Her Forever

Parisa’s POV

My dad’s stare continued to bare into Hades as we held our hands above the table. I’m sure seeing his daughter, who was once a tiny child, now brings home a mate disturbed him. Then again, Hades was my mate, so he couldn’t disapprove, could he?

Mama had made Monti Cristo Sandwiches, a type of fried ham and cheese sandwich that I remember that used to be my favorite. I patiently waited until she put the large pan on the table until reaching for one quickly and scarfing it down. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I started eating. I was a growing wolf, after all.

“I’ll have Amanda come over and make us more; she’ll be so happy to see you too, Parisa,” mama said as she went back to the kitchen. “I can’t believe she’s back,” she whispered to herself as she held back a sob. Going to stand to go comfort her, my dad grabs my hand.

“Give her time; she’s been through a lot. She blames herself for you being gone. Please sit. This would make her happy you eating your favorite.” Giving a small smile, I grabbed my second sandwich and watched my older brothers look at me in disbelieve.

“I can’t believe you are here,” Thomas put down his fork. “We thought about you every day and where you went. Mom and dad tried their hardest, even we started going on hunting trips to look for you,” Thomas sighed. “Who knew you would be rescued by your own fascination.” I tilted my head in confusion, and Michael laughed.

“You mean, you don’t remember reading all about Greek Methodology as a kid? We used to make fun of you all the time about it. You were so fascinated with Hades and saying he was a nice and misunderstood god even though all of our literature said otherwise. No offense,” Micheal nodded at Hades, who waved his hand. “We should have spotted a connection sooner that it could be a possibility of him being your mate, especially with Mom’s relationship with all that demon stuff.”

My mind went blank as I put my sandwich down. “Huh?” Hades squeezed my hand and rubbed the scruff on his face. “Remember the story about Charmunda I’ve told you about?” I nodded my head quickly, which ended up slowing down as the memory of the story flowed. A new Luna had destroyed Charmunda against all odds. Mama did that?

“Oh, my gosh,” I whispered. “Mama destroyed your demon?” Hades nodded while his cheeks blushed pink. “She did. I owed her, so I put up the ward that was supposed to keep her and your entire pack free of danger. Even there, I failed her, just as you.” Hades’ eyes drifted to me, and I didn’t need my empathic abilities to know his guilt.

“Not your fault,” I mouthed as I hugged him. His grip was tight as he stroked my back with his thumb. My daddy cleared his throat, and Hades grunted at disapproval.

“You haven’t been mated and marked yet. I still have some say,” he pulled at the collar of his shirt and went back to eating. The joy that was under my daddy’s heavy exterior was overpowering. He was happy I was home, and his reluctance to show it in front of Hades was deafening. Power-hungry males, I shook my head.

Squeals came from the kitchen as I heard the door open with a loud bang. “My Sasa is back!?” Amanda or Aunt Amanda came bursting through the doorway with an exciting look. Jumping from the chair, we collided with each other as her excitement tackled me to the ground. “Aunt Amanda!” I squealed.

“Look at you! You are so tiny, just like your mama! And mated to a god! Oh, my stars, what a banging mating ceremony we are going to have! I can’t wait to get started!” Dad stiffened and rubbed his temples.

“No mating ceremony until she shifts. That is the first priority.” His excitement for being back wavered, and his worry and dread hung over him like a storm cloud. “We also need to make sure she is healthy enough. I have the pack doctor come in, along with Bhodi before dinner to take a look at her.” Bhodi bowed her head at the end of the table.

“That reminds me,” Hades pulled out a pill bottle and handed me a pill. “Swallow this, remember?” I nodded and swallowed it down.

“The God of health and medicine constructed a pill to aid in her healing. Her bones have been considerably strengthened and should have any problems shifting. It’s the mentality I worry about,” Hades stroked my back and led me back to the table to eat. Daddy didn’t look convinced.

“She will still see the doctor, and I’ll have my wolf speak with Elea, is it?” I nodded my head in confirmation. Elea and my daddy’s wolf Sampson were already talking. It was in hushed murmurs, but I could feel Sampson and his possessiveness of me being his daughter. Feeling the love from just my daddy’s wolf was enough to make me excited for the next part of my life.

“Once she has shifted and deemed healthy, I would like to bond with her,” Hades interrupted the silence. My dad and brother’s growled as mama entered the room with another tray of sandwiches.

“That’s enough!” she barked, and all the men held their heads down, including Hades.

“I think that is a lovely idea, Parisa, we can plan a perfect ceremony for you! Great bonding time with you, me, and Amanda too. She’s the party planner, Beta Keith’s mate is about to give birth any day, and parties aren’t her forte.” Mama giggled as she sat the tray down.

