Forever and Always

Forever and Always: Chapter 9

AN: Thank y'all so much for your patience! I went on a trip and came back on Sunday, then yesterday it was my bday. So enjoy! <3

Violet's POV

I woke up in an unfamiliar place.

The walls were painted with a beautiful forest motif, but right then, I couldn't bring myself to appreciate it fully. Instead, I looked around the room feeling slightly panicked as I attempted to figure out where the hell I was.

The room was massive, but quite modestly furnished. As in, a single mahogany desk with a chair pulled up beneath it, a wardrobe, a black leather sofa and of course, the bed. I had never seen such a huge room so morbidly empty.

Slowly, I inhaled, wondering if I could pick up any scents. My nostrils flared, and I gasped. The scent that filled me was so intoxicating that I fell back onto the bed, dizzy and breathless.

There was nothing unfamiliar about that scent.

Why the hell was I in my mate's room? And, I thought looking down at myself, why was I in my underwear? Had we...?

An unexpected growl left my lips, and the anger slowly entered, crushing the unwelcome butterflies that had entered my stomach at the thought of being with my mate.

I was going to kill him.

Swiftly, I stood up from the bed and walked into the bathroom. I checked my body to see if I was still in one piece. Apparently I was, my tattoos still as sexy as always.

I found some toothpaste on the sink and brushed my teeth with my finger. There was a tooth brush on the sink already, but I wasn't going to put anything that had been in my mate's mouth in my own mouth. Like he needed his ego boosted that little bit more.

Once I'd finished, I sauntered back into the bedroom and straight to the wardrobe where I took out the first t-shirt I could find. It was a faded old band tee that had seen better days. I put it over my head until it stopped about mid-thigh, only barely covering my lowest tattoo.

Next I looked for shoes. I found a pointy, polished pair but I wasn't desperate enough to wear them. Plus, I wasn't completely fashion impaired. Those shoes would totally kill my street cred.

At last, I found a pair of slippers and decided that they were my best bet. I put them on, and then let out an angry growl as I walked through the door and out into some sort of corridor. Man, I was pissed. I felt the blood boiling beneath my skin, felt myself trembling ever so slightly.

Outside the door was a wide corridor with windows that seemed to extend to the sky. It looked like something out of the Renaissance era when it was all class and elegance, and something about it seemed slightly familiar, almost like I had been here in a dream or something. I brushed it off as an overactive imagination, and kept walking, following the damningly intoxicating scent. It was almost as if I was following something palpable, like I was following a line of string to my mate. A cord, of sorts. Right then though, the connection seemed weak. Distant.

It's because of your anger, my wolf told me, and for a moment I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What do you mean?" I said aloud, not really caring if anyone was close enough to hear me and question my sanity.

When you're angry, the string gets weaker. You will feel less close to him.

I considered my wolf's words. "But if that's the case," I mused out loud, "Couldn't people just use that a less painful alternative to rejecting their mate?"

My wolf whimpered. You aren't ... considering that are you?

There was a moment's hesitation before I answered. "I... I just really don't know if I could be involved with someone who could do that to my brother without a second thought. Hell- to anyone."

Against my will, my mind travelled back to that moment of horror when I'd arrived just in time to see my mate seconds away from brutally murdering my brother. Tears filled my eyes at the painful memory. "How can I be mated to someone like that?"

My wolf sounded close to tears too. Violet, everybody makes mistakes and everyone can change. Don't tell me that's not true.

I tried to argue, but the words couldn't come to my lips quick enough.

Don't you dare lie to yourself, Violet, my wolf demanded, and any remnants of an argument died.

She was right, and I knew it. I was living proof.

When my parents had first died, I had become a shell of myself. There, but not there. I was reserved, sarcastic and depressed, unwelcoming towards any type of interaction with anyone else. In that dark, dark time, I had hated everyone around me. I had hated the world.

Most importantly, though, I had hated myself.

For a while, it had seemed that there was no way out of the self-induced comatose, but with the help of Jon and my wolf, I realised that it wasn't worth it. Yes, I had lost my parents, but so had Jon. Jon had inspired me. Jon was the reason I was still alive today, and I was grateful for it everyday. He taught me to appreciate life for what it was, not for what it could have been. And that, in my eyes, was the most valuable lesson I could ever have been taught.

That was why it was so difficult to think that my mate could bring that darkness unto other people. That same darkness I had thrived so hard to escape. I felt my anger begin to pulse again, and I realised that I had stopped walking, stood outside a door.

Without even a moment's hesitation, I pushed open the door and fifteen faces turned up in my direction. I ignored fourteen of them, meeting the one gaze that made me weak at the knees and angry simultaneously.

Jasper's eyes were wide with shock as he took me in.

Voice like venom, I spoke.

"We need to talk."