Her Mortal Mate

Chapter One: Taken

Jadea

I don't know why I was having flashbacks of that time, when I was younger and we had been taken into that horrible, hellish place. Maybe it had something to do with the emotional and mental state I was currently in. I knew I was depressed. Emotionally drained. Tired. Hurting. Lovesick. The trauma and devastation that happened last year poisoned most of the past several months, making my heart bleed black with a saddened sickness.

Walking away from Adam, my mate, last July had been the hardest thing I’d ever had to do. He hadn’t been ready for a relationship and, at the time, I couldn’t abandon my own responsibilities to stick around and wait for him.

I had known he wasn't ready to join my world. He had demons he had to face on his own. Wounds and past traumas to work through. I'd tried helping him face them last year when we first met. I even put him in contact with a trusted therapist. But at every turn and road block we faced, we were always pushed back to square one. He had been on the fence about us from the beginning. And that was okay. It just meant I had to give him space and time to figure out what he wanted without me hovering. Without me pushing him towards something I wanted. We both needed to want this. Otherwise, it wouldn’t work.

And so, I'd left California. I chose to give him space to work on himself, to give him time to truly figure out what he wanted in this life. I decided not to be selfish. When it came to us, I wanted him to willingly choose us. I didn't want him to feel as if he had been forced or coerced in some way. Not after the abuse he suffered at his ex-wife’s hands.

And so, after our time in California, my pack and I went home to start our healing process after the devastating hunt of the evil immortal, Valdis.

My wolves and I were a specialized pack who hunted and killed immortals who turned evil and were terrorizing the mortal and/or immortal world. We cleaned up crime scenes, to ensure the immortal world wouldn’t be exposed. We eliminated those beings who became the nightmares that terrorized the night.

The last immortal we hunted had been Valdis. He was a vampire immortal half breed—a half human, half vampire being. Half breeds were more volatile when it came to falling into that evil spectrum. Something in their genetic makeup made them more prone to turning to the darkness especially if they didn’t find their mate in time. Each half breed’s internal time clock was different, and therefore, couldn’t really be predicted.

Most half breeds knew when they were approaching that terrible precipice and had a plan in place for someone they knew to help them end their life before they fell to the darkness. However, some couldn’t face death. Some weren’t strong enough. And those were the beings we hunted most.

Hunting Valdis had been detrimental to my pack’s mental and physical health. He hunted and killed dozens of innocent children across the United States for over a year. My pack and I had been hunting him since his first killing spree in Maine. He escaped us at every turn. Had set traps to try and kill us along the way. He'd chosen specific targets to get to us, to get under our skin. It had been a game to him. For a time, we hadn't been affected. But everything seemed to change in California.

We hired Adam as a temporary escort. We were flying under the radar, using our band as an alias. We told Adam we wanted to explore the sights, to wind down and work on our new album without drawing the media’s attention which would keep us out of the spotlight. While behind the scenes, we hunted the fallen vampire.

Honestly, Adam had been a blessing in disguise. He had taken his job seriously and ensured we were all taken care of. It had become complicated when we decided to get intimate and from that intimacy he started connecting the dots. Things had gotten tense and a little messy for a time before everything settled down. My pack and I had done our damnedest to kill Valdis, but we had been worn down. Depressed. Overwhelmed, even before we got to California. We were making mistakes and becoming careless.

In an attempt to ensure none of us were killed, I'd set pride aside and asked for help. The first time I had backed out of a hunt and asked for another pack to take over. Two packs were sent to take our place. Unfortunately, they’d underestimated Valdis and what he was capable of. On their second hunt, Valdis set an intricate trap and killed several of the wolves. My pack had no option. We'd had to step in. We'd had no choice. And in all the chaos that ensued, Adam's daughter had been kidnapped by Valdis. He had taken her as his next and final victim.

We had been able to utilize all of our resources, saving Anika and ending the vile Valdis.

During our final hunt, there had been a lot of mistakes made. A lot of unspoken rules and laws crossed in order to see the vampire dead.