“Yeah, because Beta Keith always is f*****g her,” Thomas nudged Michael and Mama threw a sandwich at him.

“That is enough! Do not use such words around the table, especially with our special guest!” Daddy snickered, and mama hissed at him.

“You think it’s funny, but you do the same thing. When I wasn’t in my depressing moods, he has me locked up in our bed-“

“Ew, mama,” Steffan spoke up as he put his hands on his ears. “That’s gross.”

“A bond is a powerful thing. Once you find your mate, you will feel the same,” Daddy pointed his fork at my brothers. “You will be head over heels and will do anything for her, and I mean anything.” Daddy looked at Hades while he nodded. The tension slowly dried up as conversations went to casual mumbling.

A lot had changed since I left. My treehouse, which was centered closer to town to watch wolves go by, had been untouched since the night I was taken. It was considered taboo to go anywhere near it, like preserving it for when I came back. Instead, dad built another one, not as large on the northern part of the territory near the lake. Michael had taken up daddy’s fishing time and was learning all the secrets to being an alpha.

I could remember bits and pieces of my childhood, but I felt a lot was missing. I remembered the important things such as conversations at the lake and where we went to school in the human town. The day I was taken and the days leading to it was a blur. The only memory I had was the dream where the masked man came in to take me.

I needed to find my favorite spot, my favorite place to play as a child. Sure, the treehouse was a fun spot, but I vaguely remember having “the spot.” This spot no one knew about, and I was confident that was where it was held. The problem is, I didn’t know where it was, what was around it, or anything. I just knew the treehouse wasn’t THE spot. I would check anyway because I was curious if all my treasure chest was still there.

“Maybe we could show Hades around?” My mama spoke up as we heard a knock at the door. Daddy stood up and wiped his mouth.

“Who is-?” Mama went to stand up, but dad waved for her to sit down. “I’ll check, Kitten. Just wait.”

Before dad got to the door, three prominent, tanned skin men with dark hair showed up. Our friends were dressed in their human forms as they walked into the home. “Niko! Ares! Vulcan!” I jumped up to run and give them a hug, but Hades was quick and pulled me back. My h**s rubbed up against his groin, and he growled.

“Don’t move, or I’ll go find your room right now.” The vibrations in his chest set me off as I started giggling, and my brothers g*****d.

“Wait! The Ares!?” Micheal jumped up along with Steffan and Thomas and rushed towards the entrance. All three stood in awe of Ares, who, even still in human form, was muscular and intimidating. Ares winked at the boys while they whispered to each other.

“Niko is in deep s**t,” Ares growled as he pushed him to the floor. “Tell us every bit you told Zeus.” Hade’s anger started to build, but I grabbed his hand.

“Tell. Me. What.” My family started slinking back, and my father looked between Niko and Hades.

“Niko’s a demon,” I whispered, “he’s my good friend.” Niko’s head jerked to me and smiled, but that did not make Hades any happier.

“You told him,” Hades pulled him up by his collar. “You told Zeus what we know!” Hades’ smoke started to leak from his robes again, and I sighed exasperatedly. I was just glad it didn’t leave a permanent mess anywhere. I remember mama cleaning the floor every day to keep these floors clean, and living in a place where it is pretty wet didn’t help.

“Hades, just wait, let’s hear his story,” I begged, but Hades growled and didn’t let his eyes leave from Niko.

“Can’t do that, Flower. He betrayed me, his master.” I looked at Niko and tilted my head in confusion. Niko only nodded in confirmation slowly as he gripped Hades’ hand to steady himself.

“Niko told Zeus that my mate would find the Spere of Souls. Do you know what kind of danger that puts her in, you fool? We don’t’ know if we can trust Zeus! He could be lying and in it with Nero!!” Niko’s face started to turn purple as he lost the air from his lungs.

Panicking, I knew what Niko did was wrong, but I didn’t want him to kill him! Pulling on Hades’ arm, my family watched in horror as their daughter dared to defy the god of the Underworld. “Wait, Hades,” Hades eyes softened as he looked at me.

“I cannot let this rest. He will be punished,” Hades’ voice was soft to me as he spoke.

“Just hear me out! Before you had your temper tantrum with Zeus, he said he didn’t do it. I felt it, Hades. He was telling the truth. He had no idea that Nero was after me and was only following Selene’s orders to rescue me. I felt his emotions, and he spoke the truth!”

Hades gripped loosened but not enough to drop Niko.

Hades glared at Niko one last time and dropped him to the floor harshly, causing a hole to erupt in the middle. “You have to fix that. That doesn’t look good bashing your in-laws’ home.” Hades chuckled and pulled me to him for a brief k**s.

