Her Forever

Jack

It had been 6 days since I’d last seen Rosalie. I could feel her pain even though we weren’t wholly bonded and mated. It was faint, but it was there. Even through distance, she still held on to me like a lifeline. I tried to fill my heart with my love for her, hoping she could feel something.

He was physically hurting her; I could feel it. I could feel her heart burning and aching, and she was losing her lightfast. He was wearing her down, trying to break her spirit with the branding bonds.

Once I had calmed down enough to talk to the Elders, they had me sit in my office and made me hear them out. They had no idea about branding bonds because it was a practice outlawed thousands of years ago. They were dangerous and often resulted in humans dying. It was dark b***d magic that was entirely unfair for humans to deal with. Most didn’t have mates, so it was easy to change their hearts for the Vampire into something of love.

Rosalie was different though, it had been fading when I first met her, and that reason was that she was already destined. Part of her soul was intertwined with someone else’s… mine. The bond was fading because her soul still yearned for me and didn’t even know me yet. My fist pounds the table each time the elders pour their compassionate hearts of apologies and pity at me.

Apologies didn’t matter at this point; my mate was gone. If I had just bit her, even if she wasn’t ready, I would know where she was. That would have been forced, and she would have really hated me. There wasn’t anything I could do; this Derek guy had really ruined her, but in the short time she was with me, her own personality started to surface. She trusted me, and she opened up to me, and now she was stuck in the same hell she came from.

My office was a wreck. The computer screens were all trashed, books fell to the floor, pages ripped out of some of Rosalie’s favorites because I couldn’t handle looking at them. Liquor bottles leaked onto the floor because not even alcohol would sate me.

The winter storm rolled in, just like the Elders had predicted. It was a mess of a storm, and the whole village and packhouse were on lockdown while we tried to find other ways to find Derek Vanderveen. Bruce’s many connections with the FBI and local police departments had proven helpful. They could put a watch on all credit cards, computers, and other electronic devices such as cell phones. Nothing had moved; electronically, he was a ghost.

The blizzard had finally let up for some time, and everyone was trying to clear the paths so the cars could let us drive to the first destination, his old home, about 6 hours from the city. My bloodshot eyes were rimmed with red eyelashes coated in tears, yet I still wouldn’t let them fall. If they fell, that meant I gave up.

My hair was greasy, and my beard had grown; I had nothing left to give until I found my Rosalie, my kitten. Keith barged in the door; he had to run the pack in my absence since the storm. There wasn’t anything I could do. No tracking or leaving; I had to sit and fester. My own people couldn’t come to me because I was an utter mess.

“Get your sorry a*s up, Jack. She wouldn’t want to see you like this,” Keith reprimanded me. “You need to start thinking of other ways to find her other than computer s**t and tracking. What else connects her with anyone else?” Keith was fed up with my moping. The truth was my brain was in a haze, my Wolf hadn’t talked to me in days, and my body was starting to give out on me.

I ignored his damn voice and looked out over the snow-covered village. “I’ve never felt so lost,” I whispered. Keith’s angered face fell, and soon I saw worry. He has never seen me not know what to do. I frequently had plans A, B, and C, with the occasional D if those plans didn’t work out. I had nothing; I had exhausted all my resources to find her. Something that has never happened in my many years of living.

“I know you want to find her. We all miss her, and we know she is hurting. Is there anything else you can think of? Tracking obviously isn’t working, and using inside intel isn’t working either. Are there other Vamps you could talk to?”

“I’ve tried that Keith,” I pulled my shoulder-length hair at the root. “I’ve contacted the Vampire Counsel, and they haven’t been in contact with Derek in over 15 years; they thought he went back to Bergarian. He’s an old Vamp that doesn’t like the new ways their species has evolved into. He would still drink to kill if it was allowed. He’s brutal, animalistic, sadistic.” Keith’s eyes furrowed, and he walked to the large window I was staring out of.

Often I would sit in my office while Rosalie ran around with the pups with the fall leaves dancing around them. She would help rake up large piles, and even she, herself, would jump in them. Rosalie had become carefree, almost childlike again, making up for all the times she couldn’t be.

Keith put his hand on the window, watching the small pups looking lost without Rosalie, who apparently promised to help them build a snowman or snow Wolf. My eyes started to feel glassy again; I wouldn’t cry. An Alpha doesn’t cry; an Alpha destroys. But there wasn’t anything else left to destroy.

Bruce’s combat boots could be heard from downstairs; he stomped up the stairs as the snow fell from his boats. His grunting was heard, and other Wolves knew to stay away from him. Bruce was primarily stoic, hard to read. Even Rosalie had a hard time figuring him out, but he was always kind to her than others.

Bruce walked in without knocking, us both looking at him in confusion. “Noel’s father has not stopped calling since the blizzard has departed. What do you want to do with her? He’s driving me mad,” Bruce rubbed his bald head with frustration.

Noel. I perked up at the name. She had told us she was sorry, but the undertones in her voice only meant she was sorry for something else, not for the act of stealing from me. “s**t, get her in the interrogation room NOW! I don’t give a f**k what her father wants!” Keith jumped at my voice, and both ran out of the room.

***

Noel was strapped down to the chair with the cold metal table in front of her. Her eyes were dim, as she had not been fed in a week. Only water was given to her, and she had been stuck in a 5 by 5 foot cell. She had to lay down to get any relief from the small room.

