‘Til We Meet Again

Chapter 14: More Questions

Trinity

"What's in the box?"

It was late, almost midnight, by the time we rolled out of bed. Christian was feeling a range of emotions about the heated conversation with his dad from earlier. He glanced at it and shrugged.

"Aren't you going to open it?" I was a bit nosy and wanted to know what it was. It was wrapped neatly and looked special. He handed me the box and stood, walking over to the bathroom. I sat back against the headboard and began to unwrap it. I could hear the toilet flush. I paused, but Christian was taking forever. After another couple of minutes, I opened the small box. Inside was a little piece of paper and a wooden ring. I picked up the ring first, inspecting it. There were some letters inscribed on the inside, but I wasn't sure of the language. I placed it back into the box and took the piece of paper out next.

Christian came out of the bathroom and sat beside me.

"What is it?" He took the box and examined the ring, frowning.

"I'm not sure about the ring, but you might want to read this letter." My voice was soft; mainly because this love story was becoming more than I could handle. I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn't look at him. This was all too much.

He took the piece of paper and began reading the letter aloud, as if I needed him to.

"My dearest son, I have made many mistakes as a mother; the first was trusting your father to provide a decent life for our family. The second was promising you to an Alpha's daughter from a rival pack. I thought it would bring us more power, but I never considered your fate and the type of man you would grow to be. I must right my wrongs. Forgive me."

I cringed and continued to stare down at my hands.

"Trinity..." Christian reached for my hands and I finally bought my head up. My eyes met his and he honestly looked tired.

"Trinity, I would never have considered rejecting you. Things are much different now. I'm not like my dad."

I sighed.

"I know. But what if ..." My voice trailed off. A rival pack? They were not going to take our mating very well. I could guarantee that. What if they waged war? What if someone got hurt? What if they kidnapped Christian?! I nearly gagged over that last thought. I don't know if I could handle something like that.

Christian studied me for a minute before pulling my head to his chest.

"Trinity, you have nothing to be worried about. My mom said she is going to fix it. Whatever is going on has nothing to do with you, so let's talk about something else."

I inhaled, instantly calmed by my mate's scent. He was right, but also wrong. This had everything to do with me. He is my mate. If anything happened to him, I would be affected. It could drastically change the way I view the world for the rest of my life. I inhaled again, feeling my anxiety rising. Christian's scent calmed me once again.

"How about we go for a run?" My wolf piped up, squealing in the back of my mind over Christian's question.

"Carmen is going to explode, so sure." I chuckled as my wolf howled.

We got up and raced each other to the stairs. We remembered at the same time how late it was and lowered our excited voices to whispers. Once outside, we tossed our clothes onto the porch and shifted, running for the trees. All I could hear were our paws pounding the ground beneath us. Maceo tackled Carmen and they rolled, playfully growling at one another. Carmen licked Maceo's snout and he purred, placing it in her thick fur at her neck. They walked close to one another before choosing a spot to sit and cuddle. Carmen laid on her side, while Maceo placed his head on her abdomen. They looked so sweet together.

"You're a big puppy, Maceo."

"So are you, mate. You just play coy."

"But you like it."

"I love it." Maceo purred. Carmen laughed.

They both sat up when a rustling sound caught everyone's attention.

"Christian, wh--" He shushed me.

Maceo moved slowly, crouching and turning his head from side to side. Carmen followed his actions, watching and waiting. After a few minutes, they both stood.

"Let's head back. It's late anyway."

Christian sounded rather annoyed by the interruption, but we started our run back. Before I knew what was happening, I felt a sharp pain in my side, followed by a loud growl and an odd sensation of emotions.

Carmen howled in pain and it was then I realized she was bleeding. There was so much blood.

"Christian!"

I noticed he was fighting off several wolves. The largest wolf growled, probably mindlinking the others because they all stopped and backed up. The large wolf circled Maceo.

"I'm healing, but not fast enough. We need to help mate!" Carmen was panicking. Her whimper made me want to cry. The pain was so bad.

"When I give you the signal, run!" Christian's voice interrupted my thoughts.

The large wolf pounced and I saw Maceo roll out of the way and run toward him.

Carmen stopped shivering and her breathing began to even out. I was anxious as I watched Maceo fend off the large wolf. I wanted us to jump in, but I could feel pain still. I looked on helplessly, silently praying that Maceo would best the large wolf. My thoughts were interrupted when the large wolf did a side-step and sent Maceo crashing into the tree. He didn't recover fast enough. The large wolf sank his fangs into one of Maceo's hind legs. He yelped and tried to get up. The other wolves pounced on Maceo quickly. Carmen howled a loud, desperate howl.

"Christian!"

"Run! Now!" Carmen tried to stand, but fell back down.

"I'm not strong enough yet. I need more time to heal." Carmen sounded defeated.

"Trinity, go back to the packhouse. Alert my dad about--"

I looked up as the large wolf stood over Maceo, motioning for the others to help him. Two of them shifted, grabbing Maceo and carrying him away. My heart sank as I witnessed the abduction of my mate. I made note of the humans' features. From what I understood about supernatural territories, they were from the Northern region. The tattoos on the upper right side of their backs was a dead giveaway.

I couldn't mindlink anyone from the pack yet, so I wept. Carmen whimpered.

"It was silver."

"Huh?"

"They used silver to hurt us."

"Silver?"

"A silver dagger. That's why it's taking so long to heal."

I groaned. Of course. Silver was sort of an arch nemesis for werewolves. Carmen slowly got up, catching her breath and shaking herself off.

"Take it easy." I warned. Carmen scoffed and started for the packhouse. She didn't run as fast, but she pushed forward. She was silent. My thoughts were racing as I held onto Christian's voice. The images of Maceo being carried off to Goddess knows where kept flashing in my mind. I was frustrated. All we did was lay there. They needed us to help and we couldn't do that. Carmen picked up the pace, whimpering the rest of the way to the packhouse.