The Doctor's Alpha Mate

Chapter 4

I stared with wide eyes as Max held the man by the neck, his leg hanging inches off the ground. How was he that strong? Thoughts swirled in my mind as I stared at them with held breaths.

Max smiled, revealing shiny white teeth, but his eyes were cold, he glanced in my direction, " Are you alright? Did he do anything to you?"

"I…" I struggled to speak as our eyes met, my words catching in my throat. The man's eyes flashed as he stared at me and his eyes revealed a trace of pleading. "He didn't do anything," I finally said, much to the man's relief.

Max nodded slightly, he eyed the man in his grasp, "I'll let you off this one time, but if you dare try this again," the temperature in the room seemed to drop by a few degrees. Max didn't complete his words, but his threat hung heavy in the air. Yes"Ye–yes, I understand," the man nodded his head, his face was red and veins stood out on his face. I could see his legs trembling.

"Get lost," Max suddenly let go of him and the man crashed to the floor weakly, he coughed violently while his hands massaged his neck softly. "If I ever see you here again," Max spoke, his voice sounding ominous, "You'll regret it."

The man nodded and he quickly got to his feet and stumbled out without another word. I exhaled slowly, realizing too late that I'd even held my breath, as the shocking turn of events left me reeling. Max's eyes glowed with a strange light and he fixed his gaze on me.

"Thank you," my voice was barely above a whisper.

"Come, come here," Max didn't respond, he continued leaning on the wall.

'Come?' I furrowed my brows and I hesitated, not sure what he was trying to do, did he want to do something to me? But I didn't have any insecure feelings, I didn't think he'd hurt me.

"Come, now," he said, his voice urgent. My eyes widened slightly but I walked up to him slowly, my eyes narrowed as I came closer. "What happened to you?" My breath caught in my throat, his shirt was dyed red with blood, and my heart beat erratically as I held him and supported him to the bed.

"I…" his voice was weak and his face was white, and beads of sweat adorned his forehead. His demeanor was a stark contrast to just now when he'd held the man by the neck.

My heart skipped a beat and I hurriedly made him lay down, he was bleeding badly I noted. A chill ran down my spine as I took in the sight of his blood-soaked shirt, my mind racing with questions, 'What had happened to him? I quickly unbuttoned his shirt but the sight that met my eyes made me shudder, how? All the stitches had been ruptured, and he was still bleeding, they looked like someone had deliberately torn them open.

"Wha–what did you do? What happened to you?" I asked, already pulling up my sleeves.

"Hahaha," Max tried to chuckle but he coughed, "I used power that wasn't mine," his voice was so faint I nearly didn't hear him.

'Power that wasn't yours?' My breath caught at his words, and a wave of guilt washed over me, he'd sustained these injuries to protect me. My eyes fixed on him with a complicated gaze, why would he do that?

"What's going on, Sophie?" Evelyn's eyes widened with shock as she stepped into the ward. "What happened to him?" She rushed up to us, her brows were furrowed as she glanced over him.

"I dunno what he did Evelyn," I lied, "I think he tried moving around just a while after we'd stitched him up," I added, trying to make my words more believable.

"Oh no," Evelyn groaned, she snapped on some latex gloves, and she started barking instructions at me; "Get me an IV bag…" Evelyn listed out some more things. I went and got everything ready while also trying to keep my expression as natural as possible, but I couldn't help but allow my gaze to stray towards Max. 'Please be alright,' I thought, silently praying.

Evelyn's hands and movements were deft and practiced, within minutes she'd removed the previous stitches, and wrapped Max around with bandages. She strapped him up to an IV bag before she removed her gloves.

A wave of relief washed over me as my tense nerves eased slightly, it was done. "I need to talk to you, now," a frown etched onto Evelyn's forehead and her eyes clouded with complex emotions, my heart jolted. 'What could've happened?' I nodded slightly, I glanced at Max, who was unconscious before I silently followed behind her.

"What's the matter, Evelyn?" Evelyn was waiting for me outside.

"Sophie," Evelyn's lips were set in a grim line, "What's going on here? Is there something you're not telling me?" Evelyn's voice lowered, "About the patient."

My brows shot up, "I…" I paused trying to rack my brains to find what to say.

"There's something about him that's off, Sophie. I can sense it" Evelyn pressed, her eyes fixed on me, "I saw when that man sneaked out just moments ago, and he was coming from this direction." Evelyn's words made me crunch my brows together.

I hesitated, "It's complicated, Evelyn. There's something going on, I don't know what it is, yet." I kept my words vague, I couldn't tell Evelyn the full truth. I wasn't lying either, I didn't know what was going on.

Evelyn shuddered, she looked scared, "We should call the police, they can handle this."

"No, don't! " I blurted out. My heart jolted and I quickly held Evelyn's hands, "Don't do anything," I breathed, I remembered the inexplicable connection I'd felt when I'd first seen him, it was like a spark of recognition, only it'd come from within - from my senses. This man could be my chosen mate, 'or he wasn't," a conflicting voice whispered in my mind - was this man really my destined mate or just a stranger?

I didn't know what to believe, but I couldn't allow Evelyn to call the police.

"Why?" Evelyn stared surprisedly at me, her eyes held a trace of suspicion.

"He–… " I paused, my words lodged in my throat, Evelyn's eyes stared at me curiously.

"He's someone special to me," I blurted out and my face flushed, I stared at Evelyn, "It's faith that he's here."

'Perhaps it really was faith,' I thought silently, we'd see.