Savage Mate

7. Family's support

Ava

It was weird being back home. It was even weirder that only a week had passed since I had been kidnapped and escaped. It felt like so much time had gone by, a lifetime, even. Dad had refused to tell me what had happened after I left, what they had found, especially if they had found the boy that had helped me escape, but he kept saying there were no news, that he didn't know anything. I don't believe that, I'm sure he knows, just don't want to tell me, and that just makes me think the worst happened. Noise from downstairs, breaks me out of my thoughts. I go downstairs to see what is happening and see my aunt and my two cousins coming inside the house. 

"My dear baby," my aunt comes at me and hugs me so hard that it becomes hard to breathe, but I welcome the embrace, and I have to fight back some tears. "how are you?"

"I'm fine, really," I like the attention, but not the reason behind it. Two sets of arms also hug me, Jenny and Sarah are also asking questions, but they are both talking fast and at the same time, so it's hard to follow them. 

"Give her a chance to breathe," mom says, and they finally let me go and slow down.

My cousins are a few years older than me, and we sometimes have our differences, but we are family and family always stays together and support each other. 

"Why don't you take your cousins to your room?" my dad suggests, and I know that's just an excuse to get rid of me, but I have no other choice, so I motion to my cousins to follow me and we go upstairs.

"So, was it scary?" Jenny asks.

"Don't ask her that," Sarah admonishes her, "that's insensitive."

"It was," I say, shivering a little. "It was actually horrible. You have no idea how awful it was. They caught me in my shifted form and put me in a cage, then they took me away. I don't think they knew I was a shifter, but when they suspected, they got happy and started making plans on how to use me to control my parents, and I was so scared my parents were going to suffer because of me!"

"It's okay now," Jenny says, sitting next to me and putting her arm over my shoulder. Sarah sits on the other side, copying her sister. 

"You are safe, and nothing will happen to you." Sarah says. "Uncle's friends will make sure everything is okay."

Everyone in the family knows about my father's shifter friends. My grandparents were not happy with him joining the military, but they supported him anyway, and it seems that now they appreciate it, because of the help we are getting from them.

"I wasn't alone in there, there was a boy who helped me escape. I want to know what happened to him, but dad is not telling me anything," I complain, and I know they can hear my frustration. 

"I bet that's why mom is here," Sarah says, looking at her sister. Bobcat shifters don't have leaders the same way the wolves had, but some members were more important than others and often acted in the interests of their race. Our grandparents had been prominent leaders, but now it was my aunt who had that spot.  

"She did say that uncle had something to discuss with her," Jenny confirms.

We all look at each other, and in mutual, silent, agreement we move to the top of the stairs, hiding from view, but within hearing range. I put some music in my room before getting out, so they will think we are still there. If they find out that we are listening, they won't be happy, but I need to know what happened. 

"I'm just glad she is okay," my aunt is saying, and she doesn't seem that affected by my ordeal.

"Yes, she is, I'm afraid she won't forget this anytime soon. And she is obsessed with that boy she found there," I resent my dad's words, but I have to acknowledge I had been pretty insistent in my asking about him. 

"So what did your friends had to say? They didn't find anything?"

"They could confirm that it seems to be a pretty well organized business. They think that illegal fighting was taking place there, but from what they found they might have been including some animal fights. They found a few animal bodies in a dumpster behind the facility. They said they found a dead cat whose colors resembled Ava's cat. They think that it was a cat they found nearby and mistook for her," I feel sick, were they really trying to kill me when they killed that innocent animal?

"Well, if that's true, then it's good news for us. They won't be looking for her if they think she is dead."

"I agree about that. What bothers me is that they didn't find any clues as to who is behind all that, or who the kid Ava mentioned is. She seems to think he was also a prisoner, and if that's true, well, I just don't want to consider the implications."

"Are you going to keep investigating? You have Ava back, that's all that matters," my aunt says dismissively, but I get angry, what about that innocent boy? Why can't we help him?

"I think we need to keep an eye on the situation, maybe warn our people about the dangers. My friends seem to think the one responsible moved his operation to another place to avoid getting caught, but they might come back, and they seem to be capturing animals. They found mostly dogs, but the fact they were trying to catch bobcats indicate that they are looking into expanding to new challenges. One of our own could end up in one of the fighting pits."

"I'll talk to the other groups and warn them about this. I'll also ask them to keep and open for any signs of the kind of setup your friends found there. With luck, we will be able to find and stop them for good. Our first priority is to our people, to keep them safe."

I start crying, because I feel like they are giving up on my savior, and I did say I would try to help him. I failed him. My cousins realize that I'm upset, and drag me back to my room. They hesitate at first, not sure what to say, but sometimes words are not the answer, they just hug me until the tears stop.  

That's what I love about my family, they don't demand answers or explanations, they are there for me, they know I'm upset and as a result, they comfort me, giving me time and space to decide how to act and what to do next.

I know I should be grateful, I'm free, but I still feel like a failure for not being able to do more. I still remember how hurt the boy was, and even in that condition, he freed me. I hate to think what could happen to him as a consequence of his help.

After a while, I calm down, and by the time we are called downstairs for dinner, I'm composed again. No one says anything about the conversation we heard, and I'm sure that if they suspect anything, is that I bared my feelings to my cousins, not that I heard their conversation. Other than the realization that nothing will happen, it's a good thing to have my family with me. I know that even after escaping, I wouldn't have gotten far if it wasn't for my family and the contacts they have. I'm lucky, I'm beyond blessed to have a supporting family with enough power to pull the strings necessary to bring me back home in one piece. And I know that under different circumstances, I would have been avenged as well, if my dad's friends had found the ones responsible for my k********g. I'm sure they would have paid dearly for their mistake. I feel bad for all the people that doesn't have the same support system, people like the boy that doesn't have anyone to help him get out.