***Zara's POV***

Last night was one of the worst on record. For the first time in forever, I let myself feel hope. I hoped that his wolf would recognize me as his mate when we touched. He was acting all possessive and mate-like. The time he inhaled my scent by my neck made me swoon.

But nothing.

'I guess he really isn't my mate.' I sighed. My heart started to ache.

To beat a dead horse, A.J. and Fabian escorted me out of the bar by the elbows and the sexy Alpha did nothing, he even looked relieved.

'I bet me being what I am, I just confused him and made him angry. All that other almost mate shit was him just trying to find his own mate.' A twinge of pain stabbed at my heart. 'And I'm not her. I'm not his mate. He will never be mine.' Tears start to swim into my vision. My reflection in the mirror became blurry as I was brushing my teeth. I was starting to wonder if it was really possible if I'd ever find him, my soulmate. He would be the only one to tell....

'I should be thanking my lucky stars, though, that he didn't try anything after that and my biggest fear didn't come to pass. It would have been a real kick in the teeth if he took me to the dark witches and the Rogue King.' My hand crept up to the lingering trauma left behind on my neck.

"Never, will I be that girl again." I swore to my own reflection. My resolve was back and I was trying to put back the pieces that I've been carefully putting back together after I nearly lost everything.

The morning went by fairly quickly. Most of the time I was absorbed in my thoughts and I think Mr. Wolf noticed my lack of enthusiasm. He started to stir and peeked at me through heavy lidded eyes. I turned his bed alarm off after hearing it for the one hundredth time. With a half hearted smile I took him off the machines and IV drips.

"Hey there handsome." I said to him after he opened his eyes all the way and started trying to sit up. "No one is here now," I gave him a knowing look. "Your vitals are pretty good, but I wouldn't be surprised if you're still weak from the blood loss. So take it easy okay."

It was like throwing caution to the wind.

Mr. Wolf jumped down and started stretching. He was yawning into a deep downward dog when I left the room to grab Fabian's clothes from that one time.

"These are some gym clothes. I hope they don't smell too -" Mr. Wolf was buck naked. "What the heck! I said take it easy!" I started chiding him. "Sit down, wait no. Put some clothes on and I'll check you out."

"That's what she said." He said with a wide grin. His amber eyes danced with happiness and mischief.

I glared at him for a moment before all my puffed up hot air left me. "HA. HA. Funny guy," in my fake Russian accent and continued to glare at him with squinted eyes.

He started to laugh and it was funny until he felt pain and winced when he chuckled too hard. "Take these clothes. Get dressed. And then we'll see about you getting out of here." I smiled at him.

"Thanks." He beamed at me. Mr. Wolf had a lovely smile. His tanned skin and amber eyes was such a good look for him. I turned around so he could get dressed.

'He looks like a good kid.' Moving my lab coat out of the way I reach into my hoodie to grab my phone. I sent a quick text to the Alpha that takes care of wolves that come to the clinic.

          Good Afternoon Alpha Patrick. This is Zara Thorne veterinary assistant in Gainsborough. I have a wolf in recovery and I need a form saying that the park picked him up. TIA -Zara

Consider it done.

And I'm sorry.

"Hey so your name is Zara? Correct?" He asked before I could read more into what the Alpha meant.

"Yeah. Zara Thorne." I felt him shuffle behind me so I turned around and stuck out my hand, "Nice to meet you?"

He shook my hand and said, "Theo Fowler witch hunter of the Sacred Moon Pack. It's a pleasure to meet you angel."

"So that's what you do with hagstones. You use them to hunt witches." I said while pointing to the one around his neck and ignoring his subtle attempt to flirt with me.

"Yeah," he stepped closer and took a big inhale above my head in sweeping motion. "Are you a rogue?" Theo said after a few seconds.

"Ummm....." My mind raced to find a good answer. Pack members haven't been known to be nice to rogues. "Yes." I looked at the floor. In the last week I've grown attached to him and I couldn't bear to see him hold hate for me in his expression.

"Interesting. Your wolf must be shy." He grinned. A wave of relief washed over me.

"Yeah. So sit down and I'll give you a physical." He sat down. "You're pretty obedient Theo." I teased.

"Well the pretty lady said sit." Theo winked at me.

"You very funny guy." My awful Russian accent came back.

Theo chuckled, carefully.

He was quiet for a moment as his eyes glazed over for a minute or two. Theo's expression was a happy one. Towards the end of the conversation he frowned. I just continued typing my pre paperwork for his last check-up. It really wasn't any of my business to know who he was talking to or what he was talking about.

