Adriane awoke with a start. She glanced around the room, noticing how everything was cast in a deep orange glow as the sun set through the window. The familiar setting registering in her mind as she looked around her room at the Stone Hearth Inn. Her eyes met those of her expecting mate. A sigh of relief released itself from his mouth as he got up from his seat and headed for the side of the bed. He sat down, grabbing her hand.
"You scared me there for a bit." He muttered softly to her, her heart clenching at the thought of her mate worrying over her own wellbeing. Nathaniel brushed his free hand over where the wound was. The clothing material was cut and tinged a dark red with the dried blood. The skin below sported a small, pink, vertical scar to the left of her belly button.
"I should shower and change." She said suddenly, remembering her appearance in the metal door. She stood up quickly, and Adriane grabbed a throw-together outfit before locking herself into the bathroom. She rested briefly against the door before doing to what she went in there to do.
She peeled off the sweatshirt and the pants; her skin prickled with goosebumps as the cool air hit her bare skin. She turned on the shower head, adjusting the knobs until she was happy with the temperature. She peeled off her remaining garments before tentatively stepping into the shower.
The warm water calmed her tensed muscles. She was glad she wasn't dirty enough to the point the water changed color as she washed. She grabbed the tiny shampoo that came with the room, squirting it into her hand. Scrubbing it into her hair, she sighed in happiness. The greasy tangles that made up her hair slowly washed away, leaving nothing but clean silkiness. Then the realization hit her.
Her cousin was dead. Killed by her mate in self-defense. Her eyes burned as if she had gotten shampoo in them. Her bottom lip began trembling. She bit it, trying to control her actions, but the grief overwhelmed her. A small sob came loose. She shrank down into a small ball, her lower back resting against the wall. She wrapped her arms around her legs as she cried into her knees. She'd never seen her cousin smile again. Never hear the teasing pokes again. She'll never see Amber find her mate, go to college, have a family. Hell, she would even get to see her drive.
After a while in the shower, and a lot of broken sobs later, she turned the water off. She stepped out, scrubbing herself clean of water. Sliding on her clothing, she toweled her hair quickly before leaving it to air dry. She courageously met her reflection in the mirror. She was content to see that her cheeks were rosy from the heat of the water and effectively his that she had been crying. Her chest felt like a weight had been lifted after the time of crying. She walked out, seeing her mate now lounging on the bed with a book she had brought for some odd reason.
"The idea of immortals is so preposterous." He muttered on his breath as she walked in. She smiled at him softly a bit, taking in his judgmental eyes and scrunched up nose.
"We should probably call my uncle and give him the... Uh, news," she said, swallowing around the thick ball that decided to form in her throat once again. He frowned before scooting over and patting the part of the bed next to him. She slowly made her way over, her throat constricting. It was self-defense. Self-defense, Adriane. She smiled weakly at him before sitting on the opposite side of the bed than him. Nathaniel frowned, but didn't question her. She scowled, remembering she didn't have a way to call her uncle.
"Nathaniel? You don't happen to have a cell phone on you, do you?" He nodded, and handed it over without hesitation. Adriane dialed the phone number she had memorized by heart. On the third ring, the call got picked up.
"Hello?"
"Jake?" Adriane asked incredulously. "Why did you answer the phone? Where's Uncle John?"
"Adriane?! Oh my god! Where have you been? Why did you leave?" Jake questioned in a rush. There were some sounds of shuffling on the other end.
"Didn't Uncle John tell you? There was a lead about Amber in Chicago. I went to follow it. I've been all over a few states, Jake. I'm currently in North Dakota." Her eyes met briefly with Nathaniel's before they glanced down at the phone she had moved away from her ear. She pressed the speaker button.
"Jake... Amber's dead." There was a harsh sound of air being sucked in.
"What? H-how do you know?"
"I saw it happen right in front of me." Adriane muttered quietly, her voice grew thick as her eyes welled with tears, blurring her vision.
"Did you kill the son of a bitch that murdered her?" Jake bit out coldly. There was a low growl on the other side of the line as something was smashed.
