Her Forever

Trinity’s POV

I was shoved down the darkened stairway of the cellar. To be down here like a helpless pup was a bit annoying. I had some skills; surely, they could recall how I kicked one of Josiah’s friends in the balls. Along with that, knocked a gun out of their hand. I huffed, irritated by being shoved down here. I could protect those who are down here defenseless, I suppose.

Who was I kidding, really? A human in a supernatural world. I could barely fend off the guys my father had sent to either kill me or drag me back to a loveless marriage. Feeling in control was something I craved, and right now, I certainly didn’t have any control.

It was cold, a little damp; this was an after-thought type of cellar, I decided. Almost like a large hole in the ground, the dirt was packed down tight, but no actual floor was visible. Several rooms were at the far end of the cellar, primarily for bathrooms with hanging lightbulbs for light. Cots were stacked up on the side, along with blankets and bottled water. Rudimentary shelving with canned foods that a doomsday prepper would envy was stacked in another corner. They must not use this place often the way everything was set up. No organization to it at all.

Dirty and almost unlivable.

Then again, these were werewolves, and many of them like roughing it. “We don’t use this place often,” Lenhi patted my shoulder. “Sorry, you have to be down here with us. We had just upgraded the packhouse, and updating the packhouse bunker was not on the budget.” Her little baby cooed while staring up at the fluorescent lighting. It was a harsh light, making me squint.

“This isn’t meant for long stays, just long enough for a threat to pass. Everyone has their own bunkers in their homes, but since the celebration today, we are all here.” My finger went over to the little boy’s finger; it grabbed it and swayed it playfully.

“Do you have large celebrations often?” I asked.

“Just the birth of a baby or the pairing of princes mated to a human girl. Not too often,” she chuckled.

Lenhi was so calm, collected. The women and children dared to glance at her and judge her reaction to the situation. Since she was now the leader, you would have to be calm and not cause panic to the pack that looked up to you. Lenhi gave jobs to all the women and children surrounding her, keeping them busy. The power she held while holding her newborn and the straightness of her back gave the confidence back to the room. They trusted her, her judgment, and how she perceived the situation. Could you imagine an emotional woman who just had a baby, wailing because her husband, er, mate, was outside fighting off werebears and werewolves? It would be straight-up insanity; this Luna business wasn’t going to be easy the day I had to do it.

Once her orders are carried out, she is cooing over her baby and checking if everyone has blankets if they are cold and food if they are hungry. Her mind was constantly linked with her husband; she mentioned the fight was going well and not to worry. I can’t put my complete trust in her words. Keeping the women and children calm was the top priority. One could easily lie to keep the bunch from freaking out and causing loud noises for the intruders to find us.

My boys were out there, the first time I have been separated from them since the adoption just over a week ago. The loneliness crept in, my heart almost pained to think if something happened to one of them. What if the gas was being used outside? Would they survive it? The brief explanation Theon gave both Thaddeus and me after our romp in the tub was mind-altering.

Supernaturals weren’t all-powerful, there were weaknesses, and someone was taking that to their advantage. Supernaturals seemed more in tune with nature and god-like deities rather than lean on technological advances like humans. The shifters and witches I have met don’t look like ones to go to a factor and make high-class weapons of this magnitude. The ‘pinecone’ contraption they bring up has to be a grenade of some type. The clicking noise and the pin they pull are the only logical thing it could be. If that is the case, what if these enemies build something larger? They could dump large bombs on whole packs and tribes.

My gut twisted thinking of the innocent lives. So far, it was just warriors, but what about the women and children?

“They are running back to the packhouse now, Trinity,” Lenhi whispered to me. “Josiah seems to be leading the brigade. Your mates are fine. They fear they know where we are.” I nodded, wringing my hands out. How did they know we were in the packhouse?

Grateful that Lenhi could mind-link her mate, I hope that I could do the same one day. I’m given new information about my mates’ lives each day, but it is so much. Hell, I needed to know what a mate mark was just from Stacy’s conversation earlier! I hated being left in the dark.

I had enough of people wanting to hide things from me. Even if it was for my own good. As wonderful, patient, and caring as my mother was, she hid things from me too. Why I was homeschooled, why I was taught to fight, and the day she planned to take me away from it all. My stomach still got sick the day I left everything behind. Even if my father was a cruel man, it was all I knew. However, not being given any warning about going didn’t leave me room to question. Blindly following my mother may have been for the best.

And she did lead me blindly, with me in the dark. I didn’t like it, not one bit. I lost her that day; if I could have been more prepared, things could have been different. I could have saved her. Everyone was doing it for the sake of my sanity, to not ‘overwhelm’ me. I feel very overwhelmed by not knowing things; thank you very much!

Gritting my teeth, the anger rose when I looked at Stacy and Elijah. Stacy’s eyes sparkled, looking at him, seeking the comfort of his arms. The pang of guilt resonated with my thoughts of Elijah being a traitor. Could he do something so despicable to his longtime friend, now girlfriend?

