Danica's POV

The hall boomed with calm music that should make even the saddest person on earth a bit calmer, but it only made me sadder if that was in any way possible.

Maybe I wouldn't feel so miserable if Bianca were here to listen to all the drama that ensued right after she left angrily. But she wasn't here and I felt so out of place.

Don't get me wrong, she was here at the party but not here beside me as my best friend.

After the forced apology my father got from me for Joey, they had left me to get changed and find my way to the party on my own, so I literally walked over thirty meters to the venue on foot, looking miserable in the plain, colored dress I picked to avoid any flashy-dress drama.

I had picked out the first dress today because it was a special one. My mom made it three years ago to make me wear it when I found my true mate but I didn't wear it when I felt the bond with Finn and Gamma Thorn because I still miss my mom so much and I always feel like if I don't wear the dress she made me when she wanted me to wear it, one day she'll come back and scold me for it. And right now? I don't regret not wearing it for them because obviously they were just two big idiots who had their asses in their brains.

The plan was to wear that dress tonight, not because I wanted to get mated, but because it would at least make me feel special, even if there was no mate to make me feel like a complete woman, which was obviously wistful thinking now, thanks to my ‘darling’ sister.

My eyes went back to Bianca, who was having a good time with a few girls whom I knew nothing about. Our gazes met and she immediately looked away.

I mean, I can't even blame her because I would be angry too if my best friend suddenly compares her situation to mine when my only intention was to comfort her.

Mating night would commence at exactly midnight and currently it was just ten minutes till midnight. At exactly 12, everyone would feel the bond and probably find their mates but I hope I wouldn't. There was no way the ‘bitch’ up there would pair me with another bastard when I'd rather be left alone, untouched, unhurt, and unmated.

I would glance around the hall a few times and would even smile a few times when I saw an unmated couple, hoping they would feel the mate bond when it was time. ‘Only nine more minutes will tell’ I murmured inaudibly behind them as I took a sip from the cup served to me a few minutes ago.

I turned to take a stroll to the far end of the hall just in case I felt any stupid bond… then it'll be the fastest route to run without looking back, but fate seemed to have some grudges against me because as soon as I turned, I was facing Finn, my first mate and his new mate, Anabel.

I didn't want to look pathetic so I tried to mutter a Hi, but I couldn't. Emotions I thought I had long forgotten clogged my throat and left me staring blankly at them.

“You look so lonely and miserable, Danica,” Anabel muttered sweetly, but I could feel the mockery beneath the words.

“I'm doing very well being left alone, Anabel. Your concern is far from being needed” I told her calmly, though not in any way hiding the sarcasm I meant to showcase.

“I don't think so… you look like you're going to cry and wail when realization hits you in eight minutes that your mates now have better women next to them and you?… You will probably remain just as lonely as you are right now” she added with a mocking smile before walking away with her annoyingly silent mate.

*‘Don't cry, Dani. You'll only give them the satisfaction of seeing you break… again.’* I told myself as I folded my hands into fists beside me.

I took slow strides towards the end of the hall but a yell stopped me in my tracks abruptly. It wasn't the familiarity of the voice that yelled or the name it yelled that stopped me. It was how scared the voice sounded. So I turned to look and my eyes widened when I saw Finn on the ground with his convulsing mate in his arms.

“Please… please stay with me, Anabel,” Finn muttered shakily as he shook his mate, who'd suddenly stopped convulsing and remained totally unmoving.

At that moment, everyone stopped doing anything and just focused on Finn and his dying mate.

“What happened to her?” someone asked from the crowd as he went to check on her.

“She has a chronic allergy to apples. She'd taken from the cocktail before she realized that it had apple content” Finn explained with worry written all over his face.

*If only he'd cared this much about me…*

The man glanced around pointlessly, and I immediately knew he wasn't doing anything because he'd only come prepared for a mating party, not for medical attentions. He won't be able to save her unless they have her transferred to the Pack's Clinic, and by then, she will die for sure if it really is a chronic allergy.

I took a step forward but suddenly stopped myself as my father's warning echoed in the back of my mind.

*‘...You will live in the streets for the rest of your life…’*

I definitely wasn't about to risk becoming homeless for a woman who mocked me to my face five minutes ago, was I?

“You have to get her to the Pack's Clinic fast. It's the only way to save her right now,” I heard the man say again, and I blinked in disbelief. I'm very sure he knows the consequences of having to go a long distance when her life was hanging on the thinnest thread but the annoying old man…

I took another step forward, unable to bear watching someone die in front of me when I could help, but I stopped myself again, this time when I recalled Finn's last words to me.

*‘You didn't expect me to spend the rest of my life with someone as empty as a barrel, did you? You're not worthy of being my mate, Danica.’*

His words echoed through the depths of my heart down to where my conscience lies, and I wish I could actually watch her lose her life very painfully and then laugh at Finn's misfortune in the end, but I couldn't. This was the reason I became a doctor in the first place. To save people who have little to no hope of living.

