A/N Warning: Some violence in this chapter, but the descriptions are not graphic.
Cole
I opened my eyes to see a big grey wolf sat next to me.
It didn't scare me anymore. It was amazing how quickly you could become familiar with something so out of the ordinary.
I really felt like I'd got to know Emily a lot over the passed two days. She told me about what it was like being a werewolf, and she told me a lot about her family, especially her two cubs and of course Casper.
She really did love Casper, I could tell, and it seemed that despite the obstacles they'd had to overcome, they were doing really well together.
That was why I'd kept my little bit of information from her.
It didn't take me too long to put the pieces together and figure out that Joe was more than likely the Joel that she talked about.
He told me about falling in love with his boss, which could easily be switched with his alpha, and he also talked of him marrying a woman from a rival company, which of course was actually a rival pack.
And also, the way she described him, with his dimple that appeared when he smiled, and his hazel eyes that seemed to burn with gold when he was happy.
I was itching to tell her that he was alive and well, but I was also worried about what that might mean for her and Casper. Did Casper ever really get over his feelings for him?
As the day wore on, I could see that Emily was starting to look tired. She was physically stronger than me, and capable of withstanding more than I was, but this was being severely tested, by the lack of food and water she was being given.
I did my best to slide food to her when no one was looking, but I knew that it wasn't enough and she was starting to look decidedly weak.
I think we had both begun to feel that we were never getting out of this place, and it was getting us down. So I decided that maybe I could cheer her up. Maybe it would be the distraction we needed to get us through today.
"Emily, how would you feel if you found out that Joel was still alive and someone could tell you where he was?"
There was no harm in testing the waters a little.
Emily shrugged. "I'd be relieved to know that he's alive. Maybe Casper would stop feeling guilty."
I could tell by her casual expression that she didn't think I knew anything.
I could tell her.....
Maybe I shouldn't though......
But if it was me, I'd want to know.....
Yes, I think it was only fair. It would be up to her if or when she told Casper.
"Erm, Emily, I need to tell you something."
She turned her head towards me and looked at me curiously.
"Ok," she said, giving me a nod of encouragement.
"Well, the thing is," I said, looking at anywhere but her, "I think I might know.."
A gunshot fired in the air outside making us both jump up in surprise.
This was followed by raised voices shouting, but I couldn't tell what they were saying.
Emily quickly moved forwards and put me behind her.
"Just stay behind me," she hissed, "and if you get the opportunity, run. Don't look back ok? Promise me you'll run?"
"What? Why? What's going on?" I asked rather alarmed by all the crashing from outside and Emily's tone.
"Just do as I say," she ordered, then added, "please?" onto the end.
I just nodded at her, wondering how I would ever manage to run when we were locked in here.
I stood behind Emily and gripped onto her jacket.
"Oh god, oh god, we're going to die aren't we?" I said, more to myself than anyone.
"Don't think like that," she said, surprisingly calm given the situation. "This may be us finally getting free."
I nodded behind her, even though she couldn't see me. She was right though. All this time I had been praying for someone to come and rescue us, and as terrifying as it all sounded out there right now, they were in truth probably the sounds you would expect when being rescued.
"You're right," I said, trying to sound braver than I felt. "But just in case I don't make it, there's something you need to know."
She didn't answer me, so I continued.
"Joel's alive."
I felt her flinch but she didn't remove her attention from the door.
"How do you know?" she asked in almost a whisper.
"I met him not so long ago. I know his mum, his birth mum."
She let out a short burst of laughter, though it sounded hollow.
"So he finally made it then."
Despite the tense situation, I felt her muscles relax slightly and I knew instantly that telling her was the right thing.
Whatever happened here today, that was one less thing for her to worry or feel guilty about. As much as she talked about Casper's guilt, I knew she felt it too.
The door to the room suddenly burst open, and Fitz came flying in. Emily tensed, and I gripped onto her tighter when we both saw the rifle in his hands.
"You, move," he said gesturing to me.