“Took you long enough to come to talk to me,” she spat. “Have you finally understood my words just a week ago?”

“You have a lot of spunk for a she-Wolf that is on the other side of the interrogation table.”

She scoffed, “My father taught me well. I don’t break under pressure.”

“What happened, Noel? You could be a cold woman at times but never like this? Was it the rejection of you not becoming Luna for my pack?”

Noel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “There was a time where I thought we could be more, but once you told me your reason, I understood. I needed my mate. I hold no malice towards your decision.” Noel looked back into my eyes. We had grown up together and let out our Wolves on each other when we had s****l frustration, but that is all it was. Just s*x. I regretted every minute of it once I found my Rosalie.

“Then why steal from me? I’ve been missing money for 6 months, well over a million dollars, that help people in my pack and wanderers who need financial help. What the hell were you doing?”

My fist tightened, but I tried to keep composure. She was talking, and I needed her to continue. Keith and Bruce were on the other side of the interrogation room, waiting and watching. More like witnesses, so if her father came in, he could be restrained.

“I didn’t know about the previous months. I just did it for the first time when you caught me,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I can’t give you much more information than that.” Noel looked to the side, and a tear ran down her face.

“There is always a choice, Noel. I will still be the friend you need, but you need to talk to me. I can’t hold back my beast much longer; he wants to rip you to pieces because he knows you know something about our mate. All room for kindness is gone.” Noel knew my Wolf; he could be a beast when he wanted to be. Mostly he was calm, docile but the few times she had seen him fight, she knew he was a ticking time bomb.

“You have to promise me,” her tears began to fall. “You have to promise me you will find him,” her breathing was heavy. Her lifeless eyes looked into mine.

“Find who? Who do I have to find?” My body was leaning on the edge of the seat.

Noel took a deep breath and sobbed. “My mate, he, took my mate.

“Who?” I growled.

“Derek Vanderveen.”

My Wolf roared. This fucker was getting into all my pockets trying to steal everything from me. My mate, my money, and other people’s mates. The hell is wrong with this sick, sadistic f**k!

“I need to know everything, right here, right now. No games, Noel, none of your Alpha daughter bullshit. I will know when you lie,” I pointed at her. “If you lie or leave anything out, you won’t get out of here alive, let alone find your mate.”

Noel nodded her head in agreement voraciously. She took a deep breath and slowly blew it out.

“It all started two months ago. I had met my mate, Mason. He works as a bartender at a restaurant I was visiting south of here. He was so handsome, and he was actually human.” Noel looked up at me and smiled. “He felt the pull too, and it wasn’t long until we were going on dates, kissing, having fun. We were going slow, human pace anyway, and then it came the time to tell him. To tell him what I was and to see if he accepted it.

We went to the lake and sat together on a large blanket, just looking up at the stars. No one was around, and I decided to bring it up. At first, he didn’t believe me, so I had to show him. He was upset and almost angry after it was all said and done, but he said he still cared for me; in fact, he loved me.” A few tears ran down her cheeks as she recalled Mason.

“I told him about mates and the pull; he agreed he felt it too but wanted to meet my family and pack before he made any decision. I agreed, and he said that weekend, we would drive up to my pack, and I would introduce him. I went to his apartment that weekend with the door broken down and b***d all around the apartment.” Noel’s breath hitched. “I didn’t know what to think. His body wasn’t there, so I decided to track him, and I found him in a suburban residential area. It wasn’t rich or poor, just your average size home with a white picket fence. I burst through the door to see him tied up; his nose was bleeding and his body pale. I smelled the faint scent of a Vampire, the rotting dead flesh.”

My body stiffened as she continued her story. The only reason a Vampire smells like rotten and dead flesh meant they had bad intentions. In reality, Vampires and Werewolves get along much better than humans thought in their own version of the fairy tale world. When a Vampire goes bad, rogue, their scent will change. This guy was bad news if he was smelling of death.

“The Vampire introduced himself as Derek. He said he had a job for me, and I would never see Mason again until the job was done. I don’t even know if he is still alive.” Noel cried her eyes out, and I had Keith bring in tissues and unlock her chains.

“Derek made me go visit several packs to find Rosalie after he saw her at the restaurant with you. Each packhouse I visited, he visited himself to make sure I wasn’t lying about her being there. Once I saw her in your room, and how you defended her, I knew. I had to tell him. I thought my job was done, but he said he had one more job for me, and that was to collect one final payment. Alex, his best friend, is known for his hacking abilities––”

I stopped her. “Yes, I know, he was one of the first hackers back when computers were originally invented. Continue, please.” I waved my hand.

“Alex saw Rosalie on the other side of the webcam when she captured his picture and realized who she was when he told Ethan. Alex was originally doing it for fun, but then both of them formed a plan to piss you off more, and that was to steal your money and use it so Derek could pay the Witch helping with the branding. He wanted you to feel like you had paid for her demise.”

I stood up in my chair and threw my fist into the silver walls. The burn did not affect me as I continued to punch the wall and throw the table. Glass shattered as the table left the room to hit the double-sided mirror, leaving Keith and Bruce strict with silence. Once I was done, my heavy breathing continued, but Noel dared to continue.

“They said I was to take the fall. I was to be captured to make it look like I was stealing your money, but really, it was a distraction. To throw you off the trail long enough for them to..” Silence. She spoke no more words. They did all of this, so there was time for them to kidnap her, pay a Witch and keep me distracted. I had been an utter failure of a mate