This is my rewrite of The Mates. If you keep up with my other stories, I am still working on the next chapter for the Great Stallion, Forgotten Magic, and It Started with a Click. I will be rewriting Coming Home. I am sorry I haven't been writing. A lot has been going on that I don't want to get into. But here is the first chapter to The Mates. I hope you all enjoy it, and let me know what you think in the comments. Oh and, I don't own anything. Don't own Vampire Diaries, The Originals.
It felt like someone was following her, but who would follow her? She wasn't anyone special. Just a normal college student; was just heading back to her dorm from the library. But with every step she took, it echoed. The echoes were growing lounger, growing closer. As she was close enough to her dorm, enough to see the front desk through the floor to ceiling windows, she whipped her head around. Nothing was there. She believed her mind was playing tricks on her. She turned around to retrieve her student ID to let herself into her form building. It had to be in her bag somewhere. Where was that stupid card? She thought to herself while she continued to dig in her bag.
While she was distracted, the monster began to change. Was in the bushes still watching her dig through her purse. Let out a small snarl before striking. Her bag dropped from her hands when it bit down hard on her leg. Her things scattered as the monster tore her leggings as it was attempting to drag her away. The girl's screams pierced its sensitive ears. The monster dropped her leg and let out a howl. The girl tried to crawl away but it was faster. This time the monster snapped down on her neck. No more screams. The monster dragged her away from the scene of the crime.
When the news got wind of a missing college student, it was aired right away. It was the third college student to disappear from the same university. This time blood was found. This time her ID was found on the ground by puddle of blood. The officials said the girl was likely dead due to the amount of blood, but the school tried to cover such things. No university wanted to have to explain how three students went missing on their watch. The papers ran the news for a while until there was nothing to report more. The editors had everyone get back to business as usual.
"Elena, do you have that piece on the concert done yet?" My editor asked.
"Not yet. I am sorry." I apologized to him. "I'll have it before five." I watched as he thought for a moment until he turned to my colleague, Cami.
"Cami, give me whatever you have on the university kidnaps. Going to run that on tomorrow paper." He decided. "Elena, finish the article. We will get it out before the weekend."
"Yes sir." Cami and I spoke in unison.
"Come to my office if any of you need anything. Elena stay after." He said.
Cami and I exchanged looks with each other. It felt like on high school whenever the teacher excused the class but not you. It didn't help that Cami had this "you're gonna get it" look on her face. Everyone left just leaving my editor, Brady and I in the conference room.
"You can't keep turning your work in late." He said as he moved in closer to me. He had this whole disappointed look on his face and everything.
"Sorry. I am still finishing up school and my boyfriend has been distracting me." I told him.
"School is important. Maybe you should tell your boyfriend that you need to finish your work and not bother you." He said.
"Okay." I replied. "Brady, I need to finish my work and do not bother me." I laughed out.
"I will try not to bother you, babe." He leaned down and kissed my lips quickly. "Go get the article done."
"Will do." I gave him a small salute before I jumped up from the desk chair. "See you tonight." I waved goodbye from the door before making my escape.
Cami was waiting the small space we got to call our desk. She didn't ask what we discussed because she didn't want to know whether her oldest brother and best friend got frisky in the conference room. Though I wouldn't call getting a lecture then a kiss from my own boyfriend, frisky.
Cami and I were both what they called junior reporters for a small local newspaper in Seattle. Been friends ever since we met in psychology back in our college years, so about two years. Both of us are now graduate students. She is going for PhD in psychology while I am getting my masters in literature. Both of us were writing for the paper just because it paid the bills. We both had bigger dreams in mind. I wanted to tour the world; write about the things I have seen and experienced. Cami planned on becoming a psychologist. She wanted to help people with their problems without having to medical school; she couldn't stand the sight of blood, even a papercut made her get sick.
"I am going to an art gallery this weekend. Want to go with me?" I asked Cami while kicking my feet up on my desk.
"Yes, but why aren't you taking our boss?" Cami questioned.
"Because I am writing an article about it, and maybe one of my photographs will be hanging up." I muttered under my breath the last half.
"Repeat that now." She demanded from. I did so quickly once again. "That is amazing. Really Elena, that is just amazing."
"Just be quiet about it, I don't want Brady to know until I get your opinion on it. After then I will tell him about it." I told her.
"Which photo is it? Is the one with the wolves?"
"No." I all but snapped my answer at her. "I mean no, not that one. You will see when we get there."'
