Klepto POV

The night is full of shivers and relentless breezes. I woke up sometime during the morning, before the sun rose, and if I could have moved without sending shockwaves of pain through my entire body, I would have been tossing and turning restlessly.

Sticks and pebbles dig into my flesh, but I don't mind much because the constant throb of my chest is a whole lot worse.

It seems fate is dead set on trying to destroy me.

I wake and drift on and off throughout the torturous hours, the moonlight reflecting on the ground through the towering tree branches. It's beautiful sight that tries its best to comfort me.

Is my head overruled by the ambush that accrued in the packhouse? The beating I took? The kicks and the laughs that had shaken my world?

Nope.

Because like the idiot I am, my lycan is all I can think about.

Ezra is the sun and I'm a planet orbiting around him mindlessly. I can spend an eternity thinking about him when he couldn't care less about me.

Eventually I fall asleep again, the sunlight and singing birds rousing me from my slumber of much needed peace.

My eyelids flutter open, my corneas burning tightly at the harsh rays of the morning sun. As my eyes adjust, I move a bit, testing the waters.

My arms and legs appear fine enough, but my chest and side twinge in distaste at the slightest shift. Ugh.

I groan. This is gonna be fun.

My senses take in the earthy aroma of dirt and maple, then came the addition of blood. It's a strong and wicked scent that makes my face scrunch up. I am absolutely drenched in the stuff. Yuk.

As I squirm and writhe on the ground, trying to get up the gumption the sit up, someone grasps my shoulder. A shadow comes over me and I squint up at them.

It's one of Ezra's team members. Reid, I believe his name is.

"Oh no." He mutters out, his green eyes brimming with disgust, "Who...? Who did this to you?" He really wants some answers.

He's crouched above me, completely shirtless, but his body has no affect on me whatsoever, nobody really does after meeting Ezra. At last not in that way.

I shake my head, not wanting to answer him.

If the Alpha heard he'll call me a no good liar again, and I'm sure Ezra will find out too. My mate might think I'm weak, but I won't let him be tricked into believing something that isn't true. I may be many things, but liar I am not.

Reid scowls down at me before winding a gentle arm around my waist and hoisting me into a semi-upright position. I can barley stay still, my body dizzy. I gasp as agony sweeps through my ribs, but I bite my tongue.

I can't show weakness.

"Klepto. Who did this to you?" He seethes, his interrogation not quite over. "Why are you out here? Why won't you tell me who attacked you?"

I squeeze my eyes shut. I want to point a finger at Nathan so bad that the temptation almost aches more than my injuries.

Knowing the consequences of being a tattle tale, I clench my jaw in determination. I have to stay strong.

"No. I can't... I can't tell you." I ramble out aimlessly, my gaze racking the surrounding forest in case there are any eavesdroppers. As if Ezra would pop his beautiful head out and see that his suspicions are confirmed. His mate is nothing but a helpless punching bag after all.

"Fine don't tell me. I'll just try to figure it out for myself." He says, running a hand over his short hair.

After a few minutes of silence, he speaks again.

"At least let me help you to the pack clinic. You need a doctor." He insists, his eyebrows drawing together, eyes raking me as if trying to spot and assess all of my injuries.

"No. No. H.. he can't find out. He can't find out." My eyes swim in tears as I shake my head furiously, my emotions getting the better of me by controlling my every action. If Reid doesn't know any better, he might think I'm some sort of deranged lunatic.

His face falls and he cocks his head to the side, he looks around and then pulls me closer to him.

"Who? Who can't find out?"

I don't want you telling anyone about this. Any of it. Us being mates, that we can't have a relationship. Not even us speaking beyond what others see. Nobody can know.

Ezra's stern command floats around me like a nightmare I can't forget. I can't even tell Reid who he's not allowed to tell because it might hint to our relationship.

If Ezra finds out I was attacked it will only make him hate me more, I just know it will. It'll confirm my weakness.

I am in a predicament.

"Nobody. Everybody. I don't know, just... nobody can hear about this. I.. I don't want to make a fuss." I ramble, trying to scoot away. A hiss flushes through my teeth when I feel a twinge of pain climb up my spine.

Worry flashes across Reid's features and he dives towards me, catching me before I hit my head on the ground.

"You need medical attention, Klepto. Your health is more important than what others think of you." He makes a good point, but my mental health is at stake, and that's deteriorating at a much faster rate.

"I'll be in trouble if Alpha Green finds out." I mumble, but I know he hears it. He's a lycan after all. Well, that and the fact that his eyeballs nearly pop right out of his face when I tell him.

"This pack is so screwed up." He says under his breath before rubbing his forehead in clear irritation. He rocks on his heels as if trying to decide what exactly to do with me.

"Look, we're going to go to the pack clinic, and somehow we'll convince the doctor to keep quiet, okay?" I can tell his temper is starting to flare, and the last thing I want is to anger a lycan... again.

