The Blood Rose

My Heart

Present

I remember when I thought I was finally free, it was a silly thought really. I was stupid, I ran out of the hands of my king and into the hands of some rogues, I’ve been their prisoner for a year, I’ve been starved, beaten, assaulted and chained up to a tree for the majority of my stay here. My jumpsuit was shredded a while ago, leaving me bare.

The last meal I had was at least a week ago, I remember when I used to think my life was bad but I’d take it over this life any day.

“Babyyy where are you hiding?” Master Martin calls out, causing me to crouch lower behind a bush. “It’s no use hiding, you’re mine remember? Our ceremony is starting soon so be a good little girl and come here” His tone came out more forceful, causing me to flinch.

They were stupid enough to unchain me and leave me in an unlocked room practically handing me my freedom. When I snuck out I made sure to spread my scent around before finally hiding and waiting to escape.

“I caught her scent about a mile away on the opposite side of the house” another rogue I know as Benton informs him, he nods and they both head out in the same direction giving me the chance I need.

I watched until they disappeared before coming out of my hiding place and running as fast as I could, refusing to look back, I ran until my feet were bleeding, I ran until I could barely breathe, I ran as if my life depended on it, finally reaching an open road and collapsing onto the harsh pavement, scraping my knees, feet and hands. My eyelids started feeling heavier and heavier as my consciousness came and went, eventually I let the darkness completely consume me.

┏━━༻❁༺━━┓

Lights crept through my eyelids, disturbing my peace. I try to open them but they're too heavy. A door on my left side opens and closes and two sets of footsteps approach me. "When is she going to wake up? It’s already been a month" I hear a man speak softly, his voice familiar.

"I'm not sure, she was extremely malnourished, and she isn't healing at the speed of a supernatural." Another man speaks although I don't recognize his voice. 

"Have the tests come back?" The first guy speaks. "Yes but I’ll need her permission to share the results with you." The second guy answers.

"Thank you, doc" I hear him sigh as he takes a seat next to me. "Your welcome, your majesty". 

Your majesty? Did king Alfred find me?  Panic courses through my veins at the same time an erratic beeping starts. 

"Calm down ma coeur" the first guy speaks as he caresses my cheek causing sparks to erupt where his hand is, my eyes to shooting open at the contact, as I gasp for air. 

"Ah you're awake" the guy who I assume is a doctor smiles, I move away from the man who spoke French, my panic evident. 

"It's okay, you're safe ma coeur" french dude speaks again. I look up at him, his features strangely familiar yet not at the same time. He notices my confusion, a soft smile spreading across his lips. "Do you remember me?" 

I shook my head no before my attention snapped to the doctor as he stepped closer to me. A low growl escapes me, surprising everyone including myself. 

"Don't worry, I won't harm you, I just need to do a few tests and check your vitals, okay?" He reassures. 

I give an unsure nod before looking back at french dude. He smiles knowingly, "I'm King Zaiden." 

My eyes widen in recognition. I haven't seen this man in forever, he's the one who unintentionally helped me escape. Panic floods through me as image after image of my king's abuse flows through my mind followed by images of the rogues' abuse and ultimately the long scar I have that runs from my left temple down to my left hand.

Shivers wrack my body at the memory. "Please don't make me go back to the king. T-the other one, please, I'll do anything!"

"You can stay here, we won't make you do anything you don't want too" he speaks softly while watching me.

"Where am I?" I finally ask, looking around the white hospital room. 

"The blood rose pack territory, you're safe here." A warm smile appears on his face, showing off his dimples and his perfect white teeth. 

"The blood rose?" I repeat, remembering the constant dreams and the chocolate brown wolf in the rose field.

"Yes, in Canada." He reaches out for me again causing me to jerk away from him. Pain flits through his beautiful eyes before he resumes his carefree attitude. 

"Canada?" My eyes go wide again. How did I end up here?

