AN/: Double update! I had the time in History to go over this and everything seems okay with it! Yay! It's one of the shortest chapters I have, but it's pretty much a filler and a little more about what's going on with Levi. The symptoms, and what Zach has so far experienced.
Zach can't 'enjoy' the rest of his night which consists of another hour at the party, and another speech, this time made by Hannah herself.
Just thinking about Levi and her horrific fate makes his skin crawl. He can't think of another thing for the rest of the night. She is dying because she doesn't have a mate, and soon that would be Zach as well. He just knows it. And yet, her eyes are so familiar. Caleb knows them as well, and Zach can feel his unrest.
He goes out to speak to the boy who started to cry. That boy sits on the same bench where he asked Levi to dance. The boy seems to have pulled himself together, and sits with a drink clutched in his hands between his knees.
"Are you alright?" Zach finds himself asking. He's not sure if it's just a way to start the conversation, or if he really cares. He's not sure if it matters. The boy laughs bitterly.
"I'll be fine." he tells him, looking up. Zach watches the way the boy scans over him.
"I'm Zach." he offers, but he keeps his pack to himself. He's not sure that this boy would take the news well.
"I'm Jeremy, Levi's been my best friend since I was 11." the younger man explains. Zach nods.
"I'm sorry for what happened." Zach expresses sympathy, and for some reason Caleb is happier. Zach doesn't even ask.
"When did all of this start, if you don't mind my asking?" Zach asks, leaning against the tree in front of Jeremy.
"A little before her 18th birthday. It was nothing at first. She was just tired more. Then it was loss of focus. Her wolf was able to take over more. One full moon she was completely blocked out by her wolf who began to track something that Levi couldn't identify. We had to find her and sedate her. She was a danger to herself and others. And then, everything just started to slow down. She was winded quick, her blood pressure dropped, her appetite dropped, her heart rate dropped. I just- I can't imagine what life without her would be like." Jeremy divulges, head hanging, tears starting anew. Zach does a mental inventory.
Tired. Yes, he gets tired much quicker now.
Loss of Focus. Kol was always scornful to him for zoning out on Andrew during War meetings.
Wolf taking over. It happened just after his 19th birthday. Something was calling him. Pulling him. He still had hope it was her, but Caleb jumped to the surface before Zach had even flinched. He traveled three days and three nights, tracking a scent he never remembered and didn't fully understand.
No other symptoms plagued him. His heart was fine, breathing normal. Everything was in perfect working order. Well, he was a bit grouchier, but others, including himself, put it down to loneliness.
"I'm sorry. I should leave you to your grievance." and Zach walks inside to see Andrew and Jaxson and Jason huddled together with Kol. Hannah must be in the bathroom, since Kol has positioned himself right outside the door. He's told the first few weeks are intense, and the burning desire to be with your mate is worse than hell fire. It consumes everything. Quiet a few couples have their first child when the first nine months are over.
"I'm sorry Jas." Kol says clasping the young man's shoulder. Jason looks down glumly, and Zach is confused.
"What's going on here?" he asks, turning from Jaxson to Andrew to Kol.
"I was just telling Jason that I already have a companion for the journey. The test." Kol tells him, and Zach nods. When they were young men, and Zach had barely become of mating age, they promised each other that they would accompany each other on the journey for the test.
The member from Dark Moon (almost always male) leaves their mate the morning after the finding and goes on a long journey far away from their other half. They find a spot somewhere within a 100,000-mile radius to sort of wait and hide. The mate from the differing pack then has to find and reclaim their mate. It proves how strong the bond is between the two mated.
"My word is my word." Zach says with a nod.
In the next half hour, the men from his pack all head back home. All but himself, and Kol. All of the other members from other packs left as well, and Zach and Kol were given lodgings in the Alpha house hold.
"Usually the other mate stays in the Beta household until the official mating ceremony, but under the circumstances..." Hannah trails off, her eyes falling to the floor slightly. Kol wraps his arm around her to comfort her, and Zach only nods.
It is impossible to stay in the Beta household, because the Beta's daughter is on death's door, ringing the bell and pounding on the knocker. The boys are shown to a room with two full sized beds and an adjoining bathroom. A chess set sits on a small table by a slightly small fireplace. It's actually kind of homey.
"I- Can I bring someone with me?" Hannah asks out of the blue. Eye brows crinkled in questioning and misunderstanding.
"I only say that because Zach is coming with you Kol, and I sort of don't want to be alone." Hannah says a little shyly. Kol looks over at Zach.
"Of course you can. But it should be someone you can tolerate for long periods of time and someone you can trust wholeheartedly. They will be helping you find your mate, after all." Zach tells her in an even voice as he tugs of his suit jacket. Hannah and Kol go off to have a private moment, leaving Zach to think of the journey.
Tomorrow, when they leave the Pack's boundaries, they will retrieve backpacks that they had stashed in the woods by their returning pack members. From there they will head to a rental car parked at the edge of the woods and travel as fast as possible until they get to a safe house for the night. From there they will take a potion that will mask their scent and travel to an undisclosed location. Only Zach knows the true destination.
He thinks about how he had always wished to meet his own mate there. Meet her in a short few days, because he had always believed that their bond was strong. But now he knows he never had a bond. And he never will.
He's not sure why he gave up on the idea of mates. He sees their love around him, he can literally see the shine in a wolf's eyes as they look at their other half. He knows they exist, but a part of him thinks that it's all too good to be true. He's been a good man. He's tried to be brave and strong and smart to protect his pack, and it just... it just wasn't enough.
He lays in his bed and crosses his arms behind his head. Kol is no doubt explaining the entirety of the ritual to Hannah, and spending the rest of the night in her arms. In the arms of his one true love.
He begins to think that no one understands him. No one understands what it feels like to be so alone, so incomplete, but then he shames himself. There is another. She is hurt so deeply that she's dying. Some part of him hates himself for scaring her right before she fainted. What if he caused it? What if that extra pressure or scare or stress or whatever, caused the episode? What if it speeded up the process? He feels a little ashamed.
He thinks about her, wonders if she's awakened yet. Caleb is already asleep with thoughts of the same woman on his mind, yet Zach cannot find his sleep. He wonders about her. How she came to be here, what her rank in her old pack was. He wonders why she hung out with the men from his pack rather than anyone from her own. Maybe she's tired of her surroundings? Or she could possibly hate it here. For some reason Zach thinks she doesn't like it here too much. To be honest he doesn't either.
He used to, but now the sun was too much. The sun used to awaken him and have him running around in circles in the best of moods and the strongest shape. Now it is just the opposite. The moon calls to him the strongest and pulls at him. He is awake and lively. He rolls onto his side and closes his eyes. He needs to sleep before the test in the morning. He only wishes the test was for himself.
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Life-Times Apart
Werewolf*************************************************************************************** Mate. A single word, but a world of change. Everything you think you know, everything you are raised to believe and trust in, gone. Because of a single 4 let...
