Her Forever

Rosalie

“You need to breathe, in and out alright?” Marigold whispered to me as I tried to slow my breathing. She was trying to heal me. It was taking slower than normal she says, saying there was a power hovering over us like a heavy weighted blanket. The hours stretched on as I continued to hear the stomping upstairs, a few times I heard slaps and whimper and a large thump on the floor. Lolli was being beaten and I wasn’t sure why. Then again, who could really control Anana.

The smell from the infection was gone and I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though my bones were still broken, Marigold did her best to concentrate on just keeping me comfortable. I only cried silent tears as I waited for the infection to finally clear out.

The basement was cold and damp, just like a previous basement I spent my time in with Derek. I’m guessing it was a running theme of the entire kidnapping and torture. This time I didn’t even have a rag on the floor to cover my body, just my jeans with a few holes from the protruding leg or arm bone here or there. If any of this was told to me before I decided to become a Werewolf I think I would have passed. Then again, I don’t do things normally now do I?

I had almost dozed off in sleep when I heard something being dragged across the floor and a few whimpers escaping Lolli’s lips. The basement door was thrown open and Lolli was thrown down the stairs landing right on her left shoulder. She g*****d and rubbed it gently like a newborn baby. Anana looked down the stairs in disgust and scowled when she saw me. One or two steps down the stairs she came with fist balled up, causing a bit of b***d to trickle down on the wooden steps.

“Still alive? This is taking slower than I thought.” Several large steps later she was in front of me while I laid at her feet. Once she squatted down she pulled my face into her hand and gripped my cheeks tightly. “I don’t know what the fuss is about,” she scrutinized my appearance. “You aren’t even that pretty.” Her nose scrunched up while she looked down at me. “All these warriors are willing to walk in a lake of fire just to get your pretty a*s back to the Alpha. It’s pathetic really.”

“Warriors?” I croaked.

“Yes, yes, they are all outside. They won’t be able to get in though. They’ve been stripped of their Werewolf senses, they are nothing but pathetic humans now,” she scoffed. “My power is too strong for them to see past the glamour I put on this house, they’ll never find a way in. Hades will be here before they will get you and the entire house will be put into flames because he will think I’m here. Little do they know I’ll be long gone by then. Silly dogs,” she cackled.

Without another word, she floated up the stairs much more gracefully from when she had previously stomped down. Lolli sat up with her back to the wall and winced at the pain in her shoulder. “Lolli, are you alright?” She sniffed.

“N-no. What have I done?” Her sobbing made me want to crawl to her but I couldn’t. I was still laying on the floor with no strength to go anywhere. I grunted to try and sit up on my elbow, my left arm was somewhat healed, I mean, I guess it didn’t hurt as much.

“Lolli…” she continued to sob. “Lolli, look at me.” Her eyes were red and her face was puffy. Black and blue bruises were on her face as well as her arms and legs. The clothes she wore were tattered at best, it now looked like rags. One would think she was raped the way she looked. I prayed that wasn’t the case. “Lolli, this is not your fault. You did what you did to protect your pack. You had no choice. I don’t think we are dealing with an ordinary Witch, she has powers that are way stronger than what an ordinary Witch would have I think. She mentioned Hades.” Lolli’s ears picked up and looked more panicked.

“H-hades?”

“Yeah, is that the same Greek-god in human stories?” I whispered.

“He’s worse. Far worse in reality,” Lolli’s bowed her head. “If Hades is after Anana, then she must be wanted for something really wicked. He deals with the worst spirits and chains them and tortures them himself.”

“That is why she is wanting to flee, he said we would burn the house and make a clean escape.”

A few minutes pass without us saying anything, Marigold constantly reassures me while Lolli tries to dry her tears. Over and over I tell her she is not at fault, that she did what was best for her pack. I would have done the same, no Luna could blame a Wolf for that. She was stuck in a tough place with a Witch breathing down her neck. Letting out a slow sigh I felt a sharp pain in my back, one that I had been missing the past 7 hours.

Bones began cracking and at a faster rate than before. Lolli came up to me and petted my hair telling me it would be alright. “You need to breathe, Luna. Breathe and listen to your Wolf. She will guide your body but you can’t tense up. Let it go, I know it’s hard.” My arm sprouted hair quickly and my face started turning into a snout. Marigold and Lolli continued to coach me through. I’m already tired and weak and trying to let your body go was becoming difficult. I screamed and clutched my stomach as another bone was breaking and slowly my screams didn’t sound human anymore, I was howling. My vocal cords didn’t work as I tried to talk, it came out a garbled mess. My tears no longer slid down my cheek but fell onto the fur that was coating my face.

Another howl and Marigold continued to push for me. My heart was constricted, and I felt loneliness pull me in. Astrid told me about the extreme emotions that come out during a change and some of your worst fears could come to the surface as your Wolf grasps your body. I felt the loneliness, the hollow pit of my soul that I used to feel every time I went to sleep at night. The cold nights I felt living in fear with no family or friends to call my own. Always running and always fighting. Feeling exhausted I let another howl rip through me and my heart started to become warm. The warmth I felt began to grow hotter as my body continued to twist.