I raised my eyebrows in shock but remained still.
I watched as Fitz unlocked the gate to our cell, then pointed the gun straight at Emily.
"Cole, get out now, and you mutt, if you dare try anything, I'll put a hole right through you."
I could still hear loud voices outside and Fitz was visibly sweating, beads running down his face.
"MOVE!" he suddenly barked, and before I knew what was happening, my feet were carrying me over to the open gate.
Maybe if I followed him he would leave Emily alone, and whoever was attempting our rescue would find her.
As soon as I was out of the cell and standing behind Fitz, he gestured to the door and said,
"Go through the door on the left, and straight through to outside. Kane will be waiting. Try anything and I can't guarantee you'll make it out alive. Do as he says and you'll be fine.
I looked back at Emily, and she gave a slight nod of her head making me head towards the door.
I walked out of the room and looked to the door on my left. I suddenly felt exhausted and my breathing was coming out in shallow gasps.
My brain was in turmoil. Part of me was screaming to just run to the main door and hope that whoever was out there was friendly and I would be safe. Part of me was screaming to just follow Fitz's orders and remain safe...for now. But the other part was screaming at me to go back, to go back and check that he wasn't going to hurt Emily.
Like I was in some sort of a trance, my body made the decision for me and I walked back through the door I had just come out of.
What I saw made my blood run cold.
Fitz was stood at the gate to the cell, pointing to gun at Emily while screaming, "Change goddamnit! Change!"
Emily was just staring straight back at him, with a gentle expression on her face.
There was a loud bang outside and the sound of breaking glass.
"Damn it!" Fitz yelled before screwing his eyes shut and bracing himself as his finger clenched round the trigger.
Before I knew what I was doing, I leapt from my position at the door and flung myself at Fitz. As I collided with his massive body, I heard the sharp sound of the gun firing in his hands.
The momentum of my leap knocked Fitz off balance and he went crashing to the floor, the gun went flying out of his hands and landed in the corner of the room. I faired a little better and managed to land more or less on my feet.
Within seconds I had hold of the gun.
The noise from the gunshot had made me temporarily deaf and all I could hear was a loud ringing in my ears.
I looked over to Emily and was relieved to see she was unharmed but yelling something at me in a rather frantic way.
I looked at Fitz, who was slowly crawling onto his knees, his age and lack of mobility making the task much more arduous than it should have been.
In any other circumstance I would laugh at him, but I drew my eyes away from him and back to Emily.
She yelled at me again, and this time I heard what she said,
"RUN!"
I blinked and looked down at the gun in my hands and realised I didn't have a clue how to use it, but the least I could do was get it away from the person who did, so I clung onto it, like my left depended on it, and ran from the room.
I heard a clatter behind me, and looked round just as a large grey wolf crashed through the gate of the cell and landed on top of Fitz.
I turned and ran, but less than a second later I heard a blood curdling yelp followed by a howling whine coming from the room behind me.
I dropped the gun in shock and stood rooted to the spot, staring at the now silent room.
I was about to take a step towards the door again, when I felt a whoosh of air hit my back, then I was nearly knocked off my feet as a blur of brown fur shot passed me, baraging down the door.
I didn't need to be able to see to know what was happening in there right now. The sounds were like something out of a horror movie.
I turned round and ran as fast as I could. I didn't take the door to my left, I ran straight ahead and towards what I assumed must be the front door.
I ran out of the door so fast, I didn't see that something was lying on the floor, and I tripped over it sending me sprawling across the gravel.
I gasped, trying to get my breath back, before looking back to see what it was I had tripped over.
Lying on the ground was a black wolf. With half its face blown off.
I felt myself start to heave, and I scrambled back to my feet and ran.
I had no idea where I was running to. All I knew is that I had to get as far away from this nightmare as possible. I sobbed as I ran. Wishing with everything that I had that it was a nightmare and that I would suddenly wake up.
I ran and ran, through the trees until my lungs were burning and my legs were wobbling, threatening to give way under me, until that is exactly what they did and I fell into a heap on the ground.