"Yeah, My family was visiting the silvermoon pack and on our way back, we decided to take the scenic route and found you just outside of the border, I immediately recognized you, so we brought you back to Canada with us." He explains as he rubs the back of his neck. 

"What's a mate? I remember you saying that when we met." I ask, tilting my head in curiosity.

A confused look plagues his features as he looks at me. "You don't know what a mate is?" 

I shake my head no before looking down into my lap. "I was raised..” I trailed off, trying to find the right words. “Differently. My life was sleep, train, study and repeat" I left out all the brutalities, not willing to share that part of my life. 

"Your parents never told you?" He asks. "No." I admitted.

He lets out a small sigh. "Mates are basically your other half, your soulmate. They're a gift from the moon goddess herself, they’re supposed to complete you in a way no one else can, there's a magnetic pull between them, did you feel anything when I touched your cheek earlier?" 

"Sparks, it makes me feel alive and warm, I also get tingles when you look at me" I admit, curious about this supposed mate thing. 

"That's the mate bond" a boyish smile graces his face as he looks at me. "97% of the time you only get one mate in your lifetime, the few rare people can get what you call a second chance mate. And you can reject your mate but not a lot of werewolves choose that route as it's very painful to both parties. There's also the mating ceremony. There's two parts to that, the private and the public. Although the public comes first and it's basically a wedding and with the private one you have to- to be intimate and mark each other, the mark won't take if you aren't being intimate because that's when the couples souls are the closest."

"Oh" was all I could say. "How do you mark someone?" I ask, looking into his golden eyes. 

"You bite where the shoulder meets the neck and if the moon goddess accepts the pair as well as if the pair truly accepts each other, something like a tattoo appears and each mark is unique, although some can be almost identical with a small difference" 

I nod absorbing all the information. 

The doctor walks back in the room, startling me as I don't remember him leaving. "All your tests look normal, but you are extremely underweight, coming in at 86 pounds." Zaidens eyes widened before looking me over, noticing my slender petite frame and frowning. "How often do you eat?" He asks.

"Um the last time I ate was a week ago I think and before that I think was three days but it could have been longer" I admit

Both Zaiden and the doctor look at me with sadness laced into their features. "You can be discharged tomorrow if you promise to eat regularly," the doctor finishes. 

"I'll try," I say as my eyes travel down to my hands, eyeing part of my long scar. “I’ll also need to talk to you privately about some of the other test results.” He says before leaving.

"One last question" Zaiden asks, my eyes meet his, warmth spreading through me. "What are you? You don't heal as fast as I do and you don't smell like a wolf but you don't smell like a human, vampire, fae or witch." 

"Oh, I am- or was a werewolf but my wolf left me a while ago I think" I admit with a shrug of my shoulders. 

"Why did she leave?" He asks with a tilt of his head. 

"Um. She didn't want to go through what I was dealing with at the time." How do I tell him that my wolf left me because I was weak? Because I allowed myself to be treated like nothing, beat endlessly and was forced to kill people. She probably hates me and I'd hate me too if I was her. 

"When you get stronger she'll come back, she probably needs to heal too" he smiles softly at me, causing me to smile back in return. "I'd really like that. I miss her." 

‘Saffron, if you can hear me, please get better soon. I am so, so sorry and I'll never let anyone hurt us ever again. I'll protect us and our mate. I promise.’

"I'm tired," I admit with a big yawn. 

"Get some sleep ma coeur" he smiles as he stands up. "I'll get a room ready for you for tomorrow."

"Thank you for everything mon lumiere" I smile brightly at him, causing the biggest grin I have ever seen lighten up his features. 

"You speak French?" He asks.

"Yes, it was one of the things I had to study but don't expect me to keep calling you that, I just wanted you to know I understand what you're calling me." I look down to my hands again. 

"My heart, don't expect me to stop calling you that because it's sticking." He smiles and waves at me before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. 

I let out a long sigh as I get comfortable and close my eyes, picturing the rose field by the lake and that chocolate brown wolf I've grown to love.