My Brother’s Mate
Chapter 68

Mike's POV

Rex has been running for the past two days through the mountains. Stopping to eat, drink, and sleep. He has asked me to shift again, but I've been too tired. I spend my days remembering how my life used to be, and wondering how it could've been if I hadn't been so selfish. I've lost everything and I have no one to blame but myself. I am only a shell of the man I use to be.

Rex's POV

The last two days I have been running through the mountains. The scenery has been beautiful. The further south we get the more the trees change. The trees in these mountains are different from the ones back home. It's a beautiful sight to see. My time out has been wonderful, but I am still worried about Mike. He needs to come forward more. I can sense his mind racing with his past mistakes. The weather is getting warmer and warmer the closer we get to the edge of the mountains. I wonder what the land looks like beyond them. I finally got Mike to agree to shift again. It's been two days.

"You ready to shift Mike?" I ask.

"Yeah I guess."

Mike's POV

I shift back. and walk around. I can just barely see the land beyond the mountains. The sun is high in the sky and it is beaming hot. I feel a bit light headed from the heat. I decide to put my clothes on. I don't want to get sunburned. I take my clothes, still dirty and stained from my parents dried blood, and submerge them in a nearby pond. I scrub them against each other in the water. The dried blood flakes off but the stains still remain. I put on my wet shirt and pants. Then my shoes. I continue on towards the edge of the mountains. My clothes dry quickly in the heat, and after a while I make it to the edge. I look around at no man's land. It's nothing but a desert. I scan the yellow horizon for any signs of life or a landmark, but I don't see anything. I'm about 20 feet above the desert on the side of a mountain.

"Well there's no point in turning back now." I say. "There's nothing for me back home. I have no where to go but forward."

I make my way down the rocky side of the mountain I'm on. I reach the desert sands quickly. I walk straight ahead. I'm walking in the shadow of the mountain range now. But I can see where it ends. When I step out of the shadow the temperature gets noticeably more hot. I keep walking. After awhile of nothing but sand and heat, and more sand, and more heat, I regret it. I should've stayed in the mountains. The heat is beating down on me. At some point I took my shirt off and used it to try and cover the top of my head. I don't even remember doing that. How long have I been out here?

The wind starts to pick up. The breeze would be nice but it's filled with hot sharp pieces of sand. The winds whips the hot sand around me. I put my arm up to protect my eyes. The wind is making it hard to see. I trip on something and fall forward. My arm catches my fall, but when it makes contact with the fiery hot sand. I yell out in pain. I roll over and the sand burns my back. I yell out again and try to get up. But I'm slipping in and out of consciousness. It's so hot. I think I see a figure coming towards me, but I don't know what's real anymore.

"Are you ok?" The figure asks. They say something else, but it's muffled. Then I'm surrounded by darkness.

I open my eyes and I am laying in a bed. I am under a blanket. The room I'm in is basic, just a bed and a desk with a small window. The walls look like clay or concrete. I've never seen a wall like it before. Where am I?

I want to move, but pain shoots through my body. My skin is tight and hot. I groan and try to move again. The door to the room opens and a woman walks in.

"Shhhh don't try to move. You're dehydrated and you have a pretty bad sand burn." She says. She is carrying a bowl with a white towel. I move away from her. I don't trust her.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to put some cool water on your burns. It will clean them and it will bring you some relief." She holds out her hand. I reach out and give her my arm. She squeezes some water onto it. It feels good against my hot skin. She cleans my arm, then she applies some ointment and wraps it loosely in a bandage. She gently lifts my arm and cleans my side.

"How long were you out there?" She flicks her eyes to me. For a moment I think I see my mother's green eyes in hers. I blink and they change back to blue.

"I..I'm not sure." I say. My throat is scratchy and my mouth is dry.

"It's been a long time since someone has come here from the mountains. Where is your pack?" She asks.

"I.. no longer have a pack." I say.

"Oh a rogue. That's interesting."

I wince in pain.

"Oh sorry, did I hurt you?" She asks.

I don't say anything.

"Try to roll over for me, it seems to continue on to your back." She says. I try to shift to my side, my arm feels better but my side is still burning. She is very gentle while she cleans my back. I feel her apply the ointment. A man walks into the room, doesn't say anything and then walks back out.

"They are very interested in talking with you." She says.

"Why? I didn't ask to be brought here." I say. She lets out a laugh.

"Like I said, people don't normally come down from the mountains." She says.

"I don't see why. They are just mountains." I say. She laughs again.

"What is so funny?" I feel her apply bandages.

