The Assistant (sequel to The Beta's Mate)

Elizabeth rushed into the emergency department of the hospital and asked to see her daughter. “I’m sorry ma’am. The doctor is still assessing her injuries. If you will allow me a few minutes, I will come and get you.” Elizabeth turned and buried her face in Duncan’s shoulder and cried.

“That bastard had something to do with this, Duncan. I would lay odds on it. His signature is all over this. It’s just like something that he would do. He threatened Miranda. She told him that she was leaving him, and said that he lost it. She was able to get away from him and leave. She didn’t tell him where she was moving to, but I guess it wasn’t hard to figure out.”

Whatever Duncan’s response would have been was stopped when the nurse appeared. Lizzie, Duncan and Dylan followed her through the thick wooden doors to the area of patient’s rooms. When Elizabeth saw her daughter, her legs went out from under her and if not for Duncan, she would have landed in a heap in the floor. She quietly cried as she looked over her daughter.

The entire side of her face was one giant bruise. An ugly black and purple one. Her eye appeared to be swollen shut. Her lip had stitches as if it had been split open in the crash. Her face and neck were covered in dried blood and she was about to ask the nurse for something to clean her daughter with when she noticed a mark that terrified her and gasped quietly.

“What is it, Elizabeth?” Duncan asked.

“Do you see it?”

“See what? Oh my God. Poor thing.....” On Miranda’s neck was a bruise that was suspiciously in the shape of fingers, like she had been strangled.

Elizabeth was about to ask the nurse if she could clean her daughter up when a deep growl sounded from the doorway. “MINE!!!” She and Duncan turned to see Dylan standing at the entrance to the room, his eyes flashing between the gold of his wolf and the black of an Alpha in high anxiety.

Duncan immediately walked over to his Alpha’s pup and pulled him over to the chair next to Miranda’s bed. “Quieten down, boy. You’ll have the authorities in here if you’re not careful. Now son, no one is denying you access to your mate, alright. But, even you wolf will have to understand that she is terribly injured and needs medical attention. Show your wolfy ways and they may just throw us out.” Dylan maintained a low, deep growl the entire time. Duncan stepped away from him. Feeling like he had no choice, he called his Alpha.

Elizabeth didn’t bother to listen in to Duncan’s conversation with her boss, who she had yet to meet. She was too busy trying to calm Dylan. “Dylan. Dylan! Dylan! I want you to look at me. Look at me! Now! She is in need of a lot of care and a lot of rest. Now, if you behave, I will let you move her to the pack hospital. That way you can keep an eye on her and get to know her at the same time. If you can’t control yourself, there’s no way I’m going to let you around my baby.′

“MINE!!”

“I don’t care if she is. She doesn’t know it, yet. And right now, she isn’t fit to accept you. What do you think she is going to do when she wakes up to a large furry animal claiming she belongs to them. She just narrowly escaped an abusive relationship. So you honestly believe she’s going to jump right back in to another relationship. It won’t matter that you would never hurt her. She’ll be terrified.”

Dylan whined as she spoke, knowing she was right. Trying to calm his wolf, he explained all of this to him. “She is ours. She will want us.“ ”Yes, she will. But we have to be gentle with her. She’s human and has been damaged by a man who said he loved her.” “We will kill him!” “Fine! We’ll kill him. But later. Right now, we must stay calm. Our mate needs that more than anything.” “Agreed. We will stay calm for her. That way she can be close to us, and we won’t cause her fear.”

Elizabeth watched Dylan’s eyes flash between gold and black. She knew that he and his wolf were having a conversation. Finally, he looked up with tears in his eyes and said, “Ok. but, I’ll need some help, Lizzie. I’ve never had to deal with an abused woman before. I don’t know how.” Dylan let out a low whine as a tear slid down his cheek.

Just then a commotion was heard outside the door. “Sir, I’m sorry, sir. You can’t go in there.”

A rumbling growl was heard as well as a growly voice. “Woman, my son is in that room, and I can feel how upset he is. Are you really going to try to stop me?” Soon the door opened and a massive man stood there.

Several things happened at once. Royce noticed a smell like none other. Vanilla, coconut and pineapple. He noticed his son sitting by a hospital bed holding an injured woman's hand. And he noticed his head of security holding his mate in his arms. Facing Duncan, he growled a low warning, causing him to release Elizabeth. He then turned to his son and said, “I’m glad you finally found her, son. I’m sorry she has been hurt, though. Now, I believe that introductions are in order. ”

Elizabeth turned to the massive man before her and realized that this was the Alpha of the pack that she worked for. He stood easily six foot six. His shoulders were huge. They had to be a yard across, easily. She also realized that if she were to stand next to him that the top of her head might, might reach the center of his chest, at the bottom of his sternum. She was small at five foot two. How in the world was she going to deal with this man/wolf.

Rising from his seat, but never releasing her daughter’s hand, “Dad, this is my mate Miranda and her mother, your new assistant, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this is my dad, Alpha Royce Hayes and your boss.” Dylan could feel the tension in the air and wondered if Lizzie understood what had just happened. His dad had claimed her as his mate to Duncan. He watched as Elizabeth stretched out her hand to shake his dad’s. He knew that minute that she realized what was going on. The tingles were like tiny shocks going up his arm while he held Miranda’s hand, so he knew that his dad and Elizabeth felt them.

“Oh hell, no! I don’t think so. I can’t do that. No! I cannot have another man like you in my life. It hurts too much.′ With that said, Lizzie turned and fled the room.

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So what do you think. I bet you thought that Royce and Elizabeth would never meet. How about Dylan being her daughter’s mate. Miranda’s old boyfriend is scary. He’s abusive and controlling. Vote and comment to let me know what you guys think.