Escaping Rejection

10 . Big bangs and Baits

Ionora's POV :

I snuggled deeper into the comfortable and thick blankets which enveloped me like a cocoon of warmth. Wait......Blankets?

Opening my eyes, I couldn't help but groan. So it was not a dream then, I thought as my eyes found the face identical to mine fast asleep next to my bed. While one side of me was happy that I now had someone to care for me and who I could care for, another deep dark side wished that this was all a bad dream and I was with my mate right now.

Tossing the blankets aside, I tried to get up but realised that my hand was caged in someone else's. Ian was asleep on the ground next to my bed holding my left hand. I aww-ed at the sight.

"He missed you a lot, you know? Don't tell him I told you this but he still sleeps with the teddy bear you used to play with as a kid." Vivian said, coming into the room with a tray. She placed the tray on the table beside the bed and handed me the bowl of soup she had brought. "You must be hungry, so eat up. It's chicken soup. Not much but it's all I know to make. Except instant noodles ofcourse."

So witches did have their weak spots, huh?

I only shook my head and smiled, taking the bowl from her and digging in. In my haste to eat the delicious meal, I had removed my hand from Ian's and without any support, he dropped to the ground with a thud. And then he woke up screaming, "BAZINGA!"

Vivian laughed. And by laughed I meant the slapping you knee and wheezing type of laugh. Ian looked confused. It was clear that he was still in a sleep-induced state.

"Well hello there, Sheldon Cooper." Vivian told Ian, smiling smugly and started cackling again.

My brother had paled considerably. He seemed to have come out of his sleepy state, almost immediately blurting out, "I don't watch Big Bang Theory, I swear."

"Yeah, Yeah, so you randomly blurted out Sheldon's most famous catchphrase? What happened to 'BBT is so nerdy and lame'?"

"I never claimed to not like nerdy and lame shows."

"BBT is one of the coolest shows ever and you just don't want to accept it because of your huge ego."

Meanwhile I just sat there wondering what the heck were they talking about. BBT? Bazinga? Sheldon Trooper?

Seeing my face of utter confusion, Vivian came to my rescue. "You don't know BBT, do you?"

"No?" I said sheepishly but it came out as a question.

She sighed. "Comeon we have a lot of catching up to do." she said, pulling me out of bed and outside the room.

"What about me? Can I join?" Ian asked, trailing behind us.

"I thought you said you didn't watch BBT?"

"Well, there is a first time for everything."

Vivian scoffed but didn't reply. Walking down the stairs and into the living room, she let go of my hand and walked over to the T.V, switching it on. She then headed back to the couch and plopped down, patting the space next to her. I went over and sat down and Ian sat next to me.

"Go get the snacks. Include lots of candies." she ordered Ian.

"What? Why me? I am your guest." Ian retorted, clearly not wanting to get up from the comfortable couch.

"An uninvited guest intruding on our girl time. Now shoo." she said waving him off.

My twin glared at her but got up nonetheless to get the snacks.

Vivian pressed a few buttons on the remote and the opening credits for the show started.

"You're going to love it." She said, clapping her hands enthusiastically.

"Isn't this a bit too human? I mean I didn't think supernaturals cared for human entertainment."

She sighed. "It brings a sense of normalcy, Nora. No matter how f****d up humans are, they still try their best to pretend like nothing's wrong and even though this sort of thinking is flawed, it is still better to sit down for a few minutes, binge watch t.v and pretend like you have a happy life."

And that's exactly what I did. I watched t.v and ate a ton of heart-attack causing snacks nestled between my brother and cousin. It was the most peaceful I had felt in a long time and I was able to forget Zayden and my parents, even if it was for a day. I knew this wouldn't last long as tomorrow I would be uncovering a lot of secrets which may break me further. With this thought, I fell asleep on the couch with my head on my brother's shoulder knowing the possibility of me not finding sleep so easily after tomorrow.

!....!....!....!....!....!

Zayden's POV :

"Where is the girl? Where is she?" I shout in anger, swiping my hand across the office desk resulting in pens and papers flying around. My beta and gamma stood on the other side of the room along with two trembling guards and the housemaid.

"S-she is not in her room, Alpha. We were guarding the door all night. She must have left through the window." One of the guard replies, trying not to stutter under my glare.

"Your job was to make sure that she doesn't leave the room, at any cost. And you claim to be a guard." I say, trying my best not to smash his head against the wall.

"S-sorry, Alpha." Both the guards hang their head in shame.

I look towards the housemaid who was the one who showed I on or a the guestroom.

"Do you know anything? Did you see her leave?"

"N-no Alpha. Last night, after I showed her the guest room, she asked me to bring her something to eat and after I did, she told me to not let anyone disturb her till the next morning." She replied, shaking with fear.

My wolf let out short whimpers of pain at the thought of his mate running away from him.

This is all your fault. How could you even think of rejecting her?

I blocked him out. This was not the time to show weakness.

"You are dismissed. Inform me if you find anything of importance." I told the guards and the maid. They nodded and left quickly fearing that I would lash out at them.

I turned to my gamma, Liu Xing. "You followed her?"

Liu Xing nodded. "Yes, I did Alpha. As soon as I got the information of a border breach from the patrol, I followed the intruder's scent. I also asked a few warriors to accompany me in case it was a trap. I followed her into the woods and towards the waterfall. I never saw her but her scent stopped right at the edge of the cliff meaning she leaped into the water. The warriors are searching for her below the waterfall right now." He finished.

I groaned in frustration and turned towards Beta Jarred. "What do you think? Why did she run away?"

"I think she found out about your plan and ran away to escape rejection."

"But how? I never told anyone about the plan excluding you."

"Well, she is a witch and witches always have something up their sleeve."

Before I could reply, the phone rang. I picked it up. "Alpha Zayden." a deep voice came from the other side. I tensed.

"Alpha Trenton."

"Do you have the girl?"

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" he screamed.

"I said no. I don't have her. She escaped." I replied.

"WHAT? How could you let her escape? She was the main link to us finally catching the criminals and you let her go? "

"I didn't let her go, Trenton. She escaped." I said in a pissed off voice.

"I don't care. I want the girl. She is a very valuable asset to us and we can't afford to lose her. She is the only bait for us to capture her worthless parents once and for all. So I want you to find her soon." He said in an assertive tone.

"We are working on it." I replied stiffly. I hated his tone but he was right, we couldn't afford to lose her and we needed to find her soon.

The beep told me that he had cut the call. Asshole.

I looked to Beta Jarred and my gamma Liu who stood by my side, ready for my orders.

"We need to find her. Don't let her get too far. Call the neighbouring packs and inform them. Launch a search operation. Do something. We can't wait for anymore packs to get destroyed." They nodded.

Jarred looked like he wanted to say something but shook his head and left with Liu after bowing to me.

My wolf kept quiet at the back of my head. I knew that he was pissed off with me as he didn't agree with my plan. He wanted to accept his mate and have her by his side but I knew that wasn't possible.

If sacrificing my mate would bring peace and security to my pack and rid the world of two of the most nasty people, then so be it.