Anonymous

Chapter 7: I must make my own journey now

Time jumps forward 5 years:

POV: third party:

“Five years, you imbeciles can’t find a child for five f**king years?!” Screamed Emilio to his mini army of rogues. He was furious. He had checked every land in between the packs and the packs that allowed him in their borders for the last five years and had absolutely nothing to show for it. “Sir, maybe the girl perished.” Alan said to his leader. Emilio knew Catalina was alive. He didn’t know how, but he knew she was alive. “The Blue Moon pack and a few other packs haven’t let us within their borders, but I have spoken to the council that pleading my fake case that I am forced to be a rogue; that I want to search for my fated mate and settle into her pack. They have granted me a free pass into each pack for this. If we can’t find her in any of these we will go worldwide, but I’m not giving up.” Emilio snapped back.

Alan simply nodded his head, he knew arguing with Emilio was pointless. Alan questioned following Emilio anymore. In his mind, Emilio had gone mad a long time ago. You see Alan lost his mate years ago; tragically killed and his heart hasn’t been right since and this has caused something to shift inside him and that’s why he joined Emilio’s crusade, but he’s getting old. He wants to just enjoy life before joining his mate in the afterlife. Emilio had held information over Alan’s head for years about who murdered his beloved mate and said he would help that was responsible pay, but how far Alan really is prepared to go, he questioned himself daily. He disagreed with the torture of Catalina and would often sneak in after she was asleep to clean her wounds. He also ensured none of the guards would touch her sexually. Alan couldn’t understand Emilio for years because Alan and his wife tried for years for a child and after two miscarriages, they realized it wasn’t in the cards for them, but he knew he would love their child more than anything so he never understood how Emilio could do what he did to Catalina. While Alan wanted answers for his wife’s killing; he was glad that Catalina was away from Emilio and hoped she was safe and sound.

In The Blood Moon Pack:

“I want to see REAL fighting.” Yelled Jairo. He has been training his warriors for double shifts with each session getting more intense. Jairo’s wolf and him were losing control by not having their mate still. His patience was nearly nonexistent he has everyone in his pack walking on eggshells around him. The other day a maid was cleaning his room and his wolf lost his mind at the scent of a she-wolf in his room that was not his mate and nearly snapped her neck. Benjamin had to step in or that poor woman would have lost her life. From then on, only male cleaners were permitted to clean Alpha’s suite.

Tiffany walked up to Benny drenched in sweat. “He’s going to work the warriors to death, and we won’t have anyone to protect the pack,” she said before chugging down a whole bottle of water in one drink. Benny nodded to Tiffany and walked over to Jairo. “Buddy, the warriors are exhausted you are working them too hard.”

Jairo looked at Benny with a serious face and replied, “A war wouldn’t go easy on them neither will I?” Benny looked confused, “What war Jairo, we are the largest and toughest pack. Absolutely nobody messes with us.” “I don’t know I feel a war is coming,” Jairo says as he crosses his arms. “Is everything ready for the medical conference next week? I want everyone to train hard this week to leave my pack safe when I go?” he asked Benny. “Oh yeah, its good to go. Tiffany will be in charge since she’s the head warrior. But speaking of Tiffany…I want to talk to you about her. You don’t think she’s getting too comfortable doing Luna duties? It makes me worry that it will cause drama for when our real Luna finally gets found.”

Jairo sighed again, “You know she keeps getting touchy-feely on me. At first, she would offer to be chosen mates only in name, due to the council’s relentless suggestion that I find a mate and luna, but now she seems to be for real, and every time she tries to touch me, Zeus wants to bite her hand off. I’ll have a talk with her when we get back from the conference.”

In the Blue Moon Pack:

The years flew by for Catalina, but she made each of them count. She trained hard and is now an amazing warrior. It took a lot of persuading for Eddie to fully accept her training, and now she was one of the top warriors. She also caught up educationally thanks to Amelia working overtime to teach her. She knew she was only alive right now thanks to Amelia and Eddie. The three of them did everything together. But Catalina had a feeling that big changes were coming their way. She didn’t know why but she did and it scared her. No longer did she have her nightmares of the torture Emilio inflected on her, but new nightmares plagued her dreams now.

In Catalina’s nightmare:

It always starts off beautifully. Artemis is running through the forest not out of fear but happily. She looks behind her and there’s a beautiful black wolf with white paws and a matching silver moon on his forehead like hers who smells like sandalwood. They are playfully running. Every so often, the black wolf will playfully nip at her back paws, then she looks ahead and there’s her father’s wolf with a sick smile. The once clear sky turns into a horrific storm and smoke rolls out, swallowing Artemis. She can’t breathe, she can’t scream. That’s when Catalina wakes up. She always wakes up scared and crying. She doesn’t know who that other wolf is, but she misses him every time she wakes up.

In Reality:

Catalina, Amelia and Eddie had just come back from a run. Amelia is scrambling because she’s late for her shift at the hospital. “You guys always say a short run, and it turns to miles, I’m going to find new running partners.” Amelia yells at her brother and best friend as she runs into her bathroom for a quick shower. “Have you ever thought our extra running is just us trying to get away from your constant talking baby sister?” Eddie joked. Amelia stuck her hand out her bedroom door to flip off Eddie.

