"I had heard it was amazing, but I didn't know it could be so delicious," the vampire says, removing his fangs from my neck. His mouth is covered with my blood.

I'm so weak, it's a surprise I'm still alive. He puts his fangs back into my neck and continues to drain the life out of me. The more he drinks my blood, the weaker I become and cannot push him away.

"Oh, my! I can feel myself getting stronger the more I drink," he says. I try to push him away, but my hands drop before they can even reach his body. "I wouldn't move if I were you. It'll only make you weaker. I wonder what a werewolf like you is doing here?"

I want to speak, but nothing comes out.

"You don't have to answer that because it won't matter when you're dead," he says, bending back down to my neck when he's suddenly ripped away.

Before me stands my mate in wolf form. The vampire doesn't try to fight Nate. He turns and runs away. I get no chance to admire his beautiful wolf before he runs after the vampire.

For a moment, I'm happy I'm not going to die, but then I start to feel my soul slipping from my body. I try to keep my eyes open, but it's hard with the pain in my neck and the lack of blood. I try my best to fight it but soon the darkness takes me away.

***

I wake with a terrible pain in my neck. Wait, I woke up. I'm not dead. I really thought I'd died.

"How are you feeling?" Nate asks. He's sitting on the chair beside my hospital bed.

My mate has my hand in his tight grip. He's staring at me, concern in his eyes. Why is he holding my hand? Why does he look like he hasn't slept in days? If I didn't know better, I;d say he was worried about me.

"How long was I asleep?" I ask, trying to sit up but failing. My mate helps me adjust the pillows behind my back and sit up.

"You should try as much as possible to not move around. Your body needs time to heal. You were unconscious for a week"

I grimace, not understanding this sudden concern he has for me. It's not the first time I've been in a near-death situation.

"A week. Wow, I would've guessed I was out for a day, tops. Have they had any luck finding my Mom?"

"No," he growls.

Why does he sound angry about my Mom?

"Do you hate my Mom?" I let my curiosity get the better of me and ask.

"No, I don't," he says, still sounding angry.

"Then why do you sound angry any time I mention her?"

"Because she's the reason you almost lost your life," he shouts in anger and stands up to face me.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, confused. My Mom would never do something to harm me. She might not be my birth Mom, but I know she loves me.

"Everything. You ran away to look for her, and then you almost got yourself killed by a vampire. It's her fault," he roars in anger.

"How is it her fault?" I say, my voice a little higher than average. "You were the one who refused to let me leave, so I had to run away. The vampire attack is nobody's fault but mine. I should've ran the minute I saw the vampire, but I was too shocked to move my legs. My Mom has nothing to do with this. If anything, I'm the bad daughter who hasn't found her yet," I say, feeling tears in my eyes, thinking about how she's still missing.

"I told you to stay because I knew something like this would happen. You refused to listen to me. What if I didn't find you in time, and the vampire drained all the blood out of you? Would you still be able to find your mother?"

"No. I wouldn't. Why do you even care? It's not like we're real mates. You don't have to pretend to care." I never understand why he's so overprotective of me when he doesn't see me as his mate. It makes me have hope that there is a future for us, but then he will do or say something that will crush it.

"As I told you before, I don't need to show you that I care. Just listen to me when I tell you something. I can't be saving you all the time," he says, close to my face.

"Okay," I say, turning away from him.

He says he doesn't have to show it? Does that mean he does care? I don't believe it because he has never shown any indication.

Later in the day Chloe, Liam, Beta Dan, and Ana came to see me. They were worried about me and happy to see me awake. Chloe told me how Nate got me treated at the Crescent Moon Pack, only moving me to his territory once the wound in my neck seemed less likely to get infected.

According to Chloe, he was incredibly worried, staying with me every day, praying that I wake up. I was very lucky to survive the vampire attack. A lot of werewolves don't with the amount of blood I lost.

***

It's been a few days since I woke and I'm getting ready to leave. I'm waiting for Ana to arrive. I don't know my way around the territory, so I need her to help me find my way home. The door cracks open, and it's not Ana who walks in.

