Ophelias POV

It took Renwick over 30 minutes to find us with the clothes and he just busted out laughing at us. I rolled my eyes at him and told him to just wait until he finds his mate and they do this kind of stuff. I saw the sadness and pain that flashed in his eyes when I said that, but he quickly fixed his face. I let it go for now, but I will be talking to him about that when we get home.

We got the key to Derricks house from his dad and walked the three blocks to his house. It was a decent sized log cabin type home. The outside was well maintained and had a wrap around porch with two rocking chairs, a table between them and a swing. It really did look like a nice home on the outside. I slipped the key into the lock and was about to turn it to unlock the door when Jordans hand shot out and stopped me. I looked at him my eyebrow raised, and he mind-links me.

'Baby, wait. I hear a heartbeat inside. Its faint but its there so let us go first to make sure its safe.'

I step back and let the boys go first. We walk in and the place is absolutely trashed on the inside. There are food containers on every available flat surface. Empty beer bottles, which makes no sense considering wolves cant get drunk unless you drink a lot of alcohol at once. I have to hold my nose from the stench and so do the boys. Jordan tilts his head to listen and starts walking to a door thats on the wall to the right of the kitchen. He opens the door, and we see stairs that lead to a cement basement. We head down the stairs and what we see literally breaks my heart.

There, chained to a beam hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room is a girl around my age. Shes human and covered in bruises, cuts, burns, and scars. It seems shes been here for a while. I can hear her heartbeat fading. I start crying and Jordan just holds me. I know he can feel my sadness through our bond.

Suddenly, Renwick lets go of holding his nose and takes a deep inhale and exhaling a low growl.

"Renwick, whats wrong?" I ask him.

"MATE," he yells.

I gasp in shock and look at Jordan who has such a sad and defeated expression on his face.

"Renwick, Im so sorry."

He lets out a pained howl and drops to his knees, crying.

"No. We have to help her. She cant die. We havent had any time together. Please, Ophelia there has to be something I can do to help her," he begs me.

I look at Jordan and link with him.

'Should I tell him what we know about turning a human?'

'Baby, he deserves a chance to be with his mate. If it was you who was human when I found you in the woods, I would have turned you no questions asked. He deserves to make the choice for himself.'

I cut the link and look at Renwick again and say, "There is a way to save her, but I dont know if you should do it."

"What is it Ophelia? Ill do anything. I cant lose my mate before I even get to meet her. The goddess doesnt give second chance mates if your mate dies. Please."

"Okay. The only way you can save her with these types of injuries is to mark her and turn her into a wolf. She will have to drink a small amount of your blood before you mark her in order to actually turn her. It will be painful for her, and she may not like the fact that you did it against her will. The problem with doing this is, marking her will complete your half of the mate bond but not hers. If she doesnt complete her half of the mate bond within six months of you marking her, your body will start shutting down and you will die and slow and painful death," I tell him carefully.

"I need you to actually think about this Renwick. This is your life you are risking."

"I get that, but this is my mate. And my sole purpose is to protect her, and I havent been able to do that until now. She deserves a life of happiness. Not for the last thing to remember being this shitty place and all the pain that asshole put her through."

Renwick walks over to the girl and holds her hand. He looks down at their hands and softly smiles. He just stands there staring at her for a long time before turning to me.

"I'll do it. Ill change her and save her life."