"Zara?" I froze. It came from a husky voice I've been trying to forget all morning. 'Freaking ninja. I didn't hear him at all! Why couldn't I at least have my wolf hearing?'

"You know her," confused Theo continued, "... oh she's... not your mate." Then he finally strung all the different pieces together.

"Yes. I'm not his mate." I state, slowly turning around to meet an unhappy Alpha. There was the other wolf from the bar with him too. In this scenario I thought it would be wise to make an effort to be civil so I nodded to both of them in recognition. "I'm Zara Thorne veterinary assistant."

The other wolf stepped forward and looked down at me through his dark blonde shaggy bangs. "It's very nice to meet you Zara. I'm James Hunt, witch hunter from the Sacred Moon Pack." I went to shake his hand but the Alpha was faster.

"I'm Beta Conlan Northwood of the Sacred Moon Pack." Each syllable rolled off his tongue like warm honey. In contrast to his words, his handshake was as hard as his stare. "And chief witch hunter." I tried to pull away from his grip but he wouldn't let go. We stood there awkwardly. He titled his head a tad with a curious look. For the first time I could see that his eyes were bluish grey with a yellow ring around the pupils. "How's your nose and cough?"

"Not of your concern." His face darkened and I was finally able to pull my hand away. Not my brightest move, but I was hurting. And I didn't know the answer, because it wasn't on my top list of priorities. I turned back to busying myself with the rest of Theo's physical. An angry growl rumbled in the air but stopped as soon as I flinched. Without looking at him I picked up my stethoscope from my desk and continued. 'Just ignore him. He'll be gone soon and I'll never have to see him again.'

"Zara?" James called my name. More like he wanted to ask me something. "Are you really a rogue?" I shifted into a subtle defense position. Suddenly, I was feeling very vulnerable and my imagination was getting the better of me.

"It's okay angel, please don't be scared." Theo put his hand on my shoulder. "We would never hurt you." He gave a reassuring squeeze and then quickly retracted like he got burned by touching me. I looked at him in confusion and he gave me a sheepish smile.

For the second time in the last twenty four hours, I felt Conlan's heat from behind me. His presence was extremely hard to miss and I wondered what their Alpha must be like if he was their pack's Beta. Before I knew it I had turned to look up at him. His face had that classic stone cold expression, completely unreadable and equally frustrating. Even though he said I wasn't his mate doesn't mean that I was unaffected by him. Conlan affected me against every self respecting molecule I had.

"I don't want any trouble." Slowly, I started to back away from his dominating presence to gain my own ground. "But yes, I'm a rogue."

"Then where is your wolf?" Conlan stalked closer. Impatience leaked into his tone.

"Isn't her wolf just shy?" Theo chimed in.

"Look." I paused and wished with all my heart that the problem was that my wolf was just shy. "Some stuff happened....But I'm still a rogue." In an effort to comfort myself I crossed my arms and looked at the ceiling. 'Maybe gravity helps keep tears from escaping. I really don't want to cry right now.' Then in a small quiet voice, "My mate can bring her back," I rasped out. My onset of sadness threatened to choke me as I admitted that my wolf was gone.

"Who's your mate?" Theo asked innocently. James punched his arm and Conlan glared at him with razor sharp daggers. "Ow!" Theo yelped in pain.

This was not the time to laugh. It was so awful of me to laugh. But laughing was better than crying, so I laughed. All of them stared at me like I have lost my mind and the looney bin was calling my name.

*BUZZ**BUZZ*

My phone buzzed when it received a text message. I fished it out of my hoodie and read that Alpha Patrick sent the paperwork over and submitted the forms. 'That was fast.'

"Good news. You guys are free to take your friend. The Alpha from the Veiled Moon Pack took care of it, so it looks like Theo got picked-up to be released back into the wild." I smiled at Theo. "Stay healthy handsome," and winked at him. From the corner of my eye Conlan shifted but before I could see what was happening someone called my phone.

'Auntie?' I gulped. Everyone stilled when they sensed my mood change. To say that I had a bad feeling was understatement. My aunt never called on Saturdays. She was always too busy at the store. "Hello, Auntie?"

Silence.

"Are you there? Please answer me." I started to pace.

"Zara-" She stopped. I waited for her to tell me why she called and from the sound of her voice it wasn't good. "Mother was found... Alpha Patrick is here and-"

"What do you mean? Mother was found? Was grandma lost?" I asked but I already knew from her tone that she meant that she had passed on. "Never mind. Auntie. I'm on my way there now."

Tears fell down my face as I looked back at the men staring back at me.