The Alpha's Healer

04 | Mate & Rejection

Iris didn't know how long she walked before her legs finally gave out. She hadn't eaten all day and the injuries from the previous night's punishment weren't healed.

After what felt like an eternity, she heard a sound of running stream up ahead. The scent of fresh water filled her with just enough strength to keep moving until she reached the edge of the waterbody.

She sat by the clear stream to wash away dirt and sweat accumulated on her face and arms. She also filled up an empty waterbottle for future use.

The clearing lit up with moonlight was the closest Iris had come to peace. The occasional gust of wind brought a scent of freshness and the steady sound of water chimed like a lullaby.

Iris had to physically resust the urge to curl up on the ground and sleep.

The knowledge Iris had of the world outside of Fire moon pack was limited. Still, she knew better than to sit idle in a forest crawling with unknown dangers.

Iris was weaker than an average wolf. If something were to happen, Iris wasn't confident in her abilities to resist. Besides, she carried one bag of essentials. She had to make it out of the forest before they ran out.

Her shoulders sagged from the weight of the bag. Iris touched the fresh, cold water one more time, then turned to leave. She had taken no more than five steps when a sharp whimper pinned her to the ground.

The sound was low but unmistakably of her kind. It sounded vulnerable, slightly desperate. Before she knew it, Iris found herself searching for the sound.

It could be a trap. It might be a predator seeking a prey. That prey being Iris, or maybe something else. Still, Iris couldn't help but respond to the desperation in that sound.

Because on countless nights, when her body was too painful to move, she hoped someone would answer her cries for help.

But no one ever did. The constant let downs had hardened her over time, but a small part of her was still crying for that hand that never came for her.

Iris followed the sound out of the clearing. She was so accustomed to the smell of blood that she almost overlooked the distinctive metalic smell filled in the air.

Eventually, she reached the source of that sound. Three to four feet away, the moonlight illuminated a fallen grey wolf on a mat of bushes.

It wasn't the wolf itself nor the horrible blood matted fur that made Iris stop and curl her toes in. It was not the pungent smell of blood that made her recoil.

It was the overwhelming scent of Musk and Pine.

Iris touched her chest, where her heart stirred without permission, and took a deep breath. Her mouth filled with saliva, from the most primal instincts of a werewolf.

"Mate..." Her lips whispered what her mind couldn't comprehend.

In the absolute silence of her mind, a deep feminine voice echoed the same, "Mate."

Iris stumbled forward, as if pulled by an invisible thread, towards the wolf that whimpered louder and louder.

She fell on her knees next to the injured wolf and reached towards the bloody wound on its body with her trembling fingers.

"Mate.." she murmured.

In a situation when any other person would be overjoyed, Iris felt her stomach twist with something she was far too familiar with. Fear. Uncertainty. Resistance.

Fear of rejection, humiliation, gripped her heart in a tight hold, causing a ripping pain in her chest.

After eighteen long years, Iris finally managed to brave up and leave everything behind. Only for the goddess to play yet another dirty joke on her life.

Nobody wanted a useless mate like Iris. Someone who was wolfless, weak and broken was bound to be rejected without a second thought.

"Mate..." The voice of her wolf, who stayed silent for the past six years, whimpered in pain.

"I can't...." Iris responded with a sad smile. "But I can't let him die either."

Iris decided to leave as soon as his injuries healed. A heart that isn't given away would be broken by the other. Iris ignored the sound of protests by her wolf and reached for her bag.

Instead a small compartment were medicines she often had on hand. Iris carefully assessed the wounds and administered suitable medicine for it.

Because the person was still in his wolf form, she dissolved the pills in some water and poured it down his throat.

Iris was at the top of her grade in University. Although the resources at a local university weren't as good as some major ones, she was able to graduate with a lot of information and experience.

However, it was the first time Iris used that knowledge on someone, that too in such conditions. Iris sat cross legged next to him in a boulder, extended one hand over the wolf's neck and checked the pulse.

She let go once the pulse became steady. The bleeding stopped and the wolf's own healing abilities started to kick in. She cleaned the wound with a small bottle of disinfectant to prevent any infections later on.

Iris consciously held her breath from time to time. Her will was not strong enough to resist the scent of her mate. She recited notes in her mind as a form of distraction from it.

She discarded the trash safely, then returned to the stream to wash her hands and face once again. She sat down and stared at her reflection in the water.

Subconsciously, Iris had started preparing for the rejection that was bound to come. Then, Iris wouldn't truly be alone in this vast world.

Iris kept looking back at the sleeping wolf. Before she knew it, the night had already passed. Iris rubbed the sleep squeezing into her eyes and yawned wide.

A rustle of bushes came from behind.

The sudden sound startled Iris up to her feet. She turned around, vigilant and alert, only to see a man stumbling his way out of the corner where the wolf had been sleeping.

His scent was even stronger. Iris' breath caught in her throat. The same invisible thread wound around the tip of her heart and pulled hard.

The man trudged through the wild weeds. His heavy steps seemed to fall aimlessly, yet somehow moved in the direction where Iris' stood.

"Mate....Mate...." Her wolf chanted.

Desperation ran through her blood and turned it into ice, freezing her limbs. It rendered her immobile, unable to act on the urge to run far away from the instincts churning in her stomach.

She watched wide eyed as the man dressed in a tattered shirt and trousers pushed back the messy hair, revealing the sharpness of his features hidden behind the raven strands.

"Ugh -" The man suddenly lifted his head. The scent of musk and pine solidified into something tangible only to choke her into tears.

A pair of dark blue eyes pierced through the darkness and moonlight and met hers. His bloodstained lips parted and a voice as low whisper whipped like an arrow straight to her heart, "Mate..."

"Mate..." Iris heard herself reciprocating.

It came out choked with emotions hanging in her throat. It snapped the illusion around her, reminding her of the cruel decision she made for herself.

Iris tightened her fists, mustered up the courage and finally spoke in a small yet strong voice, "Don't stand. You're injured. Let me check on your wounds."

The man stared at her quietly. Those eyes scanned her up and down, as if assessing the usefulness of her existence. It was an all too familiar look. She woke up to it, lived in it, soaked in it and drowned in it every single day.

The insecurities that lay dormant in her body raised its head like a venomous snake, slithering up her limbs, following the cold gaze of the man who was her mate.

"I-I treated your wounds. I'm not h-harmful..." She tried to explain in a broken plea.

It took everything in Iris not to step back out of sheer fear. The instincts of a prey shook her nerves out of place. Run. Run far away. Run.

The rustle of weeds crushed under his bare feet. His tattered clothes pulled taunt as the man of over six feet lowered himself on a rock and sat on it. He pressed a hand against his face, groaning in pain.

Then, he slowly raised his arm and said, "Here..."

Iris dragged a forceful breath, held it and stiffly walked to his side. With trembling hands she held his wrist and checked his pulse. The wounds had bled through the bandages too.

"I have to change to dressing..."

The man hummed behind the cover of his hand. "Okay."

The mate pull worked its magic in ways that were foreign to Iris. Everything about the man felt like a needle piercing into her skin. Subtle yet impossible to ignore.

Even the rise and fall of his shoulders with every breath seemed to point at her nose : Your mate. This is what the goddess gave you. You dare to reject him?