Caught Between Multiple Mates

Chapter 6: Maggie POV

“Hi! I'm Maggie! Can I sit with you?" My excited greeting was met with silence. The girl before me was as pale as a ghost with dark circles under her eyes. She had a scar on her face and a very obvious bite mark on her collarbone. The mark meant she was mated and in the know. I was thrilled to find a girl who I didn't have to hide from but was human so she wasn't threatened by my status. I sat, pushing my fiery hair over my shoulder as I prepared to eat.

"Where is your lunch?" I asked her, innocently. I had a tray of food while she had nothing in front of her. She was so skinny. Was she anorexic? I wondered. She shook her head. "Do you understand English?" I asked, curious. She nodded. "You just don't talk?" She nodded again. I picked up a slice of pizza and said, "Well as long as you don't mind me talking I'd like us to be friends." She stared at me blankly and then c****d an eyebrow as if questioning why I was talking to her.

I was about to tell her my story and how my pack relocated here when a boy with blonde hair and dark eyes walked by and slammed his hands aggressively on the table inches from where she was sitting. My silent friend immediately closed her eyes and shook in fear.

“Hi Anna-sleeze. I mean Annalise....did you have a good summer? Any fun stories to share?" Sarcasm and disdain dripped from his every word.

I could tell they were not on good terms. My new friend, whose name I was assuming was Annalise, looked scared as if she thought he may attack her any second. Fear radiated off her body, meaning that she was legitimately afraid of this boy.

I jumped up from my seat and physically inserted myself between them. "Back off!" I commanded. I sensed his Beta aura. Silly pup. I am the child of a strong Alpha. I asserted my dominance and pushed him away. "You will walk away and never bother my friend ever again!" He glared at me with defiance.

"Who are you to get between me and what is mine?" He asked in a low tone only I could hear.

I craned my neck to look down at her and sniffed the air around her. I felt my eyes bulge and my heart quicken as I realized Annalise carried this wolf's scent as well as another. She was marked by two creatures. In that moment so much made sense. My theory? She was a rejected mate who was stuck in Limbo. She would remain in a constant state of depression until she was freed from either the bond or her mate took back the rejection.

I poked his chest with my finger and said, "I'm the Alpha who will protect her from now on. Either release her or I will. Do the right thing."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I don't have to do s**t. I will love her or t*****e her as I please. Don't get in my way." He disappeared with his posse of friends a second later.

I sighed, frustrated. My first day in this new school was definitely shaping up to be interesting. I turned to look at Annalise, who was still cowering in the same spot. I sat next to her and put my arm around her shoulder. She flinched until she opened her eyes and saw it was me. She relaxed immediately and laid her head on to my shoulder. I breathed in her scent again. She smelled like fear and hunger and raspberries. I leaned forward and pulled my tray to be situated in front of her instead.

"Eat," I said.

At first she hesitated but I commanded her a second time using my Alpha tone. She did as I told her to and ate a slice of pizza. She sighed with satisfaction after she finished one slice. I gestured at the tray again and made her eat the other two slices. I had paid extra for extra slices. Wolves eat a lot. But for my new friend I was willing to sacrifice one lunch.

When Annalise didn't have money for lunch the next day and the day after I realized what was going on. Her parents were refusing to give her lunch money. When I asked her about signing up for free meals she shook her head as if she had been told she was not allowed to. That infuriated me. I went home that night and told my parents about my new friend and her situation. They doubled my allowance so I could buy lunch for Annalise.

I have bought lunch for her every day ever since. I had an inkling she would have starved by now if I had not stepped in. Her Limbo was a bad case. What made it worse was that her body seemed to be fighting it's need to seek out the second creature. When I examined her neck closely I could see there was a vampire bite mark that refused to heal. She had been marked by a vampire, most likely for protection. That was common practice according to the elders of my pack. When I asked her about the two puncture holes on her throat she shrugged as if she had no idea what to make of it. I came to the conclusion early on that she truly had no clue what I or Zack or her other mate was.

Annalise was not only my best friend, she was gradually becoming the center of my world. I was idly waiting for my 18th birthday. My father said when I turned 18 and didn't find my mate (I hadn’t sensed one yet) or in what some called a worse case scenario rejected my mate he would give his blessing for me to help Annalise get out of Limbo. He said I could take her as my chosen mate or introduce her to my cousin Noah. I told him I would take her as my mate because that would be the only way I knew she was safe and taken care of. I would never let her feel alone ever again.