Shortly after returning home, the real s**t show began.

We were summoned to the North American Immortal Council, where we were tried for several deeds of misconduct. Mostly against one of the packs who'd taken over the hunt for us. They claimed we withheld information. They claimed I intentionally murdered their alpha. They claimed a lot of things. Months of trials ensued. Months of stating and restating the truths, of reliving the horrible moments extended and interrupted our healing processes. My pack and I really didn’t get the time we needed to heal, not when we were forced to dig up the hurtful past every few weeks.

Finally, it all ended. We were charged with one small slight, given a slap on the wrist and set free.

Throughout this, my pack and I decided to retire from the hunting business. I'd decided to run for my father's seat in the North American Immortal Council. He was in charge of the world's hunting packs. He was the one who determined which packs were the best to hunt certain immortals who'd turned. He was the one who ultimately made the hard calls. And he was retiring.

I'd wanted to get out of the active hunting aspect in order to ensure the safety of Adam and his two children whenever he was ready to come back to me. If that was what he wanted.

While I was pursuing that, my pack focused on our other job: writing and producing songs for our band Knight Necromancers. They’d written and recorded an album full of songs, using our own music and some of the tracks Adam made for us.

Adam, when he was young and reckless, had been in a band himself. He’d wanted to get back into the music industry, and we had been his ticket back in. After some calls, and some good words put in for him, Adam was given an opportunity to work in a music studio after his time with us.

My pack, after building our album, then started working with our sponsors and agents to get a tour put together. After making the right calls and booking all the events, it was announced that Knight Necromancers would be touring the world once again, with our final concert ending in California—the state where everything started and ended for me.

It had been set up that way on purpose, even if my pack mates claimed innocence. They had been hopeful Adam would get wind of our tour ending in California and call.

Once the tour was over, I would have a small reprieve before I would have to start campaigning for the spot in the Immortal Council.

The tour in its entirety had been fantastic. Lots of money had been made. Between that and hunting, my pack and I were billionaires.

During the tour, I'd been able to lose myself in the fame and fortune circle once again. I'd been able to momentarily forget the hurt I suffered from and embraced the lifestyle and culture. Interacting with our fans and listening to their stories boosted my moral.

The instant we landed in California... My entire mood shifted.

I was ready to go home. And not home to Wyoming. Not to the house and farm I'd built with my pack.

No.

I wanted to go home to Adam.

But he hadn't reached out to me, and I refused to break. I refused to go to him because I didn't want to set any of his progress back if he wasn't ready to see me.

It had only taken seconds for everything to change though. When my phone rang, and I saw Adam's name pop up on my screen, my heart leapt with joy.

The instant I'd answered the call, my entire world shifted.

It wasn't Adam on the other line. It was someone who had taken his phone. Someone who had captured him and was holding him for ransom.

"It doesn't matter who I am. All you need to know is if you do not step down as your father's replacement, Adam will be shipped to you in pieces."

The voice rang through my head.

His threat angering me beyond reproach. I was scared for Adam. I was terrified for his children. I didn't know if they'd captured or killed Aidan and Anika. I didn't know anything other than they had him. And they were going to use him against me.

I was glad I had my pack there to support me. To rally around me.

They loved Adam and his children just as much as I did. Even though he wasn't officially a part of our pack, we already considered him, and his children, a part of our family.

They meant a lot to us.

"I'll grab the go pack," Garret announced turning on his heel to rush inside.

"I'll find us an inconspicuous way out of here," Blade added, reaching into his pocket for his phone.

"I'll call Mrs. Lindsay to see if she knows anything," Derrick stated, running inside, presumably to get his phone.

Mrs. Lindsay, during our time in California when we had been hunting Valdis, had been hired as the nanny. We provided many job perks to Adam when he came to work for us. One of them being paid childcare. Mrs. Lindsay had been our first pick because her son was mated to a werewolf. She was already exposed to our world because of that. She was aware of who we were and would understand the abrupt changes in the children’s care based off Valdis’s movements. She wouldn’t ask questions and she could also provide better protection for the children if Valdis had outright attacked them.