“ROSALIE!” I heard his mighty baritone voice come from the top of the stairs. Lolli stood up to back away and Jack ran to me. His touch soothed the achiness of my body as he held me close. A few more bones breaking and his hand on top of them cleared the pain. I looked at him with my eyes or, Marigold’s eyes and his held nothing but concern. Benjamin, Keith and Amanda stood around and put their hands on my naked body now that my body was ripping them to shreds. Their hands on me gave me comfort and I no longer felt alone, I felt like I belonged to a pack. Marigold continued to make the process as quick as possible but only she could do so much with our body for the first time of a shift.

“Kitten, it’s alright. Relax and let it happen. We are here now,” Jack let a tear run down his face as he gripped my paw. One last reconfiguration of my body and it was over. There was no more pain, suffering or the feeling of loneliness. I was free from that. I felt warmth, contentment and love. My family stood above me looking at me in awe. Odin put his hand on his son’s shoulder and nodded. While Odin left he started spouting out orders for the men to be rounded up.

“Do you think you can move, my love?” Jack’s voice was laced with concern. I nodded my head and tried to get up. I whimpered as I slipped. Walking on fours was going to be difficult. Jack helped me sit up on my hind quarters and smiled. I looked at my paws, they were the golden color I saw in my dream with a hit of gold reflecting off of the hairs. I wasn’t an ordinary Wolf, I was golden in color and I loved it.

“You are so strong, Kitten. So strong,” Jack hugged me and I let out a low purr in satisfaction. My eyes closed shut with comfort but slowly I was falling asleep in his arms. Noticing what was happening Amanda spoke to Jack softly and nodded his head. Whimpering as he shifted me he carried me in his arms while I was still in Wolf form. Too tired to try and shift back I laid there.

“Good job, Rosalie,” Marigold purred. “We did it.”

“I’m so happy to have you, girl.”

“Me too, let’s sleep. Mate has us.”

Without any protest, I fell asleep in Jack’s arms as he carried me out of the basement.

***

Jack

The pain ripped through me once the enchantment was wiped away from the area. It wasn’t my own pain, but of my beautiful mate. Sampson roared and he rammed forward into my consciousness. “Where is the cabin!? MATE TROUBLE!” The Witches stood back in fear, most of them knew of my calm Alpha tones but Sampson was out of control. Bohdi looked shocked herself and scrambled to get the covens together to cast the next enchantment.

Sampson leapt over the large log and stormed the clearing, waiting for the Witches to lift the spell. Slowly the cabin came into view. First it was a faint outline but quickly started to appear. The opaqueness of it was enough for me to run forward and find the door. Witches were screaming and warriors were surrounding the cabin. Sampson was going to kill this Witch and I could do nothing to stop it.

The cabin was bare, with only a few pieces of furniture littering the area, and there was a small stove with a hot pot of some potion. B***d was on the floor and it slid to a door that could only mean the basement. Several warriors behind me looked through the furniture, doors, closets and the floorboards were ripped to pieces to find the rogue Witch. Following my nose and my ears I hear a b***d curdling scream to hear my mate cry out in pain.

The door was ripped off its hinges as Sampson’s strength was heightened. Leaping down the stairs, Lolli stood over Rosalie’s body. Benjamin grabbed her and held her close while I touched my mate’s skin. She was half formed. Her skin was littered with patches of golden hair and her fingers were baring claws. Her snout was partially formed and was struggling to speak. Instead of speaking gurgling noises from her maul. She was terrified, in pain and suffering. Not being able to stand it, I spoke to her and put my hand on her body. It calmed her instantly, her now golden eyes stared back at me. They were beautiful and she was doing this all on her own.

“Rosalie!” I whispered. “I’m here, I’m here,” I cooed.

Many more touches and whispers of appreciation, several pack members that were close to her touched her. It was common during Wolf shifting for pack members to lend a hand at the shift. It showed respect, support and love when a new Wolf was coming forth. Her body slacked even more as she felt everyone, even though her body was bare I knew the Wolves that loved her didn’t see her that way. Not one ounce of jealousy ran through us as our mate made her change to become a full Wolf.

Her fur was soft, it reminded me of the golden sunrise as the light hit her fur. The pain was over and she survived. Her pack members, her family were here to see her through just in time. Letting a sigh of relief escape my lips I helped her sit. A wobbly sit but a sit nonetheless. I pulled her to my chest, she was smaller than an Werewolf but larger than just a full blooded Wolf. She was light in my arms and I took note she will now need to eat more than her small portions of food she eats. Her breathing slowed and her heart rate slowed and Amanda whispered that she had fallen asleep.

Hell, of course she would fall asleep. She went through almost 12 hours of pain with no help. Picking her up and cradling her to my chest she let out a small whimper and nuzzled into my neck. Her nose was cold, letting me know she was going to be alright. Keeping her close to me we headed back up the stairs.

Anana was nowhere to be found, she had fled from the cabin. I scoffed at the information. Hades was going to have a field day when he got here. Leaving the cabin and taking two steps at a time off the front porch, the Witches had gathered and were talking in hushed voices. My father ran up to me.

“Hades will––” Before my father could finish Hades arrived in a ball of fire and instantly lit the cabin on fire. The fire was so hot you could see blue flames erupting from it. Backing up with Rosalie in my arms we all stood in awe as Hades stepped out of the cabin.

He was wearing a long dark robe, no shirt and pitch black linen pants. His hair was a curly bond that reached just below his eyes. The only other thing that was on fire besides the cabin was his eyes. His bare feet stomped the ground and stood before Bodhi, my father and myself.

“Where the f**k is my demon?!”