Stolen Soul

Chapter 11: Alexis Williams

Hunter

I could feel the witch’s calling to my soul the entire time we were chasing Rose. When in my human form, the pull is all consuming, it grabs ahold of you and forces you back to those that call you, but in wolf form it’s like a whisper. You can hear it, but its barely there, the tug of its pull cannot grab you, at first, I was taken by surprise. Xander had been right about two things, Rose is back, and Esme cannot reach me when I am in wolf form.

Chasing after Rose was invigorating. Her scent filling my lungs, the thud of my pads pounding the earth as we galloped through the woods. Watching Ela, Rose’s wolf, run I am entranced by the way each muscle moves as she elegantly glides through the forest, her gold fur eliminated by the light of the moon. It’s like being a pup again, and as the memories invade my senses my dread at the thought of leaving without Rose rises in my throat like bile. The safe thing for Rose is to go back, but I need to know how I can find her again, see her again.

As we slowly trudge back toward the stream, her scent becomes stronger. Xander’s excitement fills me as my steps quicken to the source. There at the stream, are a pair of sneakers, a cell phone, and car keys. s**t, these must be hers, maybe if we can find her car we can figure out where she came from, track her again and speak with her.

Shifting forms I grab the phone, and find that it’s locked. Shoving it back in my pocket, I grab the car keys. The emblem is for a Honda, I saw a red Civic parked at the road’s edge, when we were heading into the woods, hopefully it’s her car. I head back towards the clothes I had stashed, and then race in the direction I remember the car being parked.

I pick up her scent immediately and it leads me straight to the Honda Civic I saw early. Unlocking the car, I slide into the passenger seat. Her scent fills the space. Closing my eyes I inhale deeply, settling Xander as he pushes to come to the surface and go after her. I have tried to rationalize with him, that its best if we plan out how to get the opportunity to speak to her, but he is a beast and is now on the hunt. Opening my eyes, nothing in the front seat gives me a clue to how I might find her, just some spearmint gum, a few hair ties, and some Chapstick. The back seat has a hooded sweatshirt, deep green in color with white letters. Grabbing it I take in her scent, and find it’s emblazoned with the local university’s emblem, UVM, in small letters underneath it spells out University of Vermont. She must be a student. Digging through the pocket, I find a student identification card with her picture and name, Alexis Williams.

I can hack the university’s admissions records and scour the internet for everything I can dig up about her, I will just need to be able to do it in secret. Esme has always been jealous of Rose, and now that we are sort of a thing and I know she is in love with me she will not take her returning lightly. She has a temper and a mean streak, and I do not want to put Rose in any harm.

I take one long inhale and one last glance at her student ID before placing everything back the way it was before; then I lock the car up and walk back through the woods to return her phone and keys. Alexis Williams, who are you and why do you look exactly like my mate, why do you smell like her, and why does your wolf look exactly like Ela. In my gut, I know she has returned, but there has to be a reason, the gods have never allowed this before.

Be grateful, Xander booms snidely in my mind.

Who said I wasn’t? It doesn’t seem weird to you?

I would never question the gods, especially not the moon goddess for granting me this gift.

We have to go back to Esme.

My phone starts buzzing startling me, causing me to trip over some tree roots. Catching myself, before I face plant, I hear Xander roaring with laughter.

Serves you right, we should stay and speak with our mate. We can stay in wolf form until she appears.

We do not know when she is going to appear, and Esme has been calling me nonstop.

I can feel Xander’s frustration rising as he coolly states, Human allow me this one thing and stay for a few more days to track down our mate. I have spent a century unable to return to her as the moon goddess intends because of your witch.

Xander, we can’t stay here Esme is waiting for our return. The coven needs our protection. We are bound to them. If we do not return, she will call for us. The call is unbearable to ignore. We must go, she will never let us return if we do not.

The call is unbearable for your dead soul to ignore, not mine. I do not hear it. I feel the mate bond, you must stay. If we stay in wolf form, she cannot call to you.

Xander, please listen to me, she will come here, if she sees Rose, we do not know what she will do, it would be better if we go back, make her trust us and then sneak away when we have learned more.

I can feel Xander as he retreats back into the far recesses of my mind. When he falls silent, I feel him shut me out, again I am alone in my thoughts. It’s a slow walk back to my car, it’s nearly 2 am, and I have a long drive home tonight.

The radio has managed to lull my questions to a daze as I tap away at the melody of the song blaring from the radio, as the music picks up, and the piano falls into place I belt out the words as I think about Rose.

“You don't do it on purpose but you make me shake now ill count the hours till you wake with, your baby’s-breath breathe symphonies come on sweet catastrophe, well maybe this time I can follow through, I can feel complete stop paying dues, stop the rain from falling keep my ocean calm this time I know nothing’s wrong.”

Suddenly my phone rings again, its nearly five am and I have several missed calls from Esme from the last few days, I am sure she is fuming, I might as well pick it up.

“Where the f**k are you,” she screams through the phone line.

“Don’t worry babe, I am on my way back now.”

“You were supposed to be back 2 days ago, and I couldn’t reach you when I called to your soul. I know your wolf came out. Why?” Esme questions.

My throat goes dry as the panic sets in and my mouth forms the words faster than my mind can realize.