I was pacing back and forth outside the room as my mom tended to Sam. I'm so mad, so fucking mad at whoever did this to her. No brainer that it's her parents. I saw the way they treated her like they don't give a damn. Why the fuck did they take her in then?

"Avery." I looked up and saw my mother closing the door behind her. I rushed over.

"Is she okay?" I asked breathing heavily, worried. She nods.

"I've put her on drips, she's dehydrated and she hasn't eaten in a day or two. And her ankle's broken, and there are s-so many bruises on her," she whispered the last part and my eyes glossed.

"It's bad, really bad. Who would do this?" she says again and I clenched my jaw.

"Her parents," I say and walked past her to enter the room. She stopped me, holding my wrist.

"Is she your mate?" she asked softly and I froze.

"No. She's not. I don't like girls mum and she's human so." I say spitting out lies. She just nods unsure and lets me go. Oh God, that was close. It's not technically lies but I really am not sure. I won't know for sure until she's 18. That's another 2 years from now. I sighed annoyed and walked into the room. My heart stopped beating for a while when I saw her lying there. She's so pale and thin. Is she really my mate? A girl? Goddess, why?

I walked over and sat beside her, taking her hand, I don't feel anything, no sparks. There are supposed to be sparks. Is it because she's young?

I mean the age where we get a mate is when we're 18, maybe that's why or that she's human and I'll never feel it, nor will she. Will she have the bond towards me though? What am I supposed to do? There is something for her, an interest, I want her around me, I wanna know everything about her, but is she my mate?

I stayed there, waiting for her to wake up, it's been 2 hours. I was scrolling through my phone, texting Jake about what happened when I heard her groan. I immediately looked up and neared her.

"Hey," I whispered softly. She blinked a few times and turned to look at me, scared and uncomfortable.

"You said no hospitals," she mutters to me.

"No it's not a hospital, it's just my mom's room." her eyes widened as she looked around and felt her IV.

"It looks like a hospital," she says again. I smiled shaking my head.

"No, it's not, I promised you I wouldn't take you to one. How are you feeling?" I asked her and she tries to sit up and I help her, and she flushed being this close to me. I smiled internally, so she is affected by me?

"Thank you. And I'm okay I think," she mutters. I nod and get her water.

"Okay, I'm gonna get you food because you have not been eating. Why?" she tensed and looked away. I sat down again.

"I did eat yesterday," she mutters softly. I sighed moving closer to her.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked and I was caught off guard. I licked my lips.

"You needed help, I couldn't leave you alone after that," I explained but she doesn't say anything. I stared at her a bit then spoke.

"So, food. Just wait here and I'll go get you something. A sandwich and some fruit okay? Does your leg hurt?" I asked, standing up.

"You don't have to Avery, and I'm okay, I want to go home," she says and I frown.

"Why?"

"Because I'm bothering you and I'm a nobody, and you shouldn't be wasting your time on me. Please just let me go home. Thank you for what you've done for me, I don't know how to repay you, but please." she pleads and crawls out of bed from the other side, pulling her IV out. I tensed seeing blood on her arm from that.

"Sam, wait hey stop. Please." I ran towards her, held her arms and made her look at me. I took a tissue and wiped the blood off.

"Please..." she whispered out choking, tears streaming down her face. My heart ached.

"You need to rest. I promise I'll take you back tomorrow. Please, Sam." I say and she shook her head pulling away from me and she wobbled and fell backwards making my eyes widen in shock as she hit the floor.

"Ow." she hissed as I crouched in front of her.

"Sam, look at you, you can't walk okay. You need to eat, and rest, please just listen to me. I can't see you like this." I plead, reaching to wipe her tears away but she sobbed.

"Then don't look at me. Leave me alone." she got out, anger evident in her eyes making me gasp in confusion and shock. I shook my head, determined.

"No. I'm not going to leave you alone. You're gonna stay here and eat and rest and I'll take you home tomorrow and that's final. Now come on." I didn't wait for her to say anything and scooped her up in my arms and put her in bed again.

"Avery," she called out my name, so silently, she was scared.

"What is it?" I say pulling up the covers over her. She stopped my wrist.

"I'm sorry," she says and I froze. Sorry?

"What for?" I say and she looks down, tears pour out of her eyes again and my heart broke all over again. I don't want her to cry. Goddess, please, help her, make the pain stop.

"Being here," she muttered. I shook my head.