“I can help!” I blurted before I could stop myself.

I would definitely regret this decision later, but what matters right now is saving Anabel’s life, and I will do just that.

Danica's POV

Everyone turned to look at me and I didn't miss some mocking grimaces and scoffs but that didn't stop me from rushing to the couple sprawled on the floor.

“It would take twenty minutes to get to the Pack's Clinic and she would lose her life by then” I said without looking up at the shocked men that were probably glaring lasers at me.

“What do you think you're doing, Danica?” Finn gritted, pulling my arm painfully, his eyes bloodshot.

“Would you rather let go of me right now or watch your mate die, Finn? Because right now this man isn't anywhere close to telling you the truth of how severe this case is. Anabel will die before you're even ten minutes into the journey to the clinic” I gritted in the same tone and his eyes dilated as he slowly let go of my hand. Was it me or did Finn just trust me with his mate's life?

*‘Well, it's not like he has a choice’* I reminded myself.

I pulled out a scapel from my thigh strap and I swiftly cut through a small area above her breast. Luckily, the blood that spilled in the area was black and I sighed in relief, knowing I got the right spot. I stabbed the lower end of my dress with the scapel and I tore out a reasonable amount before pressing the piece over her bleeding chest.

The red allergy spots stopped spreading over her body and I smiled inwardly. *‘You’re such a genius, Dani’* I mimicked Bianca's voice to myself.

The blood had to turn a shade brighter before I can think of stitching her up, so I kept pressing onto the bleeding part of her chest with one hand while I felt her pulse with the other hand.

“Danica!! What the fuck is the stunt you're pulling right now?” A voice thundered and my lungs ran dry as I looked up to see Gamma Thorn. The shrimpy bastard!

Ohh, and yes, I had totally forgotten to consider the fact that Anabel here is the dearest Gamma's younger sister. If I had thought of that, I would definitely have left her shrivel up like a prune and die!

“Is this your way of getting back at me? Killing my sister?” He thundered dangerously and I was totally smirking inwardly.

*‘Oh, don’t tempt me, I would love to do that, brain-Thorn idiot’* I wanted to tell him but I stopped myself.

“It sounds very stupid even to me, but I am saving your sister, Gamma Thorn” I told him with all the calmness I could muster.

“Get your filthy hands off my sister” he growled, punctuating every single word and I raised a brow.

“Are you sure, Gamma? Cause she's bleeding out the apple content in her blood right now unless you want her to over-bleed?” I replied innocently, although anyone in their right sense would hear the sarcasm laced in my response.

“You should just obey him, Danica. The pack clinic are capable of taking care of her” Joey muttered in fake concern beside him and I almost rolled my eyes at her visibly.

“Would they now?”

“If anything happens to her, Danica. I assure you that you'll spend your entire youthful years in the dungeons” he threatened before storming away with Joey seething in anger at my curt response to her suggestion and I sighed in exasperation before feeling Anabel's pulse again. It got weaker, which isn't particularly a good thing right now.

“Are you sure she's going to be fine?” Finn muttered behind me.

“It looks to me like she doesn't know what the hell she's doing, no offense” the man from before suddenly said, eyeing me as he walked away.

*'Says the man that couldn't even be straightforward and truthful in a life and death situation'* I was tempted to yell in his face but it took another invisible pat of Bianca's hand on my shoulders to stop me.

The mating bell went off and one by one, everyone went to find their mates just in time for Anabel's blood to turn a shade brighter.

I pulled out a suture needle from my thigh strap and stitched her up faster than I've ever done before. She was losing too much blood and her body doesn't seem to like it at all.

“Can I get a cup of plain colored alcohol?” I asked Finn and he immediately stood to get one while I tore another piece of cloth from my dress. He came back within a few seconds and I poured the contents over the clean piece of cloth before cleaning up the wound then I wrapped it around her chest since I had no bandage on me.

I let out a shaky breath as I relaxed a bit while checking her pulse again. It was still weak. Nothing that shows she would be waking up anytime soon but I trusted she would wake up very soon because I didn't make a mistake with the treatment and the problem probably lies with her body.

“Why isn't she waking up, Danica?” Finn asked and I puffed in a frustrated breath.

“Because… she's lost too much blood and there's no way to do a transfusion here.” I told him truthfully and he pulled at his hair. Something he does when he's terribly mad.

“She lacks enough blood, Danica. Doesn't that mean she could die?” He suddenly said, directing his accusation at me.

“I did mention that she doesn't know what she was doing, didn't I?” The old man from before said proudly.

‘She’s probably killed the poor girl because she wanted everyone's attention’

‘Now she's got it, innit?’

