A/N: Emma's night sky view above.
Emma's POV
Looking up at the night sky memories of the past flashed before my eyes... the pain, the betrayal, the heartbreak. My very existence is an abomination. I shouldn't even be alive right now. Lying flat on the top of an Manhattan skyscraper, the moon played hide and seek between the clouds, just like my life for I only exist for periods of time then disappear until I'm needed again. Looking at the stars I recalled a saying that no matter how alone you may feel we all share the same sky so in a way, you are never truly alone. Since hearing it looking at the sky for long hours became a habit, sometimes I would even fall asleep like this on some random building's rooftop.
As a result of my mixed blood, my mother's coven came after us. They killed my father when he tried to protect us. Though he was strong, he didn't stand a chance against the coven's best warriors. They then killed my mother and of course they then tried to kill me, key word tried. That's when they realized something, you see witches are the strongest creatures on earth even stronger than the werewolves, so image their surprise when the strongest of their warriors were unable to kill a baby. Yes, there was finally something stronger than the witches, me. They then took me captive, ran experiments trying to understand why I was stronger, but most of all to see if they can gain that power. When the werewolves heard of this they rescued me but by that time I had already spent eight years being tortured, it forever changed me. I now live in the shadows so that the witches can't find me. I became a secret warrior for the werewolves despite not being a werewolf, for which I'm grateful, it gives me purpose and only the werewolf council and a selected few knew of my existence. For you see since the time of my rescue, almost two hundred years has pasted and despite that I don't look a day over twenty, I have my dad's race to thank for that. The werewolves soon realized that I was immortal after conducting a lot of tests on my body. I'm hoping that with enough time the witches will assume me dead as their life span is two hundred. Then I can finally try settling down, finding a special someone, to just live and never be alone again. Too bad that's why they call it a dream, because sometimes that's all it will ever be, a dream.
After lying there for another hour I started drifting off to sleep, where dreams of a lonely she-wolf being rejected by her beta mate filled my head. The thing is, this isn't actually a dream but a vision of the near future. You see, as a result of my mixed blood the werewolves helped me discover that I have special powers, powers that do not exist within either my mother's or father's races. It was concluded that because of my powerful mixed blood, new powers arisen as I am a new race and the only to exist of my kind. One of my three main powers is manipulating the mate bond. I can close the link in order to the end the suffering of a surviving mate when their other half has already died or in the more very rare cases when a werewolf is rejected by their mate. However, the link will only remain close for this lifetime and as the werewolves are reborn they will again find each other. The vision ended and I woke up, sighing I pulled my phone out and contacted the werewolf council. Did I mention, as a result of my powers the council gave me the duty of helping suffering mates. I must help all whose mate died which is rare as the surviving mate normal dies within the week or commits suicide upon the lost of their mate but there are the rare few who survive and fall into darkness. There is also the very rare case of rejection which in my lifetime I had only ever seen three, well now four.
The council warriors are made up of these surviving wolves, considering that after becoming a warrior your priority becomes the council also the fact that your life now becomes expendable. It is against the law for wolves with a mate to join, considering I'm not a werewolf I'm fine because I can't have a mate.
Walking on the ledge of the building I looked for the empty alley I parked my motorcycle in. Finding it I jumped off the ledge and into the empty alley landing with a crater under my feet. I love the feeling of falling, it makes me feel powerful knowing that I will land without so much as a scratch while the same can't be said for the ground. Standing up I focused on the spot I knew my motorcycle was and used my witch half to drop the cloaking spell I used to hide it then quickly used a restoring spell to fix the ground. I then sat down on my black Ducati and pulled on my helmet.
It seems like it's time to appear again.
. . . .
Before every mission I'm required to go straight to the werewolf council for briefing or as I like to refer to them as HQ. I think they use it as an excuse to see me, so here I am in the Caribbean with the hot sun shining down on me relentlessly. Walking out the airport in flip flops and jeans short after changing on the airplane I looked for the black BMW owned by the council I know will be waiting for me. After loading my stuff in the truck I hopped in.
"Hi Emma, how you been?"