"Are you ready to go?" Nate asks. I don't think he was taught how to properly greet someone. His opening line is always a question.

"Yes, I am," I say and get up from the bed to follow him.

We walk outside the hospital with neither of us saying anything as we walk back to his house. I wonder why he came instead of Ana, so I ask.

"Why are you here instead of Ana?"

"Do you have a problem with me taking you home?"

"No, I don't."

"Then why are you looking for Ana?"

"I was told she was the one coming."

"Ana has better things to do than walk my mate home," he says, which causes my eyes to widen. I can't believe he called me his mate. He has never called me his mate in such a casual way.

"Your mate, you just called me your mate?" I ask, wondering if I'm hearing things.

"Yes, I did. Do you have a problem with that also?"

Why does he keep asking me if I have a problem with everything?

"No, I don't. I'm just surprised you called me your mate."

"You're my mate."

"Yeah. I am." I don't know what more to say.

The next day, while having breakfast in the kitchen, Nate walks in. "Once you're done eating, get ready. You're coming with me to the office."

"Why?"

"I leave in thirty minutes, don't be late." He ignores my question and walks out of the kitchen.

Why does he want me to follow him to the office? Is he trying to make sure I don't run away again?

Once I'm done eating, I quickly wash the dishes and walk upstairs to get ready. It's a good thing I showered before breakfast. I walk over to my closet to find something to wear to his office. The only clothes in here are jeans and T-shirts. I don't think that's an appropriate outfit. I think about going down to tell him I don't have something decent or if I should just wear what I have. I decide to wear the most presentable outfit because I don't want to face his temper.

When I walk downstairs I find him on his phone. Seeing him with his phone makes me miss having one. I wish he'd let me have a phone. I'm sure I'd have enough things to occupy my mind if I had a phone.

"I'm ready," I say to get his attention. He takes his eyes away from his phone and looks at me. He looks at me from head to toe.

"You need to go shopping if I want you to follow me to the office every day," he says, walking out of the house.

"Every day?" I ask, following him.

"Yes, you will be coming with me to the office every day from now on."

"Why?" I ask, even though I have an idea of why. He's controlling.

"You will also move into my bedroom."

"What?" I ask, wide-eyed. He doesn't say anything and continues walking. I knew running away would get me in big trouble with Nate, but I never thought he'd drag me around with him twenty-four-seven. This isn't good.

I spend the whole day in Nate's office while he attends meetings with the council. I think today was the most boring day of my life. I had nothing to do other than to sit and look at the wall. He didn't have books I could read and no computer to browse the internet.

I want to ask him how the search for my Mom is going on, but I haven't seen him since we arrived. I'm praying my old Alpha didn't stop searching for her.

I start feeling sleepy while waiting for him, so I decide to get comfortable on the couch in his office. I might as well get some sleep. If he was serious about me moving into his room, I doubt I'd get any sleep tonight.

NATE

I walk back to my office after spending hours listening to Alphas complain about how the other Alpha has bigger land than the other. I was exhausted and couldn't wait to go home and sleep. Turning my office doorknob, I smell my mate in my office. My brows pull together. Why is she here? I walk inside and find her sound asleep on the couch. I forgot for a minute I had asked her to follow me to the office. I gently lift my mate into my arms and walk out of my office to go home.

I am trying to place my mate on her bed so she can sleep alone, but she clings to me. I said she'd move into my room tonight, but I later realized it was best she didn't. It was bad enough I smelled her scent every day and couldn't touch her. I try to place her on the bed again, but Elizabeth refuses to let go of me.

I give up hope and get comfortable on the bed so my mate and I can sleep. I know I wouldn't be getting any rest. My mate is sleeping beside me, and my wolf will disturb me all night to mark her. I already swore never to do that, so I prepared my mind to be up all night.

The following day, while I'm taking a shower, I smell arousal in the house. My brows pull together. My brother has already moved out, so I wonder where it is coming from. I finish showering and barge into my mate's room to see if she is cheating on me. I smell it coming from her room.

What I see instead perplexes me. My mate is on the floor crying and scratching her skin. The minute her eyes lock with mine, I know why. My mate is in heat, and I am the only one who can make it go away.