009~ KIDNAPPED??

Vaelra

I don't know where I am.

There is no sky, no ground, no wind or sound, only darkness, so thick it feels like it's pressing down on me.

I lie curled into myself, my arms wrapped tightly around my knees as my body shakes.

Pressing my face against my knees, I try to breathe through the ache, tearing through my chest.

But every time I close my eyes, I see him.

Zane.

His smile, the way he looked at me when he told me he loved me, then his head getting ripped from his body.

"Please..." I cry. "Make it stop."

But I know that scene is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

My fingers dig into my arms, but nothing hurts enough to drown out the pain of losing him.

I brought him into that forest. I was the one who couldn't handle my shit and dragged him away from the festival.

And now he is dead.

The tears keep coming, hot and endless, soaking the space between my knees and face.

Mama was wrong, I really was a curse. Papa left because of me. The pack distanced themselves from us because of me. And now, Zane...

Another sob rips through me.

How am I supposed to live without him? How am I supposed to go back to that miserable life when the one person who made it bearable is gone?

My chest contracts so violently that I claw at it.

It should have been me.

"It should have been me!" The scream tears out of my throat and disappears into the dark.

"Vaelra." A faint voice calls.

I ignore it and keep screaming.

It should have been me!

"You're no curse, Vaelra." The voice is closer this time.

I sniff, wiping at my cheeks. "I am. I've always been."

"You are not."

Something warm presses against my cheek. The contact is so gentle that I strangely feel a little relief.

I slowly lift my head to see a massive paw resting on my face. Following the leg upwards, my breath catches.

A wolf sits beside me, magnificent and larger than any wolf I have ever seen.

Her black fur is so black it seems to absorb the darkness surrounding us, while silver markings curl across her her shoulders, ribs, around her eyes, mozzle and legs, glowing faintly like cracks of moonlight trapped in night.

She carries herself with a strange, almost regal grace.

For some reason, she feels familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

Her head tilts slightly, and those black eyes blink slowly.

"Vaelra."

The way she says my name makes my chest ache.

And I feel that I've heard that voice countless times before, buried somewhere deep inside me that I've forgotten how to reach it.

"Who are you?"

She stares down at me for a while, then smiles. "I'm Umbriel."

"Are you—" I hesitate.

It's ridiculous.

But I need to know.

"Are you my—"

Her smile widens. "Yes."

My heart stops beating.

"I'm your wolf."

"But I'm wolfless."

"You were never."

"Then why couldn't I shift? Why couldn't I hear you? Why..." My voice cracks.

Why couldn't I feel you?

"I've always been with you, Vaelra. Since the day you were born."

"Liar!" The word tears out of me.

She doesn't flinch.

"You just don't remember."

"Remember what?" I push myself to my feet as fresh tears stream down. "How I spent years being called a curse because I was different? How my own father abandoned me?"

"If you were there, Zane wouldn't be dead!"

Even as I say it, some part of me knows it isn't true. Whether I had her or not, I wouldn't have stopped what happened in the forest. Bit the rage needs somewhere to go.

"Where were you?" I demand.

She lowers her massive head until those black eyes are level with mine. "Where you were."

I shake my head, biting down on my lips. "No, you weren't."

"Every time you cried, every time you were afraid, every time you wanted to fight back but didn't have the strength, I was with you. I wanted to help, Vaelra, but I couldn't. I was sealed."

"Sealed?"

"Yes." She rises, looking away into the dark. "Your memories from when you were able to hear me until you were seven are gone. When I was sealed, your memories of me were taken with me."

I remember the illness when I was seven. I was unconscious for five days, and when I woke up, my memory was a mess, and Papa left us.

"Why? Who sealed you?"

The darkness beneath my feet suddenly cracks. I step away from it, but the whole area is cracking.

"What's happening?"

"It's time for you to wake up."

"I don't want to. Zane is dead."

"You must. Our mate is waiting."

"Our what?"

"You won't remember any of this when you wake up," she says, already stepping back as the geound splits open beneath me. "But I want you—"

"Wait...what fucking mate?"

I start to fall into the light while Umbriel stands above the breaking dark, watching me.

"When the seal breaks, you will remember everything."

Her voice fades as I'm swallowed by the light.

I wake with a gasp, my eyes snapping open.

For several seconds, I don't move, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling above me, my breathing ragged and heart pounding against my ribs.

Where the hell am I?

A sudden sharp pain rips through my head as an image tries to force its way forward and then slips away like water through my fingers.

I press both hands to my forehead, frowning hard.

I feel like I have forgotten something.

Something important.

When nothing comes, I give up.

Sitting up, I throw the blanket aside and immediately feel the cold air against my bare skin.

I freeze, and then my gaze drops to my chest, horror rushing through me.

"What the fuck?"

I snatch the blanket back and clutch it tightly against my chest as I look around the room.

Where the actual fuck am I? And why am I naked?

The room is ridiculously large, dark wood furniture, heavy silk curtains, a fireplace burning low in the corner and the bed beneath me is soft and huge.

There is no fucking way this is the dirt poor Crescent Moon pack.

My bare feet meet the cold floor, sending chills straight through me.

I head toward the door, I assume is the exist only to hear another door creak behind me.

I spin around, and I see that Lunatic from the river walking out the adjoining room, a linen cloth wrapped low around his waist.

The moment his mismatched eyes land on me, he stops.

My stomach turns violently as the image of Zane's head in his hand flashes through my memory.

"You." I say through clenched teeth as tears well in my eyes. "I'll fucking kill you!"

I reach instinctively to my waist for my dagger, but its not there.

A sudden rush of wind cuts through the room. I barely have time to blink before he's standing in front of me.

I stumble backwards, hitting the wall behind me.

How the fuck did he—

He towers over me, and I have to tilt my head back to meet his eyes.

He studies me for a beat before a slow smile spreads across his stupid face. "You're finally awake, Vae."