Abandoned Hope Unforgettable Faith

Chapter 7 Past or Future

JACKSON'S POV

Her screams are all I hear when I busted down the bedroom door without hesitation. Logan howls in anger as he slams against the barrier I put between us. I can feel his pain and anger. Reality was sinking in that his mate didn't want him and it was taking its toll on him. Mates are just as important to our wolves, if not more important than our mate is to our human half. A wolf without its mate is more primal and irrational. When a mate is lost through death or rejection, it has been said that the loss of the bond is enough to make the beast and the human go insane. Amaya may be unphased and unopposed to living her life without a mate, but Logan and I both felt the desperate need for ours. I couldn't let Logan out in the state he is in. He would more likely put Alexandra in more danger, or worse hurt her, if he were to take control right now.

Alexandra's strangled screams had turned into rasping gasps coming from the direction of the bathroom. Using my wolf speed, I crossed the distance of the room in less than a second when I slammed the bathroom door open, causing it to c***k both itself and the ivory tile wall behind it. I scanned the room franticly, not seeing Alexandra anywhere, when her muffled sobbing reached me from the shower. Carefully making my way towards the sound of her crying, I looked around for any signs of an intruder or a struggle and found none. There were no other scents in the room outside of my beloved's fear that weighed heavily in with her lush intoxicating scent.

Knocking on the frosted shower door, I heard my mate gasp and shuffle behind it, "Alexandra, it's me Jackson, I need you to open the door for me baby girl. You are safe. I'm here but I need to know that you are okay. Please, Alexandra."

My pleading had gotten me further than I thought it would when Alexandra cracked the door open. Her long black lashes outlined her dark chocolate eyes that were tear-stained and puffy from her sobbing. She was shaking so badly it was as if someone stripped her naked, dowsed her in ice water, and left her to fend for herself in the arctic circle. Gently, I reached my hand through the cracked door and caressed her rosie cheek. To my surprise, she leaned into it but she pulled away just as fast. She felt the bond. She felt the way the bond should feel and just momentarily she accepted it. The small seed of hope I had grew ever so slightly.

"Hey beautiful I'm here. You're safe, I promise. We don't have to talk about what happened right now if you don't want to, but will you come out so I can make sure you aren't hurt and none of your injuries have reopened. Please," I asked, remembering what my mother used to always say about manners.

"I um...," Alexandra's meek voice was hoarse from the screaming, "I don't have any clothes on."

I felt heat rise in my cheeks and Logan growled possesively in my head, "Okay. Is it okay if I go and get you a robe to put on so you can come out?"

She nodded to me from the cracked door and I stood walking across to the storage closet pulling out a soft fluffy grey robe. I gently lowered the robe over the shower door so Alexandra didn't have to open the door any further. She took it and closed the shower door. Seconds later, she stepped out on shaky, unsteady legs. The robe engulfed her small frame. She looked so frail. Even the grey fabric looked as if it weighed more than her, but she was my beloved and she was perfect. Offering her my hand, which she took hesitantly, I led her out of the bathroom to the sitting area in front of the fireplace. I linked the Omega responsible for bringing up clothes for Alexandra to change into and asked her to bring them up now. Moments later, there was a knock on the door. Alexandra shrieked and jumped back on the couch from the sudden noise.

Frustration over someone frightening my beloved bubbled to the surface as I went to the door. When I opened it, an Omega girl named Lila bowed her head as she handed a bag full of clothes before darting off back down the hall towards the service elevator. I walked back into the room, setting the bag of clothes on the coffee table before taking my seat in the recliner next to Alexandra. She peeked cautiously at me before looking at the bag of clothes on the table.

"Sweetheart, I had an Omega bring these up for you to change into. I am sure you'd feel more comfortable if you had proper clothes on and not just a robe," I said.

"I am sorry," she squeaked out before she grabbed the bag from the table and bolted towards the wardrobe.

"Damn it," I grumbled as I watched her retreating figure before she closed the door.

"No s.h.i.t dipstick. She probably thinks you find her repulsing," Logan grouched.

The truth was opposite. I was finding it hard not to want to touch her with just a robe on. I wanted her more than anything. I needed to feel the way my skin buzzed when her body touched mine. I needed to drown myself in her scent. I needed to dive into her eyes as if they were giant pools of hot chocolate on a cold winter night. I needed her more than I needed the air in my lungs.

