• Chapter Five •

|H A L E ' S P O V|

One. Week.

One. Whole. Freaking. Week.

That's how long its been since Hale had first caught his mate scent and that's how long it has been for Hale to start losing his marbles. He was so close to ripping out all of his fur because he was so frustrated with himself that he hadn't found his mate yet.

Part of the reasons why he hadn't been able to find her yet was because her scent had faded slightly since she had crossed a lake which made her fur wet and barely trackable so Hale had to remember all of his training that he had learned from his father to be able to find her.

'I'm so tired.' Hale groaned exhaustedly, walking at a very slow pace.

The moon and stars were out, shining brightly and beautifully over a very cranky and very tired Hale who seemed to be wearing a permanent scowl on his face while his eyes barely held themselves open.

'That's what you get for not sleeping for two days Hale.' Hale's wolf, Wayne teased which earned a growl from Hale.

The reason why Hale hadn't slept for the past two days was because he had found a freshly made trail of paw prints and his mate's scent that was very dense which told Hale that he was gaining up on her so he didn't really have the time to rest.

'I'm....' Hale let out a loud yawn. 'I'm just going to rest my eyes for a quick second.' Hale mumbled tiredly as his eyes begun fluttering shut.

'We can't rest now Hale!' Wayne whined like a child throwing a fit, causing Hales eyes to snap open. 'Our mate is so close I can literally feel her.'

'That's what you said seven days ago, Wayne.' Hale groaned in annoyance.

'Well, this time I know she's close Hale! I can feel it!' Hale just rolled his eyes at Wayne's word.

'Look, I'm tired so I'm going to sleep.' Hale muttered. 'We'll look for her first thing tomorrow.' Hale stated as he walked towards a nearby tree before curling up into a ball against it.

'Not now Hale.' Wayne whined but Hale only ignored him as he closed his eyelids slowly, entering dreamworld.

Hale probably only had about one hour of sleep before he was abruptly awoken by a sudden bang, echoing through the forest which caused Hale's eyes to fly open.

'What was that?' Wayne asked as Hale jumped to his feet.

'I think it was a gun.' Hales answered.

"Fire!" A very hoarse voice, that wasn't too far away from them, shout before multiple gunshots could be heard.

'Sounds like someone's in trouble.' Wayne pointed out before gasping. 'Do you think it's our mate?' Hale's eyes widened at the thought that it may be their mate so without a second thought he took off running.

While Hale was running to where he had last heard the loud gunshot there was a sudden yelp that could be heard before a barely audible whimper followed which caused Hale to panic momentarily thinking he may have been shot before he picked up his speed and ran as fast as he could towards the sound.

"I think he set off a trap you guys!" One of the humans shouted.

'They're getting closer to our mate!' Wayne growled loudly which triggered Hale to growl as well.

Hale could feel his eyes turn pitch black in rage at the thought of humans touching what was his.

"What a catch." Hale heard one of the human chuckles.

Hale ran towards the voice and what he spotted made him even angrier than before because trapped in a bear trap with one of its legs bleeding from a wound and a gun pressed on its head was Hales mate quivering in fear.

'They hurt our mate!' Wayne snapped angrily.

Hale didn't have to think twice about what he was about to do next because if he didn't do something about those pesky humans Wayne sure would've. So without wasting another second, he jumped over his mate and onto the man holding the gun to his mates head.

"Ahhh!" The man screamed as Hale began tearing him to shreds. "Help me!" The man pleaded but his cries were useless because he was dead within two seconds after Hale had ripped his throat out.

"H-Holy f*ck!" One of the other men stuttered in fear which made Hale snap his head towards him.

"What are you doing just standing around looking like an idiot!? Shoot him!" The other man ordered but before they could reach for their guns Hale lunged towards the stuttering man before grabbing him by the hips and then throwing him towards the other human which caused the two to topple to the ground.

Hale then pounced onto the two before they could get up and ended both of their lives right then and there ignoring their cries, pleas, and punches.

Hale panted heavily as he threw the now dead human on the other dead corpses before walking towards his unconscious mate who was letting out a bunch of shaky whimpers. Hale whined in happiness and in sadness as he nuzzled his mate's cheek trying to comfort both his mate and his wolf.

'This smells so much better than sour milk.' Hale sighed in content as the smell of almond and vanilla filled his senses.

'Uh, Hale our mate is still trapped and bleeding.' Wayne stated bringing Hale back into reality.

'Oh right, sorry.'

Hale shifted into his human form revealing his perfectly broad and perfectly toned body as he began removing the bear trap from his mate's leg. Thinking that his mate would heal in an instant he was proven wrong when his mate just continued to bleed out.

He quickly inspected both of his legs and noticed that one of his legs had a bullet made of silver lodge into it and that the other had traces of silver which was most likely from the bear trap.

'He must be in so much pain.' Wayne whined sadly.

"Our poor little mate." Hale frowned as he lightly ran his hand through his mates head which made his mate whine.

'We should stop the bleeding before it gets worse.' Wayne suggested.

Hale nodded his head before standing up and grabbing one the men shirt which didn't have much blood on it and used it as a bandage for his mate's wounds. After wrapping both of his mate's legs up with the ripped material Hale picked up his mate and cradled him like the small thing was a baby.

"We should probably see a professional and have them look at your legs, huh?" Hale muttered to himself.

Fortunately for Hale, he knew that there was a pack nearby who would more than willingly help him out so with that in mind he began making his way towards the Northen Light Pack.

