"Come on, I want to take you somewhere." Cade said as soon as we left the school.
I nodded and followed him towards the edge of the parking lot. His hand was still holding mine and the feeling of electricity jumping between us was still there. It was a really good feeling to have my hand in his, the electric feeling wasn't like getting shocked but like coming to life. He started walking in the direction of the woods once we left the school. Everything was within walking distance of everything else, except the packhouse, it was a little deeper in the woods with more privacy from everything else. I thought that might be where he was taking me. I was shocked. We ended up in a clearing in the woods next to a river.
There was a tree that had fallen and was lying just above the water from one bank to the other. He finally let go of my hand and walked over to the tree before climbing up and walking half way across. He looked back at me as if he expected me to follow him as he sat down right above the water. Slipping his shoes off, he dipped his feet in the water, never once looking away from me. I cast my eyes downward again and tentatively walked toward the tree before jumping up as he did. I walked over to where he sat and slipped my boots off my feet before sitting and dipping my feet in the cool water as he had done.
"I have waited for you for what seems like a very long time." his words were soft.
"You didn't attend the summit last year." I suddenly recalled.
"I had no need to attend the summit when I had already found my mate, I just had to wait for you." he grabbed my hand again.
"I'm sorry you had to wait so long." I mumbled as I looked at the water rushing over my feet.
"Don't be sorry, we have each other now." his words were almost hypnotic.
I nodded and continued to just watch the water. I wasn't sure what to say. I was nervous and I didn't want to mess anything up. He seemed content to sit there in silence as well. He didn't seem like the type that would get nervous easily, so maybe he just liked the quiet. I was happy at that moment with my feet in the water and the sun shining down on us. It was so quiet that it was almost easy to pretend that we were the only two people in the whole world. Before I knew it, time had flown by again and the sun had set really low in the sky. I knew my parents would start to get worried and Amber was probably getting worried as well.
"It's really late, I need to go home before my parents come looking for me." I said as I started to get up.
"I understand. I will see you tomorrow after you get done with school." he followed my every move with his eyes.
I nodded and slipped the shoes back on my feet before walking away and jumping off the log. I walked home alone, lost in thought. I would call Amber after I had a chance to talk to my parents. The evening sun was getting ready to settle just below the horizon by the time I made it to my house. I wasn't sure what I would say exactly to my parents because Cade and I hadn't really had a conversation. I even had to figure out how I was going to talk to Amber about Cade being my mate. Things were confusing, but I was happy because I had found the one that was supposed to be my other half. I took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Amelia, is that you?" my mom's voice came from the living room.
"Yes, it's me." I said back.
"Did you find your mate today?" she cut straight to chase.
"Yes, I did." I wasn't sure what to say exactly.
"Come in here and tell us about him." she said excitedly.
"My mate is Cade." I said as I walked into the living room.
"Cade? Alpha Zane's son?" she asked.
"Yes, but Amber and Cade don't get along." I said, and then presented the problem I was having.
"Cade isn't in school anymore."
"No, he graduated last year."
"How did you find him if he isn't in school?"
"He came to school today and found me in the library. That's when him and Amber... well I don't know what to call it, but they definitely weren't just playing."
"Amber will take some time to adjust but her and Cade will get along eventually."
"Mom, I'm not sure it's that simple between those two."
"You will see."
I just nodded my head and hoped that she was right. She seemed to be done with all the questions so I decided to go to my room and call Amber for damage control. I needed to figure out what I was going to say to her now, after I had basically gone mute today. I knew she would be full of questions that I didn't have answers for. This conversation wasn't going to be easy but I needed to face it. I wanted my mate and my best friend to at least try to get along. I didn't want to have to choose between the two of them. Sitting on my bed, I started at my phone and let a sigh escape my lips. I dialed her number and put the phone to my ear.
"Amelia?" she asked.
"It's me." I rolled my eyes.
"Are you at home?"