It wasn't very long until Alexandra came out holding her arms tightly against her thin body. I hadn't seen her in anything but her work attire, which consisted of a long sleeved black shirt and jeans, or hospital clothes. She wore a short sleeved blouse that was dark blue with a lace design stitched on the front piece. The sleeves were the same lace material and they frilled out off of her shoulder. She wore leggings that hugged her frame, extenuating her small figure. She looked so uncomfortable as she tried to cover as much of herself as possible.

"I um... I'm ready," she whispered, not moving from in front of the closet door.

"Alexandra, you don't have to do, say, or wear anything that you are not comfortable with," I said, standing up slowly, but she still shied away from me.

"I am okay. Thank you Alpha Jackson," she bowed her head a little, still not meeting my eyes.

"This is going to take a lot of time before she is comfortable with me," I thought to myself as I made my way towards her, afraid she would run, "Alexandra, please, call me Jackson or Jacks. You are my mate and you do not need to be formal with me. Anything that happens will only happen if you want it to. That is more than a promise, my love. I will die before I ever force you to do anything you do not want to do."

She looked up at me and for a moment something other than fear crossed her eyes, but it was gone just as fast as it appeared. She said nothing while she stood there trembling in front of the closet and I could see her fighting with herself about something.

"Hey i***t, she feels exposed. Go get her something that will help her feel less vulnerable," Logan huffed out, agitated that I was staring dumbfoundedly at my mate while she was clearly uncomfortable.

"Excuse me for just a second my love, I am going to grab something from the closet really fast, then I will be right back," I spoke softly to Alexandra as I made my way around her to the closet door.

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"I wish she would stop apologizing for everything when she has clearly done nothing wrong," Logan whined.

"So do I bud, so do I" I agreed, while shuffling through my clothes until I found what I had been looking for.

I went back out and carefully handed Alexandra the bundle of fabric in my hands. When she unraveled it completely, it revealed my charcoal grey hoodie that I'd had for years. Alexandra looked at it, then back at me confused.

"I noticed that you were still uncomfortable with what you were wearing. I thought that maybe you would feel more comfortable if you wore this."

"Thank you," she mumbled softly, still unsure if she should put it on.

"Why don't I go ahead and shower and when I come back, we can maybe go get something to eat or I could have something brought up here. It is whatever you feel more comfortable grabbing," I looked over at her while grabbing my stuff for a shower.

"That sounds good I guess," she said softly.

"Anything specific you would like to eat?"

"No, I'm not really all that hungry."

"Okay," I nodded before going into the bathroom.

"She's got to be starving. I don't know when she last ate anything substantial and if Amaya has resurfaced she needs to start eating more," Logna grumbled.

"I know, maybe Patricia knows what she likes to eat," I sighed.

"That's it! You're such an i***t man, all you have to do is ask Patricia what she likes and have dinner taken care of," Logan howled joyously.

"Hey dad, is Patricia anywhere near you at the moment?" I linked my father.

"Yeah she is. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, could you ask her what Alexandra's favorite meal is? Please. She needs to eat and I can't get more than a couple of words out of her at a time."

"Of course. Give me just a moment." My father said before cutting the link.

I started the shower and gave it a minute to warm up before I stepped in. The water rushed over my face and chest as I quickly washed. My dad had linked me, letting me know that Patricia has stepped up to work in the kitchen to prep and make anything Alexandra asks for or may want, as well as just help keep up with the daily cooking. I think it would be best if we stayed in the room for today. Alexandra and I should stay away from the pack so we could get to know each other better. Not only that, but I don't want to rush her to do anything she isn't comfortable doing.

"Logan, I know that it's hard and I know that you are feeling this more than I am right now, but we need to give Alexandra as much time as she needs to get comfortable with us. We will have our mate but it has to be at her pace," I pleaded with him.

"Yes, I can do that, but please, I need my mate. Something is coming and I can feel it. We need our mate and we need her safe."

"What do you mean something is coming?" I asked, but Logan went silent. A deep-seated dread and anxiety started to creep into me but I shook it off. Whatever may be coming Alexandra is my priority.

ANDIE'S POV

Jackson left me standing in the sitting area of the room while he took a shower. I waited long enough until I heard the shower door open and close for the second time before I moved. I curled up on the couch still holding Jackson's hoodie. It smelled strongly of him and it calmed my anxiety. I wanted to wear it. I really did, but it scared me. Getting attached to him, loving him even, could possibly get him killed. If not by Amaya, then by... Oh Goddess, if it was more than a flashback, then he knows. He knows I'm alive and if he finds me he'll kill everyone.

