03

My mate stirs from her sleep and I slowly move closer to her, attempting not to let her feel startled. When she sees me standing by the door she sits up from the sheets in fear and pushes herself into the headboard.

"Hey, hey hey!" I say quietly. "It's okay."

Her head shakes vigorously at me, her body shaking again.

She's awake. I mindlink Lucy.

On my way.

"I'm not going to hurt you." My eyes plead with hers but I knew that my words were no use, she wasn't going to believe me right now.

A million different scenarios run through my head with the things that she could have been through. How could they make someone feel so terrified of life, of other people?

Lucy approaches the room quietly but my mate still jumps at her entrance, her eyes flicking between the both of us.

"Hi," Lucy says gently as she smiles down to her and stands beside me. "Whats your name?" Lucy asks as she approaches the bed.

My mates eyes cloud with fear and I watch as she bites her lip, hard enough to draw blood.

"I'm Lucy," She introduces herself as she presses her hand to her chest. "And this is Jaxon." Lucy turns to me.

I don't take my eyes off her, the fear in her face making me feel sick to my stomach.

"Whats your name?" Lucy asks again and moves closer to her.

She holds her hands up to defend herself and lets out a shaky breath. "It's Ava," her voice is croaky and quiet. "Just p-please don't hurt me!"

"We would never hurt you Ava." Lucy's tone dips quietly.

Ava's eyes soften at Lucy's voice, the presence of a woman is probably calming her down.

"We want to help you," she says.

I shuffle my body closer towards Ava slightly, her head whips to me and she backs up into the headboard even more. "It's okay," I say as I stupidly reach for her.

Her eyes widen and she leaps over the bed and straight into the bedside table, the lamp crashing onto the floor with a loud thud. Everything happened so fast that I could barely register what just happened.

"Jesus, Jaxon!" Lucy shouts at me as she runs over to Ava.

I quickly follow her steps and my eyes study my mates frame as she lays on the floor, she's crying again and I feel like the worst person in the world. She didn't trust me, I shouldn't have made any move to try and touch her.

"Please don't try to run Ava," Lucy says desperately. "It will only make things worse, we aren't the bad guys."

"I don't believe you!" She snarls out my sister, fear etching in her skin. She swipes her hand out and attempts to stand up but I grab her wrists and restrain her.

"Get off me!" She cries out and my heart breaks at the sight of her discomfort.

"I can't," I say over her distressed groans as she tries to fight me off. "You're going to hurt yourself."

She twists and turns under me, her whole face turning red as she struggles. I look into her dark brown eyes and the tears that slipped down her face, they never stopped.

Her arms press against mine in an attempt to get away from me again but her strength has nothing on mine. "Lucy, please put her to sleep. She is gonna hurt herself again." I say desperately, not knowing what else to do.

Lucy nods at my words, I wish I knew how to deal with this situation better but I had no other choice. She closes her eyes and I watch as my mate soon relaxes onto the floor.

I scoop her up in my arms and place her back down on the bed gently. A deep sigh leaves my lips as I stare down to her body, I glance at Lucy and she offers me a small smile.

"You shouldn't restrain her like that, she obviously has a big problem with being touched." She tells me.

I wanted to scream at her but I stop myself. "What do you want me to do Lucy? If I don't restrain her she'll run out into the woods again and I'll never be able to find her!" I hiss out.

"By restraining her you're not going to earn her trust, you need to set limits and boundaries. Get her to start feeling comfortable." She folds her arms over her chest, she's so much better in situations like this than I am. She thinks logically, I just panic.

"I know I do," I say to her.

Lucy closes her eyes for a brief moment and sighs. "I also think you need to remember that she isn't Julia and she never is going to be."

I narrow my eyes at my sister in a deathly glare. "Don't you think I know that?" I say through gritted teeth.

"I just don't want you to hurt her, she isn't stable." She says sternly.

"How could you think I'd hurt my own mate?" I say as I shake my head disbelief.

"Not physically Jaxon, emotionally. You might not be ready for a new relationship, you and Julia loved each other. I know that you still love her, but Ava she nee—" I cut her off before she finished.

"Stop!" I yell through my alpha-tone which makes my sister flinch slightly.

"When life gives you second chances, you don't take it for granted. I'm gonna find out what happened to that girl and I'm gonna show her a good life Lucy, whether it kills me or not." My voice states.

I could hear Lucy's thoughts in the air, questioning why I was so willing to be nice to this girl when I hadn't even had a proper conversation with her. But when you feel the mate bond between you, there isn't any point in trying to explain because the feelings are too strong to describe.

I've always believed in the saying, everything happens for a reason. And no matter how horrible the event or outcome is, I still live by this.

"And how are you gonna do that, when she practically shakes at the sight of you?" She shakes her head at me slightly. "It's going to take her days if not weeks to open up!"

"I want you to help me," I tell her.

Lucy's eyebrows furrow. "Huh?"

"Show me what she's been through."

"Nope, no way. You're on your own with this one." She says as she begins to walk out the door.

Along with Lucy's healing powers, she can see into a persons past. Her powers are beyond amazing and I'm jealous that she has inherited something so powerful. Our mother has powers very similar, except I didn't inherit anything. Only my dads Alpha title.

"Lucy, please." I beg.

"Do you know how wrong that is Jaxon? The things she has been through isn't any of our business, we're doing this unethically." She tells me.

"You're right, it might take weeks to get her to open up to us but what if she's in danger? What if someone is looking for her? We are putting our whole pack, ourselves and her at risk. I'm not asking to know everything, I just want to know where she's come from and if she's in danger." I say as I let my tone drop.

She turns back to me slowly and she sighs. Running a hand through her hair, I can sense she is debating her options.

"Please," I say again.

"I can't always control the things I see Jaxon, what if I see something that I shouldn't have? It's not fair." Lucy's eyes flick between mine with worry.

"I know but you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, okay? I want to be as respectful as possible to her, I just want to know who the hell has done this to her. We'll gain her trust after." I nod towards my sister.

Lucy nibbles her lip as she decides. "Okay," she says eventually and lips twitch into an appreciated smile. "But I'm not explaining this to her or how you know, that's all on you." She says as she narrows her eyes at me.

"That's fine with me,"

She sits down on the bed and holds my mates hands between hers and closes her eyes.