Her Forever

Gwen’s POV

He just left. Hades looked so angry, and I didn’t know what to do; there was a glimpse of sadness in his eyes while he left, and in my gut, I knew I needed to stay away. Cerberus came out looking happy while I stooped down to give him all the cuddles.

He g*****d and whined as I found his spot as I smiled lightly at him. Hermes came out with his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth. “Look what we have here, beauty and the beast.” Cerebrus huffed as he gave a playful nip at his ankles. “Easy their boy, remember who feeds you!” I chuckled while standing to my feet.

“Hades is going to be out of the house today; he needs to go to the office to take care of some business.” I nodded as I fiddled with my fingers. “And you, young miss, need to get inside for your IV therapy.” I g*****d out loud and did a little foot stomp.

“I’m doing fine; I haven’t gotten weak in a few days!”

“That’s because the therapy is working,” Hermes looked me up and down and flicked the butt out of his mouth. “How about this, stay outside for a bit while I work here in the garden. You can go as far as the fence but don’t go past it, do you understand?” The fence was a long way off, and I wasn’t planning on straying too far anyway. There was too much to look around just on the grounds.

“Yup, you can go inside. Cerebrus is with me.”

“I don’t think Hades wouldn’t like that, and he wants to make sure you are always safe. Go on,” Hermes said in a no-nonsense tone as I walked away from the cobble-stoned path.

The large lake on the back-side of the house looked interesting so walking over, I went to put my feet in it; it was cool and refreshing as I walked around the edge. Small fish swam around while I continued to walk around the edge. Cerebrus looked on questioningly, so I took my hand in the water and splashed him, causing him to yip and run away. Laughing, I got out and went to sit under the willow tree.

Being outside was heaven. I could see myself sleeping under the stars every night if Hades would let me, but I doubt he would do that. Being in nature was calming and brought a whole new sense of peace. The grass, the dirt, and the smell of the flowers and trees were how I dreamt it would be. I wanted to engulf the earthy scent all over my body.

Cerebrus came behind me and let me lay my head on his stomach while he purred. It was lulling me to sleep, I wasn’t planning on sleeping, but he curled up around me since he was so large. I tried to get up, but he huffed at my wiggling, so I stayed still. He could still chew me to pieces if he wanted.

“You’re no fun, CC.” Another huff, and he laid his head in the grass as I curled up close. I suppose a small nap wouldn’t hurt.

There were howls at the moon when I woke up. “I must have slept late,” I muttered to myself. The moon was full, and the small town was just a few feet away from the treehouse I was sleeping in. The lights were flickering on and off, and several other children were laughing and giggling as they ran around a large mansion.

“Parisa!!” I heard a woman yell. “Parisa! Where are you? You are going to miss the party!” It was completely dark outside, but I could see perfectly. The woman had long golden locks of hair with a smile on her face. She was holding a small bundle in her arms, a baby that couldn’t be but a few weeks old. Two other small boys are flanking her sides; one looks to be close to my age.

“Parisa!” She yelled again, and I jumped out of the tree. I felt drawn to them, so I followed her voice. “There you are. Where have you been?” Confused, I looked at her and pointed to myself. “Yes, you! Were you in the treehouse again?” I nodded my head, still wondering why this woman thinks I’m this Parisa girl. She smiles again at me, and the eldest boy grabs my hand. “Make sure she doesn’t get away, Michael.” The boy held my hand and gave me a bright smile that looked like his mother’s. Was she my mother too?

Her green eyes looked into mine, “I don’t know why you don’t like listening to the story about Hades visiting our pack. It was a great honor to help him.” Again, I looked at her confused as Michael pulled me along to sit next to the roaring fire.

“That’s because she likes Hades mama; I’ve seen her read those books. She doesn’t think he’s mean.” The mother scowled at the boy, “enough, Thomas. Hades is a force to be reckoned with, but he protects this pack as he promised us years ago for ridding of that horrible demon creation. He gives us the extra assurance that none of our own will get hurt by any other demons with his special powers. We would know immediately if something was a miss.”

“What about your camera’s mom?” Michael asked. “Those help too.” The woman laughed, “only so much. It is more so for unwanted humans because cameras don’t work if someone uses magic. The only way someone could get in would be a god-like being, and we don’t have any threats from them.” Michael nodded, and the woman handed me the baby. I panicked, not ever held a baby before I tried to pass him off to Michael.

“What? You always like to hold Steffan. Mother gave him to you.” Michael pushed the baby back into my arms. He was sleeping peacefully as the woman approached a gigantic man with dirty blonde hair in a man bun. He kissed her lightly on the lips as they both looked down on us.

“Alright, gather ‘round. It’s time to hear the story of Hades’ visit 12 years ago.” Children started running to the fire while the adults laughed and found a seat. Many kids were murmuring how scary Hades was, and he could turn the entire pack house into a raging inferno. My heart hurt at the jokes they made, and I wanted to go push them off their stupid log.

“The day was much like this one, a bit cold, and winter snow started to approach. Your Luna was preparing herself for the Luna and Mating Ceremony when Charmunda the demoness came to put an end to your Luna’s life. She was an evil demon created by Hades, and he had lost control over her. Luckily, our strong Luna was able to destroy her, and with that came a great gift from Hades. The protection barrier.”

A little pup started waving his hand around frantically while the large man chuckled as he held onto his wife. “Yes, pup?” The little pup stood up to ask his question. “Why did he create that demon? Why would anyone want to hurt Luna?”

The big man’s smile dropped, and he took a large breath. “We can’t go into much detail. We can tell you she was created for a good purpose, but all that went awry, and she took it upon herself to destroy mate bonds or give hope to others that she could create a stronger bond with someone, not their mate.” Gasps from the crowd lingered as I sat confused.

