The Rare Mate

Chapter Five

Magnolia’s pov

I knew what I was about to do, but I had no other option. I knew I had suffered enough and I didn’t want to suffer any more. Everything that has happened has been my fault. All because I made a stupid reckless decision and went out for a walk without my parents. I enjoyed the quiet for a moment. I pulled myself up one more time I was inches away from being able to wrap the chain around my neck. Soon this would all be over. 

I took a final deep breath but stopped when I heard a clanking sound, “so that’s your brilliant idea? Hang yourself?” I looked to see Annabelle glaring at me. Her brown eyes filled with unshed tears.

“What do you care?” I said hoarsely, “if it were up to you and everyone else I wouldn’t exist, not after what happened to the Luna. It’s all my fault!” I shouted as best I could. 

“That’s not true, I always hated how he treated you, I did my best to try and protect you. You were my best friend until that day, that day everything changed and it wasn’t your fault.” she yelled back at me.

“But it was, I was the reason they were here in the first place. It was my fault that the Luna died.” I growled out, I felt my hands start to slip.

“Come down, we don’t have much time. The King is currently talking to the Alpha. We need to move now while everyone is distracted.” She hissed at me. 

She held up the key in her hand and I climbed down, ignoring the pain the best I could.  Once I was down she quickly undid the locks and I collapsed onto the floor. “You need to help me. I laid down on the table quickly so she could remove the silver from me. “Take it out, you have to turn the bolt so the thing goes back down.”

What are you talking about?” She asked, confused.

“It’s some sort of midevil torture device, kind of like the pear of anguish, but this one is made of silver.” She looked at me with shock on her face.

“That’s terrible.” I watched as she pulled her sleeve down to cover her hand and I spread my legs. I knew this was going to hurt so I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my screams. She started to turn the knob and pain beyond belief spread throughout my body. “Almost there.” She said and soon after relief flooded through me as the pain subsided. 

Instantly I could feel the cuts and marks on my face slowly begin to heal, Annabelle handed me a loose fitting dress. “We have to go, now.” I nodded my head and gently put the dress on, it was dark green and stopped just above my knees. I stood up and instantly fell to the ground. 

“I don’t know if I will be able to do this.” I said quietly.”I may just be too injured. “

“Oh no you don’t, you were going to hang your self. You managed to get yourself up to the top. If you can do that you can do this! Now get up we have to go!” She looked like she genuinely wanted to help me. 

She used to be my best friend, she is an omega and I used to be the daughter of the best warrior, thanks to that I knew how to fight for the most part. I wasn’t the best but I could defend myself for the most part. I balled my hands up into fists and stood up. I ignored the searing pain the best that I could. The worst pain was now in my back where I had one hundred lashes. 

I took a deep breath and began walking as quickly as I could after her. We turned right and made our way towards the back entrance. We both froze when we heard a grunt come from another cell. “We have to keep moving.” She hissed at me. 

Once we were at the back entrance I noticed there wasn’t anyone guarding, “where is the guard?” I asked her in a hushed voice.

“All pack members are supposed to be greeting the King, that’s why we need to go before people get back to their posts.” We walked through the door and I could see the woods about fifty feet in front of us. I wasn’t sure which way we were facing but I knew if we could get to those woods we would eventually run into another pack or unclaimed land. 

Once we made sure it was all clear we made a break for it. I ran as fast as I could while ignoring the pain in my back. “Which way are we heading?” I asked her.

“I think we are heading north,” She paused for a second and looked around, “yeah, north see there, the front gate to the right. We have to cross this road, then the road to the guesthouse to get over the border. Once we cross we can break our ties to this pack and then we will be rogues.” We stopped at the edge of the woods on the first road. It was all clear so we quickly ran across and into the next set of the forest.

“Do you think we should cut ties right away?” I asked her.

“No, we should probably wait until we are a bit further away then do it. That way we have a head start. He will know instantly when that happens.” We stayed crouched down as we ran through the forest. We neared the second road and we could hear a car driving up. 

I quickly crouched back into the brush, the SUV passed by but then I noticed it slowed down. I stayed as still as possible when the most handsome man stepped out of the SUV. He was tall, had black hair and the most gorgeous blue eyes I had ever seen. Most of all though, his scent was intoxicating. 

I swallowed hard and black dots blurred my vision and my stomach began to turn. I felt myself starting to fall forward and Annabelle caught me. “Son, what's wrong?” I heard another man ask.

He looked like an older version of the young man, he must be his father. “Do you smell that?” He asked.

