Chapter 2 Her Strange Mate

Vanessa POV

I froze.

For a moment, I gasped. My legs trembled, sore from running, the cold, and the cuts on my skin.

The strong hand still held on to my ankle, pulling me back through the mud. I turned around, my eyes wide with fear.

Could it be Caleb?

I tried to see who it was, but no, this was not Caleb. The person lying on the ground was someone else entirely. The face was shadowed and battered with dirt and blood, barely visible.

"Are you okay?" I spoke with a shaky voice. "Why are you lying down here?"

A man, I hadn't seen him at first, he was half-conscious, hidden by roots and leaves. It wasn't until I stepped too close that he had reached for me.

I could not breathe properly, and my instincts screamed for me to run. But I could not.

"You were running," he said through gritted teeth. "Why?"

I didn't answer right away as my eyes flicked toward the trees behind me, expecting Caleb's hunters to appear at any moment.

"Because I had to," I said quietly. "Because not running meant dying a little more every day."

He looked at me like he wanted to understand, but he didn't press, he didn't need to. His face was twisted in pain, and his hand let go of my ankle.

He was pressing his hand tightly against a wound on his side.

"You're hurt," I said, moving closer despite myself.

He let out a short laugh that quickly turned into a pained expression. "You're good at noticing things."

Even though I was scared and tired, I moved closer to help him. My healer instincts, learned from years of being the omega in a cruel pack, kicked in.

"That wound, it's poisoned, isn't it?" As I reached for him, studying the blackened edges of the wound.

"I've seen it before," I said, kneeling next to him. "Silver-coated blades. They use them on rogues, or traitors."

His jaw tightened, but he said nothing. He just watched me with a look I couldn't read.

And then-

My wolf stirred.

It suddenly growled softly in my mind. "Him," it said to me. "He's ours."

I was struck by a sharp confusion. No! That couldn't be possible. I shut the voice out, and forced my hands to keep working.

However, his scent hit me again, a scent like pine, smoke, and something wild beneath the surface. It pulled at something deep inside me, that felt ancient and electric.

The pull was magnetic, I didn't want to want him, but my body was trembling beside him and I was breathless.

Who could he be?

There was power in the way he held himself, even injured. His silence wasn't just caution, it was control. Whoever this man was, he was no ordinary wolf.

"You're still bleeding, I need to slow the poison." I said, ripping my cloth to press against his wound.

"And you're still helping," he muttered, almost like a question.

"I won't let someone die alone in the woods."

I whispered, I didn't say why as my hands worked steadily, trying to stop the poison from spreading.

As I worked, he stayed silent and just watched me. I couldn't stop looking at him.

His breathing was heavy, and his head dropped for a second.

Then he swayed, and I quickly caught him.

"Come on," I said, helping him up and slipping under his arm. "There should be somewhere nearby where you can rest."

"Alright." He didn't resist as he let me guide him through the forest, every step harder than the last. The silver poison was making him weak.

Finally, we reached a small shelter. It leaned against the hillside, covered in moss and was forgotten. I got him inside just before he collapsed.

I lit a fire and warmth slowly spread through the cold space. I removed his outer clothes to check the wound.

He would survive, if he rested and he stayed hidden.

His shirt lay on the floor, soaked in blood and sweat. The wound looked bad, but already, I could see signs of fast healing like his blood was strong, as if he was a Lycan. Maybe.

Still, I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting to his chest, his shoulders were broad, scarred, and carved by battle.

"You should rest," I said gently, standing up.

Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist, making me catch my breath.

"He's ours... your mate." My wolf suddenly whispered again to me, but I ignored it again.

"Thank you," he said, his voice rough. "For helping someone you don't know."

I cleared my throat. "I don't think I did it for you," I whispered. "I just could not watch someone else suffer."

The fire crackled and the silence between us grew deeper as he didn't let go of my wrist.

Then, heat exploded between us.

"Why do I feel this way?" He asked hoarsely, like he was internally disturbed. "Do you feel it too?"

I did, Goddess help me, I did. But I wasn't ready to say it.

"I don't know what you mean." I lied, my wolf growled softly in my mind.

His fingers didn't let go.

"Yes," he whispered "You do."

And then, he kissed me before I could say anything else. And I did not stop him.

The kiss was deep and desperate, all the pain and fear we both carried came out in it.

I had never been kissed like that, like it was melting into something neither of us could control. It wasn't soft, it was a claiming.

My body trembled as he pulled me closer, one hand in my hair, the other around my waist, like I was the only thing holding him to this world.

I moved onto his lap without thinking, my breath mixing with his. At that moment, everything else, Caleb, betrayal, blood, the dangerous world, disappeared. And my wolf howled in my mind.

"Mate, He's ours."

I kissed him back like I would die if I didn't. Like he was the breath I had been denied my whole life.

We sank into each other, into warmth and something terrifyingly real. The mate bond snapped into place, whether I wanted it to or not.

By the time we both finally fell asleep, tangled in warmth and exhaustion, I had stopped fighting it.

For that one night, we felt we were not hunted. We were not broken.

***

After some hours, outside in the woods, a wolf howled, long and angry.

The howl woke me up, and I saw that the fire was dying. My body ached, and the cold had returned. But worse, so had reality.

His wound, I turned to check his wound. But he wasn't there, he wasn't anywhere. He was gone!

"Come on, check that hillside!"

Suddenly, I heard a voice, a voice that was so loud and was so near.

Then I heard footsteps, rushing straight towards me. Who were they?

Immediately, I stood, my heart was slamming against my ribs, and my breath became very heavy.

I didn't know who, but they were coming.