Callie's POV ....
"Your vitals seem to be good and you are healing quite nicely. Your blood sugar is back to normal and you have put on a little bit of weight." Rex removed his stethoscope from my chest. "How are you feeling?"
"Good. Thank you for helping me."
He shook his head. "No need to thank me. I'm only doing my job."
I nodded, looking out the dark window of my room. Rex pulled the blinds p, allowing me to see the moon. There was just something calming about the moon. I was sure it had something to do with the moon goddess.
"Callie, may I ask you something?" Rex looked at me with concern in his eyes.
"Mhmm."
"How did you get all these scars? I can see that they're faded, so they happened a long time ago-but how did you get like this?"
His question caught me off guard. Rex had been nothing but nice to me since I woke up in the healing center. He hadn't tried to interrogate me or hurt me like I would expect a captor to do. He only ever wanted me to feel taken care of and comfortable.
"I can't remember," I muttered.
I was never much of a liar. My parents always told me one lie would lead to more until eventually you find yourself in an ocean of your own lies and you are drowning. I hadn't wanted to lie to Rex, but I
had to be smart. I needed to continue to play the amnesia lie until I found a way to get out of here, or at least until they let me go.
"You know you are safe here, right, Callie?"
I nodded even though I knew that that was a lie.
They may have extended a hand of kindness, but that didn't mean I wasn't their prisoner. I knew Kameron was having me watch. He knew I was lying to him, he had told me so himself. Kameron was an alpha, first and foremost. To an alpha, his pack came first at all times.
"I know something terrible must have happened to you," Rex said as he looked down at me. "I can see it in your eyes. You've been through a lot. You don't have to talk about it with me right now, but, when you are ready, just know that you have someone willing to listen."
"I don't have anything to say. Like I told to Alpha Kameron, I don't remember what really happened to me. I'm a lone wolf, and that's all I can tell you."
Something in Rex's eyes told me that he didn't believe me, but he didn't press me. I wanted to believe Rex. I really did. But I wasn't safe. I had been running for eight years now, and that was the only reason I had been able to keep safe all this time.
Being in Kameron's pack was dangerous for me.
Damien would find me-I knew he would.
Those wolves that had been chasing me were most likely trackers that he sent out to hunt me down. I had no idea why Alpha Damien slaughtered my parents, but I knew that, if he found me, he would do the same to me.
But I felt conflicted. I knew I needed to leave ... but Kameron was here.
Only the fates would have linked me to an Alpha. Under normal circumstances, I would have been over the moon to have found my mate. But my circumstances weren't normal. My wolf hated the thought of leaving Kameron, but I had to be the logical one of us two. Besides, it didn't seem like Kameron was eager to claim me, either. It was like he didn't even recognize the mate pull.
"Callie?"
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"I was saying, I will let you get some more rest and I will see you later on. Okay?"
I nodded and gave him a tight smile. I needed the time to be alone.
Rex was about to leave the room when the door flung open.
I walked in a tall and burly-looking man. He towered over Rex, and he had a lot more muscle on him, too. His face was stoic, and his eyes were zeroed in on me. The look in his eyes had my skin crawling.
Unlike Rex, this man's face was not inviting or warm. His was cold and detached.
"Jorge," Rex greeted the man, but it was not the way in which I had heard him greet other people.
He seemed guarded, which only added to my anxiety.
"Rex." Jorge acknowledged him, but his eyes were still set on me. He walked into my room and came straight to my bedside.
The heart rate monitor started beeping faster as the man, Jorge, stared down at me like he was ready to kill me. My wolf, although still weak, was hissing at him. She didn't like him at all, and she could sense that he was dangerous.
"You may leave, Rex. I need a moment with the prisoner."
I looked toward Rex with fear in my eyes. I didn't want to be left alone with this man. I preferred the calming presence of the healer.
Rex looked at me, understanding my silent plea.