Before I know what I am doing, I bolt towards the balcony, Jackson's comforting hoodie discarded. Gripping the railing, I started to hoist myself up and over, ignoring that I was eight stories from the ground below, when a pair of strong arms wrapped tightly around my waist and dragged me away from the railing.

"No!" I screamed. "Let me go! He's coming! He'll kill everyone! You have to let me go!"

"Alexandra, please stop this. Alexandra, I need you to listen to me please," a voice said. I know that voice but the panic and terror are too much.

"You're right, you know," Amaya chuckled in my head, "He will come, but it won't be me who dies."

Thunder ruptured across the sky as I pulled further from the balcony. The world around me began to blur. I shrieked, thrashing violently against my captor's hold. I kicked, clawed, bit, but nothing I did seemed to loosen their grip. Rain began hammering down from the sky, and the wind blew with so much force it swept sheets of rain into the room.

"Alexandra," the voice calls to me again, but it seemed far away.

Images flashed across my mind, the screams of others melded with my own. Blood. Blood was everywhere. It seeped from the edges of the room where the wall and ceiling met. Flashes of lightning illuminated the crimson falls. Faces flashed across the surface, all of them contorted in agony. I screamed louder, twisting the arm of my captor so hard I heard it snap. This caused them to let go, groaning in pain. I lunged back towards the open balcony, but not before another set of arms restrained me.

"He's coming," I wailed, "Please let me go. He'll kill all of you. Please!"

There was a sharp pinch in my neck and I felt a cold rush through my body as if my blood had been laced with ice. My head began to spin and the images of his face and the faces in the blood blurred together until darkness engulfed me.

JACKSON'S POV

I felt her terror no sooner had I gotten my sweat pants on. Logan growled maliciously in my head, shoving against the barrier keeping him from surfacing. I rushed out of the bathroom to find my hoodie discarded on the floor in front of the couch and Alexandra attempting to climb over the rail of the balcony. I rushed to her, wrapping my arms around her, pulling us back into the room. She screamed and thrashed in my hold. Nothing I was doing could calm her. It was as if she wasn't there. Her mind and her memories had carried her far away from me. She screamed over and over that someone was coming. That he would kill us all.

A sudden thunderstorm had ripped across the pack house. Rain poured in through the open balcony and seeped into the plush carpeting.

"Father," I called out in my mind-link, "Father, Alexandra is having some kind of episode. I need you, Dr. Pritchard, and Rowan up here now. Bring Patricia."

Before I could say anything else to my father, my link cut out due to the snapping sound coming from Alexandra twisting my arm in two directions at once. Instantly I felt the burning, throbbing pain of my arm being broken. Logan growled in anger at our mate. I would have too if it were not for the fact that I know she is not herself at the moment. My momentary lapse in focus gave Alexandra enough time to make another run for the balcony, but before I could reach her, Dr. Pritchard, Rowan, and my father rushed to her. It took all three of them to restrain her and drag her back into the safety of the room. Patricia had stopped at my side and began looking over my arm. From the corner of my I, I caught a glint of something shining coming from the direction of my mate and the others. Dr. Pritchard had pulled out a long thick needle from his coat and plunged it into Alexandra's neck. I felt her fear and anxiety slip away as she slipped into unconsciousness.

"What did you do?" I demanded, rushing towards the group and taking Alexandra's still body from Rowan, casting him an angered glare.

"Alpha, if I may explain, the amount of stress Miss Alexandra has been through in these past few days is not only taking its toll on her mentally, but she is also putting her body at risk as well. She is extremely malnourished and she is still recovering from her injuries that she had received. Sedating her was our best option," Dr. Pritchard said, bowing his head and not looking directly at me as he spoke to avoid more of my wrath.

"I could have calmed her. I could have talked her through it," I growled defensively, as I made my way towards my bed, laying my beloved down as gently as I could with a broken arm.

"Yes, because that was going so well before we had come in," Patricia snarled, as she made her way to the other side of the bed and sat down, carefully brushing Alexandra's hair from her face.

"Enough of this, she is resting now. What we need to do is discuss what might have possibly caused her to lose control of herself in such a way," my father, always the voice of reason, intervened before I could say more.

"Late Alpha, if I may, before we get too far, I must attend to your son's arm first," Dr. Pritchard motioned towards my bruised and swollen forearm.

"She did that to you," Rowan, who had been standing quietly this whole time, questioned.

"I lost focus on her when I had linked my father. I didn't expect her to go this far."

"Whatever she was seeing and where ever she had been in her mind, I couldn't get through to her. Patricia, she had kept saying, ""He's coming. He will kill us all."" Who was she talking about?"

