*******Isaac's POV*******

I was in so much pain that I could barely move. I couldn't even open my eyes, even though I was awake. Every single part of my body hurts. I tried to move my fingers and toes, but nothing would cooperate with me.

I could hear voices, but they were muffled. Like I was trying to hear them from under water. I could just barely make out what they were saying.

"They caught her," a voice said. "She's an idiot. She didn't even leave the building. Just went upstairs to some dirty apartment she'd been squatting in, and took a nap."

"Wow, she really is an idiot," another voice said. "She knew that we found him. She knew that there was a chance Namjoon-Hyung would go back to find her and kill her, and she still stayed there?"

"The rest of my unit is who found her," the first voice said. "She kept telling them that she was his mate, and this was all a big misunderstanding. They think she's having some kind of psychotic break, and they took her to a locked mental ward at the hospital. There's no chance that she can escape, so you can let out that breath you've been holding, Hyung."

The next voice I heard, I actually recognized. Or at least, my wolf did.

"She'll probably find a way out, anyway," the voice said. "Or try to talk her way out of there. She can't be trusted."

Mate.

'What?'

Mate here. Mate rescued us.

'Rescued?"

I was confused, and I had no idea what was going on.

Mean woman hurt us. Let four Alphas hurt us more.

'Mean wom-.. Ji-a?'

Yes. Her. Crazy woman.

'Four Alphas?'

You retreated into your head. I had to be the fully conscious one. Hurt bad.

'Hurt how?'

Forced. Raped. Beat. So much pain.

'I....raped?'

Yes. Raped. Horrible. Cried. They laughed.

'It's over.'

What over?

'Namjoon won't want me anymore.'

Why think that?

'Touched by Alphas. He won't want me. I'm dirty now.'

Not our fault. Nothing we could do.

'Doesn't matter. I don't deserve him anymore. Four Alphas had sex with me.'

Rape, Isaac. Not sex. He won't care.

'He will. Who wouldn't?'

Not our fault. Not sex. Rape. Not our fault.

'Won't matter.'

Wake up and talk to him. He loves you. True Mates.

'I am awake. Just can't move. Too much pain.'

Call to him. He'll come. Talk.

'I'm scared.'

He loves you. We are True Mates. Knows it's not our fault.

'How can you be sure?'

Talked to Osian. They understand. But guilty.

'Exactly. I'm guilty. He'll hate me.'

No. They feel guilty. Didn't find us sooner. Think their fault.

'That's silly. What else did he say?'

That Namjoon mad he talk like toddler.

'Like what you're doing?'

Too hurt. Tired. Can't think. Sorry.

'Believe me, I understand.'

Osian said Namjoon tells him that often.

I couldn't help but laugh at Delwyn in my head.

'Sounds like my Joonie.'

Talk. He loves you.

I tried to sit up in bed, but it hurt so much that all I could do was groan. I still couldn't open my eyes. It hurt too much, but within seconds, I felt two large hands holding one of mine between them.

"Isaac?"

It was my mate.

"Isaac, can you hear me?" he asked. "Please wake up, baby."

I couldn't open my eyes, but I did manage to lightly squeeze his hands.

"Oh, thank God," he said. "Baby, open your eyes."

I squeezed his hand again.

"You can't?"

I squeezed again, a little harder this time. I think that touching him gave me strength.

"Your eyes are pretty swollen," he said. "But better than yesterday. And the day before."

Yesterday? And the day before? How long has it been?

I tried to talk, but it came out in a croak. I sounded like a frog.

"Hang on, let me get you some water," he said. In seconds, he had a cup with cold water pressed against my lips, and I took a small sip, then another. "Is that better?"

I took another drink, then pulled away from the cup and tried to talk again.

"Namjoon?"

"Yeah, baby," he said. I heard him set the cup down next to me. "I'm right here."

"How...how long? And...Ji-A?" I croaked out at him.

"You were missing for three days before we found you," he said to answer my first question. "And you've been back here, unconscious for four more days. They caught her. I am so sorry that this happened to you, Isaac. It's all my fault."