As far as anyone outside the council knows I'm a human ally that knows about the supernatural. Now you're wondering if I'm even stronger than the witches and werewolves how can I pretend to be human? Quite easy actually, you see an supernatural can sense another and tell how strong and what race they are from, but since I'm a mixed race I don't have an supernatural presence as both races are constantly fighting for dominance they block each other's presence leaving me to appear human, much like having two computer anti-viruses at once.
"You know, the usual"
I don't like speaking too much. It can sometimes make it harder to disappear if you leave an impression on people. The council hired Josh to drive me around once I'm on the island, but they are careful to change my driver every five years to ensure no one finds out my little aging secret.
I saw his frown but he didn't try to speak again for the rest of the ride. I felt bad for being so cold but with my life it is a must.
Pulling up to a huge mansion in the countryside, I was finally here. Josh left my bags in the car as I will be leaving after the briefing. I walked straight in and to the conference room. The secretary gave me clearance as I entered the room housing all of the council, the highest werewolf body, and the makers of all werewolf laws. It might sound all that but it's just three old guys sitting behind a really long expensive looking desk.
"Good evening council, I trust that you received my urgent message."
Demetrius the head spoke first, "Why yes, take a seat we have been awaiting your arrival"
Sitting down on one of the comfortable couches Demetrius continued,
"Did you enjoy Manhattan?"
"Much more than this country-side, it's too quiet, not full of life."
Aries let out a light chuckle, "Same as always I see."
Roderick continued, "Yes, she always loved being surrounded by people."
"Okay let's get down to business there is a she-wolf suffering. Is everything in place for me to leave yet?"
"Yes." Demetrius stated.
"Good, you can begin the briefing."
Demetrius then started reading from the opened file in front of him.
"Her name is Alice Rosemary, she turned 16 three months ago, she found her mate the 20 year old beta of the pack on the day of her birthday itself but as we all know was not marked. The poor girl has been suffering, from the limited information we gathered, it would appear that her mate is more than rejecting her, he is taking a substitute mate."
This flared my temper, with my teeth grinding I questioned, "Not only is he rejecting his other half he is also taking someone else to replace her and he's doing all this right in front of her isn't he?"
"Sadly yes, it is causing her to suffer greatly to the point where we think she will run or if her wolf is broken enough suicide." Aries spoke but with clear sadness in his voice.
"This is by far the worst rejection case I have ever dealt with." I responded, suddenly my chest started hurting, I felt a great need to help this she wolf to ensure she finds happiness and never cries again because of her jerk mate. This is one of my other power in play, it was trying to tell me something and I had a feeling of what it was.
Getting out of my seat, I kneeled on one knee the formal position for a warrior and spoke, "I Emma Alex Jackson royal warrior of the werewolf council seek full power over this mission. My actions will include more than closing the bond but helping the she wolf to heal rather than leaving after my duty is performed. I plead that the council allow me extended time to exist before I disappear again. My power of foresight is telling me I must personally help this she wolf find happiness."
"Your foresight is telling you this? How? You have not perfected that power yet. Are you sure it is not just your own desire?" Roderick stated.
"100%, I can feel it in my heart." I said.
"I see, well then we can't ignore your request in favor of your safety from the witches." Demetrius stated with a heavy heart.
"You do understand if you appear for too long periods of time the witches has a good chance of finding you? Not to mention you risk revealing your mixed race to other supernatural beings." Aries spoke with eyes that were willing me to reconsider.
These three are like fathers to me so to speak they raised me, helped me heal, showed me love, and taught me how to use my powers. I am what I am today because of them and while they are worried and don't want me to take the risk, I must. My very soul is telling me to.
"I am fully aware of the danger I am putting myself in however, I believe I must be there for her healing, it is destiny." I raised my head to look them straight in the eyes to show them my determination.
Heaving a great sigh Demetrius looked over at the other two, who both reluctantly gave a nod to show their approval. He then spoke, "Fine, full power over the fourth rejection case and extended after duties is granted to Emma Alex Jackson, royal warrior of the council."
Standing up straight I said my goodbyes and took my leave not before collecting all documents needed for the case. It would appear I'm not leaving the Caribbean just yet. Alice's pack is in Tobago. It seems that this time I'll be posing as a tourist who is taking a tour of the famous glowing caves of the King's Island in Tobago.
. . . .
