Ilena

20

I cry out as I double over, shaking and crying as my soul is ripped in two and my body bleeds as my spark crashes around us. I hear screams from the ones who murdered us. Pain is all I feel, a ringing in my ears signifying my death and I reach out for Nolan and he’s not there. I look up and I’m not in his bed, I’m on carpet, in a bedroom. I weakly look around to see that I’m at the cabin where the company found us and I can see my own form sleeping in the bed in front of me. Slowly it starts to fade until the sheets go limp and the woman I was is gone.

I was utterly confused, pissed, in pain and completely torn in two. But if what I think is true then I haven’t been having visions but actually traveling back through time to save us. I feel my shoulder with a shaky hand still finding his unhealed werewolf bite there and the s***h across my back. Meaning that I’ll need it bandaged but that’s not

the worst of it, it means that even though Nolan is still alive in this time line it means that I am already mated to a man who doesn’t even know my name and doesn’t know that I know his. I cringe as I move to sit on the bed and pull my bag up next to me.

I grab my phone from the nightstand and send a mass text to everyone in our group almost forgetting that Kent was not with us yet and probably wouldn’t be.

“Grab your things and meet me in the living room in ten. Keep it quiet, there’s a shifter wandering around the house. Nolan get with Charles and quietly figure out where were going, but make sure it’s nowhere near my apartment or your cabin in Canada. I will grab your bag.”

Fresh tears fall as I use his name, heaven help me when I see him. I pull out a large bandage from my bag and try to carefully place it on the bleeding wound on my back. It’s not great but it will work for now. I get dressed as quickly as I can, lacy underwear, skinny jeans, a tight black tank to keep the bandage in place and then a black t-shirt over top and my sweater over that and slip into my brown boots. It all seems a blur to me as I try to wrap my head around everything that has happened and try not to dwell on the constant pain that’s in my soul.

Suddenly Nolan walked into the room, my breath caught in my throat but I knew it was not him. I threw my spark into him and it brought him to his knee’s I crushed my hand and his body fell limply to the floor.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame me, try fool me three times and you’ll never fool anyone ever again. I grab our bags and wipe my tears once more before heading into the living room. Where everyone had gathered.

“Where?” I ask, my voice devoid of emotion.

“We don’t know of a safe place anywhere close to here.” Charles offers quietly. It reminds me of the important fact that in this timeline I haven’t done this particular trick yet. But it also reminds me for some reason of a work shop my father owned that’s kind of out of the way that we might be able to hide in for a while as we figure out our next step.

“Fine.” I say in the same tone and raise my hands with the magic, my spark crashing around the room until its consuming everyone in it. A moment later were standing in a dark, cold garage. I flick my hand and my spark hits the lights turning the power on. I lean into the wall closest to me as weakness floods me once again.

“Now someone call dear old dad and tell him he has two days or I’m gone.” I say and then go to walk out of the room but jump mid stride to my apartment closet. Vaguely hearing Evan call something after me but ignoring him. I immediately grab a scarf to cover my neck and then grab the same bag as before and fill it with everything from my gun stash but my gun and an extra one, clips and thigh holster and belt as I did last time with the boys looking up at me like I was the sexiest thing on the planet.

Slowly I sit down on the ottoman, tears fill my eyes as I try to work through the pain once again. I know I can’t stay long but I just need to be alone right now and I can’t do that there without telling someone that something happened. So I just sit there and sob into my hands. I yell out my frustration more than once, and while it seems to help to keep me from crying more, I still feel the same inside. Like if I tell my mate who I am than he will die no matter the situation or where we end up. That I will be lost for an eternity without him.

I hear a noise and raise my gun to the doorway but don’t lift my head, I already know who it is.

“Have you called the guard yet?” I ask devoid of emotion once again.

“No, I would never do that to you.” Kent admits seeming sincere.

“Oh but you would have if it had been more than just me here Kent.” I say and stand lifting the gun bag onto my shoulder but it hits a sore spot and I groan quietly.

“Wait, let me help. Its obvious somethings happened if only from the calls I have been receiving. Talk to me Ilena.” He pleads with me as he moves closer. He’s different now, he’s usually mister in control and right now he seems so soft. I look him in the eyes and he closes the ground between us pulling me into a firm embrace that has me cringing a little. “You’re hurt?” He half asks, half states, and starts pulling off my clothes to try and reveal the wound. I give up trying to fight him and strip my shirts down to my bra and sit back down on the ottoman as he goes to my bathroom to get the medical kit. I casually brush my hair over the mating marks, don’t really need to get into that with him. “How did this happen Ilena?” He asks again softly and I sigh, rubbing my hands over my weary face as I try to explain to him all that has happened. Leaving out of course, the sexy bits, what Nolan really is and the time traveling bit, just leading on that it was the visions and that the cut on my back came from the shifter. I mention that we mated but not that I still carry the mark from it, but I did tell him about how I was feeling. When I was done I felt a little better but was nervous about how he would react to all this new and mostly illegal information. He had finished bandaging my back a while ago and I had gotten redressed, not forgetting the scarf.

“Oh my poor girl. I had never dreamed that just by making you that you would be brought all this pain. I am sorry.” He said sincerely again and gave me another but gentler hug.

“I should go.” I say as I walk over grabbing the three jackets I had before and walking back to grab the gun bag but Kent grabs it just before I do.

“Where are we off to?” He says smiling a little.

“Are you sure you want to be a part of this Kent, it’s only going to get worse I’m sure and I’ve already seen you die once and possibly a second time.” I say and cringe at the thought that the last time everyone else probably died again too.

“All I want to do Ilena is keep you safe, I’ll die a thousand times if that’s what it takes.” He says seriously.

“OK, but I haven’t told any of this to any of them and Nolan doesn’t know who I am so I had everyone calling me Ember before so just go with it until…I don’t know, until I say so I guess.” I say and rub my eyes again as they sting from shedding too many tears and wanting to shed more but cant. The deep ache in the pit of my stomach telling me not to go back, to find somewhere to hide and then no one will get hurt. But I can’t and I know I can’t.

“I will follow your lead.”