Those In The Forest

Part 68: Hazel

"We haven't been completely honest with you," Celia said, hugging herself.

          Looking through my teary eyes, I snarled at her. It went against my nature; it felt like I was challenging her, but I had every right to be angry. Our mate is missing! That fucking bastard has her in his grasp, and we have no idea where he is.

          Here we were talking, sitting, when we should be out there looking for her.

          My heart feels so empty...and my head... I can't feel her, I can't hear her, it's almost draining.

           "Is this really the time for this?" Avah asked angrily, shifting from foot to foot, anxious. I rarely see any of our Elders or Alphas this worried.

          "Yes, it is, because if what I think will happen to Reagan happens, you all must prepare for our future. For her future." Karina said calmly, a little too calm for my liking.

          Iris snarled, "What do you think is going to happen to her?!" Her voice had an edge I'd never heard before.

          She held on to me, her grip around me getting tighter and tighter. Rose and Ivy hovered over me, glaring at our Elders.

       "I met Karina when I was in my twenties. When I was human... I came from a really bad home. They never cared to pay attention to me, so I picked up many hobbies, but none of them came close to running." Celia started. Karina ran her hand over the small of her back, comforting her. "That's how I met Karina. I was on a run. I could feel her watching me, but I never saw her, at least not in her human form. I'm not going to get into all the specifics, but I found out what she was, and... something in me called for her. I was scared, so I distanced myself from her, and it hurt like hell. Karina's father found out that I knew what she was and what they all were, and he was furious. He wanted me dead because of it."

        Karina's top lip lifted, a snarl escaping her lips. The tension in the air while Celia spoke was... unbearable. None of us moved or even breathed.

         "While I was away from Karina, he found me, he took me away, and he... beat me. He thought drawing out my death would be fulfilling. Teach me a lesson. He didn't hold back. I can still feel the way my body ached after he was done with me. While hitting me, because he thought using his own hands would be more meaningful, his hands were bleeding too. Bits of his blood entered my bloodstream, and it connected with me. All I can remember after that was losing my breath and blacking out. I had died. When I woke up... I was in Karina's blood-stained arms, looking up at her blooded-up face, and everything inside me felt... free. I wasn't in any pain. I could smell and hear miles away from me. That connection I had with Karina doubled. We were both so confused that we spent years figuring out how I had become like her and how I had survived. Turns out I have some lycan ancestors. But the bloodline was muted due to them sleeping around with humans. I was three days past my period when all of this happened with Karina's father. So there is a likelihood that if we don't find Reagan soon, if the same thing happens to her, she will either die or come back like us."

          "You lying sons of bitches!!" Lennox growled so loud the walls shook. She took the reaction right from me.

          I was on my feet instantly, barring my teeth at my Elders. This was most definitely a challenge. My mates stood beside me, equally as furious.

          "You knew this was a possibility! You knew this could happen to her!" I accused them.

          Rose's nose wrinkled in a roar. "That first night, we told you about her. I told you how she could hear us... you knew even then," she glanced at Karina. That's why you were so against her coming here—against us mating."