Catalina just chuckled and shook her head while she drank some water. These two are always going back and forth. Eddie then cleared his throat and said, “Catalina, I need to talk to you, is there any way we can go for a walk?” “Sure,” Catalina responded.

They walked out of the house and Eddie was quiet for about five minutes. He looked nervous, and it confused Catalina because she had never seen her adopted brother like that. The silence was suffocating her a little bit.

“Cata I……” He started to say and fell silent. “Is something wrong, Eddie? Did I do something to upset you?” she asked. He stopped walking, which caused her to stop as well. “No Cata, it’s not that, there’s just something I need to tell you, but I don’t know how you are going to respond.” She grabbed his hands and smiled and said, “You’re my best friend, you can tell me anything.” He looked hurt when she said best friend but covered it up fairly quickly. “The thing is, I have been feeling this feeling towards you since we met. I don’t know what it is, but I know I would give my life for you. I look forward to seeing and speaking with you every day. I think I’m in love with you Catalina. When you shifted, I had hoped that your wolf would say mate to me. And I was heartbroken when that didn’t happen. I know we’re not mates, but I want to be each other’s chosen mates,” he said in one breath.

Catalina was shocked. She had never expected this from Eddie. She thought back and realized how often he would be looking at her. But she thought he was doing so in a friendly manner; she never thought he was in love with her. She often wished they were mates too because of how well they had taken care of her, but it wasn’t meant to be. She knew the other half of her heart was out there, and she couldn’t hurt him that way. “I…uhhh don’t know what to say.” She finally responded. Eddie looked heartbroken. “Eddie you know I love you, you’re my best friend but we both have mates out there and that’s who our hearts should belong with. We can’t prebreak their heart. And I’m sorry to tell you I only see you as my brother.” She didn’t want to break his heart, but she knew she couldn’t lie either.

Eddie let go of her hands and started to walk off. His heart was hurting, and he didn’t want anyone to see that on his face. Was he that terrible that being chosen as his mate was out of the question for Cata? He would protect her with his life, and she would be treated as a queen. “Wait, Eddie please!” Pleaded Catalina as she grabbed his arm and made him look at her. “I don’t want you to hate me.” She had tears in her eyes. That made Eddie’s face soften before he told her, “I could never hate you, Catalina, I just need to know why being with me would be horrible.” “It wouldn’t be horrible, Eddie. I’ve thought that in a perfect world we would be mates and you guys would be my real family. But the world isn’t perfect and that’s now how it works out for us.” She cried. Eddie then kissed Catalina hoping that she would feel a spark and realize that they could be together. Instead, she pushed him away and slapped him. “How DARE you force a kiss on me knowing I was saving all my firsts for my mate.” She was now angry. She wanted all her firsts for that black wolf she dreamed of. Eddie didn’t care. He wanted her to see him in the same way as he saw her. So he kissed her again, only to be met with a force that threw him back. He got back up, his eyes black from his wolf surfacing at the disrespect. There was not an ounce of fear on Catalina’s face but more of a shocked, angry look. “How did you do that, Cata?” “I don’t know, but I WILL do it again if you force another inappropriate touch on me. I never thought you would be like that to women, Eddie.”

That brought Eddie to normal, and he realized how bad he had just f*cked up. “Cata….I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I did that. Please forgive me.” He went to hug her, and she pushed him away. “I know you’re better than that, Eddie, but I need some time. Please leave me alone.” Catalina then turned around and ran to her house. Amelia was still there and she noticed her best friend crying.

“What happened, kitty cat, are you okay?” she asked. “I don’t want to talk about it, Amelia, but I think I need to leave the pack.” Catalina answered. “Wait, what happened tell me.” Amelia tried to calm down her best friend, but Catalina was not calming down. “Let’s do breathing exercises okay?” She offered to Catalina. She taught her some when she would have her nightmares. They did the exercises and it as always, calmed Catalina down. Amelia grabbed her shoulders and said, “Now TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED.” Catalina told her the story of what just happened between Eddie and herself. Amelia was just as angry. “I’m so sorry my brother did that to you kitty cat. I swear the longer he goes without a mate, the crazier he gets.” “And I get that, but no means no. I’m curious about how I threw him back without touching him though,” Catalina answered. Amelia knew that witches had that power but not werewolves. “…Cata, what do you know about your bloodline?” She asked after a few moments of silence. Catalina looked down hurt thinking about it and she finally answered, “Well, my father is a rogue, but my mother abandoned me. I have no memories of her. I was so useless that my father tortured me and my mother abandoned me.”

Amelia wrapped her arms around Catalina, “You’re not useless kitty cat. I love you and even though Eddie is being a jerk, he loves you too. We will always be here for you. But I think we need to dig into your bloodlines because I have never heard of a werewolf having that ability. You know what? Eddie and I have a medical conference that included Alphas out of state. There will be some council members there. Maybe we can ask around and get some answers?” Catalina liked this idea mostly because she would love to find out why her father was testing her and why her mother abandoned her.

Catalina nodded her head and said, “Let’s do it.” Although she was not happy about being stuck around Eddie for the moment. “We're leaving in a week; pack warm clothes it’s in Las Vegas. Gamble Gamble Gambleeeeee.” Amelia joked. Catalina half-laughed but she knew that if they found no answers on this trip that she would be leaving the pack and finding the answers she needed and finding her father to destroy him.