Maybe I was overthinking things.

Then I saw his cell phone, the light went off as he held it up, taking pictures around the room. Stacy wasn’t paying attention, too busy trying to get his attention. The light flashed again; it was aimed straight for me. Taking his phone down, he smiled and waved. An innocent picture, maybe?

What about the night I was with my boys when they were still wolves? He took many pictures then, and not one was sent to me. This was planned all along; before any suspicions even started.

Pulling out my phone, I saw that there were still two bars on my phone signal. Elijah could be sending pictures to someone right now.

Flipping my unruly hair behind me, I marched straight up to Elijah, who was, of course, staring at his phone mindlessly. I ripped the phone from his hands. “Hey!” he yelled, trying to get the phone back. I pushed his chest, making him fall to the ground. By no means was I a small girl; I was as tall as him and had better fighting skills than him, no doubt.

Quickly scrolling through the camera roll, I see pictures and video of wolves shifting, the front entrance of the Red Moon Pack, the warriors standing behind trees hiding and watching the rest of the pack. A zoomed-in picture of myself pulling my hair behind my ear. Many images of Thaddeus and Theon holding my hand or playing with my hair. Scrolling further back into the history, pictures of me making coffee, putting books away, Elijah had been watching me a very long time.

What was the connection between the wolves and me? There were no pictures of the wolves until I adopted two.

Light bulb.

Elijah tried to get up, but my heeled foot came down on his chest. Stacy tried to pry me off, but it was fruitless as other women saw me standing over Elijah’s body. “What are you doing, Trinity? Are you crazy?” I grunted at her words, continuing to look at the sent and received messages.

“Hold Stacy down,” Lenhi nodded at me, giving me the thumbs up.

Going back three months, several messages stood out.

Me: I think I have someone you are looking for.

Unknown Sender: Send me pictures to verify

A picture of me, zoomed-in, smiling at a customer displayed on the screen.

Unknown Sender: Watch her. Send updates. The reward will be doubled for more information.

Updates what I was doing, who my friends were, the town I lived in, and who I was friends with. The messages lasted for months. Granted, not many, but the names of the townspeople were there, even if they were customers or passersby.

This had to be my father, only he would ask obscure questions like this. He knew where I was; he was coming to find me and take me away. I squeezed the phone, only to hear it ping with a new message.

Unknown Sender: Follow her until the retrieval. Bears and wolves were sent to the packhouse.

“Bastard,” I whispered. My foot let off his chest. Stacy was still being held back by a few women, cursing at me like I was the one to be blamed. Letting Elijah stand up, he brushed the dirt from his shirt.

“Traitor,” I growled out again. The wolves in the cellar stood quiet; enormous banging above us signaled a struggle. They were trying to get in the basement by force. Sniffing, scratching, growling sounds leaked through the cracks.

“What?” Elijah chuckled. “What are you talking about?” The smug on his face was about to be cracked. I rammed my wrist up his nose using my open palm, breaking it instantly. B***d poured from his nose, his hands immediately shielding his face. My foot rose, kicking him into the stomach. The women watched on in horror as I spewed curses.

“You bastard, you led them here! You put them all in danger! Innocent lives!” I screamed into his ears, pulling him up by his collar. Elijah’s hands went up to punch me, but his senses have deteriorated. If I didn’t beat up a wolf or a bear, a human would be just fine. Maybe I could skin him like an animal too.

Slapping him with my open hand, he bends over while my knee collides with his nose again. Another foul crunch. B***d was on my clothes, and the sweet satisfaction of watching him suffer wasn’t enough. Pushing him to the wall, the large cellar doors open, wolves and naked men ran in, along with my mates; I felt them thrumming through me.

My forearm pushed Elijah by his neck, keeping him pinned to the wall. “Traitor,” I laced my words with utter disgust. “To your own town, your aunt, your family, your friends,” shaking my head, his unsteady breathing caused him to choke on his b***d. Thaddeus grabs me, pulling me away. My head immediately found Theon’s chest while I cried in his arms.

“What the hell happened?” Thaddeus roared; Stacy was being cuddled by her cousin, wiping away her tears. I heaved a heavy sob, wiping the tears away from my eyes.

“Elijah told my father where I was. For the reward money,” glaring at Elijah, he wouldn’t look me in the eye. His breath was heavy, b***d still dripping. His nose was unrecognizable; he would need surgery to fix that. Good.

“What?” Theon pulled me back. “That silver gas… it is coming from your father then?” My eyebrows knitted to confusion.

“Were there more outside?” I cried out.

“Yeah, two that we counted for. Two men dressed in black they,….” Balling my fist, I punched Elijah once more in the gut. I needed to hit something, do something. My father caused destruction everywhere he went. Now he knows about werewolves, about me and all those I have come in contact with.

I’ve lured him here and now my friends, my mates are all in danger.