Her Forever

Jack

After a few moments of trying to compose myself to the best of my abilities, I stood up. It was time to finally get to work. We had Noel; she knew the house her mate had initially been placed in, which could give us a starting point.

Noel complied entirely with our wishes, and her father was told she was now in good graces and would be returned once my mate was found. I wanted to do more but political s**t and all. After a few hours of gaining more information on Derek and Alex, we had significantly more knowledge than we started with.

“The Witch’s name is Anana; she is the same Witch that tried to mess up future Queen Sabrina’s bond several years ago. She no longer resides in Bergarian but is cloaked here on Earth. She would come by and set up a small workbench area in Derek’s basement from time to time. I’ve seen her a few times, she seemed, out of practice, to say the least,” Noel shrugged.

“How so?” Kieth asked.

“She doesn’t look prepared at all, not like the Witches I’ve come across. She was absent-minded, mumbling under her breath about wanting to be done with this and such. Anana did not want to be there.” Noel kept shaking her head, showing her confusion about Anana’s state.

“We could use that as an advantage,” Bruce crossed his arms with his eyes narrowed at Noel. “She could be the one to break if they are not still at the same house Derek is at.”

Noel nodded. “I think we should go back to that house; she had a lot of her things set up there when Mason was still captured,” she sighed and crossed her arms around her.

“We will find our mates, Noel. I promise,” I patted her shoulder. “Get the cars ready, get 5 units of warriors, and we will head down to the house. They won’t be there, but maybe we could catch a scent where they went.”

Bruce bowed his head. “Yes, Alpha.”

****

Rosalie

A whole week had gone by, and every day Derek has tried to brand me––to no avail. Part of me wanted to smirk so he could see that he was truly a failure, but I knew better. I was trying to keep my strength up; I was sure Jack would come for me any day. I still had that hope; I thought I could feel him some nights while I laid in the basement.

I didn’t sleep much, but when I dreamed, I dreamed of him. Our lazy mornings as we woke up beside one another, him tickling my arm as he tried to wake me as the sun rose from the horizon. His playful grin when I would swat him away, begging him for just five more minutes. The laughter he radiated was contagious, and my heartfelt so warm. It felt like he was there, I wanted to dream and sleep during the day, so I could be near him and not in this dark, dank basement.

Derek visited me 3 times a day; he would feed me food and put each piece into my mouth. He did it to make me utterly dependent on him and to show me how helpless I was. I wasn’t helpless though; I was trying to be innovative. If I went without food, I would become too weak.

“I’m glad you are eating, Rosie. It will keep your body strong for tomorrow,” he whispered. Continuing to chew the bland chicken and rice, I looked up at him, confused.

“I will brand you one last time, and then I will attempt to change you myself.”

I gasped. He was going to bite me when he knew well that it wouldn’t work, or was he too far gone to realize? “You will kill me! It won’t work; I won’t accept it!” I raised my voice for the first time, being trapped in this hell.

“I see that you haven’t lost your spunk,” he chided. “Do I need to break you, just like I did all those years ago? Just submit Rosie; you once told me you would be with me.” Derek gritted his teeth and stood up to put the plate on the table.

“I see that you haven’t lost your spunk,” he chided. “Do I need to break you, just like I did all those years ago? Just submit Rosie; you once told me you would be with me.” Derek gritted his teeth and stood up to put the plate on the table.

“Why would I want to stay? You ruined any chance the first day you hit me!”

“That boy shouldn’t have touched you!” He roared while traces of spit hit my face.

“I was 10 years old, and we were crossing the street. What the hell is wrong with you!? I was a CHILD!”

“No one touches what is to be mine, and I beat it into you that no one could touch you but me,” he seethed. “I didn’t want to do it that way, but it had to be done. You weren’t going to listen; you couldn’t understand.” Derek shook his head.

“I really didn’t understand why you would hit me, cut me, I didn’t understand any of it! If you think I would ever care for you after that, you are dead wrong!” I screamed. I hadn’t raised my voice to him the day he bruised me beyond repair. He didn’t just beat me physically, but mentally too. It was the day he carved his name into the side of my ribs. Thank God I passed out halfway through, but it still broke me.

Derek got up to walk out of the room, but he paused before going up the stairs. “Once I bite you, you will forget all that. You will be overpowered by the new bond that it won’t matter, you will love me, and I will love you,” in a flash, he slammed the door, and I choked back a sob.