"Yes, I got home not long ago."
"What was your surprise from your parents?"
"Honestly, I don't know. I think they forgot too. When I walked in, we started talking and no one brought it up. I'll ask them tomorrow."
"Oh, okay. Well, we need to talk, but I don't want it to be over the phone. Will you sneak out and meet me later?"
"Yeah, I can do that. What time do you want to meet and where?"
"We can meet at midnight by the old bridge leading out of the packlands."
"I'll see you then."
She hung up then. I decided to relax in a bath before I had to deal with the stress of trying to smooth things over between Amber and Cade. Walking into my bathroom, I turned on the hot water and sat at my vanity to remove my make-up from the day. Once my face was clean, I drizzled some lavender bath oil into the tub and turned off the water. Once I removed my clothes, I slid into the water and let my thoughts drift back to Cade. I knew nothing about him personally. He had promised to see me after school tomorrow, so I would have to make it a point to get to know him better. It didn't seem like such a big deal when I had the hot water relaxing all my muscles and the lavender scent calming my mind. I sat there until my skin started to get soggy.
I waited until the water was cold before getting out of the tub and draining the water. Grabbing a towel, I went back into my room and picked out a pair of shorts and a light blue tank top to wear tonight. The clock read a little after eleven, so I went ahead and got dressed before brushing my hair and pulling it into a ponytail. It was time to go meet Amber at the bridge. I snuck down the stairs as quietly as I could manage before slipping out the front door. I noted that there were no lights on anywhere before I took off, walking towards the old bridge.
There weren't any kind of lights anywhere, so I had to rely on instinct to get to my destination. Normally, the only people who went to the old bridge were people looking for privacy. It was the make-out spot for teens. Sometimes, people go out alone just to swim in the water or think. I went swimming at the old bridge a lot as a child but I quickly got wrapped up in my studies once I was in high school. There was a lot of pack land, but most of the pack stayed as a community in the center of the land, so we had a lot of hidden and private locations people could go to.
"Amber?" I called her name as soon as I arrived.
There was no answer so I chose to look around for her. She wasn't on top of the bridge nor was she under it. I sniffed the air and couldn't even pick up on her scent. Checking my watch, I saw that it was 12:08 and she still wasn't there. I decided then that if Amber didn't show up in the next two minutes, I would leave and go back home. Knowing Amber, she had probably just fallen asleep and completely forgotten to meet me and I couldn't call her to ask where she was because I forgot my phone at home. I checked my watch again and not even a full minute had passed. Time seems to pass slower when you aren't doing anything. I heard a twig snap and looked around again but still didn't see anything.
"Amber?" I called out her name but didn't get a response.
"Amber, this isn't funny!" I shouted as a feeling of unease settled over me.
She still didn't respond, so I took off, walking back in the direction I had come from. I hadn't got any further than about eight or nine steps when someone jumped out in front of me. A scream was caught in my throat as I looked at the man standing in front of me. He was at least a full foot taller than I was and his polo shirt looked like it was trying to merge with the muscles underneath. I was a tiny wisp compared to him. I took a step back and the only sound I could hear was my heart racing in my ears. This man did not look familiar to me, but no humans knew of the existence of this place. He took a step closer to me with a menacing smile spreading wider across his face.
I turned around to start running in the opposite direction but ran into the chest of another man. He very closely resembled the man that had jumped out at me as if they were twins. This man wrapped his hands around my arm and squeezed hard enough that I couldn't move my arms but not hard enough to cause any bruises. I knew I was in trouble, I could feel the danger that was emitting from them and it was sickening. The first man took a step closer again and started to chuckle as if they had won. The way the second guy was holding me, I couldn't run but I wasn't trapped yet.
I kicked backwards as best as I could with my arms still being held tight. He had managed to dodge my kick and grabbed my ankle. I knew I was in serious trouble now, so I tried to bite the man who was still holding my arms but he moved his arms out the side, causing me to lift my arms with his. I started trying to jerk my leg and arms back but their grip on me tightened and I knew there was nothing I could do at that point. I wouldn't give up, but I wasn't about to waste my energy before I had a chance to fight them and escape.