"And I'll contact Sargent Moore. I'll have him do a wellness check of Adam's apartment," Briar stated, pulling out her phone, disappearing on the heels of her mate.

Sargent Moore… If the situation we found ourselves in wasn’t quite so dire, I might have been tempted to laugh. He had been the main detective working the “Dracula” cases—Dracula being the nickname the media gave Valdis due to his signature marks on his victims—and had turned his attention and resources towards us because we had been present at each active location Valdis terrorized. Someone tipped him off to that correlation, also providing Sargent Moore with a detailed list comparing dates, times and places where we had been in conjunction with other serial killers prior to Valdis.

Due to that information, Sargent Moore tailed us, bugged the house we had been staying in, interrogated us and much more, trying to prove we were guilty. However, he’d ultimately found himself in the crosshairs and been accidentally exposed to the immortal world. He had been one of the lucky few to remain alive and cognizant of the events and to retain his knowledge of the immortal realm.

“Thank you Briar. I’m going to head downstairs and find a spot for us to shift safely,” I stated. I would also reach out to my father and let him know I would need some extra support for this endeavor. “I'll meet you all downstairs," I stated in their minds telepathically, connecting all our minds so we could easily converse with one another at will. It was something I always did during a hunt.

I snuck out of the party and quickly made my way down the stairs.

"I've got our route," Blade announced, opening his mind to us and showing everyone the route we would take into Modesto.

In our wolf form we would be able to cut across farmland and such. The route he'd chosen would cut down on a lot of time. Thanking him, I walked out into the crisp, ocean air. The hotel we were staying at was practically on the shoreline. I quickly made my way to a dark spot and looked around. This would be a good place to shift. We would be hidden well enough that no one from the line of hotels, houses and businesses would see us. And, at the moment, there wasn't anyone walking the beach.

I quickly knelt down and dug a deep hole in the sand before stripping and placing my clothes in the hole. Taking one last look around, I shifted into my wolf form and then reached out to my father.

"Hey squirt, what's up?" Lucien, my adoptive father, tried aiming for a light tone, but he couldn't hide his concern. I never reached out to him like this unless it was an emergency.

"Someone's taken Adam, and they're threatening him harm if I don't back out of the election for the Council position."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to hunt them down."

"Alright. What do you need?"

I loved how he got right down to business. There was no consolations. No unnecessary talk.

What did I need?

I wouldn't really know until I got to Adam's to assess the damage. To see if I recognized any of the scents. I had to presume it was someone I knew who was threatening us. It could possibly even be the pack who pursued legal action against me. "I don't know," I deflated tersely, momentarily breaking, my focus shifting away from the hunt and refocusing on everything I had to lose.

I couldn't lose Adam or his children. Not like this.

Had I done the right thing by letting him go last year? If I’d chosen to stay, would he and his children be safe right now? Or would this have happened inevitably?

The what ifs were killing me slowly inside.

"Breathe, Jadea," he commanded softly. I held my head up to the sky, closing my eyes and taking deep breaths. I needed to keep myself together until I had Adam safely back in my arms. Only then could I break apart. "I'll send Caden and a small team."

"Send Rick. I'll need a strong tracker."

"I'll send Andy too. Together it shouldn't take them long to track him and his children down."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me just yet, squirt. Let's just focus on getting your mate back alive. Tell me what you and your pack are doing right now."

It helped me focus. Helped me get back into the hunting mindset by giving him a step-by-step analysis of what we were doing. It helped me pass the time while I waited impatiently for the others. "Good. You've got a solid plan in place so far. Make sure Briar brings her phone, that way when Sargent Moore calls you back, you'll have a better idea of what you are walking into. Be safe. Caden and the others will be on their way shortly. They should be to you by mid-morning at the latest. I'll have him reach out to you when he gets closer." When I couldn't quite form the words I wanted to say, he continued in a softer, gentler tone, "You'll get him back, Jadea. I know you will."