Chapter 5

She doesn't move, doesn't even acknowledge my questions. At this point, I’m unsure if she’s so dead-set on ignoring me hoping I will leave once I’m bored, or if she genuinely doesn’t understand a single word I say. "Do you know what mates are?" I ask her, but once again, I get no reply. It takes half an hour before I hear movement outside the cave, before Colten’s scent wafts to me. He steps into the cave, and she jumps to her feet, moving farther back till she hits the cave wall. I put my hand up, telling her to calm down. "Just a pack member, he won't come near you," I reassure her. Colten slowly steps in, walking over to me. His eyes dart between the she-wolf and me as he hands me a waterproof bag. He pushes his dark hair back that sits on his shoulders, dripping wet. "What's with her?" He asks, curiosity lacing his words. "She is my mate," I reply. While I open the bag he brought me, Colten’s mouth falls open in utter shock and disbelief. "What? But-?" He doesn't finish. "I don't understand it either,” I glance at him as I speak. “But Donnie is adamant, and I can feel the pull to her." "Why is she over there, then?" He asks, glancing in her direction. My little mate growls the moment she notices his foreign pair of eyes watching her. This mess is confusing for all of us. Colten can’t understand why my mate isn’t all over me, she can’t understand why we’re here, and I, for the life of me, can’t understand how this is possible. Before my mind creates more questions, I remind myself that Colten still expects an answer, so I clear my throat. "Rogues had her tied to a tree," I tell him, and he nods. We both know that can’t have meant anything good for her. "Yeah, I saw the chain earlier. There are bolt cutters in there too. I thought you might find them useful.” Colten glances at the bag in my hands and nervously switches his weight from one leg to the other. He brings his hand to the back of his neck and scratches it. “Alpha, do you mind if I leave for a few days? I want to…" I know where this is going, so I cut him off and speak up. "Just go. I already know. Clay already asked. You want to go look with them. Just go," I order. Colten glances at the gray she-wolf as if he’s trying to figure out if she’s any danger to the pack and me, and nods. "I will see you in a few days," he promises before walking out of the cave and stepping through the water. Slowly, I sit back down. To my surprise, so does she after a while, when she realizes Colten isn't coming back. "Hungry?" I ask, rummaging through the bag. I pull out some sandwiches and some apples. I can’t offer her a feast in a cave, but some food is better than none at all. Besides, I don’t know what the rogues fed her, if they fed her at all, so something simple for me could be a luxury for her. She doesn't move, just stares. I stand up, moving toward her, intent on sharing the food one of my pack members brought. Goddess only knows when the last time this poor thing ate. However, once I get a little closer, she growls, making me stop. I toss the shirt at her, hoping she will slowly warm up to me. However, as the shirt lands next to her paws, she jumps back like I threw a grenade at her. Her eyes stay focused on me as she sniffs it. The shirt has Colton's scent, so I know it is one of his. "Sandwich," I tell her, tossing the zip-lock bag to her. I hate how the only way to ensure she is fed and dressed is to toss everything at her like she’s some wild dog. The gray wolf is my mate. As crazy as it sounds, she is my second chance, and I don’t want to come across like some tyrant who will hold her chained to a tree like those monsters did. A loud, frustrated sigh leaves my lips when she doesn't move toward it. I get it, she’s scared and confused, but she needs food. She can’t starve herself just because she doesn’t trust me yet. "Do you like apples?" I ask her. Since she doesn’t react to anything I say or ask, I just roll the fruit to her. With every passing minute, I become more frustrated by the dead-end situation. Hours pass, and she never shifts or eats. In fact, she barely moves at all. I rest my head back on the cave wall to force myself to sleep. My eyes burn from exhaustion, even when I force them closed. However, that is when I hear something. My eyes fly open to find her wolf eating the apple. The animal is skillfully using her paw to hold it still as she chews on it. I can only assume she’s used to consuming food only while she’s in her wolf form, but the view makes me smile. I close my eyes again, resting, her scent overloads my senses, and I relax. The tension slowly leaves my body and mind. I must have dozed off because I woke up to the noise of a rock rolling on the ground. My eyes snap open. She must have kicked it because she froze in front of me. She is trying to sneak past me while I sleep, her tail is tucked between her legs, and her paw hangs in the air like she is too scared to move. She is within arm’s reach, yet her heart pounding in her chest makes me remain still. “I can take the chain off,” I point my finger at the heavy-looking object as I offer my help. She has picked it up and is holding it in her mouth. To be completely