CHAPTER 3: Refugee

CHAPTER 3: Refugee

There's another ache in my body that I try to ignore the whole morning. The man who bought us here, Darius, he's the Beta of the pack, the second hand to the Alpha. He takes us to his home which is right around the corner of the street.

"My sister, Ally, she'll help you settle in." Darius informs us, opening the front door. "If you need anything, you can let us know. There's a guest room in the basement, that's where you can settle."

I step inside and Henry goes first, so curious to know where we have ended up. I meet with a woman who comes from a hallway and she greets me.

"You're Aria?" she questions, and I nod at that. The woman smiles, gesturing towards the hallway where a flight of stairs leads to the basement.

"I'll have to go back," The man says to her a whisper but loud enough to hear. "Keep them. Make sure they don't leave. I'll come back and check on things later."

I notice her nodding and then the man is leaving again. When she looks back at me and notices me looking, she quickly changes the topic. "You must be tired. The guest room doesn't get much sunlight in the day, so you can rest for as long as you want."

"Thank you."

She takes us down the stairs and into the basement where the room is. There's a bed on one corner and another sofa on the other, but enough space to settle in. The only window that's there is at the top, with barely any sunlight seeping in.

I settle Henry in first, making sure he is comfortable before anything else.

The woman, Ally, she leaves us alone for a bit, saying that she'll go bring some fresh water for both of us.

"Will we be staying here?" Henry asks once he's under the sheets.

"For a while. Yes."

Henry yawns, stretching. "Dad won't find us here?"

I shake my head, "No, I doubt he can find us here. I think we're far enough from his reach. Don't worry."

"Okay." He mumbles.

His eyes start to droop and soon enough he's sleeping again. After all, he barely got any sleep. I cannot even remember how much of time passed before we were discovered by the wolves. Henry was already awake when I woke up—he must've felt so scared and terrified.

He doesn't understand anything yet. He's still so young.

There's a knock on the door and I quickly get up from the bed before heading to the door. Ally returns with a bottle of water and a couple of glasses.

I keep them inside before stepping out.

"Thank you so much. For letting us stay," I thank her. "I mean—"

"Oh no," Ally waves it away. "Don't. There are so many times in the past when we have housed wolves in our home. I don't mind at all." She gives me another smile, a wider one.

I can't help but feel a tad relief at this. At least, I feel somewhat safe.

"Darius didn't tell me much, but you can tell me about it if you'd like. I have made some breakfast if you'd care to eat something." Her voice sounds kind, and there's an expression on her face that shows it too. Her features are warm.

My stomach grumbles at the idea of food, but there's also a tugging at my chest, reminding me of what happened earlier.

"That would be great," I smile at her.

She takes me back up the stairs and into the kitchen near the living room. There's no one else, and the place seems almost quiet. I can only hear birds from outside and the faint rustling of leaves in the wind.

Until another woman comes in.

"Oh, that's Melinda. She works in the mornings. We have her here all days." Ally introduces us.

"Morning," Melinda greets us, taking some dishes from the cabinet.

"Why don't you take a little break? We'll be fine for now." She says to her while taking the dishes from her.

The woman is gone as quick as she comes in. I sit down on the table, near the counter, watching her plate some things on the table.

It looks good, and my mouth is almost salivating at it. The aroma of food reminds me that we barely had something on our drive. Last night was a blur to me and everything else.

"Now," she pushes the plate forward. "If I have to guess, you're running from someone, right?"

"My father, yes." I take the first bite and savor the taste. "He's—he's a hunter."

"A werewolf hunter."

"Yes,"

"Well, that isn't unheard of. What's your last name again?" she asks, pulling up a stool and taking the seat near me.

"Reid." I take the glass of water in my hand and drink. I almost drink the whole glass because I'm that thirsty.

She's silent, and when I look up from the food, her eyes are on me, contemplating and wondering. There's no hiding that I have heard of this before, the people who know my last name and their expressions when they realize I belong to one of the Reid's. I've heard so many stories from Dad, the people he has hunted and killed. They were all wolves.

"Reid? As in Thomas Reid? Is that your father?"

"You know of him?"

"Only the rumors, a few things," she sighs. "We keep tracks of hunters near to us." she pauses, and there's a frown between her brows. "How is it that his kids turn out to be werewolves? I didn't take him for a sympathizer."

My appetite leaves me when I remember my mother.

"I'm not sure." It's the honest truth and it's the only thing I know. How Mom and him ever got married is a mystery. "He never really explained, nor does he ever mention it anymore. Not since—since my Mom died."

There's another frown and Ally is looking at the glass in front of me. "And she was a wolf, your mother? Where was she from, a pack?"

"No, she was a lone-wolf. She told me so herself all her life."

"Were they mates by any chance?"

And there it comes again—mate.

"What does that mean?" The words fall out of me and the curiosity in my voice doesn't fail to hide.

"It means when a wolf is fated to another. They are formed in a pair, together forever. Mates are bonded together by the Moon Goddess. It's almost like finding your other half. When a wolf does, there's nothing that can break it. But sometimes a wolf does not find another. When they do, it is very rare for that mate to be a human."

That's what it is. I'm the alpha's mate.

Wait.

"I didn't know that." I admit and she smiles at me.

"Well, now that you do. It's alright. I can understand why you wouldn't know such things. You didn't grow up in a pack, or among wolves."

I stop eating entirely. I'm curious now. "So, how can you tell if you have one?" I don't want it to come off too eager or sound too pushy, so I simply just ask, as if out of pure curiosity.

"It's different for every wolf. Some say the connection you have is immediate. Like a spark. Some say it's the intensity when their eyes lock with each other. Some say that it's the scent that their partner gives. It's not known until it is found and there's nothing definite to prove that theory either. It just depends."

"Right."

"Do you think your mother was his mate?"

"No," I say a bit too quickly. "No, I don't think it was like that. She never told me if she was."

If anything, he killed her. I don't even want to think of him.

Ally continues to smile and I keep my head low.

My thoughts quickly shift to earlier. It could be that I'm way too exhausted, but my brain doesn't forget anything.

He rejected me? That man, he was my mate?

"What happens if you don't want a mate? Is that a possibility?" I blurt out and immediately regret asking it. I bite the insides of my mouth and curse myself.

"Yeah, there's always that possibility. Sometimes some people don't end up liking each other so they reject the mate bond, and when they do, it severs and breaks completely. Then, you can take any other wolf as a mate, if you still want someone else."

Rejected.

I had been rejected without even knowing.