Children of the Goddesses (completed)

Reinforcements and Setbacks

Laila’s POV

            Pain was the only constant since I had given myself up to spare the lives of the innocent werewolves from the Gardner Lake Pack. Despite the betrayal of my mate, I reminded myself that the care Betti had shown for me was genuine and the warm friendship from Dillon was as real as gold. I did the right thing and if that would be the last thing that I did, I would at the very least be granted an honorable death. My only regret was not being able to fulfill the mission that the Moon Goddess had tasked me with.

            During my time here, despite being held alone, I had no doubts that I wasn’t the only female vampire or the only vampire being subjected to the horrors of being reduced to a commodity to be traded and used as if we were nothing more than inanimate objects. If I could turn back time, I would have never given my heart away to my fated mate and focused on my mission instead. If I had been more careful and less selfish, we might already be at the Tahoe Coven by now and I’d have completed half of my mission by alerting the High Priestess of the warning of the Moon Goddess. I had no doubt that Brenna would know what to do, and with the support of Luna Kayla and Alpha Finn, they would be able to figure out a way to fight this new threat, even without me. 

            As the hot metal burned into the back of my neck a few moments ago and the unmistakable heat from witch fire seared a permanent mark into my skin, I welcomed the pain as a reminder to never be so careless again if I ever made it out of captivity alive, and as a punishment for my selfishness if indeed my second chance journey at life were to end here. At the very least, my fingers were still broken and my face was still swollen from the beatings, and no one dared to risk further damage to me by exposing me to sunlight. My secret was still safe, for now.

Ethan’s POV

            What do you mean we missed them by mere hours?! 

            The wolves of my warriors bowed their heads in submission as I roared into our mind-link. We were standing over the entrance of an underground bunker system and from the smell of it, it had just been abandoned a few hours prior to our arrival. Our wolves had searched the entire bunker system and there was no one or anything useful to help us locate Laila in sight. Only the citrus scent of my mate still lingered in that windowless cell with the red cement floor. There was no blood in that cell but the red cement floor, the metal chair and the enchanted metal chains were exactly the same as what I had seen in my dream, making me even more certain that it wasn’t just a dream. The painful screams of my mate echoed in my head again as Gower entered that cell, causing my heart to clench so tightly that I could barely breathe. 

            The trail that we were tracking was fresh, Gamma, but we lost it about 40 miles from here, like someone had just magically wiped out the scents and tracks left behind. With the help of Luna Meira and Ana, we were able to narrow down the search area, but we were still too late. 

            Dillon’s cautious tone forced me to get a grip on my emotions. The last thing that I needed now was to take things out on my warriors, especially after our Alpha decided in the end that we should leave and return to our pack after the Tahoe Coven had agreed to take over the task of searching for Laila. Three of our warriors already left last night after the Tahoe Coven had sent us reinforcements and only Dillon, Corin, Betti and Mitch stayed behind with me to continue assisting with the search. The only reason that our Alpha had allowed it was because I had confessed that Laila was my fated mate, and the other pack members had volunteered to stay. I was grateful to my warriors and Betti for staying behind to help, and both Gower and I knew that we needed to actually act the part. 

            The red-haired witch, Ana, from the Tahoe Coven had joined us at Jove’s pack last night and aided us on our investigation today. She was the daughter of the High Priestess and though I trusted Meira and her powers, having the daughter of the High Priestess with us had filled my heart with hope that we’d be able to track down Laila today. As we stood in front of the bunker that held my mate captive just a few hours ago, the immense hope in my heart had now turned into cold, hard bitterness, but I knew that I couldn’t give up. My mate was counting on it. 

            Ana walked over to us and handed us some clothes before turning around to start a fire. Taking it as a cue, we shifted back into our human form and dressed before heading over to join the witch.

            “Hold each others’ hand and step into the fire with me. It’d take us back to the fireplace in the Lostwood Pack’s packhouse.” The witch instructed us before holding out her hand to me, “and you Gamma, take my hand and don’t let go. If any of you lets go, you will lose your connection to me and be forever lost in the fire portal.”

