Her Forever

Jack

Keith and I shoved Noel in the back of the black SUV. The rest of the remaining, small number of warriors we took crowded the other SUV. I drove while Keith sat in the back with Noel, still handcuffed with the magic bindings. Noel kept her mouth shut after telling us she was sorry. We had no idea what she meant with the flash of regret in her eyes.

Noel doesn’t regret anything. She’s tough, an Alpha’s daughter. Even though she doesn’t have the most muscular Wolf, she does excellent with anything mentally tactful, so showing any emotion was troublesome.

The clouds were coming in for the impending storm; they were dark, ominous, almost foreshadowing what I would have to deal with regarding Noel. I should have never started anything with her, but I was lonely and thought closeness to something would help. She was in the same boat, so for years, we were together, and I wish I could take it all back. Unfortunately, that can’t be so.

“Storm’s coming up, Alpha. Looks like the Elders got the storm right for once.” I nodded in agreement. There were sure signs that the elders could predict, mostly being things of nature. The weather was no different, and I could feel the subtle patterns in the weather since they had been around for such a long time. They were just more in tune, along with the ability to notice whether patterns, they provide great insight into the history of packs and other supernaturals. I was a bit annoyed they didn’t understand branding bonds, but to be completely honest, branding bonds haven’t been practiced for thousands of years, and our oldest elder was reaching 1400.

“Hey, have you heard anything from them regarding the branding bond?” I glanced back in the mirror.

“Nah, I can call them real quick. We were supposed to know today. They had an audience with the Vampire Council this morning.” Keith got on the phone, and Noel started sighing loudly, looking out the window.

“Yes, Donny, this is Beta Keith. Have you… what? Excellent. Right. I’ll let him know.” Keith was smiling ear to ear after a few moments of nodding on the phone. “Great news, Alpha! Looks like the branding bond won’t do anything if you mark her. The branding bond is there to weaken a human’s soul so they can be forcefully marked later. It just suppresses their spirit so the venom can penetrate the body easier. When the spirit is strong, the body will fight the venom and cause them to reject the marking. It shouldn’t matter if you are true mates because the soul or spirit is already waiting for you. Since you are true mates, this shouldn’t be an issue.” Keith smiled.

I blew out a sigh of relief. Mating and marking Rosalie wouldn’t be a problem, and when she was ready, I would mark her as mine. Everyone will know that we belong to each other, and once she decides to be a Werewolf, she won’t have an issue becoming one if she does want that too.

Being a Luna while a human would be complicated, but I wouldn’t mind her staying that way as strong as she is. I would always protect her. With a grin on my face, I gripped the steering wheel while smiling and thinking of sneaky ways to get my Luna to fall in love with me all the more and let me touch her in ways that would make her blush all the way down to…

Ring, Ring, Ring.

s**t, once I start thinking about loving my mate’s body, of course, someone would interrupt. “What?” I snapped, not even bothering to look at the caller ID. Once Amanda started talking, my foot became led and pushed the accelerator to the max, and I threw the phone on the floor.

“The hell?” Keith was slung back into his seat, hitting his head. “The f**k is wrong with you; what’s going on?!”

“The pack has been attacked; Rosalie has been taken.” I roared, causing the windows to burst. Glass flew outwards, but many shards landed in our hair. My knuckles turned white as we hit 120 mph on the speedometer. The fastest we could go in the SUV.

Once back at the packhouse, I burst out of the car like lightning, pushing everyone out of the way. People were trying to speak to me, but I pushed them back if they got too close. My Wolf was on the brink of shifting right then and there. The hair on the back of my head was standing up, and fur was starting to take over my arms. I sniffed and followed her scent.

My claws grew, and I ran through the packhouse, trying to smell honeysuckle and vanilla. Furniture was thrown across the rooms, claws on the walls, and drapes and couches were still on fire. The packhouse was almost in ruins, and I had been too hasty to even look at the territory outside. Rosalie’s old room was trashed, and I could smell b***d. It wasn’t hers. I listened to see if I could hear the breathing of her cat, Macaroni, but there was none. Looking on the other side of the bed, laid her cat. The only piece left of any family she had.

On the hardwood floor, written in Macaroni’s b***d, was one word, “Meow.” What a cruel, sadistic f**k. My mate would be heartbroken. A new spark lit within me to continue checking the packhouse. I walked to the end of the hallway and found myself in the panic room. She was scared; I could still smell her fear wafting in the air.

The blanket she must have had around her still smelled of her. Fear and worry leaked through her scent; she did not feel an ounce of hope while she was down there. She knew whatever was after she was coming for her.

She was there, she had been in the panic room, but the door had been blown through by something. Following the scent back outside, it stopped on the front lawn of the packhouse. Her smell was gone and vanished. “Explain to me,” I yelled, “how the highest security pack was infiltrated?! This is unacceptable!” The warriors had lined up in a circle around me. Gripping the closest warrior, I pulled him up by his collar. “SPEAK!”

“S-sir. They cut the power to the generators downstairs as well as the power to the pack. They were never at the borders; they just appeared here!” I dropped the young warrior to the ground, snarling at everyone else that was nodding in agreement.

