Wanted by the Wolves
40. RACHEL

R A C H E L ′ S P O V :

The pain had been constant. I took most of it to help Amy plan how we would reintroduce ourselves back into our mate’s life. I couldn’t wait for the moment I got to meet Jason’s wolf, the moment my wolf and I first bonded. The mate bond is always there, but the more time spent together, the more it grows.

Kara and Jason’s was fairly strong. After all, they had spent a lot of time together. Jason’s wolf had never been aware of my existence, so it made sense for him to not look for me. I still wanted to curl up by him and go to sleep, instead of being alone.

Once Amy fell asleep that night, I took most of the pain. Since the bond between me and Jason’s wolf hadn’t been open, the pain was strained, making it hurt worse. Despite the fact that I was the one that was part witch, it still hurt badly. I couldn’t imagine what our mate was going through, planning the... funeral.

It made me sick to think of. My fake body being sobbed over by the one I love while they think I left them.

I would never leave my mate, not now, not ever.

From now on, I wouldn’t run away. I would stand by our mate no matter what.

I think the part that really got me was that I could hear Ethan crying out through the bond, begging for someone to silence the pain coursing through his body at the loss of his mate. My natural instinct was to run and embrace him, telling him that Amy and I were just fine and out of harms way, while my brain told me to stay a fair distance away.

Knowing that both of our pains would diminish if I opened the bond, I did just that.

I stepped through, to replace Ethan crying out in pain. Upon my arrival, my own, as well as his, disappeared. He was just a small ways away from the one he was grieving over and he didn’t even know it.

I watched him, ears alert for any other signs of pain. Annoyed, he grunted before turning his back to me. It hurt me slightly to see him treat me in such a way, but to him I was some random wolf that just invaded his personal space.

I couldn’t help but keep my eyes on my mate as he faked sleeping. I knew he was probably really tired, but I hadn’t seen my mate before, don’t blame me! His fur was black and he was a lot bigger than your typical wolf. His muscles were tense under my gaze, but I couldn’t help swoon at the sight. Of course, I got paired up with the most amazing looking Alpha.

*Hair flip* Yes, I am just that awesome.

He growled suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts. I wanted to melt right there and then. He was so hot when he growled and it was so deep and-

“Would you shut up already?” Amy whined. I had forgotten to close the mind link between her and I, so she had most likely heard just about everything I had been saying. I quickly apologized before closing the mind link.

I averted my gaze from my mate due to his obvious unease from my intense stare. Every once in a while would steal a glance from him. Soon he was asleep, and just before I headed off to bed, I closed the portal, knowing my mate would feel even more pain in the morning.

It was really late at night, but I could feel Amy’s restlessness. I knew she missed Jason just as much as me and desperately wanted to be at his side.

“Do you think we are doing the right thing?” She asked, the guilt eating away at her.

“What other option do we have? Like you said, if we stopped the funeral, we would go back to being the wanted wolf.”

“Yeah, but what will Jason think? How will he react to his mate faking her death?”

“If he cares for us, he’ll understand.” Despite my words, I couldn’t help but wonder if our mate would be fine with this. Currently, he was devastated, thinking his only mate was dead. I whimpered at the thought of his wolf rejecting me for hurting him. Just the thought made me sick to my stomach.

I drifted to sleep, my mind whirling with the idea of what could go wrong.

|RACHEL’S DREAM\:

White. That’s what stood out in the sea of black. The white casket that appeared to float above the crowd draped in white roses. Everyone else was wearing all black, all happiness drained from their faces.

In the front, a priest spoke monotone, his voice void of any emotion. The only other sounds came from the groups of people whispering and the man in the front row.

The man was dressed in all black, like everyone else, but he had a white rose in his front pocket. His head was in his hands as he sobbed, obviously affected by the ordeal.

Looking down upon my appearance, I saw that Amy and I blended in with the sea of black. For some reason, I felt the urge to sooth the man. It couldn’t be easy to go through that kind of heartache.

As the service ended, the man walked out beside the casket. That’s when we saw his face. It was Jason, his eyes blood shot. I gasped in realization. This was our - or Kara’s - funeral! He was still heart broken. All I wanted to do was hug him and reassure him that this wasn’t the end.

He kneeled down, apologizing over and over as the casket was lowered into the grave. I made my way over to him, and stood behind him, watching his figure shake from the relentless sobs. Jason was able to pull himself together enough to stand, and that was when I approached him. I walked up and patted his shoulder, looking in my eyes. They were red and puffy, with dark rings showcasing his lack of sleep.

“Jason, it’s okay. I’m fine.” He laughed. Laughed! What was going on?

He then voiced his thoughts. “You’re crazy. I don’t know who you are, but you seriously think you can replace my mate?”

