His Sleeping Mate

Chapter 2: Ezra

TWO YEARS LATER

Ezra POV

I ran as fast as I could, pushing my wolf, Blaze, to his limit. He loves it, though! He loves running in the lush and seemingly endless forests of our pack lands. The feeling of the wind, leaves and branches whipping past us as we ran at an incredible speed was euphoric. But as always, something was missing. We both knew what it was. It was the reason we came for this run.

We slowed and came to a stop near a lake. Blaze whined as we came to the water's edge.

I know, bud, we will find her soon, I know it! We have to find our mate eventually! We can't spend eternity alone! I promised him. We bent down to drink from the lake.

Its been five years, though! How much longer must we wait?! He implored me.

Five years ago, when he first surfaced, Blaze was so eager to meet our mate he would not stop bugging me until we found her. He begged me to meet with every unmated female in our pack, Crystal Moon. I was the son of the current alpha at the time and two years ago we took up our post as Alpha of the pack. Since then, as time went on without meeting our Luna, Blaze slowly became depressed, the only thing making him happy was when we ran.

Of course, I wanted to meet her too! I longed for the day we meet our mate. I know I already love her, even though we haven't met yet.

My mother, still the current Luna since we haven't found ours yet, was constantly planning parties with other packs in our region to get me in the same room as their unmated females. She was praying I would find my mate, my Luna, amongst the throngs of young women. But sadly, none of them were the one.

Once we realized our mate was not at the party, we always left right away, going for a run out of frustration at failing to find her once again. That is what lead us to this lake today. We had left the party once we sensed she wasn't there and took off for the edge of the forest shifting as we ran, not caring about our clothes.

Blaze started whimpering, which turned into a long, mournful howl. The howls of my pack joined mine as they felt our despondency.

Once our joined howl ended, my mother mind-linked me, apologizing for another fail and a promise to not stop until she was found.

I sighed. We turned back towards the pack house and took off running. We weren't running at our full speed this time, as we weren't fueled by our frustration anymore. We shifted back to my human form, slipped on the shorts that were waiting near the edge of the forest and slowly walked up to my office in the pack house. Evan, my Beta, was waiting for me on the couch in the room. He was leaned back with his eyes closed. They opened when I walked in.

"Good. You're back. Sorry for another fail. The new pack doctor is waiting for you at the hospital. He's meeting everyone and being shown around as we speak." He told me. I had almost forgotten that he was arriving today. I nodded and stood back up, heading to the pack hospital that stood attached to the back of the pack house.

I never really come to the hospital. If I needed medical attention after trainings, a pack doctor usually came to where I was, which was usually my office. So, I never really had a reason to come here. I trusted my pack doctors and hospital staff to keep the place running smoothly and they usually just sent the inventory and other reports to my office.

Now that we had hired another doctor, it was my duty to meet with them and show them around some. I needed to get to know them as a pack doctor and a new pack member.

I walked through the hospital doors and made my way around. After hearing he was on the third floor, I made my way to the elevator bay.

Once the doors opened back up on the third floor, I stepped out and the most amazing, mouth-watering scent flooded my senses. My heart leapt in my chest. Blaze was literally doing flips in my head.

MATE! He shouted. Our mate is on this floor! We must find her!!

I barely registered Evan speaking to me while a man approached us. I ignored everything and turned towards the intoxicating scent, following it.

I could hear Evan yelling after me, "Ezra! Where are you going? The new doc is right here!"

"MATE!" I growled back, continuing to follow her scent.

"Really?! Finally, man! But who? You met everyone here, I thought!" He said behind me, following on my trail.

Everyone on the floor froze as I walked down the hall, having heard my outburst. I walked past hospital staff and visitors, walking straight to the end of the hall, stopping at the doorway. I closed my eyes, breathing deep, as I stepped through the door, and grumbled, "Mate!" I opened my eyes to look around and no one was in the room besides the patient on the bed.