"Three days...." I said, my voice still rough. I turned my head towards where I'd heard him set the water down, and he held the cup to my lips, letting me take another drink. "I did the spell when I got there. Why did it take you three days to find me?"

"I don't know," he told me, sounding sad. "I came as soon as the root started beating on my foot."

"Should have been when I did the spell," I croaked out. I tried to clear my throat, but just ended up coughing.

Namjoon pressed the cup to my lips so that I could take another drink.

"I'm sorry, baby," he told me.

"You ignored me."

"I didn't! I swear!" he said. "I would never."

"You didn't want to find me. You knew what was happening to me. You knew that I would be dirty now."

"Isaac, no," he said. He tried to take my hand again, but I pulled it away from him. "How could I ever know what she had done to you?"

"I did the spell when I got there," I said quietly, because it was easier to talk that way. "You should have known right away. The plants should have lead you to me."

"Baby, listen to me," he said. "I was inside a lot. I had to answer questions. They set up a headquarters inside where they were compiling the clues to try to find you. I wasn't outside. I didn't know. As soon as I did, I came running to you."

I shook my head. I knew what he was telling me was true, but at the same time, I couldn't ignore the fact that my wolf and I had to go through that for three whole days after I did the spell.

"They hurt me."

"I know."

"They raped me."

"I know that, too."

"You let them."

I heard him sniffle, and I felt as he lifted his hands off the bed and heard him rub them over his face. I think that he was crying.

"I am so sorry, Isaac," he told me, his voice rough, because he was, in fact, crying. "I would give my own life to take that back. I didn't know where you were. I was going insane. I haven't slept in three days. I would never let anybody hurt you. You have to know that. I love you, Isaac. I will feel guilty about this for the rest of my life."

I sighed and whimpered a little as salty tears fell from my injured eyes.

"You won't want me now," I told him, my voice still quiet and sounding very small.

"What are you talking about?" He asked me.

"I'm dirty. Used."

"Baby, it's not your fault," he told me.

"Doesn't matter," I said. "I don't remember much of it, because I retreated and Delwyn had to be conscious for most of it. But it still happened. I'm still dirty. Will never be able to wash away what they did to my body."

Namjoon leaned his forehead down to where my hand was on the bed for a moment, then lifted it back up and took my hand in both of his again.

"Isaac, I need you to listen to me, okay?"

"I am."

"You are, but you're not hearing what I'm saying," he told me. "I need you to hear me."

"Okay."

"I love you, Isaac," he said. "I love you more than I ever could have imagined that I would love my mate when I found them. You were not what I expected my mate to be. You're better. I would give my own life for yours, without questioning the reason. I would do anything for you. You're my mate, my True Mate. Nothing you could ever do will change that, especially something that wasn't your fault. I am not going anywhere. And if you do, well then I will just follow you. You can't get rid of me. I am yours, Isaac. For this life and the next. Always."

I sat there, staring at the backs of my swollen eyelids, but not saying anything, just letting what he said sink in.

"I...Isaac?" he said. "Did you hear me?"

I slowly nodded my head as best I could.

"Hug."

"What?" He asked me, sounding confused.

"Hug me."

"Baby, I can't," he said. "You're injured pretty badly. You have stitches all over your abdomen. I don't want to hurt you more."

"It's worth it, Joonie," I told him. "Please hug me. Hold me. I need you and your strength."

I heard him stand up, then he somehow maneuvered his big body onto the hospital bed with me, and I felt him gently wrap one of his arms over me. I scooted closer to him to rest my head on his shoulder and he slipped his other arm under my head so that I could use it as a pillow, and he could pull me closer, then he kissed my temple.

"I'm yours, too, Joonie," I told him. "If you still want me after everything that was done to me."

"I keep telling you, baby," he said. "I will always want you. And nobody but you."

I giggled a little, but it hurt.

"Because I'm your sexual orientation?"

"Exactly. And because I can't imagine living without you."

********************

A/N: There's only one more chapter to go. -------Kat