The Stinky Life I've Accepted

Chapter 20: Hope From the Past and Moving On

Maxon

I breathe deeply, in quick and short succession. "Maxon, hey." Dad mutters, grabbing me right before my knees buckles. 

He grunts, Papa soon joining us to help. 

Together, they get me to the couch, the three of us ignoring the rest of the occupants in the room for the time being. 

Once they settle me, they step away to give me some room. 

"You're absolutely sure?" I choke out, and Dr. Libby sighs. 

"Yes, Maxon. The results were a 100% match. I assure you, your mate is alive. Or at least... was...a year ago." 

I suck in a large breath, putting my head in my shaking hands, Papa rubbing my back gently. 

"Shit." I ground out, lifting my head to stare at the agents. 

"How was he? Was he... an absolute?" I whisper, and they sigh. The leader rubs his face tiredly, before looking at me. 

"He wasn't. He was hanging on. We've tried everything possible. We even attempted to get into his mind to see if there was anything we could find out that would help him. But he pushed us out, and lost it. It took four tranquilizers to take him out. He hated every moment he was in our care. No matter how kind we were, he never gave in, or even tried to let us help." He explains, and I sigh. 

"And you didn't think to look up his background? You didn't think to do a check, or run him through the system?" Dad gruffly asks, and their Doctor sighs. 

"Of course we did. That's where it got weirder. We even ran his DNA through the system. Nothing, and I mean nothing, showed up. It was like he never existed... like he was never born. We don't know how that came to be, but no matter what we searched or ran through, not a single thing about him came up. We couldn't even find out his name." She replies back, and the house grows silent as everyone waits for me to gather my thoughts. 

"Then we search for him. I still remember his scent, and he's an omega. Even if we have to turn the world upside down, we find him." I growl, standing up and turning to Abberon. 

He stiffens, his eyes pouring right into mine. 

"Gather your best of the best." I say to him, and he nods, turning to leave the house to do as I said. 

I turn to the agents. 

"Let me make myself very clear. When we find him, he's under our protection. He will not go back to you people. Obviously, your methods didn't work. Even if he has become an absolute in the last year, we keep him. You will have no say in the matter. If you still want to help find him, knowing this, give me your best trackers. If not, leave. Either way, I do want to thank you for this. You have no idea truly, how much this means to me." I tell them, and they nod, grim. 

"Of course we'll help. We knew from the moment that we decided to bring this to your attention, that if he was truly your mate, we wouldn't ever be able to have him in our care again. Let's just hope he's still hanging on by that thread." Dr. Fretta mutters, and I nod. 

I turn to my parents, a smile breaking onto my face. They smile back, and stand. I pull myself into their embrace, starting to sob. 

I can feel everyone leaving to give us privacy, and once again, I am reminded of how grateful I am for my pack and its members. 

"He's alive. I can't believe it." I whisper out, enjoying their warmth. 

"Yes. And we'll find him." Dad whispers back. 

Ryker

I sigh, shifting my weight a bit to settle the aches in the both of my legs. 

Life is hell. Truly. I shiver in the rain, looking in the building through its display glass, gulping down the lump in my throat. 

Before I can be spotted by any of the building's inhabitants, I turn around and cross the street, making my way to the woods behind the town. 

I hate being in my human form, but who knows how many groups are now out there looking for me? I just escaped from what I learned was a gang, after being kept in a dark room for months. 

I heard plans about them wanting to use me when my "heat" came, and it was then that I realized they knew about shifters, even though they were human. 

They caught me just a few months after I escaped that last facility, and forcefully kept me in my human form. They were most definitely waiting for the beginning of spring, where I would go into heat. 

Fortunately, after a few months, I found the opportunity to escape. A month or so has passed, and spring is right around the corner. I'm traveling in whatever form fit the scenery or the mood, making sure to not be spotted for too long in one form. 

So far, I know for a fact three groups are after me now, and it's best that I find a place in these woods where I could make a burrow to hide and protect myself when my heat hits in the next week or so. 

Goodness knows I still need to fend off all the wild animals as well. 

I limp my way in the woods, grimacing. A last gift given to me by the gang. To make sure I couldn't escape easily, they broke both my legs, and since then, neither have set or healed right. 

I finally find a nice spot, and ignoring the pain, and the hungry rumbles in my stomach, I shift into my skunk form, and start to dig. 

I only have so much time to build something decent that will protect me and keep me comfortable during my heat. 

When I finish for the day, and the sun starts to set. Yawning, I curl up, not even trying to shift in a different form, and fiercely give in to my exhaustion. 

This is going to be a long couple of weeks.