05

I watch Lucy intently as she reads into Ava's past. Her facial expressions are hard to read and it worries me how long she's been taking.

Suddenly Lucy's eyes widen and she gasps for air. Her breathing is quick and uneven like she's going to have a panic attack. Never in my twenty four years of living have I ever witnessed Lucy have a panic attack.

"Hey, hey!" I shout resting my hands on her shoulders to calm her down.

Seb, Lucy needs you. I mindlink quickly.

"Lucy you need to calm down, take deep breaths!" I say as I watch her eyes water and tears stream down her face.

Her breathing doesn't slow and I know all she needs right now is her mate. "It's okay Lucy, I've got you and Seb is coming." I say as calmly as possible.

The door opens quickly and Sebastian steps inside. "What's going on?" He demands as he rushes to her side.

He wraps his arms protectively around her and gently stokes her hair. "It's okay Lucy, I'm here. Nothing is gonna happen to you."

Lucy continues to hyperventilate, never being able to catch her breath. It suddenly dawns on me that whatever Lucy is panicking about, is what Ava has gone through.

I struggle to swallow the lump in my throat. Lucy's breathing eventually slows and she grips onto her mate for comfort and support.

"Are you okay?" I ask Lucy as she lifts her head from Sebastians chest.

She nods slowly and wipes a few stray tears from her face. "What happened? Did you look into her past?" Sebastian asks his voice sounding rushed.

Lucy purses her lips and sighs heavily. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I didn't mean to panic it literally just came over me." She lets out a shaky breath. "Ava must get panic attacks because you know sometimes peoples memories can affect me."

I nod at my sister whilst she turns her attention back to her mate. "Jaxon wanted me to see into Ava's past an—" she cuts herself off as she thinks, her eyes tearing up again.

"I'm sorry." She says looking down to her lap, her voice quivers. Sebastian pulls her into him again and rests his head on top of hers.

"You're safe." He coos her.

Lucy sniffles. "I know but I don't think she is." She cries motioning to Ava.

I feel goosebumps graze my skin. "What do you mean?" My voice coming across harshly.

Lucy's sad eyes finally meet mine.

"She's had a mate before Jaxon." Lucy's voice is cold. "And he was an Alpha."

I try to wrap my head around what she just said, she had another mate before me?

"What happened?" I ask instantly.

Lucy shakes her head. "I shouldn't have seen the things I saw, they were private. I tried so hard to control what I saw but I just couldn't."

"They abused her?" I question quietly.

Lucy's eyes find mine again and she nods slowly. "You're going to have to ask her what happened Jaxon, it's not fair that we just invade her memories like that."

She lets out a breath of air and I watch her puffy eyes dart around the room. "But it's a pack of men, they don't care about women. They're disgusting, vile pigs and deserve nothing but death."

Sebastians hand begins to run up and down her arm, comforting her. "It was horrible, that girl must be scarred for life." She says quietly and my eyes flicker over to my little mate on the bed. "I've never seen anything like it."

My heart aches at her pain and I want nothing more than to slowly torture each and every person who touched her, who hurt her.

"What's his name?" I ask.

"Lucien," she says just above a whisper.

I frown at his name. "Lets just say we've got a mission to fucking plan."

Lucy and I wait for Ava to wake up and this time attempt to be calmer and not make any sudden movements to scare her. I knew that I needed to be gentle and patient.

She sits up instantly and backs into the headboard, scurrying against the sheets. Her eyes struck with fear.

"Hey," Lucy says gently.

She reaches over to the bedside table, grabbing a bottle of water and hands it to Ava.

"Here you must be so thirsty," Lucy offers.

Ava shakes her head instantly. I can hear her thoughts loud and clear in my head, she thinks it's drugged.

"It's not drugged," I say taking the bottle out of my sisters hands then taking a big swig. "See?" I say looking into her brown eyes.

She thinks for a second before her little hand shakily reaches out for the bottle. I lengthen my arm to give it to her quicker.

"Have it," I say softly before smiling at her.

She hesitantly takes the bottle and puts the rim to her lips before gulping down all of the liquid.

"Do you want something to eat?" Lucy asks. Ava's eyes flicker over to my sister cautiously.

She nods slowly unsure whether or not we were being serious, it broke my heart to see how damaged she was.

"I'll go make you something," Lucy stands up and the fear is evident on Ava's face. She quickly shakes her head violently.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asks.

"D-don't leave me with him." Her eyes begin to water as she looks up to me.

My body aches at her words. I just wanted our bond to finally kick in so that she can begin to feel safe and comfortable around me.

"Ava," my sister says sitting back down on the bed. "I promise you, Jaxon isn't going to hurt you. He could never hurt you."

"She's right," I say. With what Lucy said earlier I'm not surprised she's scared to be alone with any men. "How about we keep the door wide open and I'll sit down on this chair over here?" I say pointing to the chair in the corner of the room.

Her eyes slowly trail to the chair and then back to Lucy, like she was looking for reassurance. "Everything will be okay, I'll be back in ten minutes."

Lucy slowly walks out of the room leaving the door to the room wide open. I move to the chair and lean forward resting my elbows on my knees.

I watch my mate as she shifts uncomfortably in the bed. "Once you've eaten, would you like to shower and get into some fresh clothes?" I ask and she plays with the hem of her dirty t-shirt.

I don't expect her to reply but she does. "Um, yes please." Her voice is as quiet as a mouse.

"How old are you Ava?" I question.

Her eyebrows furrow as she begins to think. "Twenty... I'm not sure." Her voice is shaking slightly.

"You're safe here, okay? They're not going to come for you, no one is going to hurt you." I say softly.

She flinches at my words. "How do you know about them?" Her voice is laced with worry. Then it's like something clicks in her brain as her mouth gapes open at me. "Do you know him?!"

"What? No, I just..." I trailed off. Fuck, I really had put my foot in this.

"You know him don't you?" She asks her breathing becoming heavier. Tear sprout out of her eyes uncontrollably. "He's coming..."

It takes every nerve in my body to stop me from getting up and comforting her but I know she needed the space. "No Ava, he's not coming you're safe here." I say in attempt to reassure her.

She jumps off the bed and heads towards the door in a scurry, I move quicker than I knew I could.

I gently grab her wrist to stop her from leaving. The feeling of purse ecstasy runs through my body at her touch. Her lips part and she slowly looks up to me. I know she felt that too.

"He isn't coming for you Ava, he doesn't know you're here. But I'm going to protect you, we're all going to protect you."

Her eyes search mine for a sense of meaning in my words, I can feel her skin tingle against mine. Blood rushing to my ears as I actually feel we are having a silent intimate moment.

"You know what mates are don't you?" I ask quietly and she slowly nods up to me.

She closes her eyes for a brief moment letting her breathing slow.

"I want you to understand that, yes there are bad people in the world. But not everyone is bad. Whatever your past mate did to you, I would never do to you." I say whispering down to her. "Just because he hurt you, doesn't mean I will. I want you to trust me."

Her eyes flicker between mine, they look sad and lost. Almost like she's trying to find hope in my words but can't quite reach it.

"Why are you doing this?" Her voice sounds stronger than before.

I offer her a small smile. "Because you're my mate, Ava."