Alice's POV (The Rejected She wolf)
Standing at the engagement party of my mate Jarred Thompson beta of the Crescent Wolf pack I watched as he passed the title of female beta to another she wolf, his substitute mate. Turning away before I could see them kiss I started running. It didn't really matter where as long as it was away from here. I can't take this pain much longer, he rejected me last week and I felt like a part of me died then. I promised myself that I would be okay that I could still be happy somehow but I can't do this anymore. I have to leave for my own good but I don't want to leave my mate and Jarred already warned me not to. You see, his wolf is giving him a lot of trouble for rejecting me and the only comfort his wolf have is knowing I am near, if I were to leave his wolf might abandon him completely and he'll lose his beta position and become an human. While I would feel guilty for hurting my mate I have too, if I want to survive I have to but the need to be near him is very strong. However, if I stay here it feels like sooner or later the depression will consume me and I will give up completely by committing suicide like most mates do when their other half dies but knowing mine is still alive knowing he is happy, that is enough for me to continue for now.
Before I knew it I had ran out to the docks. Falling onto the sand I started bawling my eyes out but no matter how much I cried it never helps the pain. Lying down flat after I have calmed down I watched the sunset, thankful that I had finished all my chores before the engagement party. I had to prepare everything for today to Britney White the new female beta's taste. Sadly she just used that as an excuse to make me suffer. Making last minute changes, having me redecorate, changing the menu after I went grocery shopping, the woman made it clear she hates me. Like that's supposed to surprise me everyone does, the whole pack. Even the alpha who is the one person who is supposed to unconditionally love and protect his pack, but not Alpha Jake, he hates the weak. He despises humans especially for being weak and I also fell in that category seeing that I was the runt of the pack, a part of the reason I was being rejected. It was ludicrous for a beta to be mated to the weakest pack member which is why no one in the pack bats an eyelid at me being rejected, if anything it made them hate me more. Every day I was victimized by the pack mainly Britney and of course the Alpha, who takes great joy in making me the target practice for training wolves. Like do you really think a 16 year old girl can take on full grown wolves? Hell no, if I'm lucky I don't bleed too much while my insides remain intact with just enough energy to drag myself to the basement which is my room, where I'll pass out till I heal which takes an full day or more according to how badly hurt I am. This is why I need to leave, the pain and suffering is too much and if they don't kill me I might end up doing it myself just to find an escape but it seems like I will never gain the strength to leave my mate no matter how much I want to.
Tomorrow the last group of human tourists will come for the summer. It is something all packs have to do. It was declared by the council that all packs must spend a sufficient amount of time with humans by hosting an event to attract humans at least once a year. It is supposed to helps us remember our purpose and reason for creation which is to protect the humans and this physical world. Most packs do it more than once a year and enjoy being near the humans and then there is our pack who hate humans and shy away from any contact. This behavior started 10 tens go when Alpha Jake took over at the age of 16. His hatred for them caused the pack to hate them as well. It started when his parents died protecting the humans and after that he started not only hating humans but all things weak, namely me. The Alpha made me the tour guide as no one volunteered and of course my mate just watched on the sidelines not moving a muscle to come to my aid.
I have been thinking about this since it was announced that Jarred and Britney were to be engaged. When the last group comes tomorrow I do my tour guide job and then at night when the humans are leaving I leave with them. With the fact that the pack is on an island makes it difficult for me to run being the weakest I can't swim that far, not to mention werewolves can't swim in wolf form. Therefore the tourist boat is my only chance to get away without being found out at least until it is too late but even then I'm still not sure if I can leave my mate.
Crunch!
I quickly sat up and twisted my body around to see who it was. Mixed feelings flooded me at the sight of my mate, well very recently ex-mate but the bond is still intact. Nothing can break it not even death, so I can't help the need to want to hug him right now. To just bury myself in his chest and live there but I know better. Those arms are not mine, he is not mine and he made that clear today with the engagement and it will be Emma clear after he mates her next week on the wedding night. My wolf howled in sorrow at the thought and my heart clenched. He spoke first.
"Stop showing me that face! I want Britney not some weakling. After tonight you will not speak to me again. This is our last meeting but don't forget what I told you, you are not allowed to leave. Besides which pack will take in a rogue much less if you survive long enough to reach another pack."
