Chapter 8

HUDSON I can’t help but feel hurt by the way Brooke acted. I know it must have all been scary, but I was there to help her. The fear on her face when she looked at me was hard to bear; even Asher was breaking his heart, watching how our mate was acting. One thing is for sure; she doesn't know who I am. It was like a knife just twisted in my heart, her confusion when she stared at me. Both Jackson and I left her room and were in a daze. I'm standing outside the door, leaning on the wall opposite the door to my mate's room. Jackson crouches down next to me, head hanging low. His daughter also doesn't want anything to do with him. I can feel his pain; I know he has tears in his eyes. After a few moments, the door opens and the doctor walks out. Jackson moves his head and gets up quickly. We both straightened up and moved closer to him. He closes the door and looks at us; he holds the notebook that we left. His expression carried a lot of emotion. "I'm sorry, Alpha and Jackson, she doesn't want either of you with her," he says. He hands the notebook over to Jackson, who takes it from him and looks at it. The doctor moved the book to a few pages that had writing on them. Jackson reads what she has written. The tears he was holding back are now flowing freely down his face. He doesn’t look up from the book. "She hates me," he says in a whisper. "Alpha, I don't think she knows who you are," the doctor says to me. "I think you both need to wait until she is ready." A growl escapes my lips as Asher is slowly coming to the surface. He doesn't like that our mate doesn't know us or understand that we need her. "Alpha, she may have another panic attack," the pack doctor says with worry in his voice. I stared at him, not saying anything. "We need mate," says Asher in a whine in my head. I closed my eyes to calm my wolf. "I know. We will soon, but we don't want to scare her off first. She has been through so much," I said to him. He gives me his puppy dog eyes. "I will stay away to keep my mate safe, but not too far," he says. He knows the extent of her injuries, and we still don't know how far the abuse or torture went with her. We can see the physical scars, but the mental and emotional scars are the ones that are worrying us. I’m pulled from my thoughts as I hear Jackson sob next to me. I place a hand on Jackson's shoulder as he cries. Alanna arrives to see the state of Jackson, which made her run over. "What happened?" She asks, but Jackson doesn't say anything. He just hands her the notebook as he looks toward the door. I can see what was written. She blamed him for leaving her behind. Alanna looks at us, "I am sorry boys," she says, and places her hand on my arm. I gave her a small smile. "I think we should give her some space, let her come around," Alanna says. "She needs time to process everything, she just woke up, and not only that, but both of you smell like you have not showered in days." She scrunches up her nose as she looks between us; we both have been sitting with her for days. I have only been going to get food and showering when I can. We both gave a slight laugh. "I think we should maybe start small, Hudson," Jackson says as his eyes never leave the door. I feel for him. Aubrey took away his daughter by calling him a bad father. We have been hunting for Brooke but never knew where to locate her. Austin was the only key we could use, and when we found out that Tasha was his mate, we knew we had a way to get her. But it was a long process, especially as they kept moving around a lot. I shake my head and pull myself together, "I will, but I can't be too long, or Asher will take control. He doesn't like that we have to stay out here because she is scared of us," I said. Jackson looks at me and gives me an apologetic look, "I’m sorry Hudson, everything's my fault." I can see guilt written all over his face. I shook my head and frowned, "No Jackson, it's not. We all know who’s fault it is, and we will get them. You will talk to her, and you just have to wait till she is ready. All pack members know what happened; we know the truth, and Brooke will too," I said to him. Jackson stares at me, but I know he doesn’t believe a word I just said to him. After a few moments, we all say goodbye to the doctor and leave. But we all suddenly stop when we hear a smash coming from the room. We all looked at each other. “Mate, go to mate," roars Asher in my head. I moved quickly to the door and pushed it open. I looked around the room, and the window looked broken. I rushed over to it without a sudden thought, and I instantly smelled blood. I looked down at the blood trickling down the wall but looked out and noticed the running person; she was fleeing. My mate is running away from us. I quickly jumped out of the window and shifted mid-air into Asher. Our paws landed on the ground, and Asher ran straight towards her. She stumbles and falls over, and she looks back at us. Her face goes pale. Her mouth opens, but nothing comes out. The fear in her face makes my heart break; she is scared of us. I know if she had a voice, she would be screaming.