‘Alpha Alexander would have her executed for sure’

‘She killed the daughter of a former Gamma, she will rot in jail’

I stood up from the ground when the comments became overbearing and as if on cue I felt a pull… the fucking mate pull. My heart pounded hard in my ears as the pull became stronger, impossible to resist with each passing second and somehow, my once dormant wolf actually muttered the word I would rather not hear till the day I die. She growled ‘Mate’!

She has never spoken to me before. Not even when I felt the pull the first time towards Finn nor when I felt it the second time towards Thorn.

Without looking towards where the pull came from, I rushed out of the hall, away from everyone's mockery, away from the stupid bond… and away from everything.

*

Did I make the wrong decision by making Anabel bleed out the content even when I knew her body might react badly to it? The thoughts crossed my mind as I strolled through an empty hallway with my tears finally streaming down my face.

What if I had actually killed her before even saving her?

However, deep down I knew it was the only way anyone could have saved her at that time, and right now it's up to fate to bring her out of the worse phase unharmed. Stupid fate that has never been on my side by the way.

Two more steps and I bumped into a hard wall… chest to be precise.

I looked up only to be met by the most beautiful pair of piercing blue eyes that was staring right through my soul. Looking at the not too familiar features up close knocked fucking breath out of my lungs.

His beautifully sculpted chiseled jawline, lashes that could compete with mine and his dark hair that fell to his eyes, making my fingers itch to touch them. I could study his entire build for days and never get tired but the cocky smirk that curled up his lips and the mate scent that hit my nose threw me right back to reality.

‘Mate!’ my no-name wolf growled again, more possessively and a sob threatened to escape my lips.

Alpha Alexander was my mate? No! This was probably some sick joke the moon goddess was playing with me because just how cruel will that ‘bitch’ be?

“I'm so sorry, Alpha. I didn't know you were in front of me” I apologized with a deep bow instead and then tried to leave but then realized his body was covering half the way I was going to walk through.

He took a step closer to me and I instinctively took a step back, one single step that had me trapped between the wall and his imposingly hot body.

His hand touched my face and I literally stopped breathing. He gently wiped the tears that stained my cheek but heck, I couldn't find it in myself to breathe.

*‘...You will not even breath too comfortably because if you do and the Alpha complains…’* the warning echoed through my head and my heart pounded painfully in my chest.

“Breath, Danica” his smooth deep voice whispered and like a pre-programmed robot, I let out the breath I'd been holding in.

I mean, I do feel like a pre-programmed robot right now because how did he even know my name?

“You wouldn't mind treating me too, would you, Doc?”

Danica's POV

“What?! I mean, Why? Is this your way of luring me into making a bigger mistake that would keep me in prison for the rest of my entire life and not just my youthful years?” I asked and he laughed. A sound I could give anything to hear again.

“Now, why would you ask something like that?” He asked and I shrugged once.

“Because I'm a useless omega you'll be glad to depose? Besides, I didn't even think before jumping in and trying to save one of your subordinate's sister and now I might have made things worse” I muttered, avoiding his gaze as much as I could.

“No, you didn't unalive her if that's what you're worried about” he said again and I finally met his gaze, which had a little smirk curling up his lips again.

“How… how would you know that?” I stuttered.

“The energy I felt around her when I passed beside her body to find you was very much that of someone who was alive and kicking” he replied and my head did a 360 spin.

‘Felt her energy? How does that even happen?’ I wanted to ask but it was probably going to be because of some Alpha syndrome whatnot.

“To find me? Why would you want to find me?” I asked instead.

“Because I need your medical attention?” He replied calmly and I sighed inwardly before stylishly pushing myself away from the wall and away from his body.

“With all due respect Alpha, you don't seem like someone who needs medical attention” I told him calmly, keeping my head low. “I don't see anything wrong with you” I added, my voice rising a bit.

“You can only see what is wrong with me if you take off my shirt, Dani” he muttered huskily and I felt heat rise to my cheeks rapidly.

*Something needs to be done about that voice of his. Please goddess…*

“What?! Take… off your shirt?” I stammered and he nodded once.

“Take it off” he murmured and my cheeks practically burned.

God help me, my fingers itched to do just as he ordered but thanks to the fear of getting tricked again, I held myself back.

“I dare not trespass anywhere around the Alpha. I'm sure the royal doctors can help even more than I ever will. Excuse me, Alpha” I pronounced with a deep bow and immediately turned to leave but he pulled me flush against his hard body so easily that it knocked my breath out of my lungs.

Our eyes locked and he kept it locked, daring me to break the contact as his strong hand on my wrist slowly led my hand to the buttons of his shirt.

“It's just a shirt, Dani. It doesn't bite” he muttered and oh, those words couldn't have sounded naughtier.

