Convincing yourself doesn't
Win an argument
~Robert Half
"That Amber. She is such a terrible soul!" Makaria watched intently as her one mortal assignment, Pomelia, ran away from the large crowd of lycans with fear and sadness clouding her thoughts and heart.
Makaria knew eventually the mortal would find out about her mate's wayward and despicable ways soon enough. She just did not think such a woman would tell Pomelia. She would pull Amber Hersch's file and see who her mate was and maybe put that person through a few obstacles since Amber wanted to gossip about things that were none of her concern.
"Makaria, you have really done it now."
The hairs on the back of her neck sprung to life, goose bumps pebbled all over her exposed skin. Turning her head slightly, she could see the goddess, wrapped in her silk moonlight garb, her crimson eyes coming to life.
She immediately fell to the ground in repentance of whatever she had done. "My goddess...I apologize for whatever offense I have made against you!"
Artemis was quiet, watching the attendant grovel at her feet. Makaria was such a smart girl, yet she constantly did dolt like things. "Rise, my dear. It has just come to my attention who little Pomelia's mother is and I am sure she will be less than thrilled to learn who I gave her only child to."
The fear and confusion in the girls eyes only increased as she scrambled up to her feet and used the moonlight orb to search for Pomelia's file. The woman deemed her mother was certainly a surprise. "Oh my goddess, forgive me!"
Artemis placed her hand on the girls shoulder. "It will be fine...this will soften her mother's heart perhaps. Maybe this is for the best...any who what is our dear couple doing as of now?"
Makaria visibly cringed. Why could the goddess not have come when the two were brushing War's hair or holding hands?! Doing something that showcased how well the pair were getting along? Why did she have to come in the midst of an argument?
Nervously, Makaria tuned into their whereabouts. Pomelia was running through the forest in the dark, sobbing terribly. War hot on trails.
"Oh my, what happened? I thought they were getting along? What offense has War made on the poor girl?"
Makaria frowned. "Well, a pack member told Pomelia that War kills and well she is upset and running from him."
Artemis sighed, "Does she not know running from problems will not solve anything? You there, tell my father I want a thundering rainstorm at these coordinates now." A large grey wolf approached the goddess and bit into the ball of moonlight before running off, disappearing to find the King of the gods...
"My goddess, why a storm?"
"It will force them to stop running around the forest like chickens with their heads chopped off and go inside to talk like adults."
"Oh. That is a very wise move."
"I am aware."
War loathed making a scene. He was always in the shadows, just watching. He was always a scene breaker, stopping would be scenes and situations before they blew up ie: Jess and Alpha Khan always fighting, the three men who were acting like pups he had to just settle down.
Now he was really creating a scene...yelling after his mate in front of half the pack. He had seen her speaking to Amber and Jess and swiftly headed over to them. He T least wanted to know what happened before he perused his mate.
The two females were glaring at one another, nothing but profanities were being spilled from Jess's lips as he approached them. "What happened?" He snapped out, watching both of the women cringe at his harsh tone. He could care less, he needed to know.
"Amber's bitch ass told Pom that you're a murderer so there's that," Jess told War as she took another swig of the vodka in the large bottle she was slugging around.
War glanced to Amber, her cheeks puffing up. "War I was just telling her the truth! Don't be upset, please don't!"
Ignoring both of the women, he inhaled deeply, attempting to sort out the hundreds of scents and start on his trail to find his mate. He dodged a handful of conversations with wolves he rarely spoke to, as he bypassed them and set off into the forest.
Why would she run into the forest? He had no idea, she couldn't shift and run out her problems... Whatever the reason be, he still would find her and talk to her. What he was going to say? He had no idea.
It was easy to catch up with Pomelia. She was slow compared to him, and her legs were shorter giving her smaller strides...
Before War revealed himself to her, he observed her and immediately felt his chest began to ache. She was crying. Her cheeks were soaked with her tears, her eyes were tinged pink. One hand kept going up to her eyes and attempted ag rubbing the tears either out or away. Whatever she was trying to do was only making the skin around her eyes irritated.
Her lips were trembling as she paced the forest floor, and she kept glancing up at the half moon, as if to probably ask the goddess what was going on.
