Hadley's POV

I woke up slowly feeling warm and safe. It took me a moment for my vision to clear and realize where I was. That I was indeed not at my house. That last night was not a dream. I sat up and felt the pain spread across my abdomen. I lifted up my shirt to see the fairly large bruise on my ribs.

I looked around the room. This must be the pack house. It's definitely not a hospital. The walls were painted a soft green. The wood floor was a light brown. Everything was decorated with soft greens, white, and gold accents. Lovely.

There was a tall mirror in the corner of the room. I pushed back the covers and slowly willed myself to get out of bed and further assess my injuries. My ribs protested as the dull pain began to flare as I tried standing up. I made my way slowly to the mirror. Each step away from the warm bed was harder than the last.

To put it nicely I had seen much better days. My straight hair was a tangled mess. My face had several cuts from running through the branches. There was a deeper cut I noticed on my upper arm that had been stitched and bandaged. That and the ribs seemed to be the worst of the injuries. Otherwise I was just extremely sore and bruised. Probably from when the rouge had slammed me into the icy snow.

I was further inspecting my ribs in the mirror when I caught the door opening in the reflection. There he was. The wolf who had rescued me. Tate. He was still extremely gorgeous. His eyes traveled my body. Not with lust though but with concern. I noticed he tried to hide the flush of his cheeks after seeing my bare stomach.

"You're finally awake. I was starting to worry about you," he had come up right next to me, his hand was gently touching my cheek as he examined the small cuts.

"Is this the pack house?" I asked.

"Yeah this is an extra room we have. The pack doctor has been in and out checking on you. You'll be sore for a few days, but you'll make a full recovery," his eyes were filled with so much pain. As he stared at the cuts on my face.

"And Cam...," I asked slowly. A part of me knew. Knew what Tate would say but I had to hear it for myself.

"We have connections to the mortal world. It has been taken care of. It will be reported the Cam died of a robbery gone wrong. You won't be put in any blame, and a statement that you will need to sign has already been written for you," he ran his hands through his hair. We had made our way to the couch sitting down next to one another. "I'm so sorry Hadley. I failed you. I wish I could have kept you safe. Kept.... Kept him safe,"

"Tate.. you haven't failed me in the slightest. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been out that night and heard me. It was extremely lucky if you ask me that you were there in the first place so thank you," I reached for his hand. "I still think I'm in shock. My brain can't accept that Cam's just gone just dead. We had our issues sure but he was my person for a long time when no one else was," I was rambling at this point. I didn't know why I was opening up to Tate but I couldn't stop. "We had broken up you know. Yup I the asshole dating the most wonderful kind person dumped him, and I don't even know why other than I just had too. Still though I didn't want him dead," I continued. Tate cut me off before I could keep rambling.

"You broke up," he asked, studying my face so closely.

"Yup" I said popping the p. "I was going to stay with my friends on campus. I was packing my bag when they attacked. How did you find me in the woods?" I needed to change the subject.

Tate looked caught off guard as he stumbled to find his words. " Uh border patrol. We were just running and caught the rogue scent. I thought I'd check it out. That's when I heard you scream," he said.

"We'll I'm glad you found me," I said, giving him a faint smile. "What happens now?" I asked.

"You join our pack," He said it as though the answer was so simple.

"Join the pack? I'm still a human. Can I even do that?"

"I'm the alpha so it is my choice. Your human now yes but not fully. If you wanted to activate the shift you could. Or you could stay human. You will always be a target though living in unclaimed territory. As long as you stay in my territory I can make sure you stay safe. If you like it here in the pack house you could live here. There's about six of us who currently reside here. Or you can get a place in town. Of course it's all your choice. But I hope you stay," he gave my hand a squeeze. I swear I could feel energy running between our hands. But I shoved that thought aside.

"You're the alpha?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him.

"That's right," He said with a smile growing on his face as he leaned into the couch. He seemed instantly more relaxed. I studied him. Of course he was the alpha his wolf had been the largest I had ever seen. Just looking at him a part of me knew.

"How do you activate the shift?" I asked.

"You would have to kill something.... It doesn't even have to be intentional. Like if you were in a car accident and someone died your shift would have happened. Or if you were a hunter and you killed a deer," he said his face getting more serious.

"What did you kill," I asked him. I was ashamed of how small my voice had gotten.

"I was born a full wolf so I never had to activate the curse. Most of us have our first shift when were fourteen,"

"Lucky me," I said.

"Do you want to activate it?" he asked. I couldn't tell where his head was at.

"I don't know. Not yet at least. But... I don't know. I want to be able to protect myself. What happened to the rogues from the woods?"

I could swear in that moment Tate's eyes had shifted from their normal warm brown to black. His whole body tensed.

"I got the information I needed and then I ended them,"

"Good. Saves me the trouble of doing it myself," I think I surprised Tate whose eyes had returned back to brown and was giving me a look.

"You are certainly not what I expected," A small smile danced on his lips.

"I would like to stay here in the pack house if that's alright,"

"This can be your room then. I will have West grab your things. He's my beta. You'll meet him soon along with the others. He lives here too. This is your home now so you can do whatever you like. Want the tour?" he asked.

I looked down at myself, still wearing last night's clothes covered in dirt.

"I think I should bathe first," I laughed. "I would like one later though"

"Say no more," Tate said. Within a split second we were off of the couch and he was carrying me in his arms. I was in too much shock to protest. We entered the bathroom connected to my room and he set me down on the countertop. My face was hot and flushed as I watched him. He was filling the bathtub with soaps that smelt like warm vanilla and cinnamon. He laid out a fresh towel and gathered all of the other bathing essentials. He made his way back over to me with a washcloth as the tub filled. He gently started stroking the dirt off of my face.

"You didn't have to do all this," I said, my face still pink with blush.

"I know but you can barely walk so it's the least I can do. I love how you have faint freckles on your cheeks," his arm pulled away as though he realized what he was saying. "Um. I will leave you to it. Let me know when you want the tour," he pulled away and left the room.

I suddenly felt very alone. I couldn't explain it but with Tate it was so easy. I craved his touch and that energy I felt whenever he was with me. I undressed and got in the tub. Trying to scrub out the dirt as best as I could. I thought of Tate and his smile. He was so handsome.

I didn't know how a stranger could make me feel so safe. Even after everything that happened I was able to relax in the tub. I was upset about Cam. I knew that pain would come back up later. But for now in this moment. I felt safe.