I sucked in a breath as my heart leapt into my my throat. I stared at the woman lying on the bed and realization that she was my mate hit me like a two-tonne truck. My mate was a patient here! I slowly walked towards the bed, taking in her appearance.

She was the most beautiful creature I've ever seen with light brown, almost blonde hair splayed across the pillow, soft sun-kissed skin, an adorable button nose, and delicious plump lips I was eager to kiss. I didn't know what color her eyes were as they were closed, she seemed asleep. As I reached the side of her bed, I slowly reached to touch her delicate looking hand. Upon contact, I felt amazing electric tingles that shot straight to my core. Her whole body made a jerking movement at our touch, but otherwise she remained the same.

I could smell her unconscious arousal emit from the apex of her legs, which made my desire within grow. I closed my eyes, pushing that desire away, since I needed to find out why my newly found mate was an unconscious patient in my pack hospital.

A million things flew through my mind as I reached to hold her hand. I noticed a long scar running from the inside of her wrist all the way to her inner elbow. I glanced at her other arm and saw a matching scar there too. What exactly happened to my mate? Why did she have these scars? As I was pondering those questions about my mate, I heard a small squeak come from the direction of the door.

My head snapped towards the sound as my body tensed, ready to jump up to protect my helpless mate. I met eyes with a woman who looked like an older version of the woman on the bed next to me. She had a look of surprise on her face, but I could see the exhaustion underneath the expression. Her mother, perhaps?

"Oh! Alpha Ezra! What a surprise! I don't mean offense, but what brings you here? What are you doing in my daughter's room?" Said the woman meekly, confused.

"I apologize for the intrusion but, your daughter, it seems, is my mate." I told her.

Her jaw drops in shock. "What?! Mate?" She asked in confusion. Understanding colored her face, then sadness. "Oh my, Alpha, I am so sorry! My Ellie has been like this for the last two years now, and the doctors don't know when or if she will ever wake up!" She said, starting to cry.

"Ellie" I breathed. That was her name. It was music to my ears! I froze as the rest of the woman's words caught up with me. "Wait, what! Two years?! What happened! How did she end up this way?!" I implored her mother, tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. Who dared to hurt my mate?!

Her cries turned to sobs as she struggled to tell me. "Two months after her sixteenth birthday, Ellie tried to commit suicide! She cut both her arms open while her father and I were at work! We didn't know! We had no idea she felt this way! Her father found her just as she was about dead, and he saved our baby! We found out from her video diaries that she was being bullied and physically tortured at school and she couldn't handle the pain anymore!" She cried. She could barely stand as the sobs tore through her small body.

I stumbled back as the news of what my lovely mate did to herself settled into my mind. I sank into the chair behind me as my mind reeled. Blaze howled in my mind and I realized I had tears streaming down my face. I turned to look at my adorable mate and couldn't help but sob too.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped. I looked up to see Evan with a somber look on his face. I didn't even hear him come in. Or was he already here? I didn't care. I turned back to my beautiful Ellie and grasped her hand. I placed a shaky kiss on her fingers, careful not to disturb her IV, and rested my forehead on the side of her flat belly. Blaze and I mourned for our mate, our Luna, and somehow, I dozed off eventually.

Ellie POV

Darkness. Darkness is all I've experienced since I killed myself. Is this what comes after death? As long as I'm not being tortured by that b*tch and her friends, I'm okay with it.

I couldn't sense time in this never ending darkness. I couldn't even tell if I ever slept or if I could sleep.

After some time, a white orb appeared. It hovered in place for awhile, then slowly started taking shape. Four limbs stretched downwards as a tail and head took shape. A wolf! It seemed like it was glowing from within. Its fur was a bright pure white while the darkest shadows seemed transparent. Like a beautiful ghost.

