~Emilia~
My head was pounding so hard I could swear there was ringing in my ears. I groaned in pain as I shifted a little to try and raise my head. Quickly I stopped as the pain increased, sending sharp slashes of bone-aching pain throughout my body. Obviously, that was not a smart thing to do. I tried to open my eyes next.
Oh, geez. I must have lost some brain cells because why do I keep moving? I thought to myself as pain once again shot through me.
Simply cracking my eyes resulted in my head protesting the movement and all for nothing. I could not see anything at all. At the realization panic shot through me. Where was I? What happened? Why couldn't I see?
Slowly, I began to remember. Clarisse snapping, or was it not snapping when she had just lost her mind? Following her into the woods and straight into a trap. Something hitting me.
Whoever was with Clarisse probably was right next to me. Which meant I had already, inadvertently, let them know I was awake. Since I could not see or lift my head with pain shooting through it, I strained to listen. Attempting to hear anything that could help me. Who was working with Clarisse? Did I know them? How many were here? Were they saying anything I could use against them or let me know what I was dealing with?
There was nothing but silence.
As panic once more filled my body, I tried to remain calm. My mind immediately went to Jonah. Was he still helping with whoever had seemingly attacked the pack? Was he okay? I had to believe he was. Mates and everything about them passed all laws of nature, as I knew them. Or used to know them. I was sure I would know if something bad had happened to him, whether we were fully mated or not. Was he out there looking for me right now? Did he even know I was missing yet? As panic began to seep back in at my inability to suppress it, I was also filled with regret. Regret I had continued to hold him at arm's length where anything mating was concerned. Regret I had been thinking more with my head than with my heart.
I realized it was all based on a place filled with uncertainty and fear; of the unknown and our differences. But what if he never finds me? What if I never escape whatever situation I am in and find my way back to him? The idea I would never have a relationship and life with my soulmate because of my own insecurities was something truly worthy to panic about.
I banished that thought. No. I'm not going to think like that. Think of a way to get out. What did my research for my one book and all of those crime show reruns teach me? When you're kidnapped you need to assess the situation. Figure out your surroundings, your kidnappers, their motivation. Think like that and when I get back to Jonah, I will make sure I don't hold myself back any longer.
With that motivating thought, I tried to open my eyes once more. At first, everything was still black and a small amount of panic came filtering back in. Was I blindfolded? Was I blind? Then I relaxed when I finally began to see a few things as my eyes adjusted and some of the blurriness I was experiencing faded away. My eyes were just a bit blurry from being hit and it was still dark. No wonder I had only seen black.
From the corner of my eye, I saw movement; just barely noticeable in the pitch-black of the night with the forest blocking any potential light.
My head whipped around to figure out what I saw and then I groaned. I had already forgotten about my head. Ignoring it as best I could, I tried to focus on the spot I had seen movement; willing myself to see. There was a shape I could not distinguish, other than knowing it was a person sitting on the ground watching me. I could not see their face to know their eyes were watching me but I could feel it just as certainly as any prey feeling the eyes of a predator on them. Chills spread across my body.
I waited, expecting the person to do something or say something. When minutes went by without any change, I decided to say something. I had watched many crime shows in my life, both based on reality and fiction. I knew each kidnapper or killer had different things which set them off; different things which you could appeal to them with. I was not sure how to approach a situation where I did not know who had kidnapped me or why. But I knew I was not going to sit here and wait around to see what was in store for me. Shifting my position slowly, so as not to make the pain in my head flare up anymore and not to make the person nervous, I sat up and realized I was not even tied up. Shocked, I lifted my head to watch the shape of the person. What kind of kidnapper kept their victim in the forest and did not tie them up? I shuddered to think of the answer.
After another few minutes of silence, I broke. I wanted answers and the silence was freaking me out as much as the situation.
"Um, hi. Who are you?" I internally cringed at myself. Great! Now I'm like one of those stupid people who know someone's in their house and asks who's there!
The shape of what I assumed was the person's head tilted to the side a little. I frowned. It kind of reminded me of what the shifters around the territory do when they are curious about something. Was this person a shifter? If so, why would they be working against other shifters and with Clarisse who has made it very obvious she doesn't trust them?
