SWNOVELS Chapter Pain
It had been two days since I last saw or heard from Bishop and the distance was beginning to close in on me. Cam and Mik had tried everything they could to get me out the house but every idea they had, I turned them down. Besides my broken heart, my insides were finally returning back to their normal places and the soreness from my first heat had subsided but the memories were still there, burned into my brain forever.
"Get out of that bed this instant, Em." I heard my Uncle's voice before I saw his face and even though he wasn't the Alpha anymore, his commands still held authority.
I jumped up from under the covers and out the bed as he rounded the corner and entered my room. He stopped a few inches from me with his arms outstretched and a sad smile on his face. I ran into his arms and inhaled the comforting scent of tobacco and cologne as he rubbed my back and reassured me that everything would be ok.
"Uncle Mark, I don't understand. He doesn't want me as his mate. What did I do wrong?"
"Em, it isn't you he doesn't want. Sometimes when wolves lose their mate, for whatever reason, their hearts become hardened. Call it a defense mechanism if you will but that doesn't mean it will always stay that way. Do you remember your Uncle Cedric?"
I nodded my head because everyone knew the story of Uncle Cedric. He was an eccentric old man who lived in a cabin on the outskirts of the territory. He was my Uncle Mark's right hand man, no relation to me at all, but he always treated me like family and he made the best salt water taffy I had ever tasted. But one day he disappeared and only my Uncle knew what happened to him.
"Cedric's mate was a high ranking officials daughter and her father refused to accept that she was his mate so he forced her to reject him. After that he went crazy and ran away and we haven't heard from him since. Some say it's because his heart was ripped apart, leaving a gigantic hole in it's place and others said it was because the pain drove him mad. Either way, the pain of losing a mate is indescribable and even if the moon goddess blesses them with another, the pain is still there and also the fear of rejection again."
I couldn't imagine someone's reason for rejecting their mate but Bishop had to have a good one and I was determined to find out why, even if it meant going behind his back to get the answer.
"Uncle Mark, where is Bishop's pack?"
He took a deep breath and paused for a while then said "Thirty miles North of here in Franklin County. But let me warn you Em, he hasn't been the leader their for quite some time and I don't know what kind of state his pack members are in so I suggest you think hard before you go snooping around. If he wanted you to know what happened, he would have told you. Just give him time, he will come around." He kissed my forehead and left the room.
He was right, it shouldn't be poking around in things I had no business knowing, even if he wasn't exactly open about his past. He would tell me in his own time, I just hoped it was soon because I only had two more months until I had to give Anderson and answer or figure out how to save my pack.
After our talk, I took a shower and decided to stop moping around and go after him. Some would say chasing him is a desperate attempt but isn't that what we do when we love someone? We fight, we never give up, and we will do anything to prove that we are always there for them no matter what.
Once I was dressed I walked to the woods and quickly picked up his scent, which meant he must have recently been here because it was still pretty strong. I marched through the trees with a pep in my step and an idea on my mind. If he wasn't going to talk to me, I could use my body and seduce him. It had to work, right?
I inhaled deeply and almost fell over when I heard his deep, smooth voice coming from in front of me.
"Do you ever do as you are told?" He said in an annoyed tone.
"Only when it is necessary and right now we need to talk. Tell me what happened with your first mate?"
I saw the muscles in his back tense when I mentioned her and I knew that I had just struck a cord. Ember - 1, Big Bad Wolf - 0.
He shook his head and stood up ready to shift when I took my pants off and threw them at his head. The action took him by surprise and he spun around with his brows furrowed.
"Talk." I said as I stood their in just my panties.
He threw my pants on the ground and smirked "Do you think being naked will change my mind?"
I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head tossing it at his face. Then I hooked my fingers under the elastic of my thong and pushed them down, letting them drop to the ground. He stood there as his eyes dilated and a low growl came from his throat.
"Stop, Red."
I gulped loudly then reached around my back and unhooked my bra before I ripped it off and tossed it down in front of me. He took a few steps forward then stopped and closed his eyes as if trying to convince himself it was a trick. When he opened them they were a deep blue and dangerously trained on mine.
I stood there naked and shaking wondering why I thought this was a good idea when he started walking towards me.
"You're being a very naughty girl, Red." His voice was husky and hoarse and I knew it was his wolf talking to me.
I took the chance I had been waiting on and said in a soft voice "What happened to your mate?"
His face hardened and he said "She wasn't who I thought she was, she lied and betrayed us. She tricked us and we almost lost everything."
"What do you mean she tricked you?"
He shook his head roughly and I knew I had lost him. As soon as Bishop returned to his normal state he gave me an unreadable expression and said "Follow me. If you want to know so bad what happened then you need to see where it all began."
He shifted into his beautiful wolf and took off into the dense trees, disappearing out of sight. I took off behind him as quickly as I could and only managed to catch up from following his scent. We ran for miles until we reached what I could only assume was the border of another territory. Three huge men appeared and let us pass without a word and soon we were running across a massive lawn towards a beautiful Victorian style house so big it looked like a castle.
I instantly got the feeling this place was special and the sudden swirling emotions inside me were coming from the pensive wolf running alongside me.
Em has the best family ever, doesn't she?
Did she really think she could convince his wolf to tell her what happened? Apparently she thought she could.
Wow so now we finally get to know the story. But where is he taking her?