"No." Adriane answered quietly, wincing away from the phone as a loud roar deafened through the speaker. Nathaniel quickly wrapped his arms around Adriane, dragging her into his lap. She tensed greatly, ignoring the warm liquid that spilled from her tear ducts. Nathaniel gently tugged the phone out of her hand. He pressed the speaker phone button before pressing the phone up to his ear.
"Jake." He spoke evenly. Adriane hesitantly tugged on his shirt. 'Let me hear' she mouthed to him. He stared at her a bit before nodding.
"I'll ask again! Who the fuck is this?" Jake growled out angrily. Adriane tension slowly leaked out of her as she laid back, resting her head on his chest.
"This is Adriane's mate. My name's Nathaniel." There was a long silence. Both Adriane and Nathaniel knew that Jake was still there though due to his heavy breathing.
"Mate? My baby cousin found her mate? How do you fit into all of this?"
"I'm the one who killed Amber." Jake's snarls picked up again. "Listen to me!" Nathaniel demanded, an authoritative tone ringing clear. "Amber was trying to kill Adriane. Her death was to ensure my mate's safety."
"Lies! Amber wouldn't try to kill Adriane! They're practically sisters." Jake spat into the speaker. "You're not my cousin's mate. Don't you fucking lay a finger on her!"
"He's speaking the truth, Jake." Adriane croaked in, "he's my mate. It was self defense." With that, she pressed her nose into her mate's chest more so, thinking back over all the memories she had with Amber. She's want me to celebrate her life, not mourn her. Nathaniel filled Jake in on the details.
"Those messed up motherfuckers." Jake grit out. "Don't think your out of the woods, Nathaniel. You killed my little sister. You're lucky I don't hunt you down and slit your throat." Adriane whimpered slightly at the thought.
"Jake, Amber would want us to celebrate her life, not mourn her death." Adriane defended her mate weakly. Jake let out a frustrated sigh. The sounded sound similar to that of her uncle's, which made her perk up a bit.
"Jake, where is Uncle John?" She questioned again, remembering she had asked earlier. Another silence followed.
"Dad has, uh, given his position to me." Adriane sat up a bit more, a frown marring her features.
"Tell me the truth."
"I challenged him. He was going to kick you out of the pack! I couldn't allow that. So, I challenged him, and I won." Adriane's mouth opened and closed.
"You risked getting kicked out of the pack for me?" When a wolf challenges the Alpha, there are two outcomes. They lose, and they are kicked out of the pack. The other outcome is they win. The new Alpha is instated and the old one becomes a regular member of the pack. A humorless chuckle came from his end.
"Yeah. I was thinking to myself, 'My little cousin is out there all alone, and my dad is kicking her out? She has no reason to be denied her life in the pack. She had her reason for leaving.' I couldn't let you be kicked out."
"Thanks, Jake." Adriane said, smiling slightly at the phone. Nathaniel's free hand rubbed comfortingly up and down her bicep.
"On to another topic, the remaining of the Company will be looking into the incident. They'll take off to your pack. They'll try eliminating every one of you. You need to prepare for it." Nathaniel spoke, his tone tuning serious.
"How can we trust you? You killed the Alpha's daughter."
"Jake, you know she wasn't in her right mind!" Adriane cried out. "You need to listen to Nathaniel. He knows how they operate."
"That's exactly why I don't trust him." This time, Nathaniel stiffened below Adriane. She shyly placed her hand on his stomach, lightly tracing her fingertips from his stomach to side and back.
"Jake, I've gotten my memories back. Those fuckers deserve everything they're going to get for what they've done. If I could have, I would have brought Amber with us. But, the extraction is strong. It takes miracles to break it. I'm telling you, I'm on your side. Let me help you face the threat." Nathaniel pleaded.
"If only miracles can break this extraction, what happened to you?" Jake asked defeatedly, his voice coming out smaller. Nathaniel looked down at Adriane, a knowing, happy sparkle in his eyes.
"I met my mate. She changed everything." There was a bit of a break in conversation. Nathaniel and Adriane shared wary glances at what Jake might say.
