The Alpha and his Mate
Chapter 4

I looked back down at her sleeping form again, intent on looking at her beautiful face all night but when I looked back at her the smile slipped from my face as I stared into a pair of bright blue eyes, filled with fear.

Jax’s POV

“Little mate, you’re awake” I stuttered, not really knowing what else to say to her as I took in her fearful expression as she lay still next to me. “Are you thirsty?” I suddenly asked as I remembered the pint glass of water I had on my bedside table. “Here I got you a glass of water in case you were”, why was I all of a sudden nervous as I handed the glass of water over to her?

I expected her to take it from my outstretched hand straight away, needing the glass of water to quench her dry throat, but she just shrunk away from me as I held the glass out further for her. I frowned as I took in her fearful reaction, why would she shy away from her mate? Mates are something we’re told about and look forward to replaceing our whole lives, someone who completes us, someone who understands us and we them completely. I held the glass out further to her, hoping she would understand that I wouldn’t hurt her and that she didn’t need to fear me. “Please little mate, you need to drink to help keep your strength up. You have quite a lot of injuries on you and I’m sure you’re thirsty after what you have gone through.”

Ever so slowly, like she expected me to pull the glass away from her at the last second, she reached her arm out to take the glass, her eyes cautiously staring just below mine the whole time. I just gave her a nod of encouragement and a small smile in hopes that it would ease her nerves a little bit. She was shaking slightly from fright and it killed me to see her like this, but I stayed as still as possible, making sure not to startle her. As she took the glass from my hand our fingers brushed together ever so slightly, causing the magical sparks to erupt again throughout my hand. At the shock of the physical contact she yanked her hand away, spilling the water all over both herself and the bed she was lying in.

I heard her heart rate suddenly skyrocket and I looked into her eyes to see them on high alert, wide with fear at the realisation of what she had just done.

My mate whimpered slightly as she started to anxiously clean up the mess, using her own t-shirt to try and absorb some of the water that had been absorbed by the sheets and mattress.

“Hey...hey it’s okay little mate, it was an accident” I soothed, trying to calm her heart rate down before she had a panic attack. “The sheets needed to be changed and cleaned anyway so don’t worry about it” I said in the most calming tone of voice I could muster, remembering everything the doctor had told me before she left.

My mate froze in her frantic actions of mopping up the water and looked at me through her lashes with her head down, showing the typical submissive pose everyone showed to their Alpha. Usually it pleased me when people looked at me like this, it shows me that they respect me and trusted me to look after them, but that look on her just felt wrong. She was my mate, my equal and the only person in the world I would hate to feel like they had to submit to me. I reached my hand out and tilted her chin up so she was looking at me, trying desperately to ignore the slight flinch she had when she saw my hand coming towards her.

“No little mate, when you look at me I want to see those pretty blue eyes of yours, please don’t shy away from me”. I smiled at her, hoping they were the right words to say but when she didn’t react to them I frowned slightly. She was still sitting in front of me in that submissive pose of hers and even with my hand holding her head up her eyes were still cast down, making it difficult for me to gauge her reaction.

“Would you like a shower before we go to the hospital?” I asked as I released her, accepting that I wasn’t going to be getting much out of her. At my words she frowned slightly before looking down at her appearance, apparently just realising that she was covered in blood and mud and with twigs accessorising her hair. She looked back up at me again, still never quite reaching my eyes, but when I just carried on staring at her expectantly she gave in with a slight nod.

I smiled, happy that I had finally gotten a reaction out of her that wasn’t a flinch. “Come on then, let’s get you in the bath shall we? I’m not sure if you can stand properly in a shower at the moment with those cut up feet and twisted ankle” I explained as I pointed at the many cuts and grazes that littered the soles of her feet.

I reached out towards her, intending to pick her up and help her into the bathroom, but as I got closer towards her she froze up and closed her eyes tight, as if she was expecting a blow. My heart broke at her reaction and I retracted my hands slightly as I held them up for her to see, hoping to show her that I meant her no harm.

“It’s okay angel, I’m not going to hurt you I promise, I was just going to help you get to the bathroom. I could never hurt you my sweet little mate” I muttered, hoping to soothe her a little. She was obviously terrified and the last thing I wanted to do was to cause her more discomfort by scaring her further.