Wolves. Those weren't just wolves. The photo was hidden from the world in my wallet. It was until I gave Cami permission to grab my credit card for me. I was quick to tell her it was such a unique photo that I didn't want to share it. Getting a photo of wolves to look directly at a camera without killing you was unique. They wouldn't kill me, they were my family. My little brother, my best friends who were like brothers, and my uncle who practically raised me as his own. They were coming back from a run when the first snow touched ground. I got them to huddle together for me as the snow covered their fur. Once the photo was done. I waited inside for them to enter. My eyes covered, stacks of clothes in my free hand. I really did not want to see them naked after they shifted on the front porch. I didn't open my eyes until I felt his kiss on my lips.
"Elena." Hayley's voice rang in my ear breaking me out of my thoughts. She and I were having coffee at our favorite Wi-Fi spo…I mean favorite coffee shop who has the best free Wi-Fi. "Where did you just go?"
"Home." I got out before I took a long sip of my coffee.
"You can always go back there." She told me. "What is the worst thing that could happen?"
"I could be shunned out. I left Hayley. I am no better than those things." I said.
"Those things are murderers. You are not a murderer. You hate killing even a rabbit." She assured me.
Hayley was the only one that knew my secret. She was the same as me, but a little different. As a hybrid, she didn't have to be worried about dying if she turned too many times. Something I still worried about ever since I was sixteen. Sixteen years later, and still alive. Recording breaking.
"I think you are afraid of going home because of him who shall not be named." She said.
"Voldemort?" I asked just to get a laugh out of her, and to change the subject I had been avoiding since I left four years ago.
"N…" She started to say before my hand covered her mouth.
"Stop. I am afraid of seeing him. I felt how I broke him, but he knew how much my heart was breaking. I needed to heal before I lost myself." I admitted while drawing my hand from Hayley's mouth.
"Does Brady know about him?"
"Know that I was once engaged to another man, yes. That said man is a werewolf and I am too, no. We did the whole talk about exes on our third date. He knows about him, Ty and Matt. Just like I know about the fact that Jules and him once dated." I really wanted to change the subject now before I got trapped still talking about it. "I am going to an art gallery on Saturday, one of my photos will be in it, and I would like for you to come."
"Love to. Brady going to be there?"
"No, but Cami will be there."
"Alright, I'll go."
After coffee with Hayley, I didn't go back to the office to finish up on my article. I went to the one place I could be alone. No one ever came to the beach in October; it was the perfect place to be alone. I set up my chair right under the large umbrella that was to protect me if any rain came in. I just needed to type a few more sentences, but I wanted to be alone. It felt like I never was. During the week, I was either at work, in classes, at home with Brady or with my friends. I hardly had any alone time. I was grateful for everything that I had, but sometimes a girl just needs some alone time.
I finished my article within minutes. Looked over it three times before I sent the attachment to Brady. I sat back in the chair and watched as the sun began to set. I could feel her egging me on. Had been so long since I lost control and gave into her. A month or more since my last run. She was begging for me to release her from the cage. I had to cave into her now or she could take control somewhere in public the longer I kept her in the cage. I placed my bags into my trunk then locked it. I went over to an abandon shack to strip down to nothing. I found a good enough hiding spot for my keys and clothes before I could feel her taking over me.
She was stronger than I remembered. It always felt that way about her. She changed me to suit her. My eyes went from a chocolate brown to a piercing grey nearly silver. My body dropped so that I was on all fours. Broke my bones, changed my hair to fur. Soon enough I was my inner beast. My wolf. A white wolf was rare. Usually our fur matched our hair color. But mine was a pure white, same shade as snow. The boys used to tease and call me the ice princess, but he never would. He was my yang, to my yin. His fur pure black.
My wolf led me out of the shack. Took me for a ride along the beach; she would only skim along the water but not step in. She was free, but it wouldn't last. It never lasted.
Brady was still up when I came back to our apartment at eleven. He was sitting on the couch on his computer; probably still working. He barely looked up when I closed the door behind me. I placed my messenger bag in front of the coat closet before I approached the back of the couch. I leaned forward on my arms to just see what he was doing. Yep, working, knew it.
"You are home late." He spoke as he continued to type away.
"My night class ran late and I had to grab a bite." I explained to him. I reached forward and closed his laptop after his response to my explanation was just simple "mhmm". "Come to bed with me. Work will still be there in the morning." He laid his head back and looked up at me.