I let my body go limp, in hopes they would think they had won. Both of the men let out a laugh as the first man grabbed my other ankle and they walked as far apart as my body allowed. It felt like they were trying to rip my arms and legs off, but I couldn't fight back yet. They started walking in the direction of a picnic table down by the water. I looked around in hopes that I could get a good scream out and that somebody would hear me but, to my luck, the old bridge was abandoned tonight. A scream wouldn't do me any good if nobody was around to hear it but I was bound and determined to get at least one good shriek out in hopes that someone was just out of sight. I swallowed in hopes my throat wouldn't be so dry when I screamed and then I took in a big breath.
"HELP ME! PLEASE SOMEBODY!" I screamed out as loud as I could as soon as they laid me down on the picnic table.
They laughed and the sound sent chills through my whole body. I felt the first man let go of one of my ankles and I took the chance to try to kick him again. I put as much force into my kick as I could manage. My foot connected with his stomach but he didn't even budge. That proved they were wolves and I was in serious danger. I kicked again and aimed for his face, this time hoping to connect with his jaw. He dodged faster than I had expected but when he grabbed my ankle again, he had rope in his hand that I hadn't seen before. I started trying to pull my wrists free as soon as I realized the man at my head was focused on making sure the man at my feet could get his grip back.
The man at my head quickly put both of my wrists into one of his hands and smacked me across the face. The shock halted my movements for just a little bit of time, but I quickly recovered and started to kick and try to pull free again. The man at my head wrapped his hand around my throat and squeezed. I froze as I felt his claws start to dig into my neck. When I froze, the one at my feet took the opportunity to loop the rope around one of my ankles really tight. In my failed attempt to escape, the first man had the chance to tie the rope around the bench on the side of the table. He managed to get my ankle tied to the other bench in a matter of seconds.
When he was satisfied I couldn't move my legs, he moved up and grabbed my hands away from the other man. Before I knew it the second man had his own wad of rope in his hands. The first one held my wrists still so that the second one could tie my wrists to the bench like my ankles were. I couldn't move no matter how hard I struggled against the restraints. My heart was still pounding in my chest and it was so loud I knew they could hear it. The smiles they had on their faces grew even wider as they saw my struggles were pointless. One of them pulled out a knife and I went completely still. I felt chills as he ran the knife across my skin, thankfully not enough to break my skin. He ran the knife under the strap of my tank top and bra and sliced them apart before ripping my shirt apart down the front. I felt the knife caress my skin all the way down my side. I started to cry as I realized there was no escape and I knew what these creeps had in mind and with that thought the knife sliced through my bottoms.
"You will be ours." the first man leaned down and whispered in my ear.
"Correction, brother, she belongs to us. She has been promised us." the second one quickly corrected the first.
"You are correct. Tonight we are taking our sample though." the first one responded back.
"Please, let me go." I whimpered even though I knew it would do me no good.
"I don't think we will. We are going to collect what was promised to us and we are going to make sure you really are a virgin." the second one told me with a horrible glint in his eyes.
"You can call us Master." the first one laughed as he unbuttoned his pants.
"Please don't do this, I just found my mate." I pleaded.
"You belong to us." the first said after he inspected my neck for a mating mark.
"Mate or no mate, you are ours to do with as we please. You are our slave." the second one said as he took off his pants too.
They positioned themselves at each end of my body. The two of them started to rape me at the same time. They shared a smile once my virginity had been confirmed and then neither of them held back, causing me to cry even more. They took everything from me and they were ruthless. Everything hurt and as they finished they switched sides and started again, just as ruthless as the first time, causing me just as much pain. Once they were done, they untied me and slipped back into the woods, leaving me crying while lying naked on top of the table.