He took a long deep breath in, “I do, that’s blood.” My eyes shot open, I looked at Annabelle and she firmly took my hand. “I think it’s coming from over there.” I saw him point in our direction. Fear cascaded around me, if we were caught Alpha Black would surely kill us both. 

We stood up and ran from our hiding spot towards the border, “wait! STOP! We won’t hurt you!” I heard one of them call out, his voice was soothing and I wished I could just stop and listen to him talk all day. 

We ran, it felt like hours but it was only minutes when I collapsed. I couldn’t anymore, everything started to fade around me, “run, Annabelle.” Was the last thing I said before darkness overtook me.  

Zac’s pov

We all climbed back into the SUV’s and made our way back down the road towards the pack house. As we neared the white house the mural on the front was obvious. I took a deep breath and readied myself to see the alpha that has betrayed our trust.

There was a large group all around the driveway of the pack house. I looked at my dad, “it’s the entire pack.” I said, hope filled my chest.

“That’s good, maybe you will be able to find her then.” He said back with a smile.

I nodded my head and began to climb out of the SUV. Screams and shouts from the pack members bombarded us, it wasn’t like this at the other packs. I looked at Luca and James who both shrugged their shoulders. 

All the other packs had their people continue on their day like normal, which is what we expected here as well. Why would he allow all of his pack members to be in one location? I growled and silence followed.

“Welcome your highness, I am so glad you are here!” He said in a chipper voice as he held his arms open.

I clenched my jaw to keep myself quiet, “we are glad to be here, shall we move to your office?” My father asked.

“Sure, come on in!” He said with a big smile on his face as he turned and went back towards the door to the pack house. “Now I know you plan to be here for a couple weeks. I didn’t know you all were coming. I thought it was just a few of you guys.” He said nonchalantly. 

My father chuckled, “sorry for the inconvenience, we had some pack members ask to come with us. They wanted a chance to search for their mate, and a few of us wanted to see how well Zac was getting along with the other pack alpha’s.” He said casually as we walked up the stairs.

“Well that’s good, it’s always good to know what is going on in your children's lives, even as they get older.” He said, “I am okay with people looking for their mate’s as long as they don’t distract my warriors.” He stepped aside and held open a door.

My father stepped in first, then it was Ryken, myself, Luca and James. The office wasn’t as big as my fathers but it was big enough for a conference table to be set up as well as his desk and a couch at the end with a fireplace. “I am curious,” he turned to look at me. “If you don’t want our men to distract your pack members then why did you have the entire pack meet us out front?” I asked him because I needed to know why he was willing to leave his pack vulnerable to attacks.

“I thought it was important for you to have a warm welcome.” He said coolly. I did my best to ignore the faint scent of my mates that lingered in this room. She was here a while ago. It’s like everywhere I go here I can smell her.

“I want my mate.” Growled Matt.

“I know just wait a little bit and we can go look around the pack for her.” I said in as calm of a voice as I could to him.

“Okay, well let’s get to it, what is on your agenda while we are here?” Ryken cut in.

Alpha black cleared his throat, he glared at Ryken before he quickly recovered and plastered a fake smile on his face. “I believe we don’t have anything planned today, we figured you all would prefer to settle in before anything too big happened. Tomorrow we have planned a big BBQ in your honor for dinner as well as a pool party. Tomorrow morning we thought you would enjoy seeing how the pack trains, then hunts for our meat that we will use for our dinner.” He said happily.

I nodded my head as I slowly grew dizzy from her scent. “What about after tomorrow?” My father asked him.

“After that it will be more of our usual routine until the night before you leave where we will have a feast in your honor.” He said in a casual tone.

“That sounds like a great plan.” Ryken said as he nodded towards my father. 

“I’m sorry but we have never met, who are you?” He asked Ryken in a condescending tone as he held his hand out.

I could see Ryken’s frustration on his face, not that he was being asked but how he was being asked. “I am Ryken, the first white wolf and Zac’s step grandfather.” He said firmly as he took his hand and gave it a rough shake.

“I didn’t realize, my apologies.” He said slightly snarky. “Who are you two?” He said pointing to James and Luca.

“This is James, future co-alpha, and Luca, my other son.” My father told him.

“So you will be having a co-alpha as well then, just like your father?” He asked, turning to me.

I cleared my throat, “yes, our pack is very large and grows every year. It is better for the pack members to have two alpha’s to watch out for them. However I will always have final say.” I said straightening my back, I easily stood taller than him. 

