Chapter 43 - She's Back But Is She Really?.

"Honey, I'm home"

Natalia said before fainting.

I used my werewolf speed to get to her before she could hit the floor and I cradled her in my arms holding her close to me.

"Nat...Nattie baby wake up"

I gently tapped her face to try and wake her up but she remained unconscious.

"Here Cole put this on her and get her to the pack hospital now"

Angelo handed me his shirt to put on Natalia which I did, normally I wouldn't be happy with other men's clothes being on my mate but he's our brother so it's not really irking me or Ace as much.

After putting the shirt on Natalia, I quickly stood up with her in my arms and I used my werewolf speed again to leave my house and take her to the pack hospital.

"Cole, I can't sense Lucky"

"Don't worry buddy, they probably just used wolfsbane on her"

"How can I not worry when they've used wolfsbane, Cole? have you forgotten all that you know about that shit?"

"Of course I haven't but I'd much rather it was wolfsbane that she was injected with instead of silver because the chances of Lucky coming back to us would be slim to none"

"I guess you're right"

"Of course I am"

I arrive at the pack hospital and immediately head straight to the emergency room whilst shouting for the pack doctor to follow me, I walked through the doors and placed Natalia on the nearest bed, I grabbed hold of her hand just as the pack doctor came rushing in.

"Alpha Cole, is everything alright? I heard about Luna Natalia"

His panic-filled voice filled the room as he came around the opposite side of the bed and looked at my mate confused.

"She was kidnapped but we got her back...somehow, anyway, she's injured, I need you to do what you need to do to make sure she's ok and there's nothing too severe"

"You got it"

He takes out his little light and checks Natalias eyes, he then checks her pulse before cupping the sides of her face and looking at the god awful wound on her forehead.

"Ok, from what I can tell alpha, it's mostly just cuts and bruises, her pulse is faint but it's there, I'd like to take her in for a cat scan to make sure there's no internal bleeding or any severe damage to her brain, I also need to test her blood to make sure there's no silver in her system which there most likely is from the looks of her wrists and I need to put a drain in her arm to suck out all of the wolfsbane that's in her system"

"Is she gonna be ok?"

He was silent as he looked down at my mate.

"It all depends on the results from her head scan until then...I can't answer that question, I'm sorry"

I nod my head as I look down at my beautiful mate.

"She's so beautiful even in this state, she's the most beautiful person in the whole world"

"You got that right, Ace"

I lifted her hand up to my lips and placed several kisses on her knuckles before leaning down and kissing her forehead.

"Come back to me, Nattie, please"

I kiss her forehead again before leaving the room and going out into the waiting area where everyone from Natalias birth family to our friends and my dad are waiting patiently for any news on Nattie.

"How is she son? is she ok?"

I let out a sigh as I stand next to my dad.

"We won't know until the results of the cat scan come back"

"A cat scan? what's that?"

"It helps to detect if there's any internal bleeding or damage to the brain"

I explain to Jason before telling them everything that the doctor told me.

"She'll be ok son, she's been through worse"

My dad said with regret in his voice.

"I don't know dad...all we can see is what he's done to her physically, lord knows what he did to her while he had her"

"What are you insinuating at Cole?"

I looked up at my father in law and spoke of things that I thought I'd never have to think off.

"He could've sexually assaulted her"

Koa, Nathan, Christian, Angelo and even myself growled at what I said, if Mason has even attempted to do anything sexual to my woman then I'll take great pleasure in torturing him until he begs me to kill him, I'm already gunning for him for everything he's put her through already.

"Well, that's easy to figure out Cole, did you feel anything painful...you know...down there?"

My father asked me awkwardly as I looked at him confused.

"Huh"

"In your d**k Cole"

Emily stated whilst rolling her eyes causing others to chuckle.

"He means in your d**k and stomach, did you feel any excruciating pain in those areas?"

"No, why?"

