'Alpha, come quick. There's a rogue on the eastern border' my beta Levi mind links me.

'Why do I need to come and see a rogue? You know how to handle rogues' I groan back, frustrated at him for interrupting me. 'They trespassed so just kill them'.

'No Grayson. I think you'll want to see this.'

I groan again, rolling my eyes. What could possibly be so important as to disturb my work?

'What makes them so special then huh?'

'I don't know. She just smells different to the usual ones. She's acting differently too. Not fighting us'.

'It's a woman?'

'Yes. Small scruffy wee thing, with big green eyes. Super skinny, there's nothing to her'.

'Oh, I mean we've dealt with female rogues like her before. She still trespassed. You have to just follow through.' I reply, running my hand through my hair as I stare down at my paperwork. A tiny shed of guilt runs through me but it's gone as soon as it came.

She trespassed, she broke the rules. There's nothing I can do. She did this to herself. She would have smelt the boundary and not cared enough to go around.

'I know man, but, I don't know. Something's off. I don't think I can do it.'

'Well then get Bentley or Noah to do it then, you baby'.

'Bentley and Noah are here now too. Neither of them want to do it either, Alpha'.

Goddammit. Absolute babies those three are. We kill rogues all the time but now they chicken out over a girl. I growl and chuck my pen across the room as I stand up from my chair.

'Fine then.' I growl at Levi, now thoroughly annoyed. 'I'll come and do it myself. I'll be there soon.' I pull off my shirt and chuck in on my chair before heading out of my office. I quickly make my way downstairs and head out the door, not bothering to tell anyone that I'm going out before shifting and running into the forest.

God, it feels good to go for a run. I've been so busy with Alpha duties that I haven't been out for a run in a while. Come to think of it, I haven't done anything for myself in a while. Maybe tonight I'll have to do something about that.

I run for a couple of minutes before finding the guys, who are standing in a tiny clearing talking to each other. I make my way out into the clearing still in my wolf form and walk over to them.

I can see the wolf out of the corner of my eye, causing me to shiver slightly but I ignore it and turn my attention to the guys.

"I don't get it. Every single rogue we've ever come across has tried to fight us back, kill us even" Bentley, my Gamma wolf says, confusion laced into his words.

"I know right. Or at the very least, they try to stand their ground" Levi adds, frowning.

"Maybe she's never been trained? Doesn't know how to defend herself" Noah says, glancing at her again.

I ponder their conversation for a moment. What Noah said makes sense, I mean if that's what he thinks is the case, then it's probably correct. He would know, he is my chief warrior after all.

I listen to their conversation for another moment before heading behind a tree to shift.

I quickly change back to my human form and chuck on some of the conveniently stashed clothes we have hidden in the trees throughout our territory before heading back over to the guys.

"Is that her?" I ask, not bothering to look at her. Levi nods and I think for a moment. I smell the air and instantly know she isn't a bad rogue.

In fact, she smells heavenly. Something in me flutters and Dante whines, catching me off guard but I choose to ignore that for the moment too.

"How'd she get here?" I ask, bringing my attention back to Levi.

"I don't know" he starts. "I was on patrol and then all of a sudden I saw her running through our territory so I started to follow her. She slowed down for a moment but she must've seen me so she started running again and I tackled her because she trespassed, you know, just the following protocol. But something felt off about her. She just whimpered and didn't struggle or fight back or anything which is really weird. So I got off her and mind-linked you".

I nod and take in the information, trying to piece together why this wolf is acting the way she is.

"All three of us then watched her as she got up and proceeded to back herself up against the tree in fear causing her to lose her balance and fall over and she hasn't gotten back up since" Noah adds, a frown appearing on his lips too.

Interesting.

From what I can smell, I know she's not a bad rogue so that's a good sign. I turn and look at her and instantly my wolf takes over. Warmth rushes through my body, causing me to shiver as I stare at her.

Oh god.

"Mate," Dante, my inner wolf, says aloud happily.

Shit. Just my luck. My mate is a rogue.

I hear the boys chuckle and I turn back to glare at them, instantly causing them to stop.

Turning my attention back to the wolf, I start to walk toward her when suddenly she howls and starts to shake in fear.

I stop and hold my hands in surrender and watch as she tries to move further backwards. I turn and look at the guys, a little annoyed.

"Why is she scared of me? She's my mate" I say, starting to get pissed off.

What the hell? Why is she scared of me? This is not how the whole mate thing is meant to go. I turn back and look at her and see she is still shaking.

"Why are you scared of me?" Dante asks her, still in full control of my voice, causing my Alpha power to come through. I wait for an answer.

Nothing.

"Why are you ignoring me?" he booms, pissed off at this point. I begin to walk towards her again and she seems to zone out.

I continue to walk towards her until I am right in front of her, causing her to snap out of it. She jumps and lets out a wolf cry.

Startled, I watch as she continues to shake really bad and shift back into her human form out of fear, screaming in the process of her bones snapping back into place.

