Sold by my Alpha, bought by my Mate Chapter 31: The hut

Asher

"I can say, without fear of being wrong, that this is the worst pack I've ever visited in my entire life," my Beta said with great conviction.

And indeed it was; Red Moon had been a relatively small pack that had had its golden age some time ago. Franco had been a disgrace of an Alpha, just like his father, and apparently his younger brother wasn't far behind.

The territory was poorly maintained, the houses were crumbling, I saw women and children malnourished, dirty, while others were undoubtedly better off: fine clothes, and they looked strong and healthy. A great inequality.

In spite of all this, it seemed to me that there was potential, something difficult to explain.

"We could have improved all this," my wolf Cormac told me, and he was right.

"We need to look for something that can help me win over my mate and at the same time see if this pack is as treacherous as it seems," I told Duncan.

Although he looked around with some disgust, I saw a strange smile on his face. He had always been a very cheerful man, but even more so since we had left the castle. Maybe he had already laid his eyes on some girl here, I thought.

"It would be difficult, everyone seemed to be hiding like mice. Not even at the damn reception did we see enough people to start."

"The reception was terrible..." I exclaimed.

"If it was a reception at all. You went with your mate, and I'd take care of the rest," he said, patting me on the shoulder and walking away.

That night, I thought I had heard my mate arguing with Randall, and they hadn't ended up spending the night together, which was a big relief to me.

Still, I had slept outside her door just to be sure. She hadn't come out, they had brought her food, but nothing else.

Until the door moved.

"Asher..." she said, surprised to see me there.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay... to protect you. Come with me..." I said, and saw her smile.

"I'm not sure if I could go out... Randall... didn't come to get me," she said, looking around.

"Where would you like to go?"

"I wanted to go to my house... the one that used to be my house here," she said, and I offered her my hand.

The pack house still seemed empty, and we were taken by the hand, even though she was still wearing that horrible dress that covered her completely and a veil.

My mate was scared, and I was sure it was because of the Alpha's family and Randall, but I didn't want to push her.

She led me past the pack house, almost straight into the woods. As we walked, I wondered if her house was really that far away from everyone. But nothing had prepared me for what I found.

It was a small hut, partly burned and partly destroyed. Outside, there was what seemed to be a small garden, with only dry branches left, and the sound of a river in the distance. And nothing more.

"This was my home, where I lived for a long time," she said with a sad smile, and I tried to put on my best face.

I bent down to enter and saw that it was even worse inside, with few windows. There was just a bed, a broken table, a shelf with some ruined books, and not much else.

It broke my heart to think that my mate had lived in such horrible conditions. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"I used to study here... and there I used to move this table to put my paintings. Beyond it is a river where I bathed and washed my clothes and... the forest was always there for me, it inspired me," she said, smiling as if showing me a picturesque cottage, and I could only nod.

How was it possible that a pack had allowed one of its members to live like this? Just because she was human? A poor orphan girl? This was not a pack; not even animals treated their fellow creatures like this.

"Are these your paintings?" I asked, and she seemed excited.

"Yes, sometimes I ran out of places to paint, so... I did it on the walls," she explained, and on the biggest walls, I saw a landscape that was very familiar to me.

It was almost ruined because of the fire, but there were mountains, some of them snow-capped, beyond them a beautiful forest with different shades of green. The most striking feature was a mountain in the shape of a big gray wolf howling at the moon.

"Where did you see this landscape?" I asked her.

"In my dreams... it was my happy place, I felt amazing when I had those dreams... but... for some time now..."

"Do you have nightmares, right?" I said. I had already noticed it, but no matter how much I asked, she wouldn't tell me what they were about.

"I know that place... with that mountain..." I said, and she smiled excitedly.

"Really?"

"Yes... and I could take you there one day," I said, and she was ecstatic.

"You promise?"

"Of course. I promise," I told her. Suddenly, part of the roof collapsed and ashes rained everywhere.

"Be careful!" I called and carried her away from the hut.

When everything calmed down, and we saw that it was really destroyed, I was surprised that it had lasted so long... it was the most fragile and precarious home I had ever seen in my life. Not even the farm animals in my pack would have a place like this.

It started to rain, and I practically carried her, and she seemed surprised and happy at the same time, I took her into the forest to protect us from the rain.

I heard something in the forest and I stopped, afraid it might be something dangerous.

"There is something here, Asher. I feel like something evil is lurking here," my wolf said, but as much as we paid attention, we didn't see or hear anything else.

It was like a whisper, something difficult to explain. I didn't dare to find out more either; I had to protect her.

"You have to take it off..." I told her, pointing at the horrible dress that was completely soaked, and I prayed to the goddess that it was ruined too.

"Here, put on my sweater... I don't want you to get sick..." I told her.

She went behind a tree to change. When she came back, I had to bite my lips... one of her shoulders was sticking out of the sweater, and I could also see her legs. She looked flushed and nervous.

"Are you cold?" I asked, bringing her to me as she leaned against a tree, and I covered her with my whole body so she wouldn't get wet. It was getting dark, and soon we would have to go back.

"I'm fine..." she said, and she breathed in my scent, seeming to like the warmth of my body.

"Are you sure?" I asked her, and she gasped.

"Mate... what happened at your place? A fire?" she nodded.

"Someone wanted to harm you? Who? Randall?" I asked, but she seemed scared.

"Millie... do you understand that I would give my life for you? I would protect you and care for you as the most precious thing in this whole world?"

I could hear her little heart beating fast, and she looked at me in awe. I put my hands on the tree as I cornered her with my body.