I could see Patricia stiffen and the smell of her fear wafted towards me.

"Patricia, as one of my oldest friends, please, you know how much this poor child has been through. We need to know everything, or as much as you are willing to share. Especially if this threat could possibly bring danger to not only her but to the pack as well," my father pleaded.

"This was never my story to tell, but as it appears she will not be in any state to share it any time soon and I fear that we can not wait for her to be ready," Patricia sighed.

"You believe that there is danger coming?" Rowan pressed.

"Yes, and that threat has a name. His name is Boaromir. He claims to be king of the rogues in the midwestern area of the region. That is where I first found Alexandra. She had been his captive for many, many years. She did not speak to me of all the horrors she had endured while he held her, but I do know that what he had done to her would have killed any other creature, man or beast, or at the minimum driven them to insanity. Alexandra was strong. She had fought and she had never lost herself through any of it. I fear that if Boaromir knows who Alexandra is, then yes, he will come for her. He is not one to give up his treasures lightly, let alone one that may allow him to reshape the world into his demented design," Patricia finished, never looking up from Alexandra.

"I have heard whispers of this rogue king, but I didn't believe them to be true," Dr. Pritchard whispered as he finished setting up my arm and bracing it.

"You have heard of such a thing? When?" my father interrupted.

"Enough of this talk for now please," Patricia begged, glancing between my father, the doctor, and me, "Alexandra needs rest and so do we. We can continue this conversation in the morning once I know that she is alright."

"Patricia is right, Alexandra needs rest and this is not a conversation we should really be having without her consent as it stands," I nodded, clearing my throat, "Dr. Pritchard, how long do you expect the seditive to be in effect?"

"I only gave her enough to calm her. If she wakes up, it should be here within an hour. However, the amount of trauma she has just relived added on to the fact that she woke from a coma not even twenty-four hours ago. I would suspect that she will probably sleep as long as her body needs to. If she doesn't wake up by noon tomorrow and you can't wake her, bring her to me immediately."

"Yes, thank you doctor," I said, stepping over to him and shaking his hand.

My father pulled me into a hug after I stepped away and he and Dr. Pritchard left my room. Patricia hadn't moved from her place beside my beloved and Rowan stood lingering in the door. I made my way to Patricia and placed my hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled by the sudden contact, before glancing up at me over her shoulder.

"Do you mind if I sit with her a moment? She hasn't had this bad of an episode in years and I remember when I brought her home how broken and terrified she was. I don't want her to feel like I've abandoned her now when I was there for her then," Patricia's eyes showed so much devotion and pain in them when she said this that I couldn't say no. I wouldn't say no to begin with.

"Please take all the time you need," I assured her before leaving. Rowan followed me back out into the living space of the suite. He walked over to the kitchenette and dug through one of the bottom cabinets before pulling out his find. In one hand he carried a bottle of whiskey, in the other hand he carried two crystal whiskey glasses.

"Sorry man, you just looked like you could use a drink and if you don't, then I definitely do," he chuckled lightly, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Nah man go ahead and pour me a glass," I sighed as I flopped down onto the couch. A cool breeze blew in from the broken balcony doors. The storm that had started raging only fifteen minutes ago has long been forgotten. If only the storm now brewing within me could be quelled just as simply.

"She's definitely not your average she-wolf, is she," Rowan sighed, handing me one of the glasses he had just filled.

"That would be the understatement of the year," I huffed, throwing back the glass.

"What are you going to do?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I really don't know."

"Would you reject her?"

"NO! I mean, of course not. It's just that, if she really is cursed or blessed or whatever with the power of Zues, then she has every capability to save or destroy all of our existence. If I lose her to 'the dark side', so to speak, then I've already doomed us all."

"Then don't lose her."

"Easier said than done," I groaned, running my hands through my hair.

"I'll back you no matter what and your parents already love her like a daughter, I don't know how, considering she's either been in a coma or destroying the pack house, and goddess forbid you piss off that spit fire of a woman, Patricia. You've got a whole team behind both of you. We want to help you in any way we can," Rowan assured me before standing and patting my shoulder.

"Thanks man," I glanced up at him.

"Of course, try to get some rest, man. You look like crap."

"You would too if you had a mate that didn't want you."

"That is where you are severely wrong, young stupid Alpha," Rowan and I both jumped at the sound of Patricia's voice coming from my bedroom door.

"You heard Amaya say it. She doesn't want me. She is only using the bond to get stronger and once that happens, her and Alexandra are gone."