The Mate He Hates

　　Amanda's POV

　　"I'm tired. Is the river still far from here?" Elisa grumbled wearily and rested against a tree. She looked exhausted, as if she had journeyed a thousand miles.

　　"The river is just behind that mountain." I pointed to a mountain a few steps away from us.

　　She grumbled and lazily moved away from the tree. "I told you to come alone. Why must I join you?" She murmured, and I scoffed, rolling my eyes at her.

　　We continued our journey while Elisa trailed behind, but I couldn't leave her, so I had to walk as slowly as she did. We were almost at the river when our feet halted for what we saw. Standing before the river was a young man who should be in his early twenties. His back was turned against us, but what we noticed was the knife in his hand. Before we could comprehend what was happening, he stabbed himself right in the chest, and we gasped.

　　He made a low sound of pain and fell to the floor while blood gushed out of his stabbed chest. "Let's leave this place." Elisa held my hand as she tried to pull me away, but I refused to move, my eyes fixed on the young man who was slowly dying.

　　"We need to help him, Elisa," I pleaded with my step-sister, and she frowned. "Are you insane? Do you even know what you are saying?" She snapped at me, and I gulped. "What if he is dangerous? As you can see, he was the one who tried to kill himself. Let's go." She snapped at me, but her words were brushed aside as I pulled away from her grip and ran towards the young man.

　　When I reached where he was lying, I knelt on the floor and saw his eyes were slightly closed, and his breath was seizing. "Are you okay?" I asked in panic, and as if he heard my voice, he slowly opened his eyes and held my gaze. Goodness, he has the most amazing green eyes I have ever seen on anyone.

　　"Are you okay?" I asked with concern, confused about what to do.

　　He didn't respond to me; instead, he just closed his eyes, as if he were waiting for death to take him. "No, no, please open your eyes," I pleaded as fear gripped my entire being.

　　"Let's go," Elisa yelled from where she stood, but I ignored her and tore my dress. I took the pieces of my dress and placed them on the bleeding surface, but it was useless.

　　Restlessly, I got up and looked around the wood. I remembered how Granny had told me about a particular type of leaf in the woods that helped sustain an injured person. According to her, if the leaves are squeezed, and the substance from it is applied to the surface of a bleeding wound, the bleeding would stop and sustain the person until medical help is given.

　　I remembered the leaves because Granny had shown me, and I had stored a picture of them in my head. Quickly, I began searching around for it, and luckily, as the goddess would have it, I found it just a few steps away from us. I hurriedly plucked it and ran back to the injured stranger.

　　I rubbed the leaves with both my palms, took off the pieces of my clothes from his wound, and then applied the liquid substance to the wound. "Ahhh..." the injured stranger grunted in pain while I gulped and kept pouring more of the substance into the wound. With expectation, I watched the bleeding wound, waiting for it to stop bleeding, but it didn't. Instead, more blood was gushing out of it.

　　"What should I do?" I murmured in panic as the fear of him dying gripped me. I didn't know who this stranger was, but somehow, I felt an uncomfortable feeling in my chest. My eyes were becoming teary, and I wanted to cry.

　　"Leave. Don't help me." He spoke weakly, with his eyes still closed, causing my heart to pound. "No, I will help you. I won't let you die! Do you hear me? You won't die; I won't let you die." I made those promises to him and hurriedly got up.

　　I ran to where Elisa stood. "Please stay here; I will be back. I have to go call someone..." I didn't allow Elisa to speak before I sped up and began running.

　　I ran as fast as my legs could carry. As I ran, tears fell on my cheeks, and my whole body shook with fear. Despite not knowing him, I was just so scared of losing him. I ran out of the woods and went to the first home I saw.

　　I knocked on the door, and the door opened, revealing Sir Timothy, the pack's famous carpenter. "Hello... Amanda..."

　　"Someone needs your help; he is injured in the woods. Please help," I pleaded in fear, and he raised a brow at me. "Someone is wounded in the woods?" He asked to be sure he heard me right.

　　"Yes... we met him in the woods injured..." I lied. I didn't want to tell him that the young man tried to take his life. "Please help!" I pleaded, with tears falling freely on my cheeks.

　　"Let's go." Sir Timothy closed his door.

　　"Thank you." I led the way as I began running back to the woods, and Sir Timothy understood and followed suit.

　　We ran back into the woods, but getting to the riverbanks, I realized we had company. Three well-built men were with Elisa. One carried the injured young man on his shoulders, and the others talked to Elisa.

　　"What is your name?" One of the men asked, and Elisa swallowed in fear.

　　"We have to help her." I tried going to meet up with Elisa, but Sir Timothy held me back. "These men are warriors from the Snow Moon pack. Stay here." He whispered.

　　"I won't harm you; just tell me your name," the man asked Elisa in a calm and cozy voice.

　　"Elisa, my name is Elisa." Elisa trembled with fear.

　　"Elisa, thank you for saving our young master. The leaves you used had stopped his bleeding." He said, and my heart leaped with joy. "You will be greatly rewarded." He smiled at Elisa, and they all turned to leave.

　　The moment they left, Sir Timothy let go of me, and I ran to Elisa. "Are you okay? Who are those men?" I asked with concern.

　　"I don't know; they just came out from that side of the woods and immediately called the stranger 'young master,'" Elisa explained, and I frowned and looked in the direction they had taken.

　　"Are we sure they are good people? What if they are lying and want him dead?" I muttered with concern, wishing I could do something.

　　"Why do you care? You almost put my life in danger." She snapped at me and began walking away, while I didn't move an inch as I stared at the stain of his blood on the ground, and then I saw the pieces of my dress. I picked them up and stared at them.

　　"Amanda, let's leave," Sir Timothy called out to me. "Now!" He demanded, forcing me to move my feet. We walked out of the woods while Elisa kept complaining about my decision to help the stranger to Sir Timothy. She continued complaining until we exited the woods, bid goodbye to Sir Timothy, and began our journey back home.

　　"I will tell my mother about this," Elisa threatened me with those words, but I didn't care. My mind was still on the injured stranger; I wondered if he was okay and if those men would help treat him or call for a healer.

　　Soon, we arrived home and met my stepmother, Elisa's mother, in the sitting room knitting. When she noticed us walking in, she lifted her eyes from the knitted dress and looked up at us.

　　"Where are you girls coming from?" She asked, and Elisa approached her. "The woods, Mommy, and guess what happened?"

　　Aunt Ana frowned and looked at me. "I believe it was your idea to go to the woods, right?" She asked in anger, approaching me. Before I could comprehend what was happening, a hot slap landed on my cheek.

　　"How many times have I told you not to take my daughter to the woods? She is fourteen, and so are you. What will you do if a rogue shows up? How can you two defend yourselves when you don't have your wolf yet?" She yelled at me, and another slap landed on my face, forcing me to fall on my butt as tears fell from my cheeks.

　　"Mother, that wasn't all. She even tried saving a stranger who tried killing himself," Elisa announced while I swallowed in pain.

　　"What!" Aunt Ana exclaimed in shock.

　　"Yes, Mother, see her dress; it's torn. She damaged her dress."

　　Aunt Ana glared at me with gritted teeth. "You," she sucked in a deep breath to hold down her anger. "You are grounded, Amanda. You are never to leave the house until I say so."