“Did anyone see where she went?” I snapped. A young pup came up behind their mother and stood forward, trying to be brave. I recognized him as one of the pups Rosalie liked to take to the park when she took a break from her coding.

“I did Alpha; I was hiding under the steps. There was a Vampire, h-he held Luna by the arm, and she w-was bleeding,” he stuttered. A growl ripped from my throat, but his mother begged him to continue while he cowered in fear. “The Vampires and Witches all got together, and then a big ball of light came, and then they were gone!” The pup returned to his mother, and she held him close.

Keith stepped up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder to try and calm me. “Did the Vampire look like this?” Keith held up his phone with a picture of Derek on it. The pup looked and nodded vigorously. Marching up to the edge of the forest, I punched the 100-year-old tree in front of me, causing the bark to splinter and fly to the ground.

Many gasped, knowing my great grandfather had helped me build this forest from scratch. Any sort of mistreatment of nature was highly frowned upon in our pack. It takes hundreds of years to make a strong forest, especially one with good strong trees that house enough cover for humans overhead to not be able to see us. My anger got the best of me, and taking down a tree was far better than what I wanted to do at the moment. Kill.

“Get the trackers, get Bruce to find Derek’s last whereabouts. No one sleeps until my mate is back home!” Never in my life had I felt so much anger. I was considered one of the more level-headed alphas of this generation. The many alphas across the county usually sought out me to help them reason with other alphas during diplomatic disputes. I was considered the calm and rational one.

I no longer felt that. In fact, I felt the complete opposite. My mate was missing; I failed to protect her, and I had no idea how I would get her back. For once, everyone was at a loss of what they should do. We don’t usually deal with Witches and Warlocks. They tend to themselves and do not like to intermingle with humans, Werewolves, or other supernaturals of the like. They often get used of their understanding of magic, dark, light, and b***d. Now, bond magic hasn’t been practiced in years that has come into play.

Growling again in frustration, my Wolf started to come forward. My Wolf doesn’t tend to come forward, unless Rosalie comes around and he wants to play. He’s angered and threatened, and our lifeline is no longer here. With a quick rip of my clothes, becoming one with one another, we change into our large blonde Wolf. For once in a long, while we talk to each other, Wolf to human, we form a plan to get the one person that mattered the most.

The warriors nodded while staring at our large form. The rest of the pack tried to put order into the disarray that was caused by the scuffle.

***

Rosalie

My neck was hurting from my position, my head was still hanging over, and my upper torso was finally tied back to the chair. I tried to lift my head, but it felt impossible with the time I had spent in the same position. Letting out a small g***n, the doors opened at the top of the stairs. Light trickled in, and large footsteps continued to come down the wooden steps. The ominous whistle began the whistle that haunted my dreams at night before my Jack came around to protect me.

With a tight grip, Derek grabbed the back of my head, pulling my hair to look into my eyes. “So beautiful,” he whispered as he took the other finger and traced it down my jaw. I knew better than to speak; it only makes things worse. When I had a tiny spark in me in my younger years, he punched me so hard in the gut that I had bloody stool for a week. My spark died that day.

Little does he know I have a fire in my bosom now. It burns for Jack and the love he has given me as well as the pack. They gave me a family and a home. Playing my cards right, I’ll get out of here, but first, I would make sure no bond would get put on me.

My efforts were fruitful since Derek sighed in annoyance once he saw my bare chest, the battered bra covered in dirt and grime still stayed. Still, the emblem of a bond left on my skin was quickly fading. He checked my back to see the other side, and he sighed heavily. “Believe it or not,” he walked to the fire that was still burning near the Witch’s work area. “I do care about you… or at least I will care about you.” Derek poked the fire with the iron prod.

“I do these things to make you submit; it is the only way to break your spirit, you see. When I first got you, I really did have good intentions. I lost my beloved a long time ago, and all she wanted was a little girl.” I peeked my head up to listen. Derek had never told me why he kept me, why he was nice for so long, and then decided to torment me. It was something I needed, just in case I ever got closure.

“We weren’t fully mated; we just knew we were beloveds. She was unfortunately killed by an evil king that no longer rules, King Drago. She was part of a rebellion 500 years ago to stop him. She and her best friend were killed right in front of me. We were scheduled for our mating ceremony that evening, but Drago had to conquer our village that day.” Derek’s voice cracked, and a tear fell down his face.

I almost felt sorry for him. The keyword being, almost.

After centuries of mourning, I finally decided to move on and adopt a little girl in her memory. I was tired of being alone; I wanted to have a family. The one we never had. The first two years with you were incredible. I felt like a father, and it helped me continue her memory. I never want to lose that, sharing ice cream with you, tucking you in at night, helping you with your foolish homework.” His eyes looked to the branding iron to the corner of the room.

A few tears dripped down my face. I remember the thought of feeling safe with him. It was so long ago, I had almost forgotten until it was ripped away.

“But then you said something to me that changed everything.” Derek’s eyes met my terrified eyes, and he gave a slight smirk.