~Alaric~
It all happened so fast. One moment I was putting my kill away, after shifting and throwing on some shorts and a shirt. and the very next I felt her panic. I rushed out to the living area and I saw my mate beginning to hyperventilate and her shoulders shook with sobs. all I could feel was fear mixed with so many other emotions plus she was brimming with magical energy! From her appearance it was entirely too much for her to handle right now.
"Hey, hey, hey....its ok now, I'm here." I spoke to her softly as I kneeled in from of her. I don't even know when I got to her, but when I did she launched herself into my arms and sobbed into my chest. Had she been a bit bigger she might had knocked me off my feet, she was surprisingly strong for her size.
But I just held her and carried her down the hall. we had been lucky it was late and no one was up. My mate needed me right now, I don't know what was going on, but I could partially feel her emotions. She trusted me right now and I couldn't mess this up. As I held her in my arms and walked the halls I assessed her condition. she was too thin for her build. one of her ankles were bruised from some sort of binding. It took most of my will not to growl in rage. whoever caged MY mate will pay in blood, my wolf huffed in my mind in agreeance with my vow. After walking down the hall we came to some stairs that led to my room. we passed two room and then mine was at the end of the hall. I opened the door and took her to my bed. I didn't let her go and crawled into bed with her and held her in my arms as she cried. she curled into me and clung to my shirt. after a few moments she calmed down and fell asleep curled up against my chest.
Then I finally got a good look at her. This was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. as I stared at her face it was like I was punched in the gut with her beauty. she literally took my breath away. her hair the color of caramel but swirled with blonds and browns. her skin the same hue like she was perfectly kissed by the sun. her full lips with that adorable cupids bow made me want to kiss her so bad but this clearly wasn't the right time. Then i made the big mistake of inhaling through my nose and i damn near shuddered on exhale as her fantastic scent of honey assaulted my senses. I felt the bond tug at me and my wolf stirred in my mind urging me to claim her. "Bax....this is not the time for that...." he relaxed, but I had so many questions.....I didn't even know her name and all I wanted to do was keep her away from what ever it was chasing her. The need to protect her was so strong i felt like i was buzzing with energy.
I Inhaled again but this time her scent calmed my anxiety. I brought her closer and she snuggled into me and that's all I needed to start feeling the pull of slumber take me. Her sweet smell rocking me to a peaceful sleep beside her after I laid a gentle kiss to her forehead.
~Nathan~
I sat at my desk reviewing the security footage unable to process what my eyes were seeing on the screen. She was there at one point, asleep, the next moment I see an assistant come in to bring her food and the woman stands still of and eerily long moment and then she seems to come out of this trance. she begins to unlock Azaria's shackles, she sets down her food and exits the room. in viewing the rest of the cameras throughout the facility I see the assistant unlock several doors leaving them open and unsecure. at the end of her mission she goes into a closet and closes the door.
a bright flash can be seen from under the closet door and then nothing else comes from the closet until another assistant can be seen coming to the door and eventually calling maintenance to get the woman out of the locked closet. We had to get a magical cleaner to even get the door open and release the magical hold on the door. A handy concoction made by one of our allied witches, allied being used loosely. They did what we asked when asked to keep the coalitions eyes off their families and covens. I watched on another part of the footage back in Azaria's room where she wakes up. she grabs the apple and begins to make a run for it.
"Ahem" my assistant alerting me to his presence "The assistant has been questioned and she has no recollection of doing anything on the footage." I stare at my computer screen but i look up at him over the screen as he remains silent. "And what is your assessment of the woman Jasper?" I watched him to gauge his response be he speaks calmly and matter of fact "She is telling the truth, I suspects she was under a spell, slipped a potion, or possessed." he tapped on a tablet he held onto "based on what we know of her power it is most likely that she did some sort of spell but the precautions we take to ensure the subjects can not use their abilities should have prevented such a thing....." he sighed
"I do not know how this could have happened unless she has abilities we do not know of or have no protection against." I nodded slowly as he talked
"Get me a list of all the entities we do not have protection for, include entities that we have little to no research on as well, I believe our little trouble maker might have some secrets...." I sigh and rub my hand over my face not having slept has started to take its toll and of all of our concoctions, nothing replaces a good sleep. "This is going to be a long game finding her. After you get that information for me take the time off until I call on you, ill need you for this mission." He nodded "Very well sir, ill have those documents sent to you right away." He turned aways from me and headed out the door
"Oh and Jasper, Have Mina put a glamour on that assistant to make her look like Azaria, make a show of it looking like we captured her and brought her back, cant have the others thinking they can just escape now can we?" Jasper remained motionless, not turning to face me as I gave the orders "Very well sir" he spoke remaining still and i sighed "Your dismissed Jasper" he nodded not looking back and exited my office.
I trained my eyes back on the footage of Azaria that replayed on my screen. every fiber of my being wanted to smash the screen to bits so I got up shoving off my chair and exited my office and headed to the gym. This frustration needed to be released and watching this footage was not helping. I needed to do something productive.