The Lonely Girl

Chapter 10 - Panic

Santi

That was the best night I’ve ever had! I practically skipped from my car to my apartment. Alana had sent me several messages during the night curious about how it was going. It was late but I was sure she’d be awake. “It went really well” I replied and told her that I’d offered Sahara a job. Alana promised she’d talk about it to Sahara at work tomorrow. I decided to take a chance and message Sahara, after much thought I decided to write, “I really enjoyed spending time with you tonight, hope we can do it again soon”. I sat anxiously waiting for a reply, about 10 minutes later it came, simple, but it gave me hope, she wrote“me too”.

I slept in a bit then called a meeting with Lailani and Trent. They were probably curious to know how long we’d be staying here. They’d just arrived when I noticed Alana calling, this was unusual, I knew she was at work so it must be something serious. I answered immediately worried about her. “Santi, you have to come to the clinic, Sahara’s been hurt” she rushed out. I jumped out of my chair causing it to fall backwards. “What happened “ I exploded, “Just get down here, I’ve got to go” she replied and hung up. Lailani and Trent were looking at me anxiously, they heard most of the conversation, wolf hearing is pretty enhanced. Lailani spoke up “I’ve got the car keys, let’s go”. We ran to the car, I was frantic, what happened, if anyone’s hurt my mate I’ll kill them without hesitation. We arrived in record time, I ran inside and saw Alana immediately. “She’s been punched a couple of times by a patient, think he was high on drugs”. She took me to her, my heart broke seeing her. Her eye was blackened and she had a bleeding lip. She had an ice pack in her hand but seemed to be in shock. I rushed to her, “Sahara, are you ok, I’m so sorry this happened, I’ll take care of you “. She looked up at me, I expected her usual sarcastic reply instead she opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She was definitely in shock, I took the ice pack and held it gently against her face. “I’ll take you to my apartment, you can rest and I’ll take care of you “. I looked at Alana, “ Where is the guy that did this” I yelled. “ He’s gone, we’ve got cctv, the police will review it when they come. Unfortunately this happens regularly, nothing ever changes “. I couldn’t believe it, how could they expect people to work in these conditions. I turned to Sahara, she still hadn’t said a word, “are you ok to walk or I can carry you “. She got up without saying a word and started to walk, she stumbled, I caught her and supported her to the car. After helping her into the seat she finally spoke saying, “can you take me to my apartment please”. I didn’t argue, I will stay with her there and take care of her. A few minutes later she said quietly, “ I’ll take that job if it’s still on offer”.

I took her inside her apartment, she sat on the couch and sighed. “Thanks for taking me home, I’ll be ok from here”. “I’m not leaving yet”, I replied, “just let me take care of you for a bit “. She sighed again looking defeated. “Ok just for a bit, I really need a shower then I’ll lay down for a bit”. She tried to take her jacket off and winced. “What’s wrong “ I asked concerned, “I must’ve hit my shoulder when I fell”. I walked over to help her remove her jacket. She looked really uncertain and sighed in defeat as she clearly needed help getting it off. I carefully helped her with the jacket, not that I’m glad she’s hurt but I’m happy to be here helping my mate. I’m never leaving her side again. I helped loosen the rest of her clothes and let her go into the bathroom alone. I desperately wanted to be in there for her, obviously I can’t wait to see her perfect body but right now I was solely focused on taking care of her. While she was showering I made a few calls. My beta and gamma were already trying to find the asshole who assaulted my mate. Just as I hung up Sahara came out the bathroom, she looked a little shocked that I was still there. “Sorry I really need to lay down “, she stated. “No need to apologise, I’ll be here when you wake up”. I watched her lay on the bed, her cat immediately curled up next to her and looked at me threateningly.

I sat on the couch and kept looking back at my mate. I really wanted to cuddle up next to her and make her more comfortable. The mate bond helps with that. But I knew it’d freak her out if she woke up and I was there. I used the time speaking to my warriors who had been deployed to find the guy. I’m an Alpha, I may come across as a soft hearted nice guy when it comes to my mate but I don’t tolerate anyone hurting my people. This guy will not survive our encounter. I eventually fell asleep on the couch, I hadn’t slept well since meeting Sahara, being close to her is the most relaxed I’ve felt in days. I woke up with a start feeling someone’s eyes on me. I looked up to see Sahara staring at me smirking.