I undid the first, the second button and down to the sixth, which was the last one. With each new one I unhooked, my body felt hotter than the last, my breath becoming labored and when I was done, it was impossible to look away from the toned chest and abs that glared at me.

‘Oh. Moy. Gowdess. This is seur unfair bitch!’ I screamed inwardly, as my gaze skimmed all over his chest and his prominent tattoo that called to my fingers for as long as I couldn't even imagine until my gaze fell on the painful looking stab wound in his lower stomach.

‘Is the mate bond supposed to make you feel so hurt when you're not even the one that is wounded? Because right now, it feels like my heart is being ripped out’

I slowly touched the sides of the wound, trailing my fingers over the surface gently and I watched his hard muscles flex beneath my fingers.

“You're not going to stare at my bare chest all day now, would you Dani?”

“This must have been so painful” I muttered, sniffling back the tears I didn't realize was streaming down my face.

“It was, okay? But not anymore” he said with an assuring look on his face as he lifted my chin until I was looking directly into his eyes.

“Then why isn't it healing? Alpha bloods heal faster no matter what” I asked, not convinced by his response.

“Because it was a silver sword. I had an unhealed silver wound in the same spot before this happened is why” he replied, which wasn't in anyway making me feel better.

*The first person I would unalive with my two hands is the jerk that did this to him!*

“Why is your cheek swollen?” He asked, caressing the part of my face that received two slaps by my father's hand.

“I… I had a drastic fall” I lied, swallowing hard as I tried to escape his firm yet soft grip on my chin and luckily, he didn't stop me.

“Do you always cry when you see a wound on a patient or is it just me?” he suddenly asked and I immediately cleared my throat, wiping my tears as I put on a tough front.

“I always cry when I see a big wound on my patient” I lied again and he hummed in response, a low masculine hum that sent a warm feeling through my chest, leaving me wonder if he didn't realize I was lying or if he was just doing a good job hiding the fact that he knows.

“I didn't see you cry while you treated Anabel” he added and I almost glared at him. Almost!

“Well, just because.” I shrugged. “It would take three days and my proper first aid kit to help you recover from that” I added, changing the subject of discussion as I pointed at his wound and he nodded once.

“So do it” he said and I blinked.

“The party isn't happening in three days” I reminded him.

“You'll be coming to the palace to treat me, not here” he replied immediately, as if expecting me to say that. “And it's an order” he added and god, can my body feels hotter from how stern he sounds right now.

“Yes, Alpha” I muttered and I clearly saw him bite back a grin.

“Three days it is then, Dani” he murmured, and I couldn't help but wonder if three days probably had some other meaning I knew nothing about. “You might wanna go check on your patient now,” he added and I bowed slightly before turning to walk in the same direction I came.

“You should disinfect the wound twice everyday to avoid more complications or a bigger wound” I stopped to tell him and he nodded carefully, his eyes staring into mine intently.

“You would be there to disinfect it yourself anyway” he said cockily and I scrunched my nose up in a displeased look despite the annoying palpitations of my heart.

“I'm just saying… keep that in mind” I told him before turning away from him again, a big blush creeping up my face.

*

Finn's gaze locked on mine the moment I stepped out into the hall but I didn't hold his for long before looking down at Anabel who had tears in her eyes. She is awake and that is all that mattered. Whatever she was crying about was zero percent my concern.

I took five steady steps towards them before squatting to Anabel's level.

“That might leave a little scar but luckily it would blend with your skin color. I wasn't mean enough to give you an ugly scar even though I was sincerely tempted to” I told her with an expressionless look on my face and she blinked once.

“Did she really save me?” she whispered, asking no one in particular.

“You might wanna sniff out your cocktails next time before taking any sips or were you just so desperate to mock me that you'd rather risk your own life?” I added, disregarding her question completely but before she could think of answering, I stood up and walked away from them, praying that the party just ends already.

Eventually, it did and I couldn't help but ponder on my conversation with Alpha Alexander.

Did he not realize I'm his mate?

Or did he decide to keep it to himself since I'm not ‘worthy’ to be called his mate?

Was he embarrassed to be seen with me that he couldn't claim me in the hall but rather came all the way to the desolate hallway to check me out?

*'You ran away from the hall as soon as you sense him, Danica'* I reminded myself.

Why didn't he say a thing to me when we met?

Maybe he didn't feel the bond and was only nice to me because he was oblivious to the pull?

I doubt he would smile at me if I had admitted to being his mate. I concluded my wandering thoughts as I walked towards my father's car.

“Danica, what was that stunt you pulled back at the party?” Freya questioned and I could hear the anger and restlessness in her tone, making me scoff inwardly.

*What mother gets angry when her daughter saved someone's life?*

“I only….” A hard slap to my face stopped my words midway and I instantly felt the metallic taste of blood on my tongue.

“You attention seeking slut! How dare you?!”