She's been asleep for two days now and I'm starting to get really worried. Dante and I are so relieved to have finally found our mate but at the same time, she passed out two days ago and still hasn't come round and I hate it.

I know the doctor said that passing out is her body's way of dealing with stress and trauma because judging by her wounds, she has a past she was probably running from, but it still sucks.

I just want to know what happened so that I can fix it. At the very least I just want to know her name.

The doctor also said she will probably have very bad PTSD when she wakes up and that I need to not get upset if she doesn't want to talk to me or tell me things right away. This comment pissed Dante off the most as all he wants is to be able to connect with her wolf.

"Surely she will wake up soon right?" Dante whines, as if on cue.

"I honestly don't know Dante" I reply quietly.

The doors to the room open, drawing me out of my thoughts and Doctor Teresa walks in holding some clothes. She comes over and holds them out to me.

"You need to shower Alpha. You reek of rogue," she says, a gentleness laced in her tone.

"But I don't want to leave her. What if something happens to her?."

"Nothing will happen to her in the ten minutes you are showering. I'll even wait here with her to make sure."

"Are you sure? It can wait till later."

"Yes, I'm sure Alpha Grayson. Plus you're starting to stink out the room. I can smell the dead rogue from your fight earlier and it's not pleasant."

I look down at myself and notice the bloodstains on my knuckles and arms.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll be back in about ten minutes then" I sigh, reluctantly taking the clothes from her hand. I assume that Levi or Bentley must have brought these over for me.

I get up and go into the bathroom connected to the room as Teresa begins to check over my mate again.

As I shower, I watch as the dried blood runs off my body and down the drain. God, the water feels good on my skin. A wave of tiredness hits me as I continue to stand under the water. I really need to get some sleep.

I mentally shake myself before finishing my shower and walking back into the room no more than ten minutes later. I walk back to the chair I was sitting in before and sit back down, watching her lay still in the bed.

She gently starts to stir and instantly Teresa is hovering over her. She doesn't open her eyes yet but I can tell she's starting to come around and so can Teresa.

"Give her time Alpha," Teresa says, looking at me. I nod and continue to watch my mate, waiting for her to wake up.

Teresa continues about her work for a moment. I notice her go to move her stethoscope but accidentally drop it on the floor, causing my mate to flinch ever so slightly. Good to know she can hear us. Teresa gives me a side-eye look before going back to cleaning the equipment and checking the heart rate monitor. At least her heart rate is steady.

I watch as Teresa goes to touch her arm where the I.V. is inserted when suddenly my mate's eyes shoot open and she shuffles back in the bed. Teresa and I both watch her in shock as she casts her eyes straight down to her arm, then up to the bag of fluids and proceeds to rip the needle from her arm. An agonising scream leaves her beautiful lips as blood begins to ooze from the wound.

Shit.

Instantly, Teresa is at her side applying pressure to the area with a worried look on her face.

My mate sits deathly still, fear written all over her face. Her eyes wander around the room in an effort not to look at the doctor and soon they land on me. I stare back at her for a moment and my insides melt.

Her eyes are stunning. A deep emerald green shining back at me. Captivating.

Within an instant, she's broken eye contact and looks to her left to find Teresa standing next to her with a frown on her face.

Tears begin to fall from her eyes and she whimpers, obviously very scared. I rush to her side but she quickly moves as far away from me as possible and a pang of hurt shoots through me. She squeezes her eyes shut, her body reacting as if she is preparing for some sort of impact.

Oh lord. She thought I was going to hit her.

Slowly, I sit back in my seat in defeat and watch as she slowly opens her eyes before turning to look at Teresa.

"How are you feeling sweetie?" she asks her.

Panic begins to write itself all over my mate's face as she stares at Teresa as she talks.

My mate then returns Teresa's question with a look of sadness and confusion before looking down at her hands.

God, I would give anything to know what she is thinking right now.

I watch as she then lifts her head back up, opening and closing her mouth. I'm starting to get really confused at this point but I don't say anything.

Instead, I just continue to sit and watch in silence.

"I-I-I" my mate mumbles incoherently.

Teresa and I give her confused looks and she tries again but quickly stops. What was that about?

I watch as she becomes angry with herself as tears start to fall from her eyes once again and all I want to do is scoop her up in my arms and hold her and keep her safe but I know if I did that, it would scare her again.