"Actually, she is a patient, not a prisoner and I think I will stay. Did Kameron authorize you to do this? Otherwise, I will have to ask you to leave because you are putting my patient in distress."
I saw Jorge's eyebrow twitch slightly. "The alpha sent me here to get answers out of her. He knows how persuasive I can be." The way he said "persuasive" sent chills running down my spine.
"If Kameron said that you need to question her, then fine. But I am not leaving this room, and you will need to take a few steps back. You're scaring Callie."
Jorge did as he was told, but his death stare didn't lose its intensity. Rex came to stand next to me, and I felt myself calm a bit.
"Who are you and why did you cross our pack lands?" His black eyes glared at me. I shrank back into my pillow feeling his overpowering presence press down on me.
"I already told your alpha. My name is Callie and I am a lone wolf. That is all I remember and that is all I know. I don't know what else to tell you."
I was surprised by how evenly my voice came out. My heart rate remained steady, and my eyes never left his. I knew that, if I made one slip-up, he would smell the lie on me.
"You're lying." He narrowed his eyes at me. "Things will go a lot easier for you if you start telling the truth."
I gulped. "I am telling you the truth."
He moved like lightning. One minute he was at the end of my hospital bed. The next, he was by my bedside. He grabbed the glass that was on the table beside me and flung it across the room. I shrieked in surprise and cowered away from him.
"Jorge!" Rex protested, but Jorge silenced him with one stare.
"I am higher ranking than you, Rex, never forget that. I am your beta, and you will not challenge me. I am only doing what I need to in order to protect our pack."
"You're scaring her." Rex wasn't letting up.
"And she could be a threat to the entire pack. Now, leave me to do what I was ordered to do by Kameron."
Jorge stared down at me with anger blazing behind his eyes. "I'm going to ask you one last time. Who are you and why did you cross into our pack lands? Answer truthfully, or it is straight to the holding center for you."
I needed to keep my cool-otherwise, I was as good as dead. They would send me back to Damien, as per the laws. They would be sending me to the slaughterhouse and I was not going to die at the hands of Damien. I would rather brave their prisons than be sent back to him.
"I already told you everything I can remember."
"You're lying," he snarled.
Jorge reached for my IV and yanked it out of my arm. I hissed at the pain and tried to free my arm from his grasp. His grip was like iron and I had the strength of a newborn.
"Jorge! You're hurting her!" Rex rushed to my side but stopped when Jorge growled.
"One more step and I snap her arm in two. As your beta, I order you back down! Now!"
Rex was struggling against the Beta command. Although not as powerful as the Alpha command, the Beta's orders forced any low-ranking wolf to yield.
"You are coming to holding with me. Maybe then you will be more cooperative after we get to know each other a little more."
Jorge yanked me from the bed, sending me tumbling to the floor. I hit the floor hard on my side and thought I heard a crack. I cradled my side trying to make the pain stop. Jorge reached for me again trying to yank me to my feet.
"Enough!" Rex yelled.
"Stay, out of this, Rex."
"You are hurting her and I am sure Kameron will have your head if he learns that you have been handling her like a rag doll. You should leave and come back when you are calmer."
Jorge growled sending a chill right down my spine. If he was on the verge of shifting, this situation was about to get a whole lot worse.
Jorge stood glaring at Rex like he wanted to murder him. I looked between the two wolves; Jorge was red in the face and his veins were protruding in his arm. Rex, although much smaller than Jorge in terms of build, was staring him down like he was ready to pounce.
A few moments of tense silence passed by and neither male dropped their gaze. Then Jorge flung me onto my bed and walked out of the hospital room without another word.
Rex let go of a breath and came rushing to my side. He went against his beta for me. He could have been punished or even killed for his disobedience, but he risked his life for me. Suddenly I felt bad for ever judging Rex's kindness.
"Is he always this pleasant?" I tried to joke, but the pain in my side had me groaning.
"Let's check that out." Rex helped me to my feet.
"I'm so sorry, Callie."
"Yeah, me too."