She stared at me apprehensively for a few seconds, deliberating how much truth there was in my words, but when she nodded her head ever so slightly I smiled, whether it was in understanding or permission though I don’t know. She was still obviously terrified and she could barely stay still due to her shaking, but at least she trusted me enough to touch her.

I slowly inched forward, not wanting to startle her in anyway as I made every move I made slow and deliberate. When I reached her I tucked her recently dislocated elbow into her side, making sure it was out of the way, before slowly taking her weight into my arms as I carried her bridal style to the bathroom. She flinched slightly as she felt me take her weight into my arms but I ignored her as I was to focused on her weight, or more accurately, lack of. I could feel every bone in her body, as if the sharp edges were going to pierce out of her skin if I pressed on them with too much force. I breathed in her scent as I held her close to me in my arms, as if I could protect her from even the air around her. This girl was precious and I was going to make sure I did everything in my power to stop bad things from ever happening to her again.

I walked into my en-suite bathroom and quickly sat her down on the vanity counter by the sink, I could tell she was uncomfortable with me touching her and I didn’t want to push my luck by touching her more than was necessary.

I turned around to fill up the bath with some nice warm water and as the tub was filling I turned around to face her. There were so many questions running through my mind at the moment, but I didn’t know where to begin. What was her name? What pack was she from, if she even was from a pack? How did she end up on the border of my territory and who the hell hurt her so bad? These and many other questions kept rolling around in my head as I looked into her baby blue eyes, eyes that looked like they had seen way more pain than they deserved.

She suddenly started to fidget uncomfortably, playing with the hem of her wet and dirty t-shirt as she looked at the ground and suddenly, I realised that I had been staring at her quite intensely without realising, to lost in my own mind. That was just the effect that she had on me, she was to hypnotising for her own good.

“My name is Jax by the way” I said as I introduced myself to the angel that was currently sitting on my bathroom counter. “What’s your name little mate?” I asked, needing to know her name. I bet it was beautiful, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. I looked at her expectantly but all I got was silence from her as she continued to stare at the tiled floor beneath my feet.

“Please little mate, I need to know your name” I pleaded. I had never pleaded a day in my life, an Alpha never needed to plea, but today I seem to be replaceing myself doing a lot of it.

She frowned for a second as a lone tear ran down her cheek as she shook her head slightly, not wanting to share with me the little bit of information that I had asked from her. I growled in frustration as I turned away from her, not wanting her to see the angry gold swirl in my eyes as my wolf came through. Why would she not tell me her name. I was her mate for crying out loud, surely I deserved to at least know her name!

I suddenly heard a whimper from behind me and I quickly turned around to replace my mate silently crying with her arms covering her face. It was as if she was protecting herself from something, as if she was protecting herself from me. She must’ve come from a bad place if she associated raised voices with pain.

I quickly walked over to where she sat and knelt in front of her, hoping that if I stayed low I wouldn’t startle her any more than I already had.

“No-no I’m sorry little mate, please don’t cry...I can’t stand to see you cry” I whispered as quiet as I could, as if my voice alone would scare her. I slowly reached out and took her hand in mine, loving how the sparks were still there between us. Sparks were a good sign, it meant I hadn’t scared her so much that she had rejected me and the mate bond. “I’m so sorry I upset you my little mate, I just...I want to know your name so bad and not knowing it is killing me, me and my wolf” I muttered as I held her hand in mine.

She looked at me in confusion before scrunching her nose up slightly and looked off into the distance, as if she was concentrating on something. I wonder what was going through that pretty little head of hers? She was gone for a few seconds but when she came back she looked like she had made her mind up about something because just when I was about to ask her if she was okay she opened her mouth and I heard the most beautiful voice I could have ever imagined.

“A-Annabelle” she stuttered, as if she wasn’t used to talking.

“Annabelle” I breathed as my face produced a smile so big it probably looked like it was splitting my face. “I was right, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl”.

She slight blush appeared on her pale skin before she looked down and slightly to the right of me, trying to hide her reaction, but I gently took her chin in my hand as delicately as I could and turned her face so I could look at her, I could look at her face all day.