"I don't know what to do," she whimpered out loud, as War decided to make his presence known. He didn't want to hear a conversation between her and their 'goddess.' He still was a bit leery of the mon goddess...
"Hey," he said awkwardly, waiting for her to notice him. And she did of course.
Pom immediately tensed up as she looked over him, her eyes immediately watering even more. "I...I would like some time to myself." Her arms seemed to be cradling themselves as she kept glancing at him before looking up at the sky.
"What's wrong?" He questioned her, knowing already, but figuring he should ask still. Just as she was about to answer, a clap of earth shaking thunder ripped through the sky followed by a zing of lightning.
A gasp left her lips before she jumped and looked up at the sky. "I-I don't want to talk. I just want to be by myself." As soon as those words left her plump lips, the sky opened up, revealing its true intent. War was shocked at the sudden shift and intensity that the weather was giving them.
Fat and heavy rain blanketed them and the entire forest. The fear in his mate's eyes only intensified as whoever the god of rain was, if that was even a thing, unleashed mayhem upon them. "It's a mess. Let's go."
She took a step back, and War sighed, glancing down at the forest floor. It was becoming a muddy mess quick. He had never ever witnessed a downpour like this before. Instead of waiting for her to say no, he began to walk over her, not liking the way his feet were quickly sinking into the mud.
"Do you kill people?" She asked him loudly, walking backwards everytime he took a step towards her. War was getting frustrated. She was weak, she didn't need to be out in the pouring rain. He couldn't tell if she was shivering because she was upset or shivering because of the torrential downpour soaking them to the bone.
"Pomelia, stop. Let's go."
He grabbed her forearm before she could attempt to walk away from him again. "Just answer my question, I don't want to go anywhere till you do!" He has never heard her shout and it was weird.
He grit his teeth almost painfully. War was a big man, capable of hoisting her up over his shoulder and carrying her home, but he was trying to have patience with her but it was wearing thin. "I...yes. I do, Pomelia."
The fear in her eyes intensified and she began to pull away from him. "Why do you kill people? I don't understand. You're a warrior. Warriors have honor, they protect our people!"
He wasn't letting her go, even though she was pushing at his hand that was securely grasping her forearm. She would run away... "It's what I do."
The look of disgust on her face was evident. He could hear her heart beat spiking up, even through the intense rain. "What...why is it what you do?"
"Let's go inside and talk," he tried again, beginning to pull her forward. She dug her heels into the wet earth, trying to secure her place. It wasn't working of course. His mate was a light thing, even soaking wet.
"When's the last time you...you killed someone?"
Why did War have to get into this with her? It wasn't fair. Things were going good then they just crashed and burned... "The day I came back and we talked about your heat...I killed a woman."
The look in her eyes made him not even be able to look at her anymore. A feeling that washed over him from his childhood...shame began to overcome him.
"That blood, all the blood on your clothes. It wasn't from sparring, it was from..killing our kind?" Her voice was breaking now, and he could smell her tears. Even over all of the scents mixed in with the forest, he could smell the distress in her tears.
"Yes."
She whimpered. "Why? Is it fun for you? I-I don't understand, War."
"Can we just go inside?"
"I-I'm not going anywhere War. I don't-I don't want to go anywhere with you until you answer my questions." She was still trying to pry his hand off of her arm. Her hands were shaking something awful...
He refrained from his urges to force her inside of the house and demand they talk there.. His wolf had no problem doing such thing...but War didn't want to hurt her more than she already was.
"We do jobs for Alphas," he explained, having to raise his voice since the rain an thunder was increasing in sound. "If they want a specific wolf dead, kidnapped, found, warned or hurt we...we do that." She just was staring at him, not saying anything.. "But we mostly...murder notorious rogues."
"That...that's illegal! It goes against Lycan protocol. Everyone deserves a fair trial, War. You can't kill under the moonlight when the moon is watching! Our goddess punishes those like that!"
War shrugged his shoulders, annoyed with this entire situation. He knew what he did wasn't a good thing. "I know." He was getting sick of her blunt nails digging into his skin, it was just irking him, not hurting.