'I can't wait to take our mate home.' Wayne sighed dreamily as Hale eyes hummed in agreement before allowing his eyes to roam around the small wolf figure.

"Yeah - Wait what the h*ll!?" Hale exclaimed as he stood frozen in his track when he realized his mate had a few extra parts downstairs that females usually didn't have. "Holy sh*t! I'm mated to a guy?"

Hale wasn't disgusted at the thought that he was mated to a guy he was just shocked that it was a guy.

'Well. At least he has a cute butt.' Hales eyes accidentally traveled to the small wolfs behind before he stop when he realized what he was doing. 'Just imagine what it looks like in real life.'

"Wayne," Hale warned.

'What? I didn't say anything bad.' The wolf defended with a chuckle. Hale rolled his eyes before heading towards The Northen Light Pack.

|E T H A N ' S P O V|

'Ow~.' Ethan groaned as his head and legs throbbed in pain 'Where am I?' Ethan questioned when he noticed he wasn't in the forest anymore instead he was in a small room on a comfortable bed that had a little nightstand on one side of the bed while on the other side was a weird beeping machine.

'Hey, the voice in my head are you still alive?' Ethan asked worriedly hoping that his mind was still crazy enough to hear the voice in his head.

'I sure am!' The voice said happily. 'By the way, I have a name you know.' The voice stated.

'Really? Why didn't you say so before!?'

'Because you never asked before.' The voice said in a duh tone.

'Really? Is that your excuse?'

'Yup.' The voice said popping the 'p'

Ethan rolled his eyes before asking. "What is your name anyway?'

'Drum roll please!' Silence. 'It's..........Mason!' Mason answered cheerfully.

'Mason.' Ethan tested. 'I'm going to call you Masy for short.' Ethan teased.

'Please don't.' Ethan instantly pouted.

"Hi there." Ethan let out a loud yelp of surprise when a man wearing a white coat entered the room. "Sorry for scaring you." The human chuckled.

Ethan stayed silent as he watched the man like a hawk as he sat on a chair that was right beside him which made Ethan extremely uncomfortable.

"You don't have to be scared pup." The man says softly as he went to move his hand towards Ethan which made flinch backward. "Hey. It's okay." The man stood up, reaching for Ethan.

Ethan started whimpering in fear, shaking like crazy as he moved as far as he could away from the man's hand yet making sure he didn't fall off of the warm bed he was on. Thankfully, the man stopped halfway from Ethan and instead took a couple of steps away from him and to a more comfortable distance.

"I'm not trying to hurt you pup, I'm trying to help you." The man says in a small and gentle voice. "I'm not a bad person like the people who hurt you." The man said in a small voice.

He then proceeded to put his hand out slowly, hovering it so that it was close enough for Ethan to be able to stretch out his neck to reach it if he wanted to. Ethan still didn't trust the man completely but since his hand was close by Ethan could already catch a small whiff of his aroma which was giving off a calm and reassuring scent which made him feel safe and secure.

Ethan timidly stretched his snout a little towards the hand, making sure the man didn't move a single muscle before sniffing more of the man's relaxing scent.

"See I'm not so bad am I?" The man chuckled as he retrieved his hand. "My names Emerson and I'm a doctor here."

'A doctor? What's a doctor?' Mason asked.

Ethan didn't know what a doctor was either so he titled his head slightly towards the man, mentally asking him what a doctor was.

"You don't know what a doctor is?" Ethan shook his head lightly at the question. "Uh. Well, a doctor is a person who - uh how do I say this - a doctor is a person who fixes peoples - uh - ouchies?" Emerson questioned himself before chuckling at how childish he sounded.

Ethan was still confused but decided to just nod his head like he completely understood what a doctor was.

"Anyway, do you mind if I give you a quick checkup, Buddy?" Emerson asked.

'Checkup?'

"Oh right. You don't know what a checkup is." Emerson facepalmed, before explaining. "A checkup is a series of test a doctor has to do to his or her patient - in this case, you - to help them feel better."

'Oh.'

"So, if it's okay with you may I?" Ethan was hesitant but nodded his head since he wanted to get better.

"Great!"

Emerson did a bunch of weird tests on Ethan like checking his teeth and gums, taking his bodyweight and height measurements, checking his body span and claw lengths and even taking some blood and saliva samples. This took about ten minutes to do before Emerson had finished, taking his gloves off and throwing them into the disposal bin.

"For being so good, you can have a treat," Emerson stated as he grabbed a stick of beef jerky and giving it to Ethan who ate it without hesitation.

"Emerson." A woman, who was also in fully white clothe entered the room. "Here are his results." She says before handing Emerson a clipboard.

"Thank you, Clair." Emerson smiled at his wife before looking at Ethan's results.

"You're welcome, Em." Clair smiled before disappearing.

"I'll be back soon okay?" Ethan nodded his head, watching as Emerson walked out the door. "Alpha Hale." Emerson greeted as he sees his slightly stressed Alpha pacing back and forth in the living room.

They were at Hales pack after visiting the Northen Light pack who patched up Ethan as best as they could before allowing Hale to take him back to his pack where he saw Emerson, the pack doctor, who fully fixed him.

"How is he?" Hale asked worriedly.

"He's going to be fine," Emerson answered, "He should be up and running in no time just make sure you feed him all of the right things and that he gets lots of rest." He advised, making his Alpha nod his head.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Hale asked, just in case.

"Well, there is something else I would like to talk to you about," Emerson stated in a serious voice.

"Yeah? What is it?"