I shake my head and everyone sighs in relief.

"That's good to hear, any sexual contact whether it's consensual or not would still cause you physical pain and since you haven't felt anything then that means that Mason never succeeded in claiming her"

Now it was my turn to sigh in relief, I know that I'm no angel and I no doubt deserve all of the pain that I'm caused but I'm glad that I never felt those pains which are bad enough to feel as it is when you know your mate is willingly having sex with another man but to feel them when she's not even consenting would be worse and I know that even though my Natalia is a strong girl, she would never be able to recover from such a brutal act such as rape.

One Hour Later....

"Cole...Cole, wake up"

"Mmm, what Angelo? can't you see I'm sleeping?"

"Yer I know dude but you have to wake up"

"Why?"

I whined like a little kid, I've always hated being woken up it doesn't matter if I'm having the best nights sleep or the worst sleep, I hate being woken up and I don't care what the reason is.

"The pack doctor has finished examining Natalia, he's taken her to the Luna room"

Except for that reason.

"Ok I'm up, I'm up"

I jump up as soon as I hear my mates name, it hasn't been that long since I held her in my arms or I had to leave her with the pack doctor but it feels like forever and right now, all I wanna do is hold her and keep her close to me even though I know she'll more than likely push me away when she wakes up.

"Where is everyone?"

I looked around the waiting area and saw that it was completely empty apart from a few nurses and doctors who were passing by.

"I sent them home, they all look shattered and needed to rest so I told them to go and get some sleep and I'll call them when we've got news"

"Oh ok"

I go to the Luna room and wasted no time in walking in and seeing my mate who was sleeping peacefully, she's got a bandage on the left side of her head were her head wound is, she's got two bandages on her wrists and a bandage on the right side of her neck....wait that's weird, I never saw any injuries on her neck when I brought her in.

"Ace, did you see anything on Natties neck?"

He whimpered as he shook his head, I didn't press him any further because I know how upset he is.

I sat down in the chair next to Natties bed and grabbed her hand placing several gentle kisses all over it as I looked at her beautiful face, she looks so peaceful even despite all of the cuts and bruises that are all over her.

I noticed one cut and bruise in particular which is by her beautiful mouth, her lip is busted open and there's a big bruise by it, my anger boiled over when I saw this because this type of injury can only mean one thing which is that he hit her, THE f*****g BASTARD!!.

"Calm down Cole, we'll get him and when we do, he'll pay....just stay focused on Natalia"

"You're right"

"Of course I am, I'm part of you remember, I have to be right"

I chuckled slightly at my wolf, I then looked back at my mate and raised my free hand to her face and gently caressed were the bruise is with the back of my hand.

"I love you so much, my baby"

My eyes closed tightly as I tried my hardest not to let the tears that were stinging my eyes from falling, I know many people won't believe this but I truly do love Natalia and I'm prepared to do anything and everything to keep her as mine forever but I've got a strong feeling I've lost her for good and that when she learns our bond is still intact, she won't waste any time in severing it.

Knock!!, knock!!, knock!!.

"Hey bro, how is she?"

"She's fine"

I tell him whilst wiping my face, I don't want anyone to see me crying.

I was startled when I felt someone hugging me and kissing my cheek.

"It's ok to cry baby, she's your mate, you have every right too and nobody is going to judge you"

Natalia's mother whispered in my ear, she then pulled away and gently rubbed my back whilst standing by my side, she's a very caring woman and treats me like her son even after everything I did to her daughter.

King Koa stood on the opposite side of Nat's bed and held her hand whilst stroking her hair with his free hand and muttering something that wasn't English, I wonder what he's saying.

"He's praying to our moon goddess in Samoan"

Nathan answered the unasked question like he could sense or even hear what I was thinking.

"Oh"

The room was silent apart from King Koas praying.

After a few minutes, the pack doctor entered the room and seemed happy that we were all here.

