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Ian and I both ran towards the pack barriers, trying our best to follow Hannah's scent. She somehow managed to create an opening on the barrier and flee.

The moment the barrier was interrupted, I felt it and I'm pretty sure the other high ranking wolves were able to feel it too. Elliot and Sierra had immediately mind-linked me asking what was wrong as Ian and I left the banquet hall.

Elliot mentioned that he felt the barrier opening and I told him we'll check on it and at the same time assuring him that we didn't need any help.

'Is it rogues?' Sierra's voice rang out inside my head.

'You don't have to worry about anything, Sierra. Just enjoy the party.'

Ian, though, was running at full speed. He wanted to get to Hannah as fast as possible. He rarely showed it, but of course he cared for her. Even if he did try to deny it and hide how he cared for her, we both knew that he failed at that although he seemed to have Hannah convinced that he was indifferent towards her.

I was actually quite worried about Hannah. Considering she was an outcast, I don't how she will handle being a Luna. Not only that, I know that the pack will not react well if they find out that she was previously an omega, and honestly, it's not that hard to notice.

For a pack of warriors, one look at her and they will know that she's not experienced in combat. I don't know when Ian wants to announce that he has found his mate, but I could feel that it was near. And once he does, Sierra will be the first to challenge Hannah for the Luna's position.

Though it does make me wonder, how did Hannah open the barrier? Surely, there must have been some sort of mistake.

I caught a whiff of Hannah when we got out of the pack's barriers and realized that we must be getting near, but the loud thuds I heard did not announce good news. I glanced at Ian who ran even faster.

Finally, as we drew closer, I saw figures jumping here and there only for them to stop while one figure lay on the ground. It didn't take a genius to know that it was Hannah.

Sensing our presence, the enemy concealed their presence as they quickly got out of the scene, seemingly disappearing. Unluckily for them, I was here. They were assassins, trained to be the very best at that, but my senses were sharp.

Arriving on the spot, I saw Hannah lying on the ground, she was unconscious and was badly beaten. Something in me stirred, my wolf feeling angry that our Luna was hurt because we weren't able to protect her right.

Ian, on the other hand, went straight for Hannah. Although he was obviously seething, he gently scooped her under his arms and tried waking her up, but to no avail.

Lifting his head, his eyes had been shifting colours, a sign that both he and his wolf were angry. "Find them." he commanded with an angry growl.

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My sight turned dark as I saw Hannah lying on the ground, lifeless.

I could feel her pain, I could feel the hurt she felt and I couldn't help but continuously curse myself.

I knelt beside her and took note of the blood and bruises that she was covered with. She tried to fight back, I could see that. But her wounds were not only from physical blows, someone had used their auras to hurt her.

'This is our fault.' my wolf said angrily.

I agreed silently, I saw her. Our eyes met at the banquet hall, right when I announced that Sierra was back. Sierra, my Delta. I saw the confused look on her face and I ignored it.

I should've went after her, I knew she didn't trust me, I should've went and talked to her. Instead, I stayed.

I took her on my arms and took her off the ground. I was angry, yes, but right now I couldn't handle seeing Hannah like this.

'We need to get her to a safe place.' I told my wolf.

'What do you mean?! Chase after the enemy and kill them! They're still nearby and they're escaping as we speak." he retorted angrily, trying to take control.

'That's not important right now, getting treatment for Hannah is the most important. She's already hurt badly enough as is.' I tried to reason logically, hating and cursing myself at that.

I waited for my wolf to respond.

'Fine.'

Turning towards Alec, I commanded him. "Find them," I said.

I stood from my place, Hannah in my arms as she stirred weakly. Alec had run off to catch the enemy while I made my way to a nearby cottage.

Our pack had cottages all over the pack land to use in case of emergency and I knew of one that was close by here.

I looked down to Hannah occasionally while trying to calm my thoughts.

This girl had managed to disrupt the life that I planned out. I had it set that when I found my mate, I was going to reject her if she was not of Alpha or Beta blood.

Instead, I come to find out that my mate was an omega.

I was ready to reject her when I went to confront her in her small house, but after finding out that she was getting mistreated in her lowly pack, anger got to the better of me.

"I...an?" I heard Hannah whisper very lowly. I stopped running for a bit and looked down at the fragile being that was my mate. Her eyes were slightly open, enough to look at me.

"Shh, close your eyes. You're safe now." I wasn't sure if that sounded comforting and internally chastised myself for not knowing how to make her feel better.

Relief flowed through me as I saw that Hannah was half conscious. Thank goodness.

We both fell into silence as I reached the cottage, opening the door. Turning on the lights, I was greeted with the tidied insides. Although it was a small space, it was big enough to have a few necessities. I made a bee line over the bed and gently made Hannah lie down.

Making my way to the nearby drawers, I opened them and saw a comforter along with a few clothes. I grabbed a white dress shirt that looked like it fit Hannah perfectly.

