CHAPTER 3
1488 Words
CHAPTER 3
Zoey
I woke up to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar windows and for a moment I forgot where I was or how I got there.
My body ached like I had been run over by a truck and my mouth tasted like metal and ash.
I blinked at the ceiling, trying to remember what happened.
Eric. Juliet. Olivia calling another woman mommy.
The memories crashed into me and I sat up too fast because the room spun and my stomach lurched.
I grabbed the edge of the bed and waited for the dizziness to pass as I looked around, trying to figure out where I was.
This was not Storm Forest. The room was smaller than my Luna suite but it was clean, warm and smelled like pine trees and something else I could not identify. Medical supplies maybe because there was a table beside the bed with bandages and empty vials on it.
My hand went to my stomach and panic shot through me. The baby. I needed to know if the baby was okay.
The door opened and a man walked in. Everything inside me instantly went completely still.
He was huge and easily over six feet tall with broad shoulders that filled the doorway. Dark brown hair fell across his forehead and his eyes were the most intense blue I had ever seen.
They locked onto mine and I felt something snap into place deep in my chest like a puzzle piece I did not know was missing.
My wolf Sierra surged forward and she was more awake and alert than she had been in years. She practically purred in my mind and the sound was so loud I was sure he could hear it.
Mate. The word echoed through my head but it was not my voice saying it. It was hers and she sounded absolutely certain.
No. That was impossible because I already had a mate even if that mate turned out to be a lying piece of trash who never really wanted me.
You could not have two mates and besides, I just met this man and I did not even know his name.
But my body did not care about logic because every cell in me was screaming to get closer to him. I wanted to breathe in his scent and touch his skin and hear his voice say my name.
The pull was so strong it actually hurt to stay sitting on the bed when everything in me wanted to launch myself at him.
I gripped the sheets, forcing myself to stay put.
The man watched me with those blue eyes and something flickered across his face that looked like recognition mixed with surprise.
His nostrils flared slightly like he was scenting the air and his hands clenched into fists at his sides before he relaxed them.
He felt it too. Whatever this was between us, he felt it and that made everything so much more complicated.
"You are awake." He said and his voice was deep and rough like gravel. It sent shivers down my spine and Sierra whined with pleasure at the sound.
I needed to get control of myself before I did something stupid like admitting I wanted to crawl into his lap and never leave. "Where am I?"
"Eclipse pack territory," He said, stepping further into the room, but he kept his distance like he knew getting too close would be a bad idea. "You collapsed at our border two days ago."
Two days. I had been unconscious for two days and that meant anything could have happened. Eric could have sent wolves after me or Olivia could be crying for me.Juliet could be hurting my baby.
"My daughter." I wanted to say but my throat closed up.
I left her behind and the guilt of that crashed over me so hard I could barely breathe. I left my little girl with Eric and Juliet and I ran away like a coward instead of fighting for her.
"Hey," The man moved closer and his hand reached out like he wanted to touch me, but he stopped himself. "Breathe. You are safe here."
Safe. The word felt foreign because I had not felt safe in a long time and maybe I never really had. But looking at this stranger with his concerned blue eyes and his careful distance, I almost believed him.
I took a shaky breath and tried to focus on what mattered right now. "Who are you?"
"Noah Briggs," he said. "Alpha of the Eclipse pack."
Alpha.
The word hit me like cold water and all the warmth I was starting to feel drained away. Of course, he was an Alpha.
Apparently, I could not escape them no matter how hard I tried. Eric was an Alpha and he destroyed my life. Now, here I was waking up in another Alpha's territory and feeling things I should not feel.
I pulled back and pressed myself against the headboard because suddenly the room felt too small and Noah felt too close even though he was still several feet away.
"I need to leave."
"You were poisoned with wolfsbane," Noah said and his voice was calm but firm like he was used to people listening when he spoke.
"You crossed protected territory and the toxin almost killed you. You have been treated but you need to rest."
"Thank you for saving me, but I really need to go."
"Where?" Noah asked and the question stopped me cold because I had no answer.
Where could I go when I had no pack, no home and no one who wanted me.
I was marked by an Alpha who never loved me and was pregnant with his baby. I was on the run from the only life I ever knew.
Nowhere. I had nowhere to go.
Noah must have seen something in my face because his expression softened. He sat down in the chair beside the bed instead of looming over me.
"You do not have to tell me what happened. But you collapsed in my territory and that makes you my responsibility until you are well enough to leave. If you want to leave."
"Why would I stay?" The words came out before I could stop them.
"Because you are running from something," Noah said simply. "And because my pack does not turn away wolves in need. Especially not wolves like you."
Wolves like me. What did that even mean? I was nothing special and Eric made sure I knew that every single day of our fake marriage.
I was just a convenient womb and a decent caretaker and not much else.
But the way Noah looked at me made me feel like he saw something different and that scared me more than anything.
"I am nobody," I said quietly.
"That is not true," Noah leaned forward and his eyes caught mine. "I can sense what you are even if you cannot. You are not just any wolf, Zoey."
He knew my name. Somehow he knew my name even though I never told him and that should have frightened me, but instead it made something warm bloom in my chest.
"How do you know my name?"
"You said it while you were unconscious," Noah said.
"Along with some other things that made it clear you are running from a bad situation. I am not going to force you to stay and I am not going to hand you over to whoever you are running from. But I am offering you sanctuary if you want it."
Sanctuary. The word sounded too good to be true because nothing in my life had ever been that simple. There was always a catch and always a price. There was always someone who wanted something from me.
"What do you want in return?" I asked.
Noah was quiet for a long moment and something intense flashed through his eyes before he looked away. "Nothing. You owe me nothing."
But that could not be right because Alphas always wanted something. Eric taught me that lesson well.
They did not help people out of kindness and they did not offer sanctuary without expecting payment.
"I do not believe you," I whispered, my eyes narrowing.
Noah smiled but it was sad around the edges.
"You have been hurt by an Alpha before. I can tell by the way you look at me like I might attack you at any second. But not all Alphas are the same, Zoey. Some of us actually care about our pack members and the wolves who need help."
I wanted to believe him, but trust felt impossible right now when everything I thought I knew turned out to be a lie.
Eric said he cared about me and now, look how that turned out.
"I have had enough of Alphas," I said and my voice shook. "One was more than enough."
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