Heaving a massive, dramatic sigh to get my point across about how annoyed I am seems like a good idea until the agony comes again. I wince and settle on a subtle eye roll.

"Alright." I huff.

Reid grins shyly in triumph.

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I hobble up the wooden, squeaky steps of my house. Cringing at the smell assaulting me as I get closer to the door. I hate that smell.

Strong rose perfume. My mother is home. I'll be dealing with her next, no doubt.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Reid asks for the hundredth time. The last thirty minutes have shown me how sweet he truly is, though he is pretty shy. I have the feeling it has to do with me being a girl. It's strange to see such a strong creature with no confidence around the opposite gender.

"Again, I'm fine, Reid. Really, I am." I smile in reassurance, "You heard the doctor. Pain meds and rest is all I need." I shake my little bottle of medication I was so graciously granted earlier.

Somehow we had managed to convince the pack doctor, Dr.Poland, that it was a simple accident. A sparring gone too far. He seemed skeptical, which was to be expected seeing as how I had three broken ribs and a broken nose.

With very few questions, the Doctor set my nose with a brace and gave me some pain relievers and sent us on our merry way.

He said everything should be healed in less than two weeks. One of the many pros to being a werewolf, super fast healing.

"Alright. I guess I should leave now. Get well soon." He awkwardly says, scratching the back of his head. I smile again even though I still feel like I'm empty inside. My shattered heart still seizes with every breath. It stutters on weakly inside of my chest.

"Thanks for everything." I say in earnest, because I have no idea where I would be right now without his help. Actually, I do know. I'd probably be curled up on the forest floor. Pathetic.

Reid nods and begins to walk away, my shoulders slump as he disappears into the trees. His absence just reminds me of how lonely my life is, and it will only get lonelier without the prospect of a mate in my future.

After a few minutes of much needed reflection, I turn and head into my hell of a home. The rancid stench of my mother fills the air and I cringe.

Dealing with her is the last thing I want to do today of all days.

Of course, as luck would have it, Daniel comes toddling out of the kitchen with the biggest grin on his little face.

"Kleppy!" He cheers, racing down the hall and propelling into me. Small, chubby arms wrap around my legs as he clings to me. I bend down and pick him up, settling him on my hip as I give him a very rehearsed fake smile.

The pain in my side is unbearable, but his comforting touch is healing.

I press a mushy kiss to his round, rosy cheek. He giggles loud and hugs me tight, nestling his little blonde head into the crook of my neck. I breath through the burn assaulting my ribs.

Despite to cold emptiness inside of me, my beautiful baby brother brings a small flicker of joy inside me. Daniel is a miracle worker after all.

That flicker is all but gone when I see who has also emerged from the kitchen. She stares at me with little to no emotion. There is no warmth in her eyes, though there never is, but there is also a strong lack of revulsion which I guess is pretty nice, right?

My mother draws nearer, her 6 inch heels clicking on the hardwood ominously. That sound is not a comforting one, it's a noise that I've hated since childhood.

She immediately takes Daniel away from me, and carefully sets him on the floor.

"Daniel, why don't you go play outside with your brother?" She asks, not taking her eyes off of me as if I might try something.

Daniel pouts, but nods his head. Even at 3 years old he know not to defy our evil mother. He stomps to the back door, and as soon as he is out of sight she jumps right in.

"Why do you keep harassing the Warriors?" She demands, and I gulp. My guess is she smelled Reid from inside. I should've known this would happened.

"It's more of a 'wrong place at the wrong time' kind of thing. I'm not doing it on purpose." I shrug, but she narrows her eyes at me.

"Like I buy that. What were you doing this time?" Her eyes rake me from head to toe. "And what happened to you? You look like you survived a shipwreck."

A normal mother would ask that question first, and with at least a little bit of concern.

My mom is anything but normal.

"Reid was just helping me. I got... uh... hurt and I had to sleep in the woods. He found me and brought me to the pack doctor. That's all." I ramble, folding my arms against my chest and wincing at the jostle to my ribs. Man, I need to be more careful.

She gives a sly grins and I feel unsettled at the look. Nothing good comes out of my mother's mouth when she wears that look.

"That's why you didn't come home last night." She says and I nod. Her smile grows, crawling up her cheeks like a poisonous spider. "I can't say that I really noticed, but now that you mention it, it was a lot nicer around here. More like a home. Maybe you should consider staying out more often."

My stomachs drops hard and the sudden urge to vomit overtakes me. My own mother. She's definitely hit an all time low.

I think back to the night I just spent coiled up on the cold, unrelenting ground. The pain flooding my body with every slight movement, the agonizing memories of Ezra ripping my heart out.

And she wants me to do it more often.

Tears fill my eyes without any preamble. I can't hold them back. Her smile stays in place as she observes me, I even see a twinkle of satisfaction in her malicious gaze.

"Crying is weak. Not that I'm surprised." She says.

Weak.

Right.

She's right. I am weak and there seems to be nothing I can do to fix it.

But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try.

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If you're reading this, I love you:)