"Why are you here?" I heard Hannah ask weakly as I was grabbing a bottle of water over the cupboard. I looked back to see that she was staring at me with such confusion, unable to comprehend something.

I made my way towards the bed, grabbing a nearby chair and sat in front of her. Her eyes told me that she was tired, but she fought to be awake. Her bruises were healing and I didn't fail to notice how fast she was healing.

I handed her a bottle of water and to my relief, she took it but not after suspecting the bottle for a bit.

"Why did you run away?" I answered, trying to mask my anger. Hannah thought for a while, probably asking the same question to herself.

"You shouldn't have come."

My fists clenched in annoyance, "And then let you die? Look Hannah, I don't know what the heck you were thinking to even leave the pack. What, did you think you were going to survive alone out there? You were lucky you only encountered a few of the enemies lurking outside if not—."

My words came fast and my regret came just as quick. I saw her eyes tearing up and I cursed at myself.

Why am I so bad at this?

"Just leave. I'll be fine." Hannah said turning away. I heard her voice in my head. Strangely enough, I could feel her emotions although it was a very light feeling. It made me wonder since I haven't put my mark on her yet.

My words hurt her.

I sighed, running a hand through my face and up to my hair, messing it up. I undid the first two buttons of my dress shirt and sat back.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

'You're sorry?' my wolf had the nerve to tease me.

However, Hannah didn't say anything. She didn't even look back to me.

Silence reigned for a few minutes and all I could hear was her escaping sobs. I would be lying to say that seeing her cry didn't stir up something inside me. Watching her body heave up and down as she tried not to make a sound.

Already she was beaten badly, here I was unable to make her feel any better and I end up making her feel worse.

Why do I always mess things up?

"Hannah." I finally called to her, but as expected, she didn't answer. "Hannah, look at me." I tried another time. My hand reached out to her shoulder. The sparks that set off with the touch caught me momentarily off guard. "Look at me, please."

'Please?' my wolf asked again.

'Will you shut up.'

The magic word worked and Hannah turned back towards me, trying her best to sit up. The traces of her tears ran along her face and as if under a spell, I found myself touching her cheeks and wiping them away.

"I'm sorry." I apologized sincerely, though honestly, I didn't know for what. I had done so much hurt towards her that she didn't deserve that I had no idea what I was apologizing for.

Stunned, she stared at me for a while, before her tears streamed down again.

"I wish I could say that it's okay, but it's not. It hurts here Ian," she pounded over her left chest violently, but I was quick to go to her to stop her, "it hurts here."

I could hear the pain in her voice, she was hurting and I couldn't do anything about it. If anything, I was the cause of her pain.

"You're--" she sobbed, "y-you're right. You should have left me, and maybe I could have died. Then maybe, just maybe all this pain would stop." she said each word with such difficulty and such impact.

Her tears had been rolling down, her eyes bloodshot, her body full of bruises.

I stared at her, stunned at what I had just heard from her.

It was probably the mate bond, surely it must have been. I didn't feel anything towards this weakling in front of me, so how come I felt compelled to take all of her pain away?

She had seen nothing but cruelty and I could see that whenever I looked at her. And maybe that was the reason why I didn't like looking at her. Because I felt that no matter how hard I tried, I could never take away the memories of the abuse that she's felt.

A bit hypocritical of me to speak that way because I've done nothing but add up to her pain. And thinking of how hurt and lonely she must've felt, something in me broke a little bit more.

Am I really this kind of person?

"You don't mean that." I started, sitting down on the bed in front of her. With one hand, I wiped her tears that. Ever so gently, I raised one of her arms and stared at the wounds. I had heard that when your mate was injured, being near them could help them to heal faster.

She huffed and shook her head lightly. By now, she had calmed down and was trying to pace her breathing. For a while, none of us had spoken and I felt her observing me when I stood up and picked up a basin from inside a cupboard and filled it with hot water. Luckily, there were cloths inside the medicine compartment and a few ointments.

I went back to Hannah, taking her arm and wiping them with hot water when she flinched.

"It's going to hurt." I whispered.

"You don't have to do this, go back to the pack house." she said.

"What for? I have no more business there. Stop trying to reject my help."

"Your Delta must be waiting for you."

At that, I stopped and looked up to meet her eyes. She tried to hide the betrayal that she felt, but the sentiment she held must have been strong for her not to hide what she felt, and she was so good at that.

"Sierra can take care of herself." I started wiping the dirt off her skin once again. "Your safety comes first." I was surprised at what came out from my mouth, my thoughts spilled themselves out of my mouth. Damn.

"Safety... I guess you can say I am safe. But I am never safe of you."

Again, I looked up to her and she looked stunned at what came out of her mouth. However, I thought of one thing.

What does she even mean?

~

Yehey, Ian's POV again.

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Keep on keeping on!

-sky💕