"Oh good you're all here, I've got some results here if you'd like to hear them?"

"Of course doc, please tell us"

King Koa said whilst continuing to hold onto Natties hand.

"Well, her blood came back negative for any silver, the only silver we found in her system were tiny flecks from the handcuffs that were on her wrists, she must've put up a good fight because we found quite a bit of silver in her wounds which can only happen if there's either resistance on her part to being tied up or there was a struggle"

That sounds like my Nattie.

"Her blood, however, did come back positive for wolfsbane, the levels in her system are dangerously high which is why we've put a drip in her arm to help rid the wolfsbane from her blood as fast as possible"

"Why would he inject her with dangerous amounts of wolfsbane? he must've known that it could kill her and her wolf"

"This is Mason we're talking about here, he may be a royal wolf but it doesn't mean he's smart, that being said, Natalia could've said or done something to piss him off which caused him to inject her with more wolfsbane then he should have"

"That sounds like our Natalia, the only thing that's faster than her hands is her mouth"

Angelo said with a slight chuckle and everyone else chuckled as well.

"What about her head wound, doc? what did her results say?"

"We haven't got the results back yet beta Angelo but as soon as I get them, I will let you all know"

"Thanks"

"What about her neck? I never saw any wounds on her neck when I brought her in"

I asked whilst looking at the bandage on her neck.

"Oh, that erm....well, when we were doing our initial examination of Luna Natalia...we noticed a bite mark on her neck, actually several bite marks"

"A bite mark? what type of bite mark?"

The pack doctor looks at me warily before looking down at his clipboard which is shaking because he is.

"Well, it erm...it looks like a erm...a m..marking b..bite, sir"

Marking? what the f**k?.

"He marked her?"

Christian asks as my heartbeat started to rise along with my anger.

"Well, yes and no, you see there is a bite mark there but I believe that it's a failed attempt, actually, several failed attempts"

"What do you mean by several?"

The pack doctor walked over to Natalia and peeled away the bandage from her neck, we were all shocked when we saw the severe bruising on her neck along with four sets of puncture marks were she was bitten.

"If you look at this bite mark here you'll see that it looks black and that's because whoever did this to her pierced the same spot more than once without letting it heal first, my guess is that he bit her around five times with each time being more rough and aggressive which is probably from impatience and anger due to the marking not being accepted"

Oh, dear moon goddess please forgive me for everything that I plan on doing to this f*****g asshole.

"What about the other puncture marks?"

"Again this is just a guess but I think that her attacker may have gotten angry and or irritated when he's attempted to mark her and these spots here are from where he accidentally missed the marking spot, as for the bruising, well that's a result from the trauma that Luna Natalia suffered from because of being bitten so many times"

"Calm down Ace, NOW!!"

I yelled at my wolf who was angrily trying to break free and take control of me.

"How can I calm down, Cole? he tried to mark her"

"Yes, he tried and failed to mark her because she's still bonded to us, now calm down because I'm struggling enough as it is with my own anger, I don't need to deal with yours as well"

Ace piped down and I had to take several deep breaths to calm myself down, no man likes to hear that another man has been with their woman but as a wolf, it's downright disrespectful for a man to mark another mans property and as horrible as it sounds, Natalia is my property and it's really irking me and making me irritable that this asshole has tried to mark what's mine.

"When will she wake up?"

Natalia's mother asked sounding worried for her daughter.

"I don't know Queen Tia....as you all know, when you mark your mate it's quick, it's painful and then it's pleasurable, it's also a very draining experience for the one who is being marked and normally it knocks that person out for almost a whole day and that's just with one bite, my guess is that Luna Natalia has been bitten no more than ten times which makes it difficult for me to know when she'll wake up not to mention the fact that she's still got a lot of wolfsbane in her system"

"Ok, thank you, doc"

The pack doctor bowed to everyone before leaving the room.

"I don't understand why it failed, those who aren't destined mates mark each other all of the time, why didn't it work with Nat?"