I looked at him in shock. “Jason?!” I asked in disbelief, tears threatening to spill. I get that this didn’t make sense, but for him to think I am some sort of replacement?!

Amy took over, and I gladly let her. “I’m not some replacement. I am Kara, I always have been.”

Realization dripped over his features, before a twisted smirk took its spot on his face. “Well then, it looks like you really didn’t care for your mate, huh?”

“Jason, please, just hear me out-”

“Why should I?!” His eyes flashed, showing his wolf’s anger as well. “Ethan and I weren’t listened to. We begged for you to come back. We felt the heart break and devastation straight on. But you, you sat on the sidelines off in your own world, all well and healthy. You are no mate of mine.”

The words were like a fatal stab to my heart. I cried out in pain. He was rejecting us! “Jason, we are so sorry-”

“So your wolf took part in this also?” He laughed bitterly. “My wolf wants nothing to do with you.” The way he looked into our eyes seemed to be directed mostly at me, which made me fill with unease. “I would let him speak for himself, but I feel like living is one of your priorities.”

“We have to get out of here, Amy,” I quickly mind linked. I couldn’t take it anymore. All the pain was too much. I couldn’t stand our mate treating us like this.

Before she could move, our ‘mate’ uttered the words every perfect couple never wants to hear. “I, Jason Montgomery, Future Alpha of the Silver Crescent Pack, reject Amy Barlow as my Luna and mate.”

I thought the pain was bad before. That was like getting a paper cut compared to this, though. We crashed to the floor, or vision going blurry. Before I knew it, everything around me went black.

When I reopened my eyes, I had blonde hair draped across my face. Wait, blonde? Like Kara’s?

Looking up, I saw Jason staring down at me lovingly. “Well mate, I guess this is goodbye. Have fun being buried alive.”

Buried alive?! Looking around, we were in a white coffin. The white casket. The very one that was a part of the ceremony!

Amy let me take control as I clawed at the encasement, desperate to get as far away from here as I could. But Jason saw my attempts, and he quickly shoved me back, causing the breath to be knocked out of me. With a sinister smile, he then put the lid on the casket, locking me in.

I felt myself slowly being lowered down. This couldn’t be happening! He was our mate for crying out loud! Yeah, he rejected me, but I never thought he would stoop this low!

I growled in frustration before the movement of my death bed suddenly stopped. Then, things started to fall on the top of the casket.

BANG!

CRASH!

I realized that they were refilling my grave, but with rocks instead of soil. One thing about me that I don’t share often is that I am majorly claustrophobic. So when the rocks started to dent the casket, making my space smaller by the minute, my breathing sped up. No, I wasn’t supposed to die like this! I was supposed to be a Luna with my mate. I was supposed to raise our pups, and die happy at a very old age.

Not die in some casket from my psychotic mate!

The last thing I heard was Jason’s voice cackle, “Have fun staying in your death bed!”

That was before the last rock hit, making the entire casket cave in. I braced myself for an impact that never came.

\END OF RACHEL’S DREAM\:

I bolted upright, replaceing myself hyperventilating with sweat pooling on my forehead. Amy whined through our mind link. “Rachel, it’s too early. Go back to sleep.”

I somehow got in control of my breathing and managed to keep it at a normal pace. Just a dream, I told myself. Just a dream.

About an hour after I had woken up, I still hadn’t gone to sleep. I couldn’t close my eyes for more than a second without seeing Jason’s evil smirk, or the last rock caving in. My breathing was under control, but my heart was still pounding like it was ready to fly out of my chest.

I wondered if Jason and his wolf would ever accept us for what we did. If they reacted anything like they did in my dream, then we wouldn’t be around much longer.

Fear ate me away as I waited for our morning routine to start. What if Jason hated us? What if he didn’t wait for an explanation and just straight out rejected us? What if he wanted us dead?

Suddenly, Amy bolted up upon someone knocking at our door. As soon as she said a muffled, ‘come in’, her mother burst into the room, looking around frantically.

“Amy, you need to get ready sweetie.”

“Get ready, for what?” Amy asked, confusion clouding her thoughts. I was just as clueless as her in this situation.

“Anthony thought it would be best if you were to attend the funeral. Just in case Jason were to do something drastic. We’re leaving in a little over an hour, so you need to get ready.”

Amy nodded. She was a little shaken up on how close we were going to be to Jason, but what I said next freaked her out even more.

“Amy, I had a dream last night. We were at that funeral, and Jason rejected us. He pushed us into the coffin before burying us. We never made it out alive.”

We were currently going to face our biggest fear:

Rejection.

And I couldn’t help but hope that it goes well.

But when does that ever happen?