Could it be this person wasn't with Clarisse and whoever had knocked me out and had instead saved me? It would explain why I was not tied up. The excitement began to grow inside me as I began to hope. Just as quickly, though, it departed. If that was the case, then why was I still in the forest and why was the person both hiding and not talking to me?
This entire situation was making me equally more confused and more nervous. Nothing made sense.
"Are you the person who knocked me out? Why? What do you want?"
Still nothing. I was growing frustrated.
"Where's Clarisse?" I looked around but could not see anyone else. Then again, it was dark. The only reason I could see this person's shadow, whoever they were, was the moonlight barely breaking through the cover of the trees.
The shadowed person moved forward just a little, but enough for me to see they wore a black cloak with the hood pulled up. Then the hood was pushed back and my eyes widened.
The person was a woman, a shifter woman. Now that her hood was pushed back I had seen her eyes glow for a second. What was even more shocking, and unsettling, was that her wolf's eyes were not golden like Jonah's were but were a soft red. Almost pink. Then the glowing stopped and I focused on the rest of her. She was beautiful from the little I could see of her. Which made sense, I guess, seeing how all of the male shifters I knew were insanely attractive in their own ways. She had dark hair that was pulled back so I could not tell much about it in the dark. She was toned and tall, the latter I was assuming since she sat higher than me. Her facial features, from what I managed to see in the little light I had, were striking. Her jawline prominent, lips full, cheekbones high, and nose straight. I could not see what her normal eyes looked like, but I was sure they were equally as striking.
"You're a shifter!" I said incredulously. "I haven't seen a female shifter before! I heard you guys were very rare and none of them have come yet. Have you come with the new pack that arrived today?"
I scooted forward a little, both intrigued and sure I was safe. Since she was a shifter had to have saved me. Maybe she simply did not know how to get back to the pack since she just got here. Or waited until I was awake because she couldn't carry me and did not want to leave me.
Another head tilt and the woman's brow furrowed a little. "You know a lot of shifters. How?"
Confusion filled me. "Well, my mate is a shifter. An alpha to be exact. Besides, when he found me all of the packs were so excited they answered any questions I have."
"Really?" She seemed shocked.
I nodded, my confusion growing. "Of course." My answer was drawn out, feeling like it should have been obvious.
"And you... trust them?"
I sat back as I frowned. "Well, yea. They saved me and the others."
"Others?"
"Yea... others. You know the rest of the plane crash survivors?"
There seemed to be no recognition on her face. If anything, there seemed to only be more confusion. A strange feeling spread through me as I began to second guess myself. If she was with any of the packs she should have known about all of this.
"You're not with any of the packs are you?" I asked slowly; hesitantly.
The woman shook her head in answer, still watching her in a predatory or analytical way.
"Then who are you? What do you want from me?"
Ignoring my answers, she spoke again. "You trust the people who bought you like you were no better than a cow? Who basically kidnapped you?"
She knew about that but not about the reason why I was a victim of The Gathering in the first place. She did not know about where I came from or the other people. So, where was she getting her information?
Clarisse. My eyes widened as it dawned on me. I had not been wrong that someone had been working with Clarisse. That someone else had knocked me out.
"Why are you doing this? I'm assuming Clarisse told you about The Gathering. About me being kidnapped and bought. But she didn't tell you all the facts. I think you know that. So why would you decide to kidnap me yourself?"
She winced and looked away. "I don't think of it as kidnapping. I'm setting you all free. The Gathering has gone on too long. No one stops it. Now, shifters are even encouraging them. Visiting and buying people."
"But you know shifters have mates. That with how much it costs, they would only buy their mates. And only so they could rescue them. No other reason. You're a shifter, so you have to know that."
She shook her head and snarled, "It doesn't matter! There will be no end to it! No end if no one takes a stand. I'm rescuing people. Giving them an actual chance at life. No one else is!"
My eyes widened as I remembered them saying the rumors going through town about women disappearing around the country. Women who had been a part of The Gathering.
"It's you! You've been kidnapping or rescuing or whatever you want to call it, women across the country! You're the reason behind the attack on the pack territory!"