Orion's POV

I was currently sitting at the head of the table at one of the pack dinners. Only my beta, delta, gamma and high ranked male Warriors were here. The men were talking around me, discussing different battle strategies and fighting moves.Though, I wasn't paying attention.My gaze kept flickering to the empty chair on my right, where my mate should be sitting. Even though the pack did not know about the recent discovery of my mate, her chair was still at the head of the table, beside mine. It was there to show respect to her.

It has been three days since I found here in the woods, completely terrified. She, my own mate, was scared of me. The fact that she ran from me sent a painful throb through my heart. I slightly clutched at my chest.

Does she not want me?

Is she scared of me?

Would she reject me? My wolf whimpered in my head at the thought of our mate rejecting us. I clutched my chest tighter as the throbbing pain got worse.

I didn't notice that the conversations had stopped nor did I feel the several pairs of eyes staring at me.

"Alpha?" Caspian's voice broke through my thoughts. "Are you okay." I blinked a few times to clear my vision and focused my attention to him.

"Yes, I am fine." My voice was slightly deeper and hoarse with emotion. His eyes went wide.

He tried to ask by mind linking me.

I cut him off. He nodded at me, slightly unsure. He cleared his throat and started up the conversation my men were previously having. You could see he wasn't paying attention either. His eye brows were pulled together in thought and he was resting his clasped hands on the table. My eyes then went back to the chair, staring longingly at the empty seat.

Malia's POV

I stared at my rippling reflection in the water of a lake. My wolf and I were in complete turmoil. My wolf was whining at me to go back to Alpha, back to our mate. It's what our heart wanted us to do but my brain was telling me otherwise. My brain kept reminding me off my past, of my fears. It kept informing me on what could happen, warning me that I would only get hurt. My fears held me back. My trust issues held me back. My past held me back. I growled and slammed my hand into the water, distorting my reflection, sending angry ripples through the still water.

My past kept me from moving forward.

Orion's POV

Caspian pushed the last protesting man out of my house and slammed the door.

"You." He pointed at me. "Explain." My wolf growled at him, not liking the way he was demanding me. He showed his neck in submission and made his way to the living room, I followed. We both plopped down on the couches and sunk into the soft leather. It was quiet for awhile and he got sick of it.

"Who is it?" Casper asked. I sighed.

"I don't know. I never got her name." I replied.

"Well, describe her."

"She has long blonde hair, gray-blue eyes and freckles. She is very fit and pretty tall, maybe around 5"7. " He nodded and smiled slightly when I finished.

"That's the rouge I was telling you about. Her name is Malia. We don't really know a lot about her."

"What do you know?"

"Well, we know her name. She keeps to herself. She has only talked once. We don't know why she is a rouge or even her last name. I do know she was definitely part of a pack, she has a sense of dominance to her. She doesn't make people acknowledge it but I can sense it is there." I hummed at the very limited information. I stood up and left the room. I heard him yell after me but I kept walking. I was determined to find out more.

Malia's POV

I was leaning against the rail of the porch on the side of the pack house. The crickets were chirping in the woods and I could hear the trickling of the water in the nearby stream. The full moon was high in the sky, making my wolf want to shift and howl, but I held her back. The stars were very bright and could be seen clearly. Being so far away from civilization and light pollution made them stand out. I could see the Big and Little Dipper,the two bears being chased by hunters. The Moon Goddess took a liking to them and put them in the night sky. I could identify a few, including the famous hunter, Orion.

"Hey." I was startled by the sudden voice and turned around. Orion was standing by the opened sliding door. He had his hands in his hoodie pockets and was staring at me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you"

I broke my gaze quickly and put my head down. He sighed and walked next to me. I tensed as he leaned against the railing to close for my liking. I could feel his heat radiating off of him and his scent was making my knees weak. I shivered in pleasure from the intoxicating scent.

"Are you cold?" He asked. I was about to answer but I stopped myself. He pulled of his hoodie and handed it to me. I looked at it reluctantly but took it and put it on anyway. It would have been disrespectful to have not taken it. I was engulfed in his smell and body heat left on the material. I slightly smiled at him in thanks and leaned further onto the railing, not trusting my already weak knees. I could feel his burning gaze on the side of my and I could see the smile on his lips.

"You don't talk much do you?" I shrugged. He nodded.

"I would like to know more about you. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" I shook my head and festered for him to go on.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked me. I thought for a little bit but them pointed to my eyes. "Gray?" He asked. I shook my head and pointed at him. "My eyes." I nodded and put my head down, covering my face with my hair, so he couldn't see my blush. He laughed and I felt my heart beat jump. He had a beautiful laugh and I could see his straight, white teeth through my hair. He reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear. I flinched slightly and took a step away from him but he didn't point it out. The game went on for a little while. I would try to answer the questions that I could by pointing or just shake my head at questions I couldn't answer. I was to scared to speak to him, I was afraid I would be punished. My father would hit me if I talked out of turn wen I got older. When it was my turn to ask a question, I would just point at him and have him answer the same ones he asked me.

"Would you like to join my pack?"My breathing hitched and I panicked.

What if I were to answer wrong and make him mad? He sensed my panic. "You don't have to if you don't want to. If you do join, you could always leave if you don't want to stay." He sounded kind of sad.

"Say yes." My wolf said. " His wolf is being honest. We can always leave when we want." I hesitated but eventually, slowly nodded. A wide smile was spread across his face. "When would you like to?" I thought about it and held up seven fingers. "A week?" I nodded. "Okay. Well, it's getting late and I bet you are tired. I don't want to keeps you up." I nodded and pulled on his hoodie sleeve that I was wearing. "Keep it." I nodded and walked back into the house. I gave him a small wave,shut the glass door and headed up to my room.

I had a week to figure him out. A week until I joined his pack.