My sobs still racked through my body as I lay there, a broken mess, my hands clawing through my hair, willing my head to just give up and let me slip into unconsciousness.
I was so distraught that I never heard the noise of something approaching me. It was only afterwards that I realised I might have not heard it, but I did feel it. I felt the earth vibrate under me, with the drumming and pounding of four large paws tearing up the ground in my direction.
The noise from my dream. It was finally here.
Within seconds of me feeling it, I was being scooped up and thrown into the embrace of the one person I needed right now more than anyone else.
I didn't even need to open my eyes to know it was him.
His arms held me tightly and he stroked my hair repeatedly while whispering "your safe now Cole, I've got you," over and over again.
He sat down on the grass, his back up against a tree, as he lowered me down onto his lap.
I clung to him like a koala, my whole body shaking as I continued to heave out great sobs.
He rubbed his hands up and down my back, and gently kissed my head, while still whispering soothing things into my ear.
The comfort I got from just being in his arms was almost overwhelming, and my sobbing eventually slowed down, then stopped, my breathing calmed down, and I was left feeling exhausted and emotionally spent.
Slowly I began to regain my sense of awareness, and I cringed at the thought of the snotty wet mess I had made on Nathan's t-shirt. My head was thankfully still buried in said mess, so at least he couldn't see the blush that crept onto my cheeks at the awkwardness of my new found situation.
Not that Nathan seemed to think there was anything awkward. In fact he was still whispering calming words into my ear, even though I was, at least for now, perfectly calm.
It was only then that I realised, he wasn't whispering them to me. Well not just me anyway. He was whispering them to himself.
As I tried to slowly pull back to look at him, his arms clung onto me tighter, pinning me to his chest.
"Not yet," he said quietly, as he continued to rub his hands through my hair, then rub my back again.
The thought of Nathan being so scared at me being taken, brought fresh tears to my eyes, but I blinked them away quickly, not wanting to make anymore of a scene than I already had.
After several more minutes I eventually felt Nathan's grip on me relax, and I took the opportunity to pull back and look at his face.
I felt my heart judder as I took in his appearance. His normally perfect hair was a mess, and he had dark circles under his eyes like he'd not slept in days. His face was covered in dark stubble, which I had to admit, was sexy as fuck, but what struck me the most was his eyes.
They were red and slightly watery, like he'd been crying, but the look he gave me took my breath away. He looked at me like I was the most precious thing in the world. Like he couldn't believe he was lucky enough to be sitting this close to me. Like he loved every fibre of my being.
I felt myself being pulled in, like a magnet, and I briefly saw his eyes widen in surprise before I crashed my lips onto his.
He responded immediately, his arms tightening back around me, pushing our chests together as his lips began to work with mine, stealing the breath from my body.
It was frantic and full on, both of us kissing like it was the first and last time. Our tongues met each other in a dance, swirling round one another, before he fastened his lips round mine to give it a suck, making me groan in pleasure.
Nathan smiled at the noise, making our kiss come to an end, as we sat there with our foreheads pressed together, both panting lightly.
"Fuck, I love you," he breathed out.
I felt my stomach flutter at those words, a shiver of excitement running through my body. Just a few days ago hearing those words would have sent me into a full blown panic, but given the situation, I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the typically Nathan way of putting it.
"I know," I replied as I gently kissed his lips.
He smiled and gave my body another squeeze. It was too soon for me to say those words back, and for some reason I knew that Nathan understood.
The quiet air was suddenly disturbed by the sound of sirens getting closer and closer.
"Looks like the cavalry finally arrived," Nathan said with a roll of the eyes.
I wasn't exactly sure of what he meant by that, but I didn't ask. I just lay with my head on his shoulder, enjoying the moment for what it was.
Because for me, the sound of the sirens meant only one thing.
My dad was here.
A/N On a totally unrelated subject, Love Simon is about to come out on DVD. Has anyone seen it and is it worth me buying it?