Chapter Four: Lyla

I blink open my eyes to find harsh fluorescent lighting. I must be in some sort of hospital, I think to myself. As my eyes adjust I notice I am not alone. My eyes roam to the man standing by my bed. He is extremely hot. With tanned skin, jet black hair, and hazel eyes, he is very handsome. He clearly works out as broad shoulders continue down to toned arms. And his smell, his scent is heavenly.

Before I can stop her, my wolf, Jasmine, comes to the surface. "Mate," she barks. What?! I tell her. He's our mate? But he's gorgeous. There's no way he'd fall for me. I'm a nothing. I should be dead. And thanks to Beta Damian, I almost was.

Once I say "mate," the man in front of me smiles.

"Glad to see you're awake," he says in a deep baritone voice. "What's your name?"

"Lyla," I answer. "Lyla Amangia."

"It's nice to meet you Lyla. I'm Xavier Costelion. How do you feel?"

I quickly assess how I'm feeling. My ribs are sore. They were probably broken but never had the proper time to heal. I notice an IV in my arm.

"When I found you, you were bloody, bruised, and very weak. Your wolf must not have had the proper nutrients to heal you, that's why you have an IV," Xavier explained.

"Oh," is all I said.

"I'm sure you're really confused about how you got here so let me explain some things," Xavier continued. "I am the Alpha of the Midnight Crescent pack. I was going on a run last night when I came across a clearing. I found you unconscious laying on the ground. I brought you back to the pack house where the pack doctor, my mother Georgia, rushed to save you. You've been resting ever since."

I couldn't believe it. My mate was an Alpha! That means I was going to be a Luna. No you're not, I told myself. There's no way Xavier wants a girl like you as his Luna. He'll reject you once he sees how weak you are. Keeping all these thoughts to myself, all I said was, "Thank you for saving me Xavier".

He smiled. "I'm just glad you're alright. My mom brought some clothes for you to change into. How about I give you a tour of the pack house once you've changed.

"Ok," I said.

Xavier left the hospital wing to give me some privacy. I changed into the leggings and shirt Georgia had left me. Stepping out of the hospital wing, I was greeted with a large entrance hall and a sparkling chandelier. Xavier was waiting for me.

"This is the entrance foyer," he said. On our right was the hospital wing and to the left was a sitting room. Straight ahead was a gorgeous staircase that went up many floors. He guided me past the stairs to a huge kitchen with a grand table and sitting area. Past the kitchen outside was a patio and swimming pool. We turned left where I was greeted with a large movie room. Across the hall from the movie room was a gym and offices. Xavier led me up the main stairs.

"This is where our pack members sleep," he said.

Many bedrooms branched off on either side of the hallway. Next to the stairs was a small common room. There were children ranging from ages 5-10 playing.

"These are the cubs of our pack," Xavier explained.

A little boy and girls, twins it seemed, around the age of 7 ran up to me. "Hi, I'm Caden," the boy shouted joyfully. " I haven't seen you before. Who are you?"

"Caden, be nice," the little girl said. "I'm Callie," she said while smiling at me.

I didn't know how to explain my situation to children, but Xavier stepped in smoothly and responded, "This is my friend Lyla. She'll be staying with us for a while."

"Yay!" Callie said. "More girls, the better. You're super pretty too."

I blushed. "Thank you Callie, it was nice to meet both of you."

Xavier and I left the children to play with their toys and went up to the third floor of the pack house.

"This floor is reserved for families of the Gamma, Beta, and Alpha."

At the sound of Xavier's voice, two girls popped their heads into the hallway. As they made their way towards us, Xavier introduced them.

"Lyla, this is Beta female Lily and Gamma female Alexis."

Lily had pale skin and was blonde with blue eyes. Hir hair was in beach waves and she had a beautiful figure. Alexis was a brunette with pin straight hair and stormy gray eyes. She looked like she hit the gym a few days a week.

"It's so nice to meet you," Lily exclaimed excitedly while giving me a bone crushing hug.

Alexis smiled and said, "glad to see you up and around. We'll leave you to the rest of your tour."

We parted ways and crossed to the hallway on the other side of the stairs. The first bedroom on the left contained a girl similar to my age by the looks of it. She quickly got up off her bed and bounded into the hallway.

"So you must be the famous mystery mate of my brother," she said in a playful voice. "It's good to see you up and around. I'm Naomi, Xavier's little sister."

"More like big pain in my ass," Xavier joked.

"But you love me all the same," Naomi said while she crushed him in a bear hug.

Xavier was doing his best to look annoyed, but I could see his hazel eyes held much love for his younger sister. I smiled. "It'll be fun having a girl my age around. I've always wanted a sister."

"Me too," exclaimed Naomi. "We're going to have so much fun! Let me show you to your room."

With that, Naomi whisked me away from Xavier and down the hall.