Healing His Mate

Aaron POV

My eyes open in shock and I struggle to slow my breathing. I’m still clutching Aaliyah in my arms on our bed.

“Aaron?” Ivy asks, worried.

Ignoring her question, I sit up straight against the headboard. I rub my thumbs over my angel’s cheeks as I wait for her to open her eyes.

“Come on, angel,” I coo to her, hoping she’ll open her eyes again. I carried her through that door. I know she trusts me. Now I just need her to wake up.

“Aaron, did you get her to come out? Did she choose it?” Ivy questions.

“I got her through the door,” I say, bypassing the question. She trusted me to carry her out, but I’m not actually sure it would be considered her choice.

It didn’t matter though. I wasn’t going to leave her there.

Kiba growls deeply as the memories of what I saw in her mind flashes over my vision. The anger I felt as I watched that doctor cut into rolls through my skin. Kiba pushes at me to shift so we can go hunt down that doctor.

No, I growl out before ordering him to back down, Our mate needs us now. We will hunt down the doctor later.

Aaliyah’s whimpers breaks my conversation with my wolf. I focus my attention back down on to her.

“Angel,” I try again.

No, I hear her soft whine in my head.

“It’s okay, angel. You’re safe now. Just open yours eyes,” I move to touch her cheek once more when her eyes snap open.

The next second feels like an eternity as I watch terror flood her deep chocolate irises.

She pushes against my chest, fighting against my hold.

No! She yells in her head.

I keep my arms tight around her, but the more she fights my hold, the more I start to worry if I’m hurting her.

“Angel, it’s me. You’re safe,” I tell her.

No! Let me go! Let me go!

You’re safe, I try again over our bond. I’m hoping since she’s not blocking me from hearing her, she’ll let me in.

She shakes her head adamantly, No. He’s not real. He’s lying. I’m never safe. Never safe.

“Oh angel,” I breath out as I feel tears start to push at my eyes. I kiss her forehead and pull her into my chest, resting my chin on top of her head, “I’ve never lied to you. I’ll never lie to you. You are safe.”

She pushes against my hold again, Don’t trust him. He’s not on my side.

I open my mouth to refute, but nothing comes out. I don’t know how to reach her. She’s withdrawing more into herself every moment and I don’t know how to connect with my mate to bring her back to me.

I may have woken her up from the sharing, but did I truly bring her back to me?

I see my mom move out of the corner of my eye, “Aaliyah, you’re safe here.”

She moves closer, but the second she comes into view of my mate, Aaliyah starts to screech.

Her screams tear into me as she tries to force her body to be as far away from my mother as possible. My dad pulls mom back from us and I repeat small shushing sounds in Aaliyah’s ear to calm her.

The closer I hold her though, the more she fights me, repeating in her mind that I’m not trustworthy and that she’s not safe.

I look over to my father, What do I do?

The look he gives me in return is full of pity and sadness, The only thing you can. Bring her back.

I don’t know how, I crack. Kiba whines as he tries to reach Aiya, but she’s receding back into Aaliyah’s mind to hide once more, I don’t know what to do.

I look to the people in the room for the answers, but I know they don’t have them. There is no answer.

My mate is breaking in front of me, and only I can put her back together.

If only I knew how to do it.

Ivy shuffles my parents out of the room as I try to keep Aaliyah calm, but every movement she catches or sound that reaches her ears has her flinching. She wants to hide herself away like she had done in the lab, but I can't allow her to do it. If she retreats completely, I might lose her forever.

Can you reach Aiya? I ask Kiba.

He whines into my head, She's so far away. I can feel her slipping away.

I feel his pain radiate through my body as images of her torture flow past my mind.

Hunt down the hunters. Kill them all, Kiba growls and I agree completely with him.

The images get more violent and Aaliyah cries out in my arms. Realization falls over me as I figure out the images aren't from what I saw. She's sending them over the bond.

I'm not sure if she is trying to connect to me or not, but I want to erase the memories.

"Angel," I kiss her forehead, "You aren't at the lab. I'm not a hunter."

Trick, she thinks out.

"It's not a trick. I'm not a hunter. I'm a shifter," I inform her, "You're my mate."

No. No. No. Not mate. Aiya would tell me. He's not safe.

I am your mate, angel, I try over the bond, I love you, Aaliyah.

She stays silent. I pray to the moon goddess that she could hear me. I pray that she let me in.

"I know you are struggling right now, but I'm here and I'm not going to leave you. I will protect you," I promise her again.

I feel as if I have made the same promise to her over and over again, but it doesn't matter. I will promise her every day for the rest of our lives to protect her if that's what it takes for her to feel safe. I will never let her go, I will never cause her harm, and I will never break that promise.

Aaliyah falls back asleep soon after. I search her mind and send small, peaceful thoughts into her head. I know she needs her rest, but I refuse to let her be trapped in her nightmares.

Softly clicking the bedroom door shut behind me, I look over to see my dad and Ivy waiting for me.

"What happened?" I turn and ask Ivy, "She came with me. She chose to come back to me, but it's like she doesn't even know who I am."

"I told you that even if you got her to leave her mind of her own will that her mind might still break. The torture she endured is fresh for her as if it was just happening. It was a miracle her mind was still intake the first time she escaped."

"So what can I do? How do I get her to remember me?" I ask her, desperate for a solution.

"Same way you got her to open up the first time," my dad suggests, "Patience is all you can have right now."

"Patience," I scoff, feeling Kiba hate the idea just as much as I do, "Kiba can't feel Aiya anymore. If it takes too long, I might not be able to get either of them back. I-"

My words leave me as a strange tingling floats over my body. I feel my eyes start to blur as my mind is pulled away from me.

When my sight clears, I take in the surroundings.

I'm standing in the bathroom of my bedroom, staring down at the sink. I feel my body shaking uncontrollably as tears flow like a river down my face. I catch the glint of silver within my fingers.

Pulling a wobbling hand toward my arm, I try to press the razor against the inside of my wrists. My hands are shaking so hard, the metal slips through my fingers and bounces into the sink.

More tears spill out as my head moves up and I stare at my reflection in the mirror before me.

But it's not me standing there.

Aaliyah.

I feel my mind yank back and my mind shifts back to my head. I open my eyes in shock, "Aaliyah!"

No thoughts float in my head as my body moves on it's own. I'm barreling into the room and shatter through the bathroom door before the thoughts of reaching my mate even register.

"Aaliyah!" I yell out, sweeping my mate back from the sink. I grab her hand into mine and peel the razor away from fingers.

I throw the piece of metal as far as I can before cuddling my mate tight against my chest. She's crying into my shirt, her whines sounding like screams to my heart.

No! Let me go! Just let me die! She yells out.

"No, angel. Never."

Ivy and my dad break into the room and take in the scene. Questions flood over both their eyes as they realize that I knew.

"Aaron, how did you know?" Ivy asks.

"I don't know," I whisper, "I don't know."