She quickly wipes away the tears before looking up at me. We make eye contact for a brief moment before she quickly drops it and looks back at Teresa. My stomach rolls around as Dante lets out a low purr in my head.

My mate turns her gaze back to Teresa and I watch as she points to her ears and frowns and Teresa returns it with a confused look.

She then makes a writing motion with her hands and Teresa's face lights up. Within seconds, Teresa has left the room and my mate glances over at me as the doctor runs back in with a small whiteboard and whiteboard marker and hands them to her.

She starts to write, my view obstructed by the angle of the whiteboard. She stops and cringes for a moment before finishing and turning the board around to show Teresa, a small smile painted on her lips.

Instantly, a huge smile spreads across Teresa's face.

I give Teresa a look but she doesn't see it as she is too focused on my mate.

Teresa then proceeds to talk in sign language with her. Why would she do that? Is my mate deaf or something?

I watch and follow along with their conversation, my question quickly being answered when my mate lays the whiteboard down and when Teresa asks her if she wears hearing aids.

So my mate is deaf.

That would explain why she doesn't talk and she didn't answer me out in the clearing. I continue to follow along with their brief conversation, watching them both closely. Thank god I know sign language. The doctor shoots me a glance before asking my mate how she is feeling.

"I've been worse" she signs back with a meek look on her face.

Fucking hell. Of course, she's been through worse. Dante growls and I have to try really hard not to let him take over.

They continue to sign for a moment, talking about how she is doing and then my mate asks Teresa who I am.

She won't look at me and when Teresa signs back to her who I am, a new wave of fear washes over her face.

Hurt slices through me again but it doesn't help that everyone knows my family and I as the most intimidating and feared Alphas of all time.

Teresa looks at me and smiles.

"She's deaf alpha," she says aloud happily.

"I know, I've been following your conversations" I reply with a small smile.

"Oh yes, right. Sorry. I forgot about that"

"It's okay Teresa." I start, my nerves catching me off guard for a moment. "Do you think I can talk to her?"

"Yeah, I'll let her know you want to talk to her" Teresa replies before turning her attention back to my mate.

She says to her I want to talk and my mate gets confused as to how we will talk so Teresa explains that I know sign language because my grandmother happened to be deaf when she was still with us.

She then tells her that she'll leave us to it and goes to leave but my mate jumps out of the bed and runs in front of her, losing her balance in the process and crashing to a heap on the ground.

I can't make out their next conversation as Teresa's back is to me and she is in front of my mate but she slowly helps my mate off the floor and to her bed. I watch as she pulls the covers all the way up as Teresa sits down next to her. Teresa then nods in my direction and smiles at me.

'She wants me to stay alpha, is that okay?' She mind links me.

'That's fine' I reply, a small smile returning to my lips.

My mate slowly turns to look at me and I go to move closer but she whimpers and moves away, shuffling closer to Teresa.

A sad look washed over my face and I quickly mask it but I know she saw it. At least she trusts the doctor.

I don't move any closer as I don't want to make her upset but now she does look upset and I feel bad. She slowly moves a tiny bit closer and I feel slightly better and smile at her.

"Am I okay to start talking?" I ask Teresa, quietly.

She gives me the all-clear and I study my mate for a moment.

God, she's so beautiful. The colour of her eyes goes perfectly with her hair colour. Her nose is slightly crooked and her lips are still chapped, despite the number of fluids Teresa has pumped into her. She's still so deathly thin and covered in wounds, her prominent cheekbones standing as evidence of how little she weighs. Even though she looks like death smacked her in the face, she is still insanely beautiful. She's perfect.

I shift nervously in my chair and I watch as she plays with her fingers.

"Hello," I sign to her slowly with a small smile.

"Hi," she signs back, nervously.

She beings to bite her lip and play with her fingers again as I stare at her, my insides turning to mush.

It's quite cute really but now I have to think of something else to say.

Shit. Let's pray I don't stuff this up.

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Hey Guys,

So I hope you enjoyed that chapter! Poor Grayson haha. What do you think of the story so far? Please vote and comment letting me know what you think! The next chapter should be out tomorrow!!

If you feel so inclined, go follow me on my Instagram account @allamy_duffell for a look into my life outside of writing!

Thanks,

- Allamy xx