Savage Mate

5. Reunion

Ava

I smile at the man as a big plate of pancakes is put in front of me. I never thought that my kidnappers had taken me so far, and that my parents had to ask some friends to go pick me up. At first, I was convinced that they were the bad guys, but soon their leader explained that he was a friend of my dad's and that he was there to help me get back home. He told me to stay in my animal form and carried me back to a hotel where he got me into the bathroom, gave me some clean clothes and told me to get ready. After a much needed shower and having clean clothes, I got out to a feast of fast food. 

After eating way more than I should have, I crashed, sleeping for a long time. After waking up, a couple of the men that had come to help me, took me to a diner for some breakfast. I start eating with gusto, it tastes so good after the last couple of days eating only what I could catch in my animal form.

"I'm sorry to do this, but, do you remember where you were taken?" his question makes me pause for a moment.

"Why?"

"We want to see if we can find the people responsible for your kidnaping," he simply says.

"They weren't after me, specifically" I explain, "they said they wanted wild animals for their underground fights, but when one of them guessed that I was a shifter, he said he wanted to use me to force my parents to fight instead," I say what I remember from their talks.

"Were there others with you?" he is staring at me, he has kind eyes, but his intensity is a little intimidating.

"There were many cages, and it smelled awful. I'm pretty sure that at least one of them had a dead animal, but there were no other animals that I could see. And there was the boy."

"The boy?"

"The one that let me out," and just like that my appetite is gone. "He was all bruised and covered in blood. Is the one I told you that left me out. He was really nice, and told me how to get out. I told him we could go back for him. Is that why you are asking? Are you going to go for him?" I'm feeling awful that I am right here, with a huge breakfast, and the boy is all alone. I hate that I had forgotten about him, even if for just a minute. 

"We will go back and punish the men that took you, and bring the boy back. If he helped you, he deserves help, right?" he says, and I want to believe him. 

"I didn't even ask his name. I'm awful, right?" I feel like crying. All the happiness from before is gone.

"No, of course not, you were in a bad position, silly things like names can be forgotten in a moment of panic. Don't be too hard on yourself," he smiles, but it doesn't make me feel better.  

"I don't remember much about my trip there, they shoot me with something that made me dizzy and sleepy. I just remember being in a car for a long time, inside a tiny cage, and then they took me through a lot of hallways down to a basement that smelled really bad and then to the room with the cages. When I got out I went into the vents and then I hid in a car. I remember holding to the car for a long time, it was in a really bad road, full of bumps and potholes. When I could hold no longer, I ran into the forest and then found water and followed it till I got to the point where you found me."

"Did you go into the water?" I know he is asking because water could wash out the scent, it was harder to track things that got into the water.

"No, I stayed by the side of it. Will that help?" I really hope they can find the place and rescue the boy who helped me. 

"It will. Now, enjoy the rest of your breakfast, and then you and my good friend here will go back to your parents. Okay?" I nod, and try to finish the pancakes, but I'm no longer hungry, everything that happened the last few days is back and it's overwhelming, I try not to cry, but I want my daddy and mommy really bad. 

The big guy goes outside and I see through the window that he is talking to another man. I'm not sure how many there are, but I know there are many. I'm not sure how, but I manage to finish all the food, just as then get up, ready for what's next.  

"The boss already took care of the bill, we can go. I'm sure you are eager to go to your parents, and they miss you a lot."

"Of course!" I reply.  

"Believe me, if your father could, he would already be here."

"Why is he not here?" I ask, it's something that it's been bothering me. When I woke up, I believed he would already be here. 

"Well, the Boss believed it would be better to keep your father away, he was a little worried about what he could do if he got close to the people who kidnapped you." That made sense, my father had been in the military in a special group that was just shifters, and he could be deadly.

"So, how do you know my dad?"

"We served together. The Boss and your father were good friends, and I had a few missions with them."

"That explains how you found me so fast."

"We are good at our job, and we are more than willing to help out a friend. Part of that is not allowing him to get into trouble because he couldn't contain himself," I know my father is capable of killing anyone who hurts me, I also know that the men that had taken me were humans, and it was complicated. A shifter killing a human for k********g his daughter would cause a lot of political trouble. We lived together and managed to co-exist, but most humans feared us, and were just looking for excuses to paint us as the bad guys.

We go into the car, and despite all the hours I had already slept, I fall sleep as soon as we get on the highway. I wake up when the car stops, and I open my eyes to see we are at a rest stop.  

"Come on, let's go. It looks like your parents couldn't wait much longer for you," the man says, and as I look out of the windows, I see my mom getting out of our car and coming our way.

"Mommy!" I yell as I open the door and run towards her. She opens her arms and catches. Seconds later, my dad arrives and hugs the both of us.

"My dear child, I was so scared! I won't let you get out of my sight ever again!" mom declares.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" dad asks, even if he already knows I'm okay, I'm sure he got a full report from his friends.

"I missed you so much!" I say as I start crying in relief. I thought I would never see them again, I was afraid that I had made a big mistake and wouldn't be able to return to them. Even after hearing their voices on the phone, it wasn't real until now, that I can be back in their arms. "I was so scared!" for a while I'm sobbing so hard that I don't even understand the words they are saying, but then I calm down to both my parents just hugging me. 

"Thank you so much for bringing my daughter back to me," my dad finally says to the man that had been waiting patiently to the side, making sure no one approaches, even if the rest stop is deserted. 

"That's what friends are for," he says, "no matter what animal we have, we are family."

"I really appreciate. Do you have any news of the men who took her?" my dad's voice goes cold, a tone I had never heard from him and that's a little scary. 

"The last I heard they had found her scent and were following it, but I don't know if they found them."

"I get why the boss left me out of this, but if you find the, then I want to know, and I want a piece of them."

"If they are human, as we suspect, then it won't be a good idea. We can find a way to deal with them that won't get back to us."

"I have the same training as you, don't forget that," dad warns.

"And that's kind of the problem, but don't worry, we will keep you updated."

With that, the man nods at mom and me and then leaves, we go back to my parent's car.

"I'm sorry," I say once we are inside the car. "I will never go away by myself. I just wanted to explore a little bit."

"I think you learned your lesson, so we won't talk about punishment for now, but you need to listen to us, everything we say, we say for your own good," dad says in a very serious tone.

"We are sorry too, my dear," mom says, "we are supposed to keep you protected, but we couldn't do that. I know it's not an excuse, but they took us all by surprise. I know you must have been so afraid, and I'm so glad you got away."

"I escaped only because of the boy who helped me. The bad men were planning to use me to trap you both. One of them said that shifters care about their children and that by holding me they would be able to make you fight for them. I would have felt awful if you got hurt because of me."

"Don't worry about that, nothing happened, and you are safe and back with us, and soon we will be home and will be able to forget all about this."

"Dad? Could you teach me how to fight?" I ask, remembering the powerlessness I felt when I had been caught. 

"You don't need to, sweety, we will keep you safe, I promise," mom says.

"I think it might be a good idea," dad objects, "we can't be there forever, and there might be a time when she will need to protect herself. Even with us there, we can't be sure what the situation will be. I will start teaching you some basic self-defense as soon as the doctor checks you and gives us the all clear."

"Thanks, dad," I feel better immediately. If something like that happened again, I would be ready to fight back, I'm not going to be a victim ever again.