is here, but you're not her. All he will tell me is that you are very important and we were sent here to protect you."

"I don't need protection." I mumbled. This made him laugh a little.

"You may think you don't need it little one, but what's coming is far worse than you could ever imagine." I looked over to him. His green eyes were now gold. His voice had gotten deeper than it has been. 

"Hello. What's your name?" He stared at me.

"I'm Jacobs wolf, Arlo."

"It's nice to meet you Arlo." He nodded.

"You may not remember, neither does Jacob, but you two have met before." I stared at him.

"And you've met Mia?" He nodded. "How is that?"

"Everything will come to light soon." He blinked before I could ask anything else. Just like that, Jacob's green eyes had reappeared. 

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"It's fine. I have to head back home. If you need anything please ask the nurse to call me." He nodded.

"Wait, you know my name, but I don't know yours." I smiled. I had completely forgot about introducing myself.

"You're right. My name is Olivia. I'm the current Beta's daughter." He smiled and nodded at me before I darted out the door. I had a lot of information that needed to be discussed with my father and Kade. 

How could you not tell me I knew him? I scolded Mia.

Arlo and I have been sworn to secrecy. We have been instructed to guide you through this.

By whom? Before I could push any further, she shut the link down. What was going on here? I had a million questions that no one was answering. 

I darted out of the hospital doors and just started running. Running helped me calm down and is what I knew how to do best. 

I ran home and straight to my room. Today has been chaotic. No scratch that, this whole week has been crazy. I peeled my shirt and shorts off before hopping in the shower.

That reminded me, I needed to buy Jacob some toiletries.

I let the water just run down my body for a while before I actually begun to wash myself. This was the first shower that I've taken since the attacks happened the night before last. Everything had been so chaotic that a shower had slipped my mind. I watched the bloody mix of water run down the drain.

After my shower I just laid on my bed for a while. Contemplating the events that had recently unfolded before us. I don't know how long I stayed there, but the next thing I knew it was morning. The sun was shining through the windows on my balcony door and straight into my face. I rolled the blanket up around me and tried to go back to sleep. 

As much as I wanted to, I had to get up. There was so much to do today. I groaned and watched as the blanket cascaded down the side of my bed to the floor. 

"I'll pick you up later" I mumbled as I stretched.

We have to check on Jacob today. And don't forget his toiletries.

 I nodded and sighed before getting out of the bed to start my morning routine. I had almost forgot I needed to buy him some items before Mia popped in my head again today. It's nice to have someone to talk to who understands what you're going through, but at the same time, the privacy thing is kind of weird. It's like an annoying sibling who won't leave you alone but can always hear what you're thinking.

I finished getting dressed then darted out the door. The market wasn't very far so I decided to walk. Today was a beautiful day anyways. I can't even remember the last time I had walked anywhere. I think it was right before my parents bought me my car for my 16th birthday. 

I passed the pups playing at the park, their mothers just laughed as they chased each other around the playground. Then something hit me. I had realized I wanted that one day. I want to watch my pups laugh and play alongside their father. I had always wanted that. Now that it's getting closer time for me to find my mate, fear had struck me. What if he didn't want pups? Or worse, what if he wanted a whole litter?!

Calm down Liv. You haven't even met him yet and you're freaking out.

I can't help it! I feel like he's so close and it's driving me insane.  I bark back at her.

Just a few more days. If he's here, we'll find him.

I felt a calmness rush over me. Mia had the ability to help calm me down, but it drained her when she did. So we made an agreement that she would only use that ability when I was on the edge.

We finally made it to the market. I picked up a few items I thought he would need like shampoo and conditioner. I wasn't sure if that's what men used but the sales associate helped me pick them out. It's not like I could ask Jacob to come along and help pick these out. I guess I could always come back if he wanted something different.

I paid for the items and left. The clinic wasn't far from the market so another walk was the best choice. Not like he was going anywhere anytime soon. I smiled at my joke and headed out.