Page 4 of Second Chance Mates

She scrunches her eyebrows together, her head pulling back slowly. “I don’t believe you.”

What’s wrong? Are you okay? Lucy’s voice echoes around my head.

I quickly take in my surroundings and tell my sister where I am. She’ll see my car on the edge of the road. Despite my wolf screaming at me, I ignore the lightbulb flickering in my head.

Okay. I’ll be five minutes.

“You don’t have to believe me right now,” I say gently, even though she continues to tremble with what must be uncontrollable fear. “But I promise you can trust me.”

Her expression twists into a look of horror. I curse in my mind.

“You don’t know me!”

The words she screams are pure distress. It makes my wolf wince to even imagine what she’s endured. I choose to push it to the back of my mind for the sake of not losing control.

“I know I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, but I can get you to safety. I can get you the help that you need. I know it’s a lot for you to trust me right now. I’m a total stranger, I get it. But please, I won’t hurt you,” I try again, but it’s like I’m at a dead-end. “I only want to help.”

“Please, I don’t want this,” she sobs. “I just want to get away. Please. Please.”

I open my mouth to speak, but the sound of Lucy’s voice floats through my head. Jaxon, we’re here. Is it safe?

Yes.

My eyes stay trained on the terrified girl when I hear footsteps behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stand as I sense Lucy and Sebastian’s scents. “What’s going on?” my sister demands.

I twist my body slightly to face her, and Lucy immediately looks past me to see the girl sitting against the tree, crying her heart out. “Oh my Goddess,” she gasps quietly. “Are you okay?”

She pushes herself further into the tree, digging her heels into the dirt. I watch her mouth, but she says nothing. She flicks her eyes between Lucy and Sebastian hesitantly.

“Are you hurt?” Lucy tries again. It’s obvious she’s injured, but making small talk is better than nothing. The presence of a woman might help her trust us.

The girl shivers against the tree from the crisp night and lack of clothes on her body. “I-I just want to get away,” she murmurs again.

“Then, let us help you,” Lucy says softly. “We can get you all the help you need. You’re safe with us. You’re injured. We can help get you cleaned up, and then we can get you to wherever you need to go.”

For a moment, I see her guard drop. It’s clear she’s battling with herself whether she should believe us or not. I get it; trauma doesn’t go away in seconds. But I fear she’s about to make herself incredibly ill if she’s not seen to soon.

The sound of a branch cracks behind us, and I spot Sebastian inching closer. I tense my shoulders to find her trembling from the unexpected noise. Lucy shoots him a look, and Sebastian moves away. “Please, please, please,” she begs desperately.

“Hey,” Lucy’s hand moves forward, but she doesn’t touch her. The girl eyes her fingers. “Hey, easy. It’s okay. It’s–”

I watch as her eyes roll into the back of her head, and she slumps against the tree. “Shit,” I curse. Her exhaustion must have forced her body to shut down.

“What should we do?” Sebastian asks.

“Take her home,” I state.

Lucy looks at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am. But she doesn’t know the main reason I want her to come home with us. “We can’t take her home. That’s literally kidnapping, Jaxon. We weren’t brought up to be those kinds of wolves.”

“What do you expect us to do?” I hiss under my breath. “Drop her off at the police station? Goddess knows who or what is after her, and I don’t trust those shitty cops. She’s already in an emotional state and clearly vulnerable. The safest place for her is our house.”

Lucy’s blue eyes flick between mine rapidly. “Or the damn hospital, Jaxon. She’s a human.”

“And?”

“She doesn’t belong.”

My jaw grinds. “And she’s about to die if we don’t get her seen to as soon as possible.”

---