Suddenly, the most beautiful woman is lying in front of me, completely naked. She instinctively tries to cover herself and I quickly take off my shirt to cover her up and keep her warm. She flinches as I lay it over her and a pang of hurt shoots through me.

I cast my eyes over her and instantly notice that she is covered in cuts, bruises, and scars tattooing her forearms and shins. She is also deathly skinny and frail looking.

What the fuck happened to her? 

My heart breaks a little and I go to touch her but she shuffles back.

I give her a sad look and she returns it with a confused one. She looks down at her body and zones out again.

Some of the cuts and bruises are really bad but she's a wolf, shouldn't they have healed by now? I go touch her face and she snaps out of it and screams, tears pouring from her eyes.

Heat surges through me but I instantly drop my hand and watch as she starts to shake really bad again and hyperventilate.

Fuck, she's having a panic attack.

She starts to sway intensely and I give her a worried look. What the hell is happening?

Suddenly, she passes out and I catch her head before it hits the ground. I scoop her up and walk back to the guys and give them a concerned look.

"You all saw that too right?" I ask, just to make sure I wasn't imagining it all. They all nod and I look down at her tiny body, lifeless in my arms.

She must be only 5'2" tall, 5'4" at most. Her long, wavy dark brown hair decorates her face and tumbles down over my arm. Light freckles dust her nose and cheeks while chapped lips and dark under eyes give a tiny glimpse into what she's actually gone through. There are bruises that are very evident on her delicate face, neck and arms. I growl as I continue to notice more damage to her body, along with the fact that she weighs absolutely nothing. The sudden urge to care for her and protect her runs through me, crashing straight into my heart.

She's mine now. I can't kill her.

"Right, we need to go to the hospital wing. Now. Noah, stay on guard please" I growl. The guys nod once more. Noah shifts and bounds back into the forest as we begin our run back to the pack village.

I send a silent prayer to the moon goddess and hope that my beautiful rogue mate will be okay.

'Teresa, we're on our way to you,' I mind link to the pack doctor, glancing down at my mate.

'Okay, Alpha. I'll prepare for your arrival. What seems to be the problem?' she replies calmly.

'We have a rogue. She's um, my mate, and she's not doing well at all. Currently unconscious, I think.'

'Oh Alpha, congratulations!'

'Thanks, Teresa, but let's not get too excited just yet. Let's make sure she lives to accept me first.'

'Oh right, sorry Alpha. I'll see you soon then'

As soon as we reach the hospital, Doctor Teresa is waiting for us, prepped and ready to go, just as asked. I dismiss Levi and Bentley, thanking them for their help before turning my attention back to my mate and Teresa.

I carefully lay her down on the hospital bed and watch as Teresa begins to race around her, examining her thoroughly.

Pacing nervously for what seems like hours, Teresa finally stops and turns to me, worry lines on her forehead.

"As you said, unconscious. I can only assume that it's her body's response to dealing with fear and stress." she starts, glancing at me occasionally. "What happened before she passed out?"

"Well, when we found her, she was already like this. Super thin and covered in bruises and cuts and scars. She also didn't fight back when Levi tackled her." I reply, concern creeping into my voice.

Damn it, Grayson. What happened to the man that was stone cold, kept his emotions in check? We only met this girl like thirty minutes ago.

'You know that shit went out the window once we saw her right?' Dante smirks in the back of my mind. I groan and turn my attention back to Teresa.

"Well Levi tackling her explains the cracked ribs" she replies, quietly.

"He cracked her ribs?!"

"Yes, Alpha. Not surprising considering the state her body is in. And by the way, she reacted to the whole thing, I have a sneaking suspicion she's been through a large amount of trauma in her life and probably has some kind of PTSD" she continues calmly.

"She's extremely malnourished to the point where I'm amazed she's not already dead."

I growl at the thought, eyes narrowing on the Doctor.

"She is a wolf right?" she asks me, unfazed by my previous reaction.

"Well yes, we all saw her in her wolf form and watched her shift back" I reply, frowning.

"Interesting. Because she shouldn't be this badly wounded as a wolf which means something inside of her is not working as it should."

"Well run some more tests then" I growl at her, annoyed.

"No shit Alpha, I'm getting there. I just thought you might have liked an update before I whisk her away for tests" she replies with full sass present in her voice, breaking her usually calm nature.

I stare at her in shock for a moment. She stares back at me, annoyance present in her expression.

"I'm sorry Teresa, I know you are just doing your job" I reply tiredly, after breaking our eye contact by rubbing my hands over my face.

"It's okay Alpha, forgive me for snapping at you"

"You are forgiven. It's just been a strange day, that's all"

"I know Alpha. Why don't you get some rest? I doubt she's going to be away anytime soon. I'll be back with her after I run some more tests" she replies gently, motioning to a chair for me to sit down in.

I give her a small nod as a thank you, and make my way over to the chair as she wheels my mate out of the room and down the hall to the theatre.

God, I hope she's going to be okay.

__________________

Hey Guys,

Oooooooo Acacia and Grayson met! What do you guys think will happen next? I hope you enjoyed that chapter and are enjoying reading this book so far! 

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- Allamy xx