What is a mate bond?

Steffan started to sputter, and the mother came over to pick him up. “Thank you, Parisa,” she whispered to me. Parisa? Am I Parisa in this dream?

A dark silence fell on the crowd, and the fire slowly faded into darkness. Looking around, I was the only one left at the now-dead fire. In the woods, I saw a twinkle of reflecting light from the moon. My eyesight could no longer see well in the dark as I squinted to see better, only to have the figure right in front of me with a blink.

The man in the gladiator helmet bent his body low and looked into my eyes. “Forget,” he growled, and I started to scream to get away. Yelling, crying, and pawing at the dirt, I tried to hold onto the logs for my life. I couldn’t be taken away, not again! My hands drew b***d as dirt and rock started to scrape my fingers.

Tears dripped down my face as I started to forget what the kind couple and familiar children looked like. “Help! Michael!” A flash of his body, looking back at me into the darkness, was seen, but he didn’t move. His eyes held tears and looked away, leaving me alone to be dragged into the darkness of the forest.

“No! No! Let me go!!” I could hear my voice become louder as I started to thrash around the tight embrace on my body. Pushing and shoving, I tried to get away, but I was too afraid to open my eyes. That gladiator helmet mask did nothing but bring for the nightmares, and I dared not look him in the eyes. There were several grunts coming from my attacker until I heard a voice.

“Gwen! It’s me! It’s Hermes!” His voice and my body couldn’t register, I was still in the fight or flight mode, and right now, I wanted nothing more than to not to feel restrained. The grip became tighter as I yelped out, and I felt my body being lifted from the ground.

He was going to take me, and he was going to send me back to Master. I’d rather die than go back there, and I would not subject myself to that kind of emotional and physical torture any longer! Twisting my body, I heard another grunt as another pair of arms gripped hold of me, holding me impossibly tighter. I couldn’t move. My body was completely immobile.

As I tried to wiggle free, I could hear Cebrus barking and Niko stroking my hair. “That’s it, princess, wake up now.” Blinking my eyes a few times, my lashes were drenched in tears as I began to move my eyes around my surroundings. I was in a brightly lit room with lights shining down. Squinting my eyes, I could see the outline of Niko, Hermes, and Ares.

“Are you done thrashing around?” Ares was still holding onto me tightly into a cocoon as my face looked right at him. Nodding embarrassingly, he laid me gently on the hospital bed of crisp white sheets.

“You gave us quite a scare, little one,” Hermes whispered. “Hades isn’t going to like this,” he murmured to himself.

“You shouldn’t have left her alone!” Niko yelled, rubbing his forehead. “She’s fragile, and she needs to be looked after!”

Ares pushed Niko to the side forcefully, and he hit the instruments table. “She isn’t weak, hell. I had to use some force to keep her wrapped up like that from hurting herself. Stop babying her.” Niko growled back at Ares puffed up his chest in defiance.

“Please stop,” I muttered. “I’m fine now; I’m sorry was trouble.” Hermes knelt beside the table and laid his head down.

“Gwen, you have nothing to be sorry for. Now can you tell us what you have been dreaming that keeps giving you nightmares?” I shook my head no as I crawled up into the fetal position. I lived these dreams every time Hades was away, and I didn’t want to relive them while I was awake. A few stray tears left my eyes again while Hermes blew out some air in frustration.

“We can’t help unless you tell us what’s going on, princess.” Niko patted my head and played with my hair while I sighed.

“Just not right now, please.” Niko nodded his head. Hermes went to the door and let in Doctor Aramose; he was wearing his pristine white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck.

“Mistress, I heard you were having some night terrors.” Dr. Aramose looked at all the men in the room and nodded his head to them to leave. However, they all just stood there with their arms crossed.

“Patient confidentiality, men, I need you to leave so I can examine her.” Hermes shook his head, “No, by order of Hades, we cannot leave her.”

“And yet you still subjected her to a night terror, if you had woken her sooner, it wouldn’t have escalated this far,” his eyes narrowed at Hermes, who looked hurt as he uncrossed his arms. I pulled my arm out from my knees and put it on Hermes’s.

“It’s alright, and you didn’t know. Don’t worry about it, and Hades won’t get mad.” Hermes gave a sly smile and patted my head.

“Dr, they can stay.” Giving him a reassuring smile, he sat down and pulled out his stethoscope to listen to my heart, check my b***d pressure and oxygen levels, and even take a few b***d samples after checking me over for bruises. The boys continued to stare the doctor down like he would do something horrible or unpredictable, everyone was staring, and I was starting to get uncomfortable.

Clearing my throat, “are we done here, doctor?”

“Almost,” he grabbed another needle and put it into my arm. The tube was then hooked up to an IV pole. I g*****d. “Yup, I got you now!” he chuckled while I flung my body back onto the bed.

“I don’t wanna,” I whined. The men chuckled at my childishness. Now I was stuck here for at least an hour, and taking a nap was out of the question, not without Hades. Without another word, the Doctor left, and I was left with a dog and three heavy breathing men in the room.

“When is Hades coming back?” I thought I would ask again. Even though these men were protecting me and doing it well; I couldn’t help but crave Hades. I felt this strong connection to him and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Thinking back to the dream, the girl, Parisa had a strong link to the Hades story. It almost pained her to hear the other children complain about the King of the Underworld.

Could this girl be me? The Michael boy felt so close to me, I could almost feel his touch when he dragged me to the bonfire. What could it all mean, were the two dreams connected? It all ended up the same though, me being dragged away by the terrible masked villain.

Hermes looked to Ares, “Soon, little one, soon.”