"Will you stop this? You- you could be at a nice pack, you could be a real warrior." He was a real warrior. Most of the people he killed deserved it. Trials went wrong and good people got hurt. Their way was simple and much more effective.
"I'm sorry I'm not...a good man," he told her truthfully, watching her wipe at her nose that was now running along with her eyes. She was a mess. Scared, confused, afraid. This was what most of his victims were like... "I owe my life to Khan....I do this because I want to."
"So you won't stop...even though you found me?"
War felt wrong. He had his answer for her but he just didn't want to say it...he knew he had to tell her the truth though... "It's what I do." What was he supposed to do? He just couldn't stop.
She began to cry even more, pulling away from him desperately. He didn't think it would be like this. He didn't know what to expect but he hated the fact that it seemed as if her heart was breaking. "I-I can't be with you if you willingly...willingly kill people War."
She couldn't be with him? She had to be with him...they were meant for each other... "We're mates...you have to." It would go against the moons wishes which she vehemently believed in. Eventually she would accept, or so he hoped...
The look in her eyes made him feel guilty for saying that. "You can't force me to be with you..."
War had enough of it. All of it. He was a man with thin patience, and he usually had a lot of it. "We're going."
He grabbed her flailing limbs and hoisted her up, over his shoulder. "Let me go! Stop!"
I-I can't be with you. You're not going to stop. I don't want this!" She was really trying to get away from him now and he had enough...
"We're going home."
She shrieked when he tried to grab her. Somehow, someway she twisted her way out of his hold, and ran. War let lose a frustrated growl. Running away from him before wasn't that bad, but with all of this new found information she acquired from him...wasn't really helping the situation.
"Pomelia!"
He wouldn't chase too quick after her. She would get exhausted and sick of running. He knew it. That was how he tracked some of his...weaker targets at a time.
As the rain continued its angry fit, the ground turned to a muddled mess, making War's stance on his feet even more complicated. The wind was starting to howl viciously for reasons unknown. He didn't think there was going to be a brutal storm today, they don't do bonfires on stormy days.
"Pomelia!"
He called out, now heightening the level of urgency in his voice. The rain was slapping him in the face, while the wind seemingly to be choking the life out of him. If he was struggling, he knew Pomelia wasn't doing well in the current climate.
Looking around frantically, his heart suddenly dropped. They were near the part of the forest that wasn't particularly even.. It wasn't safe for a person like Pomelia. There was a few ditches and drop offs from fallen trees and small dirt slides over the past years.
Then a blood curdling scream pierced his ears. War went into panic mode. Fighting the elements to find his sweet life mate. He came to halt, sniffing the air frantically trying to figure out which best way to go.
The moment he saw the drop off, his stomach flipped. It was an uneven chunk of earth that was littered with rocks. He could vaguely make out something that didn't belong at the end. He knew it was his mate.
War rushed down the uneven and jagged slope ignoring the cuts and scrapes he received from almost falling down the rough terrain.
He let loose an angry snarl as his palm caught something particularly painful, it felt like a knife was being dug into his skin but he ignored it, knowing it was a harmless rock and trying to get to his mate.
"Pomelia!"
She was unconscious. Lying there lifeless in her beautiful blue dress that she was just so recently excited about. His blood ran cold as he sunk to his knees, and put his head to her chest.
Her heart was beating...but he smelled blood. God, her blood was the worst smell he could have ever smelt. The worse scent that could enter his nasal passage. It made his stomach churn, and his mouth water. This was his fault, his mate was hurt because he was an idiot...
War realized he could wallow in self pity later but now was not the time. He had to get his mate to the infirmary immediately.
"Please be okay," he whispered, crushing her close to his chest as he began to bare the harsh and unyielding storm to get his mate to safety.
*********
Hope you guys enjoyed!
Predictions/Theories? Concerns?
How's everyone doing still in quarantine? I know some things are going back to normal but I don't trust the government😭 I feel like everything's happening too soon. Or maybe I'm just a scaredy cat...
Anyway, Chapter 11 & 12 are on Patreon. I'll update 13 probably Friday to be all caught up.