honest, holding that thing looks rather hard. It’s heavy and rough, so her jaw has to burn like a bitch. I know the weight of it must be making her neck ache. “I will get something out of the bag. It’s something that will break the chain. I didn’t come here to hurt you, don’t be scared.” I explain as I reach for the bag slowly. Her eyes follow my every move as she drops the chain. It hits the ground, and the sound of the metal colliding with it echoes off the cave’s walls. This is the exact moment I realize how right I am - the chain is too heavy. The weight is hurting her. She keeps her head low to stop the strain. I grab the bolt cutters out of the bag, and she suddenly growls, stepping back. There it is. I found another trigger. I put my hands up in surrender. “Listen, this will cut the chain. I can take it off for you, or give it to you. But you will need to shift to use them. The choice is yours.” I move forward, but she moves back. I risk taking another step toward her, but the same thing happens, so I sigh before tossing them near her feet. She uses her nose, pulling them toward her before picking them up in her mouth and moving away to the corner. She shifts, but stays crouched, using her long hair as a veil to cover her body from me. At this point, I’m not even interested in her body, all I want is to rid her of that hideous chain. I watch her struggle, trying to get at the chain under her chin. She doesn’t want my help. I don’t blame her. There is a long bridge of distrust between us, but I can’t just stand aside and keep watching as if this matter doesn’t concern me. “I can help you if you let me,” I tell her, but she growls at me again. Is that the only language she knows? She glances at me through her hair. It’s barely a second that our eyes meet, but it’s almost enough to distract me. I hear the clink of the chain as it hits the ground before she shifts back so quickly that I almost miss it. I growl, annoyed. She hasn’t said one word, not even her name, and hasn’t acknowledged I am her mate. How hard is it for her to say one damn word? Just one. I have a life of my own, without her in it. I can’t forget who I am just because someone is so fucking unreasonably scared of me without a goddamn reason! So far, I have done everything to prove I am no threat. I got her out of that camp, offered clothes, fed her, and even gave her the tool that rids her of that awful chain. And this is what I get? Growls and attacks? Fuck this shit. “Can you speak or something?” I snap, annoyed that she would just shift back. Donnie snarls at me for snapping at her. Now I have two damn animals growling at me. “Fine, I don’t need you.” I mutter under my breath and wave her off. “I have sat here for hours, and you still don’t speak.” Getting to my feet I stretch, I've hit my limit. She growls and steps back, but I ignore her. Guess what, princess? That behavior and attitude doesn't surprise me anymore, and I am not affected by that crap. I leave the cave and step through the waterfall. Donnie is fighting for control, desperate to go back, but I refuse to sit in a cave and wait for her. “Go back, Andrei. I want her,” Donnie whines. However, even if we have found our second chance, I can’t allow him to obsess over her. She doesn’t even acknowledge us as her mates. “Well, she doesn’t want us, so I am done. I am not forcing her back with us. We can’t force anyone, even our mate, to love us,” I snap at him as I climb out of the water. I storm home, as irritated as ever. What annoys me, even more, is that I can feel myself being pulled back to her. My mind refuses to leave her, and I curse out loud before turning back around, only to stop when I find her behind me. She follows behind at a safe distance. I gape at her, caught off guard, completely speechless. Donnie, however, is excitedly bouncing around in my head. He is overjoyed that she is following, despite the fact that she freezes the moment I spin around. “Stay close. There are traps set in this area,” I hum, turning back around and I stride toward the pack. She follows, sniffing everything she comes across. However, she keeps a safe distance away from me, definitely not close enough for me to reach out and touch her. As soon as I step out of the tree line, she pauses again. She does her best to stay within the trees as if the brown and green mass can hide her little gray body. She’s not completely wrong, she would be noticed only by someone who knows where to look. I sigh and shake my head, unsure if this show is worth it. Donnie is set on repeating how worth the struggle she is, but quite frankly, I’m over it. Yes, I’m a little stupidly excited that she is following us, but her behavior doesn’t please me. “Are you coming?” I ask her. It would be so much easier to deal with her if she would just shift. Then, I can talk to her, but she doesn't. I almost feel like she is staying in her wolf form on purpose. Why is she so adamant about avoiding shifting to her human form? “Maybe if we can get her inside, we can ask Kat to come to see her. She will be able to mind-link her, get in her head,” Donnie suggests, and I nod to him. But now, the tricky part, trying to coax her into the house.