RIA'S POV
Darkness enclose me. The kind that comes in the form of sleep but wants to drown you. I fight it.
I push, reach up and claw my way out. In that instance, I feel firm and warm hands close around mine. It pulls me up and my eyes open.
The first thing that hits me is the bright light from a window covered with white curtains.
I squeeze my eyes shut and turn my face away to be sure that I am not dreaming.
Breathe. I breathe.
The air fills my lungs. At once I'm aware of my surroundings. This is strange. The room smells of pine and leather like the inside of a forest after rainfall.
I open my eyes slowly as I stare up at the ceiling above me that is made of smooth stone. I turn my head to see a soft white blanket covering me to my chin. I'm lying on a real bed. A real one, with a mattress that supports my weight instead of the hard ground I used to sleep.
I push myself up as pain shoots through my left side.
Ah…
Instinctively, my hand flies to my ribs to find a clean and tight bandage wrapped around me. I pressed gently, wincing. Someone had tended to me.
Where am I? I breathe slowly, trying to calm myself.
The memories come rushing back piece by piece.
I remember I was at the execution ground then an arrow struck Garrett, then my escape, and how I ran until my wolf became awake and how my lungs were two fists of fire in my chest and then I passed out.
So they caught me. They had brought me back and they are waiting for me to wake up properly so they could drag me back to that post and this time make sure…
I am out of the bed before I finish the thought.
I ignored the pain pulling at my side and touched the floor. I tiptoe across the room in quick steps with my eyes fixed on the door.
"You are already planning an escape and you have been awake for less than a minute."
I freeze.
The voice comes from behind me. A soft, husky and calm voice that didn't need to be loud to fill an entire room.
I close my eyes.
Busted!
No. No, no, no.
I shut my lips tightly, breathed once through my nose, and turn around.
He is sitting in a chair on the far side of the room with both arms resting on the armrests. He watches me with the particular stillness of someone who had all the time in the world. One ankle crosses over his knee. I had not seen him when I woke up.
How did I not see him?
How was I so lost in my thoughts that I did not notice the presence of the gods in the form of a handsome man in the room?
My eyes move over his short, dark hair, that has a slight wave to it that made my fingers itch to run my hands through it. His jaw is sharp enough to cut glass. The moon goddess settled down to sculpt this one.
Dayum! The chest is bare. It's hard to forget the defined lines of his abs. His arms are crossed now.
But it is his eyes that stops me. I have never seen such icy blue eyes like an ocean that makes me want to drown in them. They're fixed on me with so much attention that I feel it like a hand pressed flat against my sternum.
I realize my mouth is open then I close it.
"Are you finished," he asks. The corner of his mouth lifts slightly, "...or would you like me to stand up so you can get the full view?"
Heat rushes to my face from my chin.
"I was not…"l clear my dry throat. "I wasn't… I don't know what you're talking about."
"Mm." He tilts his head slightly. He plasters a barely noticeable quirk on his face.
I pull myself together and straighten my shoulders. This pulls at my injured side and ruins the effect entirely.
"Where am I?" I ask. "Who are you and how…?" I gestured to the bed,"...did I find myself here?"
He uncrosses his ankle and sits forward while resting his forearms on his knees.
"My name is Zac Arden," he said. "You are in White Fang territory."
White Fang.
I widen my eyes. White Fang? The enemy's territory? Oh no!
There's no way I'm safe. I had just run straight from one execution into the arms of a pack that had every reason to hand me back or finish what Black Hallow had started, and he sits there telling me I am safe like the word means nothing.
"You're frightened."
I blinked. "I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to." He watched me without moving. "Your breathing changed and your hands are shaking."
I look down, truly they are. I curl them into fists at my sides.
"I'm fine," I said.
"You collapsed at my border with an arrow wound in your side so I brought you here" His voice didn't change. "You are not strong enough just yet but you are alive, and that's all that matters. That is what I am telling you."
"Why?" The word came out sharper than I meant it to. "Why would you, despite knowing that I'm from Black Hallow. We both know that your pack and mine are not…"
"I know where you're from." He stood up.
He is standing now. He moves across the room in deliberate strides and stops a few feet away from the end of the bed… far enough to leave space between us and so close enough that I could see the exact shade of his eyes.
His eyes linger at me for a long moment without speaking.
Then he said, "I found you on my patrol. You were unconscious and bleeding. I brought you back and had my healer tend to you. That is why you are here."
I search his face for the catch and find nothing.
"No one helps for free," I said quietly.
"No," he agreed. "Not usually."
He was quiet for a moment. He looks down then he looks back up.
"There is something I need to tell you." He sounds serious. "And I need you to hear it before you decide to run through that door again."
My spine stiffened. "I wasn't running."
"You were." He almost smiled again. Then it was gone. "Sit down."
"I'd rather stand."
"Then stand." He exhaled slowly. "The moment I saw you lying there at the border," He moved his jaw. "My wolf recognized you before I understood what was happening.
The room went very quiet.
I could hear my own heartbeat.
"I don't…" I started.
"You are my mate." He said it like it was a fact he had already made peace with. "The moon goddess brought you to me. I don't know why, or what you were running from. But I know what I felt and I know what it means."
I stand still.
"I don't feel it," I whisper.
"I know." His voice was gentle. "That doesn't change what it is."
"I don't…" I press my hand over my mouth for a moment and steady myself. "I don't know you. I don't know this place. Three days ago I was in a cell waiting to be killed for something I didn't do and I…" My eyes burn. I refuse to cry. "I can't. Whatever you think this is, I can't."
He does not move.
"You don't have to feel anything right now. You don't have to decide anything. You just have to let me keep you alive. Can you do that?"
I do not answer.
I am still afraid. I do not trust him but I have nowhere else to go.
Just then the door opens.
A young woman with platinum-blonde hair walks in. She is beautiful in a way that draws attention immediately. Her hazel eyes moved from Zac to me in one smooth sweep.
"Zac," she calls sweetly. "The Council is asking for you." Her gaze slid to me again, as she studied me. "They heard about our...guest."
The way she said the 'guest' made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Zac turns. Whatever warmth that I had seen in his face a moment ago had disappeared.
"I'll be there shortly," he says.
"Of course." She replies. "Don't be long."
I look at Zac.
He is already looking at me.
"What is she talking about?" I ask.