"Don't say that. Shh, don't cry now okay. It'll be okay. I want you here, I wanna make sure you're okay," I whisper to her. She nods softly, sniffling, and took some tissues to wipe her tears as I push her hair away from her face. She gives me a small smile, her cheeks red. She's so pretty. I pulled away.

"Wait here okay? I'll be back with your food. Don't move." I say and she mutters an okay. I gave her a glance again before closing the door to the clinic and running downstairs.

"Avery, you're here?" I froze and turned to Alpha.

"Hi Sir, I well, I'm helping a friend out, she is upstairs in the clinic," I say and he nods.

"Alright. But you're supposed to be working, you want the day off?" he asks concerned. I nodded gratefully.

"Yes, till tomorrow if possible Alpha, she doesn't have anyone and she's young," I explained.

"Alright, but you'd have to replace it okay? Before the ceremony and all that, you and Jake are going to take over soon." He reminds me and I nod.

"Yes sir, thank you." I bowed and he walked away. Phew, that was close. I quickly made the sandwich, an egg one, with some cheese, mayo, lettuce, and tomato and cut an apple and got her a glass of milk as well. I put them on a tray and went upstairs again.

"Hey." I opened the door and she was there, her head turning in my direction. She sat up and smiled softly.

"Thank you, Avery," she mutters as I placed them in front of her. She reached up to tie her hair but flinched and hissed.

"Shit," she groaned.

"What hurts?" I ask immediately tensing again.

"Just sore. I'm okay," she pushed her hair back instead and reached for the food.

"You want me to tie it for you?" I asked her, referring to her hair and she blushed.

"No, it's fine," she peeks at me. I smile and nod.

"Okay. Eat. And then you gotta rest okay. I'll get you some clothes, do you want anything from your house? I'll go get it for you." I ask her.

"Yeah well, just some stuff. Can I go with you?" she asks softly, nibbling on the sandwich. I nod sighing.

"You're stubborn aren't you beanie girl?" I say smirking looking at her and she flamed.

"I uh- sorry," she mutters helplessly shy. I chuckled.

"Don't be, I'm messing with you. Eat up and then rest a while, then later we'll get your stuff okay?" she nods softly. I sat there staring at her, the bruise on her face. Her bandages. Her eyes. And her small hands as she ate. Her pink lips. She's gorgeous. She has these crinkles by her grey eyes, and her eyelashes are so thick as if she's wearing mascara. And a slight dimple on her left cheek. Her hair, a dark brown with curls. Goddess. Is she my mate? Are you serious?

"Thank you. It was good." She says and I beamed.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it. Sleep a while okay? Then we'll get your stuff in the evening and maybe have dinner or something? Is pizza okay for you?" I ask her as I clear her plate.

"It's actually enough for me, I don't have to eat later," she says and I frown.

"You're supposed to eat three times a day at least Sam. You're too thin and it's unhealthy." I say putting the tray aside. She looks down.

"It's not that I don't want to. They don't let me." she choked out. My hand fisted.

"Your parents?" she nods.

"Why?" I take her hand in mine, squeezing it, giving her comfort.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"Where are they now?" I asked again.

"London, a week there. They did leave money for my food, which was unexpected. It's enough." she says trying to convince me. But I saw the look in her eyes.

"How much did they leave?" she tensed.

"20," she whispered looking away embarrassed. A twenty? What the fuck is the twenty gonna buy? How is she supposed to live on that? Fuck her parents.

"That's too little. We both know that. So it's decided, they're gone for one week, right? I'll come over and cook you some food since you can't walk. And I'll make sure you eat. I'll buy and give you some snacks as well." I promised and she shook her head. Her eyes widened in alarm.

"No, no, you don't have to do that Avery, you're already doing so much. Please. I can't ask you to do that." she pleads, holding my hand. I look at her innocent eyes, so full of pain, and how alone and scared they look.

"You don't have to ask me. Please. Just let me. You rest now." I say standing up but she didn't let my hand go.

"Avery.." she called out. I sat down again, holding her hand. I look into her eyes, my arms aching to give her a hug. I just want to hold her and tell her it's gonna be okay.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" I ask her. She leans into me and I freeze. My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat.

"Thank you," she whispered and turned to kiss my cheek. I held in my breath, feeling her lips on my skin. There was a jolt, a small spark, it was there. Oh my God. I couldn't think for a bit.

"You're welcome," I say almost shakily. I got up, walked out of the room and closed the door, leaning against it. Holy fuck. My hands were shaking, I'm in shock. My heart raced and thumped, I could feel heat crawling up my neck. My wolf howled in my head. Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate.

Mate.

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