(Alexis' POV)

"Alexis."

I groan in my sleep, attempting to ignore whatever the noise in my head is.

"Alexis."

My ear flickers as I hear the same sound again. I curl up into a tighter ball, trying to grasp the dream that is slowly fading from my mind.

"ALEXIS!"

I jump up from my position on the floor and growl, scanning the room for whoever interfered with my dream of me and Leo in be-.

"Alexis," Dad calls again in our mind link.

As I was too weak yesterday to do anything and too busy focusing on my beautiful mate, I completely forgot about the pack link.

"Dad?"

"Alexis, are you ok? Sweetie, where are you? Who took you? Are you hurt?" Dad rushes out, all at once.

"Dad, calm down. I'm fine. Well, I wasn't but I am now."

"Where are you?" he demands.

"Um, I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Sweetheart, who took you? Please, Alexis. Please tell me. I've been going out of mind for the past day. The Alpha and his son are both going insane looking for you as well. You have no idea how worried we have all been about you."

Ugh, again with the Alpha. I seriously don't understand some people's obsession with him.

What will I tell Dad? I rack my brain for ideas.

I know that if I tell him I'm in a cage, in a veterinary surgery, he will flip. He'll march in here and not only will he kill Leo but he will also destroy the entire building. If I tell him that rogues attacked me he will react much worse and if I tell him that the rogues that killed Mom attacked me, well, God only knows what he'll do.

Ever since Mom died, Dad has become even more protective of me. He rarely lets me out of his sight and even then, he assigns two of the pack guards to look after me.

The two guards follow me around everywhere like a second and third shadow. To say it's infuriating would be an understatement. It drives me up the walls. I can never seem to get rid of them. In saying that, I

did somehow manage to lose them two days ago after the fight with Dad. I still wonder how I done that. Maybe Dad didn't send them after me?

"Alexis," Dad calls again, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Dad, I promise you I'm safe. Don't worry about me. I'll be home soon," I tell him, before I block him completely from my mind.

I can't risk him coming here and hurting my mate. I know he'll be furious with me when I go back home, but right now, I couldn't care less. All I care about now is Leo. My Leo, my beautiful mate.

As if on cue, Leo bursts through the door, a beaming smile on his perfect face. I wag my tail, showing him my excitement as he makes his way towards me, well, towards the cage. When he reaches the door her bends down and smiles in at me, his blue eyes dancing.

"Hey, girl," he greets.

I continue to wag my tail, actually at this stage, I'm pretty sure my hips are moving along with my tail. I don't really care. Judging by his smile, he seems to get the message that I'm excited to see him...I think.

"I think someone's hungry," he says gently as he starts to open the door. As soon as those words leave his mouth, I notice the bowl he's carrying; a dog bowl. Does he seriously expect me to eat out of a dog bowl?

He places the bowl down at my feet and my stomach turns at the contents. Dog food! My mate is trying to feed me dog food!

I look up at him with sad eyes and whimper gently, praying that he'll get the message.

"Oh, I'm sorry, girl. I forgot you couldn't eat with that muzzle on."

With cautious steps, he makes his way towards me. He bends down in front of me and I can see the fear clear in his eyes. I whimper gently. It hurts seeing my mate look at me with such fear.

I take a small step towards him, followed by another when he seems to realise that I'm not a threat to him. He reaches for the clasp on the muzzle as I bury my nose into his chest, inhaling his scent.

The rich smell of chocolate, caramel and strawberries fills my nostrils. It's the most soothing and calming scent in the world. I can hear his heart racing in his chest and his ragged breath. I know this isn't fear he's experiencing. It's the pull of the mating bond. The longer we spend together, the stronger both the pull and the bond itself gets.

As much as I love spending time with Leo, I know that I need to see him in my human form. I long to talk to him, to hear him say my name, to hold his hand, to hug and kiss him; all the things I can't do in this form.

As the muzzle slides off my face, I feel his heart gradually slowing down. It seems that he is becoming more comfortable with me. His hands gently run across my shoulder and along my stomach. I relish in his touch even though I know that it is meant as nothing more than a vet examining his patient.

"I don't understand," he mutters to himself. "How are you recovered? You shouldn't be able to even stand up yet." I pull my head back and look up at him, my brown eyes meeting his blue.

I nudge his hand with my nose and let out a soft whine. He lifts his hand and pats the top of my head before gently scratching behind my ear.

"Come on, girl. You can eat your breakfast now," he tells me, gently pushing the dog bowl, containing the revolting looking food, towards me. I take a step back and sit down, looking up at him with what I hope looks like a pleading expression.

"What's wrong, girl? Don't you like chicken?" Leo asks, peering into the bowl.

Chicken? What part of the chicken is that suppose to be? The intestines? It certainly doesn't look edible whatever part it is.

"Are you sure you don't want any?" he asks me again, still looking in at the nauseating food. "It looks, eh, lovely and it smells," he sniffs the contents of the bowl. He looks at me, a disgusted expression on his perfect face. "I don't blame you for not wanting to eat it." I let out a

playful bark, causing a beaming smile to break onto his face.

He reaches out to me again and slowly unwraps the bandage that is around my chest, followed by the bandage that is around my neck. He examines me carefully, muttering to himself.

"That's insane! The stiches have already dissolved." He gently scratches his head in confusion.

He's too adorable, I hum to myself.

"Why is there no scar?" He continues to ask himself. "I doesn't make any sense."

I gently lick his cheek and he smiles down at me. His smile is breathtaking, I could watch him smile all day.

Before I realise what's happening, Leo is standing before me. He opens the cage door open and steps outside, holding it open behind him. He sighs before looking down at me expectantly.

"Come on, girl. You're all better. It's time for you to go home," he tells me. I feel a sharp pull in my chest at the thoughts of leaving him but I know the sooner I go, the sooner he can meet me properly.

I trot over to him and sit patiently beside him as he closes the cage door. He looks at me in almost shock at the sight of me sitting beside him. It takes me a minute to realise that I'm suppose to be a wolf, a wild wolf.

As much as I hate myself for what I'm about to do, I give another playful bark before running towards the door and in the direction of the trees. Just before I'm out of hearing range I hear Leo's words to me.

"Goodbye. Please be safe."

It takes everything in me not to turn back around and cuddle up into his warm embrace, but I know that if I really want to have a relationship with my mate, I need to keep running.

It's not before long that I reach the pack border and within minutes I'm right back into the heart of the territory. Just as I'm approaching the small river where I first heard the rogues two days ago, a large grey wolf steps out in front of me.

I practically skid to a stop, my nose barely touching the chest of my beyond furious father.

"Hi, Daddy," I say innocently through our link.

He growls almost menacingly at me. The look in his eyes shows his fury towards me and the growl, still rippling from his throat, promises that he's not going to let this go easily.

Two words.

Oh, shit.