“Niko, you are sentenced to the dungeons of the Underworld Palace until we have things resolved. Your judgment will be decided from there.” With a wave of his hand, Niko had vanished before our eyes. My family stood in awe while I just giggled how utterly normal this was to me now.

Vulcan came to my mother and bowed, giving her a k**s on the hand. “It is an honor to meet the woman who destroyed Charmunda.” My dad growled as he pulled mama back into his embrace. “Um, t-thank you,” she stuttered as she blushed.

“I think this has been enough excitement. How about Parisa gets some rest before her appointment. Bhodi, be ready at 4pm sharp at the medical clinic with your best healers.” Bhodi agreed and left the house, still in adoring thoughts of Hades. My throat growled as she left, and mama only giggled as she elbowed daddy. I felt my throat as I growled. It was a weird vibration coming from my vocal cords.

“Soon,” My dad said as he looked at mom.

Ares and Vulcan went with my brothers to scan the territory perimeter while Hades and I went to rest.

Taking Hades’ hand, I led him up the stairs. It was amazing how I remembered the exact layout of the house. The bedrooms were all upstairs so mama and dad could watch us closely, which didn’t help one bit. My door was the furthest down the hall because I was the oldest. The pink and purple letters on the outside of the door remained, Alpha Parisa.

A slight smirk played on my lips as I traced it with my hand. Hades was pensive as he studied the door, but I opened it before he could speak. I felt his confusion, his wonderings of what I was going to say regarding the Alpha title. I had never trained for it, other than the supporting words from dad. Age 10 was when I would start training, and I never made it. Michael would be better suited for the job.

My room was left the same, besides the mess that was left behind. A wooden rocking chair was beside the bed, and an overstuffed calico cat sat on it. Picking it up, I smelled it, and it all smelled of my mama. Dried tearstains lay on the white portions of the fabric as I petted it. “Mama really did spend some time in here, huh?” Hades nodded as he walked around the room, looking at pictures.

The entire left side wall was covered in colorful drawings and random polaroid pictures. Mostly my brother Michael and I and one special one that sat in the middle. It was the last picture taken before I was taken. Steffan was holding onto my hand as I kissed him on the forehead.

“I’m sorry you missed your youth,” Hades frowned as he sat on the bed, holding a picture of a framed photo of my family. “I’m sorry I messed up and didn’t see you when I could.” I sat beside him and put my head on the side of his arm. I wasn’t tall enough to even reach his shoulder.

“I’m happy that you told me the truth. Yeah, it sucks I was away from them, but it made me stronger in other ways. It’s in the past, but you have to learn not to be so hot-headed and not listen to people. I hope you learned your lesson?” I giggled as I elbowed him. Hades continued to stare down at the picture frame, not laughing.

“When this is all over, I can see if Hecate could conjure a spell to reverse time?” I raised an eyebrow questioningly. “It hasn’t been done, but with magic, anything is possible, I suppose. We could rewind, and you could stay with your family, and I would watch over you.” I scoffed and threw my hands down on my lap. Standing up, I went to the large window that now had bars covering them.

“Ok, Hades. One, we don’t know if you can change history to do something different. There has to be a law against that. Otherwise, time and space would be so screwed up!” I waved my hands around. “Two, you have to forgive yourself since I have forgiven you.” Hades glanced at me again with those dark eyes. I wanted to k**s him until he believed me. “And three, I wouldn’t change anything that has happened to me. Look who I am now!” My hands fell to my sides.

“I went through some hardship, but a lot of girls had worse and continue to do so. Once this is over, I want to be the protector of those girls. If I didn’t go through what I did, I never would have known of such a crime being trapped here in a werewolf community. I would not have become as strong mentally either. Look what I can do now! I can read people’s emotions, tell if they are lying. How cool is that?”

Hades smiled while he bit that thin bottom l*p of his. “I don’t know if I would have gained that power before being magically experimented on, but I have it now, and it gets stronger every day when another barrier breaks. I’m here now, today, because of you. You saved me. You gave me a love story I will never forget. It will be written down in history books to come on how God of the Underworld swooped in and saved his mate from certain death and misfortune. You will be written in a new light just because of that. You don’t have to be portrayed as some evil god. You will be the one in the light.”

I threw the picture frame from his hands onto the bed and straddled his lap. “You, my Hades, my mate, are perfect just the way you are. Blonde hair, dark eyes, the sweet, talented, powerful, indescribable hunk of a god that deserves so much more than this self-loathing guilt eating your soul shit.”

I kissed his forehead. “We’re in this together. In the end, you saved me, and I’m gonna save you.”