Despite his words I can feel his wolf, he was howling in longing sorrow but most of all at the lost of his mate, while my wolf howled together with him. However, that is not enough the man himself must want me too not just the wolf. Making a quick and very much stupid decision I stood up and started walking slowly towards him, I was very afraid of what I was about to do and also happy. I am not sure how it happened but when I looked at him with all the love, need and lust I had for him, his wolf took over and he also took a few steps forward meeting me halfway. Standing so close I could feel his heat, his smell surrounded me. How nice it would be if I could be this close to him all the time, for him to just be mine. Grabbing hold of his collar I gently pulled him down to my level all the while keeping eye contact for I know he is fighting the bond but his wolf is also fighting him. When our faces were close enough I close my eyes and lightly pressed my lips to his still afraid of his reaction. Giving him my first kiss, yes I'm 16 and I have never kissed another in my life at least until now but that is because I was saving myself for my mate, which turned out to be a sad dead dream. I just wanted one moment where he was truly my mate but what happened next both shocked and excited me.
Like a switch had been flipped Jarred grabbed the back of my head with both hands deepening the kiss. It was amazing, all the sparks, his heat, his smell. Before I know it I was also tightening my hold on his collar and wrapping my hands around his neck to bring him closer. His hands started wondering my body as if he was trying to memorize every inch by touch. Then he gently molded my right boob in his palm causing me to gasp and in that moment his tongue quickly entered my mouth taking the kiss to a whole new level. I didn't think this would happen I thought I would just give him a peck but it feels like the flood gates have been opened and I just can't get enough of him and from the way he is kissing me it's the same for him.
Somewhere in my mind there was a buzzing, I wasn't sure what it was but I ignored it. I was finally in my mate's arms, I was finally close to him but all too suddenly we were yanked apart with both of us falling backwards into the sand. I looked up in horror to see alpha Jake and quickly realized that the buzzing was actually words, his words and behind him stood a fuming Britney.
"You- You whore!!!" She stuttered out completely shocked and angry to find her recently gained mate kissing me.
"What do you think if you threw yourself at him he would want you?! Look around you! I'm the one wearing the ring! I'm the new female beta and after next week I will be the one who bears his mark!"
All through her rant Jarred remained sitting on his ass on the sand staring at his hands in disbelief then ever so slowly he touched his lips with his fingers still in shock of what just happened.
Alpha Jake then stepped forward silencing her rant and spoke directly to Jarred.
"Take your fiance back to the party I will deal with this."
Snapping out of his trance he stood quickly avoiding looking anywhere near me, he then bowed his head and responded a "Yes Alpha".
After the two had left, Alpha Jake's cold glare was on me. Looking down to avoid his chilling glare I tried not to whimper.
"My beta has found a suitable mate, one that matches his strength and I will not have you the weakest member of this pack sabotaging that. Whatever rights you think you have because of the mate bound consider them nonexistent. I never would have expected that kind of behavior from you. What is it you were trying to do? You thought if he fathered you a child that he would stay with you?"
His words left my mouth hanging wide open. It took me a few seconds to respond.
"No Alpha I would never-"
Before I could finish the sentence he grabbed my throat and I struggled to get air in.
"Do not lie to me runt!"
He then let go and I dropped down into the sand an second time that day.
"You are to never seek out Beta Jarred Thompson again or do anything that would harm either him or his new mate Britney White and that is an Alpha's order."
I felt it within me. His words were like chains binding me. I bowed my head as the tears started falling and spoke a soft "Yes Alpha". He turned and walked away leaving me there.
As the crying started I thought to myself, this is why I need to leave. With my resolve strengthening and my tears began to dry I spoke out loud to myself.
"Your mate is alive and happy without you therefore you can also be alive and happy without him. I promise I will find it, my own happiness and I know just where to start."
No more hesitation, no more wanting to be close to my mate, I am leaving and I'll do it using the last tour boat coming in tomorrow. At this time tomorrow, no more cold alpha, no more abusive pack, no more rejecting mate. I'll be free and I will find my own happiness.
Little did I know tomorrow would change my life forever and that I would indeed find my happiness, just not the way I thought I would.
. . . .