"It's simple son, it's because she's still bonded to Cole, a mark is only permanent when the bond between true mates is permanently severed which it isn't and that's why it failed"

"But Mason's not that stupid dad, he must've known that Natalia accepting Coles rejection wouldn't be real because it wasn't really him she was doing it with"

King Koa sighs as he rubs his hand over his face.

"I don't know son, I can't diminish how smart Mason is but at the same time I can't with how stupid he is either"

Everyone was scared by this thought because it almost felt like we didn't know what or who we were dealing with which is a very scary thought in enough itself, if you know who and or what you're dealing with then you have a certain level of confidence and you can think of many different ways to defeat that person but if you don't know then it's hard to feel confident in defeating the evil that is threatening your family, more importantly, your mate.

Natalia's P.O.V.

Where the hell am I?.

Am I dead or alive?.

If I had to take a wild guess then I'd say I was probably dead because unlike last time when I was unconscious and I could feel myself still connected to my wolf and my body, I don't this time and it's really freaking me out.

I don't wanna die, I mean my life may not be a bed of roses at the moment but it doesn't mean I want to die, I wanna live, I wanna graduate high school, I wanna get to know my real family more, I wanna fall in love, actually, it's too late for that but anyway, I want what most people want which is to get married and have kids, have idiotic arguments with my husband and fight with him over whether our little girls can date or not, urgh!!.

I didn't realise that I was crying or had sat down in the fetal position until I felt a calming and peaceful presence surround me as well as a warm and comforting touch on my arm.

"Please don't cry, my dear child, everything's going to be ok"

A soothing voice spoke which made me look up, I gasped seeing the most beautiful woman in front of me but I was confused as to who she was and why she was here? speaking of here, it's no longer a black abyss but a beautiful peaceful garden filled with so many different colours, wow, this place is amazing.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"That's the understatement of the year"

And it was true, this place is truly beautiful and it's got such a strong sense of peace and tranquillity about it that if I didn't see it with my own two eyes, I wouldn't believe it was real.

"Why thank you, my child, this is one of my favourite places"

"I can see why"

I said more to myself as I looked around the beautiful gardens, I then looked down at myself and I had to do a double-take when I saw that I was no longer wearing my black lace underwear set but a short white playsuit and I was barefoot, my body was a clean canvas almost like I'd never been hurt or scarred in my life.

I then turned around and looked over at the woman who was smiling brightly at me.

I couldn't stop staring at her, she was truly the most beautiful woman I've ever seen and that's saying something considering I'm surrounded by beautiful women, she's wearing a stunning white dress which has got a halter neck and a slit in the leg.

"Who are you? you must be pretty powerful if you can come to me in my unconscious state just like my momma did"

"Girl please, your momma and I have been best fre fres ever since I can remember, in fact, I'm your godmother"

She stated with a proud smile.

"What? I've got a godmother?...how come I never knew about that?"

She looks at me like I've just asked a really dumb question.

"Abuse, rejection, running away, discovering the truth about your heritage, your crazy uncle, a possessive mate, meeting your real family, getting kidnapped just to name a few"

She listed off with her fingers whilst rolling her eyes.

"There was never any time for you to learn about your amazing godmother, not to mention the fact that you found yourself tied up on more than one occasion with that handsome man Brody, not that I blame you, in fact, I was gonna make you guys second chance mates but I was team Cole all the way even if he is a..."

"Wait, what?"

I cut her off feeling shocked by what she said.

"You were gonna make me and Brody mates?"

"Mm-hmm"

She said with a smirk.

"But that's impossible, only one person can decide who is mated to who and that's...oh f**k"

"Language Natalia"

She said sternly as I looked at her shocked unable to comprehend what I've just learned.

"You're the moon goddess"

Her smirk widened as she nodded her head.

"I am my dear Natalia and we've got a lot that we need to talk about"