"Okay. How do you suppose we plan for this attack?" Nathaniel grinned in triumph. He started explaining the Company's fight style, and how they mobilize the rogues to the best of their capabilities.
Nathaniel spent an hour telling things to Jake that he had swore he wouldn't spill to even the highest amount of torture. Eventually, it got to the point he told Jake the rest would have to be done in person. Jake agreed before bidding them both good night.
As Nathaniel ended the call, Adriane looked at the clock to see it was nearing 11 PM. She was about ready to go to bed when she froze. She realized that the bed was only a single, and would not hold the two of them comfortably without laying on top of each other. She smiled sheepishly over at her mate. He seemed to realize her problem. Smiling back, he got up off the bed.
"It's okay if you're not comfortable enough to sleep in the same bed as me. I'll go ask the innkeeper for some extra blankets. I'll sleep on the floor." With that, Nathaniel left the room. Adriane sat there awkwardly, not expecting Nathaniel to be so courtesy. She got up, quickly tending to her nightly routine before returning back to the room.
Moments later, Nathaniel returned to the room carrying a pillow and a large comforter. He made a makeshift bed on the ground, peeling back the covers to slip inside. Adriane did the same, but on the single bed. She leaned over, flipping the switch to turn the light off.
"Good night, Nathaniel." Adriane whispered in the dark, burying into the covers more as she laid in her side.
"Before we go to sleep, can we learn a bit about each other?" Nathaniel asked, nervousness lining his voice. Adriane chuckled slight before turning onto her back to stare at the ceiling.
"Sure, what do you want to know?"
"What's your favorite childhood memory?" He asked. There was some shuffling going on below her, and Adriane could only assume he was changing his position.
"My favorite childhood memory? That would probably be the time that the pack daycare created a Halloween haunted house. I was one of the kids who sat under the clothes computer desks and reached out to grab ankles. What about you? If you don't mind me asking..." Adriane trailed off awkwardly, remembering he just recently got his back. Not to mention the later half was spent in a hunters' facility.
"My favorite childhood memory would probably be a reoccurring thing. My dad was always busy with pack business. But every month or so, he'd take a day just to spend time with me. We'd do various activities together, and I know now he wished he could have done it more often." Adriane smiled as he shared the part of his past. It was good to know he didn't remember only the bad things.
"Did you ever listen to music? Do you have a favorite artist?" Adriane asked back.
"No, I wasn't really the type of person to listen to music. The Company preferred us spending our time with other guards to keep relationships strong."
"Oh. That's s pity. I'll have to show you my favorite artist some time." Adriane muttered back.
"Are you a virgin?" Nathaniel suddenly blurted out. Adriane was struck with two urges. The compulsion to face palm herself, and the other, to shrink under the covers and disappear from the world.
"Are you?" She asked back, nibbling on her lip worriedly.
"Yeah, as embarrassing as it is. Once again, the Company interfered with my life. They didn't allow for sexual relationships between colleagues because it could cause a hindrance towards your job. Most would go out and pick someone up at a bar, but that isn't really my type of thing. I'd prefer to get to know the girl before I decide if I want to have sex with her." He laughed a bit to himself. "Don't get me wrong, I have awful hormones like any other male, but I guess my job came before sexual relationship with anyone else. What about you? You never answered me."
"No... I'm not..." She bit her lip hard, causing it to break skin and bleed as Nathaniel sucked in a sharp breath through his nose. A barely inaudible growl came from his chest.
"Oh."
"Let me explain myself though! I was sixteen and I had been dating this guy for a year. We eventually decided to take it a step further... and you know. But, a month or so afterwards, he found his mate. I felt terrible, and I knew we should have waited. But, we thought we were in love. When things were broken up between us, I swore I'd wait for my mate to do anything like that again, and I have."
There was a long moment of silence. Adriane's heart rate increased each moment the silence stretched on, and her hands began to get clammy with nerves.
"Good night." He said finally. Adriane grabbed a fistful of her comforter. She turned away from him, closing her eyes in an attempt to keep the tears back and to hopefully find sleep.
"Night," She whispered, hating how broken her voice sounded when it left her mouth. Adriane knew she had royally screwed up.