SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Six
My body was rocking from side to side as the buggy began to move again. Jonah held me in his arms, apparently taking the fact I gave him my name as a sign of something it wasn’t. But right now I could not find it in me to care much after what happened. I was dirty; I felt dirty inside and out. My face had the stiff feeling you would get when your tears dried uncomfortably. I was also freezing.
When I got on the plane, I had dressed in light-weight clothes knowing I would get hot at some point. However, it also meant I was not clothed well to be riding in such cold weather.
I remember the bodiless voice at the place where I had been held captive saying something about Houston. I thought Texas was warmer than this, but maybe at night it was different.
Looking around I realized the cold weather and how dark it was outside guaranteed I would not run again. At least right now, after the horrible first attempt ended up. Besides, what if more men showed up again?
I really did not think I could trust Jonah right now. I mean, could I trust someone who took part in something like buying another human being? But, whether I could trust him or not, I knew I was safer with him than on my own right now.
“You are very quiet. Are you okay?” His deep voice suddenly cut through the quiet space between us, effectively cutting off my thoughts and making me jump a little. “I am sorry, mine. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Instead of answering his question, I wanted to ask him why he kept calling me ‘mine’ but figured he would probably not answer right now.
My voice came out shakier than I wanted it, “It’s okay. I-I just am out of sorts and confused as to everything that has happened.”
Part of me wanted to demand answers about what was happening. Part of me questioned whether he was as bad as I thought he was since he had done nothing but be nice and protect me.
I got sidetracked once more when I remembered what I had been trying to do before everything happened. My mind raced a million miles a minute, trying to sort through whether I should tell him. Whether I could trust him. At least enough for this. If they kidnapped the other girl and me, what was to say that they wouldn’t do it to the others? A more logical, perhaps more sensible, part of me knew it wasn’t smart to wait. Some of them won’t even be alive to have anything done if they don’t get help fast.
Also, there were men there. Maybe I could convince them to let us go help the other survivors, and the men would be able to save me.
My head immediately shook no, unaware of Jonah watching me with both amusement and concern as I had my inner dialogue. These men could turn into wolves. Jonah had fought men at that place and had fought the men who tried to take me. The men from the wreckage would not be able to do anything to help me.
Stop being so selfish. Whether you can be helped or not is irrelevant right now. They need help, and being alive and held captive with a chance to escape is better than being left to die slowly and painfully.
Ugh. I hated my inner-self sometimes for being so reasonable. I would not lose hope for someone to save me. I would not stop looking for opportunities to escape. But right now, there were over 40 people needing help and who were relying on me- if they had not been found already. As much I hated to say it, Jonah was probably the only way I would be able to help them.
I looked up, barely able to make out his face in the little light provided by the lantern. His eyes kind of glowed a little but I shrugged it off.
I made up my mind and was going to say something to him, but I wanted some answers first.
“Jonah?” A low growl tumbled through his chest at my voice and I jumped, unsure why he had growled or if he was upset at me. “It-it is okay for me to call you Jonah, right?”
His eyes closed briefly as another rumble of his chest vibrated through his body into mine, but they quickly opened and found mine. His hand came up to gently brush against my cheek and I gulped at the tingles left behind in its wake. His deep voice rumbled an answer, “Yes, mine. Of course. I just like the sound of my name on your lips.”
I blushed a little but decided to continue, “What are you going to do to me? What is that thing I was at? Why did you buy me? How is that even legal? Aren’t the cops doing anything to stop it? Where are we? Where are we going? Why are we in a-a buggy and not a car or something? You are- you are a-a werewolf? Are you going to hurt me? Why do you call me ‘mine’?”
I gasped and threw a hand to my mouth in shock and horror. I had not meant to blurt out all of my questions. I so hoped he did not get mad. Here I am trying to get some answers while not angering him and I got about it completely untactful.
To my shock and irritating delight, a deep rumble filled the air once more, only this time it was his laughter. When I continued to stare at him he stopped and looked at me with wide eyes. He asked, “Wait. You’re being serious? You do not know what The Gathering is?”
Torn between angry and upset I shook my head no.
“Where are you from, mine?”
My brow furrowed in irritation, “I’m from a little bit of everywhere but right now I am living in Alabama. I was on a plane heading towards South Africa when it crashed. But what does that have to do with anything?”
Multiple times through my answer his head had tilted in a way that reminded me of a dog- or wolf. His eyes were filled with confusion.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Why haven’t you answered any of my questions? I feel like I have the right to know.” I crossed my arms, sitting back and putting some distance between us.
“What time are you from, mine?” He asked.
“What time? What do you mean what time? It’s 2019.” I was beginning to get irritated. But something held me back from voicing so.
His eyes were wide as understanding, shock, and wonder filled them. He turned to face the window, looking outside for a few minutes- silence filling the car. Just as I was about to say something, he turned to look back at me and gently uncrossed my arms so he could hold my hands. Then he spoke.
“Emilia, I do not know how to say this. It is the year 2144. I-I have heard of this happening before, once around 50 years ago. There was a large vessel, I believe what you call a plane. It crashed one day, around the time my kind was just beginning to appear and things were beginning to become difficult. Something happened, and I won’t upset you with the details right now, but the plane came from the past. At a time where our world was beginning to need help with repopulation. See, more males are being born than females. It has gotten to the point where 10 years ago, The Gathering was created.”
“See, there was a place needed to help...tame the violence of men fighting over and stealing women. We needed a way to repopulate the Earth, but we were still at the point where we did not want it to be repopulated where the same women birthed children from many different men. Also, many of us who were better off still had our morals and saw women as human beings, rather than just breeding vessels. Though I do not agree with The Gathering and how it is done, the mateless of my pack still go each year, hoping to find our mates. If we didn’t, we could miss finding our true mate and having her go somewhere horrible.”
I swallowed and stared at him in shock, not knowing how to process what he just told me or even whether to believe him. For some reason though, what came out of my mouth was, “Mate?”
Jonah smiled gently and moved one of his hands to my cheek while his other hand went around my waist to bring me back to his body. “Emilia, mine. You are my mate. My true mate. My ‘other half’ which was made just for me. You are mine. I will not and cannot harm you, nor would I want to. I will protect you, always.”
I stared into his eyes, completely overwhelmed and not knowing what to do. The tingles and sparks running along my skin where he touched were not making matters any better. So, I once again blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“My plane crashed and everyone is still there needing help!”