It looked right at me and took a step forwards. Ellie. It spoke! What?! I stared at it in confusion. Ellie, I'm your wolf, Raine. You are eighteen now and I am here to share life with you. I saw from your memories that you had a loving childhood but a tragic adolescence. I am sorry I couldn't be there for you back then, but I'm here now and I can help you heal from all of this so we can live our life. Though, not sure what life we could live like this, that is. The wolf said, sitting back on her haunches.

My mind reeled with this information. I was alive?! But how? I thought I was dead already! If I was eighteen now, this means two whole years have passed in this endless dark! If I was alive, then where was I? Where was my body? My parents! What were they doing? How were they? Im sure they were disappointed that I was pathetic enough to fail at killing myself.

Hey! I know you have a lot of questions, and I can answer some of them. You are definitely still alive and yes, two years have passed since you came here. You're currently deep inside your consciousness where your mind has hidden you to heal you and your body. You are actually locked in here somehow and I'm not sure how to get you out. I don't know where your body is, as I am stuck in here with you. I'm not sure about our parents, but one thing I can say with certainty, is that they do love you! They love you more than you realize! I'm confident to say they are probably hurting so much right now, most likely this whole time! You are their daughter, their pup, their baby! How could they not love you unconditionally?! Remember when Dad would bring you those cupcakes all the time? He did that to see you smile! Remember when Mom would sing you that lullaby to help you go to sleep, even as you got older? Remember how concerned they were when you came home with that broken nose and bruised face from that b*tch? They definitely love you and your memories are just proof of that! You were just so lost in your despair that you couldn't see it! She huffed at me. During her speech, she had walked up to me and laid down in front of me. She laid her head in my lap and licked my hand comfortingly.

Her words shook me to my core. The memories she mentioned flashed before my eyes and I saw them with new light. She was right they did love me! Tears pricked at my eyes and before I knew it, they were flowing freely. I realize now, I messed up. I royally messed up! I did have people who loved me and I now have hurt them more than I could understand! How could I have done that?! I wrapped my hands around the wolf before me and sobbed into her soft fur.

It will be okay, Ellie. I don't know how we will get out of this, but its a great first step for you to realize your mistake and regret it. I will be here for you, through all of this! I can't believe we will be stuck like this forever! We can't! We have a life out there to live and experience! For now, though, we will spend time going through your memories and work through them together. We can't change our past but we can learn from our mistakes and change for the better of our future! She encouraged me. I nodded and together we dove through my memories, examining each one.

--

After what seemed like forever, we finally finished going through all sixteen years of my memories and I now had a new appreciation for those in my life that had shown kindness and care for me. We laid together, relaxing and talking to pass time, when the weirdest thing happened.

Suddenly, a flash of what looked like electricity flashed through the vast darkness. It made the hair on my arms stand on end and goosebumps flush across my skin. What the h*ll was that?! I looked at Raine who seemed to be smiling, excited.

MATE! Our mate has found us! He just touched our body! Oooo! I am so happy he found us! She said bursting with joy. She jumped up and started prancing around. I watched her, smiling.

I can't believe we have a mate! He found us! I can't wait to meet him. I wonder who he is? What does he looks like? I wonder what he thinks of me? Oh goddess! He must wonder what happened to us. Maybe he won't want us once he learns? This thought stops both of us in our mini celebration. Raine hung her head, suddenly sad. She came back to me, leaning her head against my lap.

Whatever happens, Ellie, I'm with you, always! If he rejects us because of our past, he doesn't deserve us! She said with conviction.

Suddenly soft webs of electricity stretched across the darkness but it didn't disappear like last time. This time it was a continuous flow of energy.

He's touching us again! Maybe he's holding our hand? The energy keeps flowing so he must be touching a part of our body. As she spoke, a feeling of comfort spread through me. It was enough to soothe my worries for now.

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"His Sleeping Mate" by Brea May Amor exclusively for Stary LTD. All Rights Reserved.

(Dreame, Ringdom, Innovel)