Healing His Mate

Aaron POV

The shift in tension is palpable as we drive closer to the hunter laboratory. A few hours into the drive, I had received a call from my dad about Phoenix’s report. Putting him on speaker, he relayed to the three of us everything he knew had happened in the facility. He spared no details as he told us about the forced arena fights and the experiments that were performed. Phoenix was only there for a few months, but the things that he experienced made my stomach turn.

The worst part about it all is that we don’t know if every creature being held in the building escaped.

Pulling up to the burned down remains, I can smell the stench of smoke from inside the car. The attack was less than 24 hours ago and most of the building itself is gone. The fire isn’t burning anymore, but the dark smoke is still rising into the air.

“Do you think any of the hunters survived?” Thatcher questions out loud as we exit the car and take in the smoldering walls of the collapsing building.

“If they did and are stupid enough to be hanging around, they’ll wish they didn’t,” Zach mutters angrily, keeping his eyes on the bodies littering the ground between the building and the woods.

My heart breaks a little as I notice blood down their backs. They must have been shot trying to escape into the woods. They never had a chance.

“No,” I shake my head, “If we spot a hunter, we try to take them alive.”

“Are you serious?!” Zach growls low.

My growl is deep in my throat at his challenge towards my order. Zach lowers his head slightly in apology, feeling the alpha order rolling off me. I might not have taken the position yet, but I am still an alpha, “Unless a kill is necessary, we take prisoners. We need to know if there are any more facilities like this one.”

Both my betas nod in acceptance before we start towards what’s left of the building. There are a few of our pack trackers walking nearby to keep a lookout as a couple of our doctors follow a group to find any information left inside.

“Alpha, betas,” Mark, one of the trackers, addresses as we make our way over. Since I turned sixteen, most of the pack warriors have started to call me alpha as a sign of respect for the position I will eventually hold once I find my mate.

“Any survivors found?” I ask immediately.

He lowers his eyes as he shakes his head, “We found a few who were still breathing when we arrived, but they didn’t make it.”

I take a moment to accept this information.

“Most who were strong enough to escape probably made it out and left. Phoenix’s soul Ashlyn said that she saw shifters running towards the woods,” Thatcher adds his hopeful attempt that there were more than a handful of survivors, “If I had been trapped here, I would want to put as many miles as I could between myself and this building.”

Mark nods in understanding, “We have a few groups looking through the woods, but Alpha Jacob informed us that the hunters were working on a way to hide scents. We don’t want to spread out too far in case they are still around.”

Thatcher and Zach ask him more details about what the scouts have discovered so far, but my attention gets pulled away from the conversation. I feel a tug towards the trees near the building. My wolf, Kiba, pushes towards the front of my mind. Stepping away from the three men, I start to follow the pull in the direction of the woods.

“Aaron, what are you doing?” Thatcher asks behind me, but I ignore his question.

I can feel both Thatcher and Zach following me, but I don’t bother turning around.

My instincts are screaming at me to move into the woods. Moving deeper into the trees, I feel Kiba push to shift. My muscles tense as I halt in further movement.

What is it? I ask him, running through the scenarios of a hunter ambushing us.

It’s her, Kiba calls out excitedly, She’s close!

I’m about to ask him who she is when a breeze blows around me carrying a perfect scent. The smell of apples and caramel invade my senses.

It’s her.

Mate! Kiba screams repeatedly into my mind.

My body fills with excitement as I rush towards the scent. She’s so close, maybe a few miles out based on the faint scent, but she’s here. I’ve been waiting for years, and I’m finally going to meet her. I have been imagining this moment since my parents explained to me the story of how they met. I never would have pictured our meeting to be in hunter territory near a laboratory, but I didn’t care.

As long as I meet her.

I focus on the scent again as I continue following her trail when I smell something mixed with her perfection.

Blood.

Mate is hurt! Kiba screams out as he pushes me to shift.

I push him down as I break into a sprint towards her scent. I try not to think about why I can smell blood until I find her. If she’s hurt, I’ll get her help. I’ll get her back to the pack and mom can heal her. My mate is going to be fine. A whimper reaches my ears as I sprint around a large tree and halt my movements. Red clouds my vision as I take in the scene.

A man in a security uniform is standing over a small form. I can smell the scent of my mate as I spot the blood trailing on the ground below her.

Kiba completely takes over as I shift into my wolf and attack the hunter. He doesn’t even have time to react before I have his throat in my jaws. Pushing my claws into his chest, I tear into him from his heart to his stomach. He makes a squeak in noise before I clamp my jaws shut, the blood rushing into my mouth.

After a second, I feel him die. I throw him to the side before I make a move to my mate. I crawl towards her side and nudge my nose into the spot between her shoulder and neck.

I can feel the sparks of the mate bond as I connect with her skin, but she barely stirs. Her eyes remain closed as I lick her cheek softly and Kiba whimpers at her lack of response.

A twig snaps behind us. I jump up to stand over my injured mate and growl low at the threat.

Alpha, it’s alright. It’s just us, Zach tries to keep me calm as he talks to me through the mindlink, but I’m too far gone. I just found my mate and she needs me to protect her.

“She’s his mate,” Thatcher whispers out, shock clear in his tone. I growl low in warning again as he takes a step in our direction. I hear a few more people getting closer to us.

“Aaron, I can smell her blood,” Zach tries to reason with me, “She’s hurt. We need to get her help.”

I see two of the pack doctors from earlier make it near us and stand behind my betas, waiting for the signal that it is safe to approach. I growl at them to stay away. My mate is hurt. I will not allow anyone to come near her and hurt her again.

Another whimper reaches my ears. I feel my heart break at the soft sound as I look down at my broken mate. I can see blood soaking through her clothes on her side and leg. I move to curl my body around hers, but she still doesn’t open her eyes.

“Please, let us help her, Alpha,” Thatcher says calmly.

Looking up at him, I nod my head in agreement.

The pack doctors rush forward and start working on her wounds. I rest my head against her throat as I whimper softly for her to wake up.

She’s going to be okay, Kiba whines softly, We will make sure she is. We will keep her safe.