“How large is your pack now? Twenty thousand?” He asked.

I didn’t trust him, our pack was closer to twenty-five thousand now as we allowed all the species in, not just wolves. “That is about right.” I said casually.

He actually looked rather impressed momentarily, “well that’s hard to think about. My pack barely makes two thousand. I couldn’t imagine having that many wolves in one area.” I nodded my head as I didn’t know how else to respond.

“Well it has been a long drive so I think we should make our way back to the guest house now.” My father said as he reached his hand out to shake it. “We should be seeing you tomorrow then?” He asked.

“Yes, we will have a few omegas come and prepare your dinner and help turn down your beds.” He told us as he shook my fathers hand.

“Thank you for your time Alpha Black.” I said as I walked right past him. We made our way down the stairs and it was weird. When we got here it was packed with members, now it’s completely void of them.

“Do you think Grete’s friend would be willing to come meet us at the guesthouse?” Ryken asked Luca as we walked out of the pack house. 

He cleared his throat and began to answer but I couldn’t focus. I could faintly smell my mate’s scent on the wind as it blew around me. I stopped in my tracks and tried to look around. I didn’t see anyone. Her scent made me calm yet angry at the same time. I could smell her but not being able to see her was driving Matt and I crazy.

“Son.” My father’s voice echoed through the air pulling from my thoughts, “Zac, are you okay?” He asked me, and I could see the worry on his face.

I gently shook my head, “I don’t know dad.” I climbed into the back seat as my dad climbed into the front and Ryken once again took the driver's seat. Luca placed his hand on my shoulder, “hey we will figure out what’s going on.” I nodded my head and rolled down the window.

The breeze was cooler but it felt nice on my face. I laid my head against the door so I was in the direct line of the wind. We rounded the corner back to the guest house when the scent became so strong I could taste it. “STOP!” I shouted. 

The car hadn’t even stopped moving when I jumped out and made my way to the back of the SUV where the scent was the strongest. I lifted my nose up in the air to try and take in more of the scent when fear clutched my heart. I finally realized what I had actually been smelling. “Son, what’s wrong?” My father asked me.

I turned to look at him as I could feel the color draining from my face. “Do you smell that?” I asked him, praying to the goddess that it wasn’t what I thought it was.

He took a long deep breath in, “I do, that’s blood.” He said as he started to search the area we could see with our eyes. “I think it’s coming from over there.” He pointed in the direction to the right of the road, he was right it did seem to be coming from that direction. 

I started to take a step when two she-wolfs bolted out of the tree line. I knew for a fact that one of them was my mate and I already knew which one. “wait! STOP! We won’t hurt you!” I yelled out, now James was next to me huffing as we both started to run after them, I looked at James his eyes were black. 

I watched as my mate started to stumble over her own feet, I cringed when I saw how soaked her dress was. It glistened in the sun as she tried to continue running. I watched James as he took a running leap and landed directly on the other girl. She let out a yelp, I turned to see my mate completely collapse on the ground. I bent down next to her and the only thing I heard was her soft hoarse voice, “run, Annabelle.” 

James’ pov

“Mate!” I heard my wofl yell in my head. I jumped out of the car in time to see two she wolves run from the tree line. They darted across the road and I took off after them. One was bleeding terribly and the other was trying to help her.

The one stumbled and my mate kept running, I leapt forward and landed on her easily. Sparks erupted where I touched her. She froze for a second before she tried punching me in the face. “What the hell? You’re my mate why are you fighting me?” I asked her quietly. 

“I don’t care! I need to get to her!” She turned and started trying to fight to get away from me. Pain ricocheted through my chest at her words. Did she really not want me? My wolf, Raul, whimpered and retreated. 

I didn’t hear anything else. I just picked her up and dragged her to the SUV. I climbed in with her next to me and just waited quietly, maybe she will change her mind. Once we stopped I grabbed her arm, making her wait with me. 

Once everyone was gone I turned to her, I could see how she was sad and angry but I could see how she was scared. I cleared my throat. “We need to talk.” I said to her.

She took a deep breath before she spoke. “I am sorry for what I said, we will talk but please let me go to her right now. You have no idea what she has been through.” I was going to stop her but decided it would be better for both of us if we calmed down first.

“Fine.” I opened the door and climbed out, she scrambled out of the vehicle and ran up the stairs. 

“What the f**k is going on here?” I asked my wolf.

“I don’t know, but I do know that we are going to figure it out.” I nodded my head in agreement as I followed her up the stairs.