Flight 118: A Woman’s Future

~ Emilia ~

My eyes widened as I remembered them saying the rumors going through town about women disappearing around the country. Women who had been a part of The Gathering.

“It’s you! You’ve been kidnapping or rescuing or whatever you want to call it, women across the country! You’re the reason behind the attack on the pack territory!”

“I needed to do something! You should understand better than anyone!”

“I do! But that doesn’t mean you stoop to their level and go around kidnapping people! Or convincing a bunch of men to go attack innocent people!”

She winced a little.

“Do you even ask the women you take if they need saving? If they want to leave? Have you ever thought, bought at auction or not, they may enjoy who they’re with now?”

“Of course I do! I only rescue those who need it!”

An unamused laugh came out of me in a huff. “Yeah? So, why did you have Clarisse lure me out into the woods during an attack which you created? Why did you knock me out and kidnap me? I didn’t need saving. I don’t need saving. I agree The Gathering was awful. Crazy. It needs to be stopped. But I learned very quickly, Jonah… these shifters… are not my enemy. This is where I belong now. But you kidnapped me. You’ve taken the first step those people who kidnap for The Gathering have. If you don’t have any standards to hold yourself to then you’ll end up no better than they are!”

“I do have standards! I admit I regret allowing myself to ignore the fact I wasn’t getting all of the information. I’ll never do that again. But I’ve seen what The Gathering does to people! You can be so relieved you’re being rescued that you blind yourself to the reality of the situation!”

“That will only happen if you allow that to happen! I can promise you, I have not been fooled by some misguided notion of heroism. I’m clear-minded. If anyone is having difficulty looking past their notion of truth to not pay attention to what’s really going on, it’s Clarisse. And just maybe you, also. Do you even know there are roughly 40 humans who are living in this pack territory and are perfectly content and safe? Legitimately rescued by the shifters. Yet, you just sent men in to attack them all. Men who set fire to the forest, endangering everyone there. For what? Your personal vendetta?”

I was beginning to think this woman herself had a specific reason behind her hatred of The Gathering. A personal one. Which would make what she was doing understandable. The way she was doing it, though? Not so much.

“For that, I’m sorry. As I said, my information was wrong. I was unaware of… really, everything.”

After saying that she fell silent.

“What exactly did Clarisse tell you?”

She shrugged. “She told me about you, how you were kidnapped and auctioned off at The Gathering. How you were bought by a pack of wolves. How you and a group of humans were all being held against your will by the pack. Said you were blinded by the fact they saved you. Didn’t see what was right in front of your minds.”

“And she didn’t tell you any specifics? Like where we all came from, and how they genuinely saved us?”

The woman shook her head. So, I told her. Everything from getting on the plane, to crashing, being sent out for help and being kidnapped, to being rescued and finding a new home.

“Clarisse… she’s young. And scared. She doesn’t really understand just how much the pack, all of the packs, have done for us. She just sees the fact she’s now in a world she doesn’t know and away from all she’s known. I don’t think she’s truly accepted the fact there is no going back and the fact she’s not alone. She just feels like she is because the rest of us have, for the most part, come to terms with our new realities.”

She growled softly. “I wish I had realized she was just a girl who was going through something. I let my anger get the best of me. Allowed me to ignore things I should have picked up on. Things I normally pick up on.”

After a few moments of silence, I spoke again. “So, what now?

“Well, do you really want to stay here? It doesn’t matter if he’s your mate or if they saved you if you don’t want to stay. I’ll help you leave.”

I sat back with a smile as I pictured the face of Jonah; how he made me feel. I fully believed him when he told me how he felt, how much I meant to him, and how lucky he felt to have had his mate be me. I knew what finding his mate, finding me, gave him. It was not a lie or an over-exaggeration. After the time it took me to decompress from the overwhelming feelings I had when I first got here, I have come to realize how I genuinely had grown to care about Jonah too. Maybe even love him. He saved me and he loved me without pressuring me to return his feelings in any way. Even though I knew it was literally in his DNA to claim me immediately.

So, I told the woman that.

