~~

Reece

~~

Little Bunny wasn't looking so good. After I told Griffin what she had been through, he went over and started examining her. She winced and cried out several times. My wolf didn't like that one bit. It proved that her head was in bad shape.

"It would be best if I could get a scan, but I'm guessing that's not an option right now?" Griffin said looking at me.

"Do you believe there is something majorly wrong?" I asked him.

"I can't be certain, but things might get worse if there is."

"I just want to take a pain pill and rest." Little Bunny grumbled.

"And if you have a concussion and never wake up?" I asked her.

"Well, at least the pain would be gone." She quipped. I growled at her. "Oh, drop it. If things get worse, then bring the helicopter back and fly me to the hospital, if I get better on my own then all's well that ends well." She sounded annoyed.

"Fine. Have it your way." I told her.

"If you have problems with balance or vision, I want you in the hospital ASAP, do you understand me?" Griffin told her.

"Sure, whatever." She told him.

"I'm serious. Agree or I don't give you the good stuff." He demanded holding up a bottle whose label I couldn't see.

"Fine, I promise, I will go to the hospital immediately if anything gets worse." She sighed. "Cross my heart." She promised, making the motion. "Now please, make my head feel better."

"Fine." Griffin laughed as he took out a syringe, filling it. "You're going to go back to sleep for the night.

"That's fine with me." She held out her arm for him.

Once the meds were administered and my Little Bunny was sound asleep, I walked Griffin out, telling him to keep this to himself. It was an order, and he was forced to obey.

I was standing in the hall by the door when Riley called me.

"Reece?"

"Yeah." I frowned, turning to him.

"I'm about to watch the security footage from tonight, I was waiting for you, so are you coming?"

"Yeah, I want to see what happened." I nodded, following him to the security room that housed the video cameras. It looked a lot like the one at my Alpha house, only fewer monitors as this estate was smaller.

We watched as the scene unfolded before us. There had been a sound off in the trees, but that was in front of her, so she was not suspicious for something behind her. The man who snuck up behind her had done so without her noticing. But she managed to get free and was fighting him off pretty well.

Just as I thought she was doing great, the other two ambushed her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. Even then she was not giving up. She kicked and bit as much as she could. She was bound and determined to get free. She did manage to bloody two of them after all. But they quickly grew frustrated and one of the men lifted his arm, in it I saw a metal pipe. He brought it crashing down on the side of her head with great force.

"That's how they got her." I noted.

"She's a fighter that's for sure." Riley praised.

"Yeah, but if she had a wolf, she would have gotten away no problem. She's too weak to be my Luna." I snapped, slipping back to my typical attitude.

"REECE!" Riley yelled at me.

"It's the truth." I snapped at him. "Can't you see how much of a disaster tonight was just because the Goddess gave me a mate with no wolf?"

"But can't you see how much worse it could have been? Think about how much farther they would have gotten if she wasn't able to fight. Or what they could have done to her or you in return."

"Would they be targeting her if she wasn't the Luna?" I asked him. "Being a Luna with no wolf is just a danger to her and my wolf pack." The anger and frustration in my voice was reaching its breaking point. I stormed out of the room.

~~

Trinity

~~

I woke the next day feeling mostly better. My head still hurt but not quite as bad. I could get out of the bed I was laying in without feeling like I was going to die or wanting to vomit, so it was a definite improvement. Someone had put my bag in here, it was on the table near the window.

I was getting my stuff, and hoping to find a shower, when the door opened.

"You're up?" Reece asked.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better." I told him. "I wanted to shower and change. I'm sure we need to leave as well."

"Yes, we need to hurry. The bathroom is through there." He pointed. "But before you go, I want to talk to you for a moment."

"Alright." I frowned at him, I could feel his tension, something was wrong. We were standing by the window, Reece looking out over the front yard, away from me.

"What happened last night will not happen again." He seemed tense.

"I'm sorry. I will not leave when you've asked me to stay put again."

"That's not what I meant." He said impatiently.

"Then what is?"

"I could mention so many aspects." He murmured, turning to look at me. "The dance for one. I won't allow that to happen again, ever."

"That's fine, I found it awkward."

"The kiss, it was never supposed to happen in the first place."

"Agreed. I didn't expect it nor want it to happen. I didn't want my first kiss forced on me like that." I noticed his eyes widen for a fraction of a second.

"And lastly, I will not save you again. You will either save yourself, or not put yourself into such a situation like that ever again." Those words surprised me. "If you require assistance after today, call one of your guards." He added.

"I'm sorry I was such a burden to you." I told him, looking down.

"You're more than a burden." He groaned, causing me to look up at him, his eyes were filled with anger and other dark emotions. "I hate you." He snapped, my heart shattered in that instant.

I had known he would never love me, but I had hoped for a level of civility. For mutual respect at least. And maybe, just maybe, affection might grow over time. I knew I was already developing feelings for him. I couldn't help it. But he would never return them. Even then, I kept myself from crying.

"I understand." Was all I said.

"Now, finish getting ready for the day." He snarled at me in anger before he left the room.

I went into the bathroom to shower. I had intended it to be quick, but things were different now. I sat there, on the floor of the shower, with the hot water falling on my head. I didn't know what was water and what was tears as I sat there and cried.

I cried until the hot water ran out completely. I continued to cry while I dried myself off and get dressed. I cried until I had no more tears left in me to cry. It was both more and less than I expected. I cried for nearly an hour, which was longer than I had ever cried before. But I couldn't believe that was all the tears I could muster for my mate.

When I pressed a cold cloth to my face to soothe the red, swollen skin around my eyes, I didn't even feel like crying when I thought about Reece. Smacking him upside his big Alpha head, yes, but crying, nope.

I don't think the feelings I was developing would go away so quickly. They were aided by the mate bond after all. But maybe, eventually, I could manage to look at him with an empty, apathetic feeling. I could hope at least. Dammit, why did he have to go and kiss me last night, that had made my heart and body all confused.

Reece was upset when he finally saw me.

"You took way too long." He snapped at me. He didn't comment about my red eyes, so either he didn't notice, or my makeup job had done the trick. I was glad I decided to pack the little bag after all. I just shrugged my shoulders and ignored him. I didn't want to talk to him yet, we would have to play the happy Alpha couple later.

He sped along the highway and we made it to the next pack within forty-five minutes. This pack was just as small as the last and paid fealty to ours. It meant that they didn't actually have an Alpha. They had a Prime Beta. It was like the Alpha of a pack, and functioned as one in Reece's absence, but they never truly had the same power over the pack members as the Alpha did. And his mate had no official role among the pack, but she did help with all the women and children still. The trip here didn't take long.