"Interesting you don't know. I will let them explain it. You can roll back over." She says. I gently roll on to my back. She finishes wrapping my side. Then she gets up to leave.

"Now, you will need to rest and stay hydrated. I will be back tomorrow to change out your dressings.." she pauses. I look at her

"A man is going to come in here and ask you some questions. My suggestion? Just be as honest with him. He knows when people lie." She gathers her things.

"I'll have someone bring you some food." She leaves the room, a few seconds later she come back in with a pitcher and a cup. Here's some water for you. Drink and rest." She leaves again. I take a drink straight from the pitcher. It tastes strange, slightly earthy and a little bit tart. but I'm so thirsty I push through it. Once my thirst is quenched I lay there and let the ointment sink into my burns. They feel a lot better than before, but they still hurt.

A little bit later a man walks into the room, the same man that came in before. He takes a seat without saying anything. He looks at me and I look back at him. I wait for him to speak. "How did you get here?" He finally asks.

"I came from the mountains."

"You are a wolf?" He asks.

"Yes."

"Where is your pack?"

"I don't have a pack."

"You are a rogue?" He says sharply.

"Yes."

"No way a rogue could get through the mountains. Who are you?" He asks.

"My name is Michael Blackwell." I say. He stands up and paces the room.

"How long have you been a rogue?" He asks.

"I'm not sure. A few days, a week. I kind of lost track of time out there. I let my wolf take over for awhile." I say. Another man comes into the room.

"Hello there. I see Luna Maria has patched you up. How's the questioning going." He says to the first guy.

"Apparently he's a rogue and just waltzed in through the mountains." The guy says in a sarcastic manor.

"Jack go get some fresh air. Let me talk to him." Jack doesn't respond, he just storms off.

"Sorry about him. He can get kind of paranoid." The second guy takes a seat.

"My name is Danny. What's your name?" He asks.

"Mike."

"Do you know why it's impossible for a rogue to make it to our lands?" He asks.

"Uhm. No."

"The mountains protect us. A long time ago our people came here to remove ourselves from the rest of the werewolves. We got help from some witches who placed a spell over the mountains, no one can make it through." "Well obviously that's not true." I reply.

"Haha, Well there is a stipulation, a person can make it through if they and their wolf are worthy."

"Worthy?"

"We are not an ordinary pack Mike. We are part of the original line of werewolves. We aren't like the other packs you've been apart of. We have a different way of living here."

"How so?" I say, still skeptical.

"Well first off we don't spend nearly as much time in our human forms as you all seem to. Our wolves are sacred and special. This is their life, just as much as it is ours. And when you spend so much time as a wolf, your wolf changes." "Changes?"

"In appearance and behavior." He says bluntly with out offering any further explanation.

"What does that even mean?" A girl walks in to the room with a tray of food. I stop talking and just stare at her. She's beautiful. She has dark brown curly hair.

"Ah Rue, just leave that over there." He points to the desk. The girls eyes flick up to me. She gives me a small smile and puts the tray down. Then she turns and leaves the room.

"To understand more you will need to see. But for now you will need to heal. Can you sit up to eat?" He asks.

"Just barely." The first woman comes back into the room. The man just smiles and holds his hands up.

"Ok dear. I will leave you to it." The man stands and kisses her on the cheek and leaves. The Luna picks up the tray and brings it over to me.

"You don't have to do that. I can eat myself." I attempt to sit up high enough to eat. I wince in pain.

"Just relax. Now open up."

She scoops up some green soup. I pull my face away, unsure of what she's about to put in my mouth.

She chuckles.

"It's only soup. It will keep you hydrated. And give your body and wolf what it needs to heal quickly. Now eat up."

I'm surprised to discover that the soup is cold. But it actually doesn't taste too bad.

"Not bad right?" She asks me.

"Not bad, but I didn't expect it to be cold." She laughs.

"Hot soup? In this heat? Yeah they don't mix well. Here try the bread."

She hands me a flat and sort of flaky circle of bread. I bite into it. It's not like any bread I've had before, but I like it. I like it a lot. I scarf the bread down quickly.

"Hungry aren't you?" She says laughingly. I just nod my head.

"I'll go get you some more bread when you finish this soup."

"Well then feed it to me quickly." She laughs. But does give me bigger spoonfuls. I finish the soup and she leaves to go get me some more bread. She comes back with three more. She places them down next to me.

"Here you go. Now when you're finished get some rest." She leaves the room. I eat them quickly. I stare out the window. The sun is setting. I close my eyes and try to relax. I fall asleep soon after.