“I understand your concerns or what it may look like, but I really am happy with Jonah. He saved me in more ways than one. You know, I never expected to get onto a plane and then survive a plane crash, and I did. I never expected to time travel into the future, or get kidnapped, or auctioned off, and I did. I never expected to learn shifters were real or that I was a shifter mate, but all of that happened. Yet, even before I got on the plane I was never truly happy. I was always striving towards something that was never in reach. I needed saving then, just not knowing it… and I needed saving after I got here. But the only thing is, with Jonah, he’s always saving me. Even with the simplest things like making sure I eat or making sure I have a moment of peace if I need it. And I know he’d save anyone because that’s just the kind of guy he is, but he goes the extra mile with me because he loves me. I… I love him.” I finished, saying the last part in a wonder-filled tone.

My eyes widened as I finally realized the truth. Before it had been a possibility I thought of with hope and uncertainty. Now I knew it was the truth. I loved Jonah.

I shook my head to clear it. “As you can see, I don’t need rescuing.”

The woman settled back with a faint smile on her lips. “It sounds like you two are true mates. I am sorry for all this. I see now I made a mistake with all of this.”

I shake my head. “Don’t worry about it. I really do realize you had good intentions. If not a little misguided. I partially blame myself for that, I’m not gonna lie. I really thought Clarisse was just upset and needed time to just… relax. I never imagined she’d take it so far.”

Her head tilted back and forth. “Sometimes we can only realize our mistake when we’ve done something drastic enough to make us realize. So, what will you do now? Will you go back and have her punished?”

My eyes widened. “No! Of course, not. I still believe she was just misguided and upset. I won’t necessarily be trusting her to be on her own or learn important things for a while, but I don’t want her gone. I hope she knows that. Speaking of which, where is she?”

“She left after I knocked you out. Said she had to make sure no one got hurt.” The woman winced. “Sorry about that, again.”

I winced also, still feeling the pain in my head but brushed it off. Then I motioned that it was fine.

“You can come too, you know? I’m still amazed none of them have mentioned a female shifter without a pack. I’m assuming you don’t have a pack, right?”

She nodded. “I lost my pack a long time ago. So, no. It’s the very reason why they didn’t mention me. They don’t know I exist. And I thank you, but no… I can’t give up on this mission. I need to see it through and I need a certain level of secrecy to do it. I can’t have people knowing what I am or what I look like.”

“They don’t believe in The Gathering either! They wouldn’t jeopardize you. And they’d be so excited to learn about another female shifter. I mean, what about your mate? I’m sure you have one and who knows how long he’s simply been in a pack, waiting.”

“One day, I may want to meet my family. But, honestly, I can’t think of that. Not until I’ve saved every single woman I could. Not until The Gathering is finished. It’s the promise I made myself many years ago, and the promise I’ll keep.”

“But who knows how long that’ll take! You’d really risk the possibility of never finding an actual life? Because right now it seems like you’re just finding a reason to survive. To me, it doesn’t seem like you’re really living. Doesn’t it get lonely?”

She shrugged but glanced away. “That’s the path I’ve chosen to take. Anyway, I’m truly sorry for the misunderstanding and this entire situation. You can go now. It’s in that direction and if you get lost, I’m sure it won’t be for long. I heard a howl right before you woke up. I’m sure it was your mate and he won’t be far now.”

She stood up and offered her hand to me. Taking her hand, I stood as well.

“Be free. If you decide to tell them about me, I’ll understand. I just ask you to keep my mission, what I do, and what I look like a secret as much as you can.”

“You really won’t come with me?”

She shook her head. “No. Be well, Emilia. Be happy.”

The woman lifted her hood back up, turning to fade into the dark.

“Wait! You never even told me your name!”

She chuckled softly and smiled back at me softly. “One day, my mission will be finished. Hopefully, we meet again and then I’ll tell you. Goodbye, Luna.”

Then she disappeared into the night, the darkness swallowing her.

Turning in the direction the woman had told me to go, I shook my head in bewilderment from the entire situation that had just happened. Then I began to head back towards my new home. Home being Jonah and not Eric’s pack. I cannot believe I just now realized how I felt about Jonah, and the first person I told was my kidnapper. I chuckled dryly to myself. I would not wait any longer. As soon as I found Jonah I would tell him.

First, I just had to find my way through the forest in the dark. After I found Jonah and finally told him how I felt, I would find Clarisse. I would not hold anything that happened here against her. But she would have a long road to get back to normal.