The psychotic man had officially lost it… well lost it even more than he had before. He lost his mate so long ago, and my young self somehow implanted in his brain that I would stay with him, and he wasn’t all that bad. In reality, he wasn’t that bad before he started abusing me. Why would he do that? How would that get into his head that beating me would keep me around? I was around. I stayed with him and listened to him like a parent, my guardian.

While I was mulling over my thoughts, a cold shiver went over my body. The basement was damp, daft and the occasional wind would fly through when a door opened, but this chill was different. Looking to the side of the room where the Witch’s corner stood, I saw her.

The Witch walked up to me with a smirk on her face. She was in a dark cloak with raven black hair and black nails. Typical Witch attire, how cliche.

“Hmm, you are stronger than I thought. I didn’t think you would last through the first branding bond he gave you, but here you are, 7 bonds later and no signs of backing down,” she smirked.

“Who the hell are you?” my confidence flashed before me, and I immediately regretted it. The Witch bent down and pulled me up by the back of my head.

“Watch it,” she hissed. “I don’t want to be here doing this, but if you die, then my livelihood is at stake, so can it and listen.” I narrowed my eyes at her as she walked back to her workbench and sat down, crossing her legs and picking at her nails.

“Like I said, I don’t want to be here. Derek has me like an ant under his shoe, and I really don’t appreciate it.” I continued to stare at her, waiting for an explanation. “I just wanted to let you know that Derek didn’t have to beat you and taste your b***d every month for you to mature.” I stared frustrated at her. She chuckled and swirled some dark potion in her glass chalice. She giggled, “Yes, I told him he had to beat you into submission to break your spirit, but he didn’t have to do that. You hadn’t met your mate yet, so the branding bond would have remained if he had just been nice to you and treated your fairly.”

My mouth dropped open. I suffered all these years because of this wench. “W-why would you do that? I didn’t do anything to you!”

“He threatened me!” She stood up and took significant steps towards me while I sat still on the floor. “No one threatens me and gets away with it! Besides, you were already fated. I knew if you got away from him, the branding bond would disappear, and you would find your mate. There was a chance he could have mated with you to make you his but telling him he had to beat you into submission was better. He screwed himself over.” She waved her hand like it was nothing. “He had the chance to steal you away, it would have been difficult, yes, but that was a slight chance.”

I sat with my mouth agape. All the torture was initiated by her. If I wasn’t tortured, there was a chance that I would have bonded with Derek and not have found Jack. This was all sick and twisted in ways a soap opera couldn’t comprehend. In my heart, even before I met Jack, I knew it wouldn’t have been right. Ten year old me didn’t know what love was; he just took it and ran with it when I told him I would stay with him. I didn’t love him like that; I used to see him as a father figure.

I had Jack as part of my soul even at 10 years old, and I didn’t realize it. Now that we had met, I knew I had to reject this bite or whatever the hell Derek was going to do to me.

“Um, what is your name?” my voice was quiet. I was still processing the events playing in my mind. She was the one that caused my pain and suffering, yet she was also the one that helped me find Jack. She wasn’t anyone I wanted to associate myself with after this was all over. Still, this woman also helped me find my mate in a sick, evil way.

“Anana,” she said calmly. “I didn’t want to help Derek. He forced me into this position,” she walked away. “Do you remember the day you escaped?” I remember that day; I couldn’t believe my luck when Derek was passed out on the couch; he never slept, especially when I was in the house. I thought he had drunk himself to sleep; he had done that a lot since he’d started hitting, beating, and cutting me.

“He was sleeping….” I started, but Anana cut me off. “I MADE him sleep for you to be able to escape.” She rolled her eyes. “The i***t didn’t know what hit him,” she tittered. “If he was going to threaten me by exposing my location to the Witches Council, then I was going to make him suffer without him knowing. Unfortunately, you did get caught in the middle,” she tisked as she pulled her dress to let it glide across the floor elegantly.

I could feel bile rising in my throat. Somehow I was caught in the middle of an enormous pile of s**t. I apparently had the worst luck on the planet. Being thrown in all these different directions made me want to pull my hair out. “Derek became obsessed with you so much when he started testing your b***d. I knew you would come to hate him, and so when he finally tries to turn you with your bond attached to another, it will kill you. Then, in turn, it will also kill Derek because he willed himself to become attached to you.

I let out a sob. “Why, just why?”

“Because bonds are the most idiotic thing ever created.”