            “Wait, we’re leaving? We can’t just leave, Ana! We have yet to find my mate.” Despair raged in me as Gower whimpered in my head, and I took a deep breath before speaking again, reminding myself and my wolf that we were the ones who needed the witch’s help. “Please, I’m begging you, we can’t just give up like this. Even though we might have missed them by a few hours, I’m sure there’s something here that could help us to track them down again!”

            “Just shut up and do as I say,” Ana snapped impatiently. “If not for you, we wouldn’t even be in this situation right now, and unlike you, I have a plan to find Laila. You have no idea who she is, do you? Well, let me be clear on one thing, mate or not, if she doesn’t trust you enough to tell you who she is, and if you can’t protect her, then you’re not worthy of her! She has family and friends who actually care about her and with or without you, we will find her.” 

            The sharp words of the witch cut painfully into my heart and I hung my head in defeat, as realization dawned on me that my mate might not actually need me, that she has never needed me but she gave me a chance and I screwed up. When Meira contacted the Tahoe Coven for help, I had told them everything that I knew, including a description of Laila’s appearance, and how we had found her. The High Priestess proceeded to show me an old yellowing photo of a small family, and asked if the blonde lady in the photo looked like Laila. After I had confirmed it, without even a moment of hesitation, the High Priestess said that she would send her daughter over to us immediately via fire portal while reinforcement would reach us a day later. She didn’t elaborate very much on the plan that she had in mind and in my distress, I hadn’t noticed how eager the High Priestess was to help us. It was only at this moment that I had come to notice that Laila wasn’t just a simple female vampire and she most probably had ties to the Tahoe Coven. 

            A gentle squeeze on my hand jolted me out of my pity parade and I looked up to see Betti’s encouraging smile, reminding me once again of my priorities. If Ana had a plan then I would follow it without question, and the last thing that I wanted to become was an obstacle in our search for my mate. I grabbed the outstretched hand of Ana and followed her into the fire while the rest of my warriors trailed behind us. It was a surreal feeling like walking through a sauna and in no time at all, the drawing room of the Lostwood Pack came into view. Only this time, the drawing room wasn’t empty like when we had left it this morning. 

            “Are you that Gamma? Laila’s mate?” A tall young vampire with dark hair and pitch black eyes asked me through gritted teeth. I nodded and instantly, a fist landed on the left side of my face with so much force that I fell and crashed onto the side table. Before I could recover from the shock of the sudden attack, a pair of hands grabbed me by the shirt before a punch landed on the other side of my face. Gower growled loudly and just as I was about to fight back, the roar of the young man left me frozen on the spot. 

            “How dare you accuse my sister of being a liar when you’ve proven yourself to be a bigoted werewolf and a lousy mate!? What kind of man allows bounty hunters and traffickers to snatch their mate away right under his nose?!” 

            A slightly shorter vampire, who looked like an older replica of the vampire who had punched me, stepped in between us while a few werewolves held my attacker at bay. The older vampire eyed me sternly before saying coldly, “Laila was wrong to hide the truth from you Gamma, but it seems that you’ve proven her concerns for not revealing the truth to you valid.” 

            Apprehension rocked my body as I quickly got back up on my feet, desperate to redeem myself in front of my mate’s family. “I was wrong, I know that now and I know that no amount of sorrys can undo what I have done. So I ask you to please give me one more chance to make this right, to bring Laila back, not so that she could forgive me and give me another chance, but because this is the very least that I owe to her.”  

            The two vampires exchanged a look before turning to leave with the werewolf entourage they had brought with them. Ana followed them while Meira gave me a sympathetic look before hurrying after our new allies, if I could even call them that. 

            “Hey, they’d come around. Give them some time and don’t give up, Ethan,” my cousin encouraged as he patted my shoulders gently. “Actions speak louder than words, wasn’t that what you’ve always told me? You can’t blame Laila’s Father and brother for not trusting you, but you could prove them wrong.”