"Just let me clean up and I will be right in." He promised me, but I knew he would break it. As soon as I would leave the room, he wouldn't come to the bedroom for another hour. Brady believed he clocked out at midnight not six when the rest of us do.
I was getting ready for bed when my phone went off. No one called me this late ever. I rushed to my discarded jeans where I had left my phone in the back pocket. Hayley. Hayley never called this late except for when she was drunk. I had to pick up just in case she needed a ride back to her apartment.
"I think wolves are in Seattle." She spoke clearly sober. "I smelled several new scents when I walked past a group of men."
"They could be a pack visiting." I told her trying to calm down her worrying. Hayley and I were in the same boat. We both left our packs for different reasons. But to leave a pack, abandon them, could lead to the death of the wolf that left. The sentence could be carried out by any pack. "They don't know who you are."
"They stopped when I passed them. Maybe…" She started to worry.
"Stop, and breath Hayley. Come over. You can spend the night if you are worried." I told her.
"Good because I need you to buzz me in."
I let out a laugh, and hung up the call. I slid on nightgown before leaving the bedroom. Brady slammed his lap top shut when he saw me, but I wasn't there to catch him still working. I went over to the box that hung on the wall next to the door. I hit the button to allow Hayley into the building before I unlocked the front door.
"Hayley is spending the night, so you really do need to pack up." I told Brady.
"Alright, alright." He surrendered and started to really put his office things away. I went to the hall closet to get a blanket and a few extra pillows for Hayley to sleep on while on the couch.
"Hey." She greeted us both when she let herself into our apartment. Brady just gave her a wave and headed to the bedroom. "What is his problem?" She relocked my front door while I was making up the couch for her.
"I kicked him out of his office." I smirked. "Sleep here for as long as you like." As I gave her a hug, I caught a familiar scent; more than just one familiar scent, three. But I just shook it off because there was no way they were there. "Get some sleep."
I went back to the bedroom to find Brady getting changed for bed instead of getting back on his laptop.
"What is going on?" He asked. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she is having a fight with her roommate and I told her she could crash her." I lied to him.
"Jules invited me out for Saturday" He started to tell me while we were both getting into bed. "Apparently there is this art gallery show, and the funny thing is your name was one of the names mentioned on the website."
"I was going to tell you, but I wanted the girls' opinion on it first before you saw it."
"Why? Is it me naked?" He teased.
"No. It is the first photo I ever sent to a gallery and I am worried it is ugly."
"Well we are going this Saturday as a couple and I am going to see what this photo is." I rolled my eyes and laughed before I cuddled up with him in the bed we shared.
I wasn't the only one that brought a date to the art gallery. Jules brought some guy that's name I already forgot. Hayley brought her on and off again boyfriend, Jackson; a fellow wolf that lost his pack. Cami was staying by my side as I went in search of my photo. We found it along the back wall; wedged in between two black in photos. The photo was taken last winter. Just as the trees were still bare, but no snow was visible on the ground. The sun was just coming up, but it was bright. The colors ranged from dark blue to orange to pink even. The trees were bent in a way it created an arch almost. I had taken it on my way home from a vacation with Brady. He was sleeping while I was driving the car; he didn't even wake up when I pulled over to take the photo before the natural beauty disappeared.
"Wow." Cami said. "It is gorgeous."
"Thanks." I muttered a little embarrassed by her staring at my photo. "Now tell me the truth, it is too simple. Too plain."
"No, it isn't. I have never watched the sunrise, and this makes me feel like I am watching it live." She told me. "Only thing I would change would be that I was there with you."
The group found us and my photo. They all exclaimed on how gorgeous it was and how proud they were. Jules was in different, but still congratulated me before she dragged her date away. While Jackson and Brady caught up, Hayley, Cami and I went to look at the art. Well, Hayley and I looked at the art, Cami looked at the guys. Hayley and I were look at one painting when we smelled something in the air. Wolves. Just as we were about to look around, Cami came back to us with a huge grin on her lips.
"Not to sound like a teenager, but hotties at the door." Cami exclaimed.
Hayley and I both turned to the door, and I froze where I stood. Marcel. Tyler. Mason.
"Those are the wolves I saw yesterday." Hayley whispered in my ear.
They weren't here for Hayley. They were here for me. They were from my pack. The pack I abandoned. I wanted to run again, but it felt like my feet were glued to the floor in fear.
"They are coming over." Cami whispered in my other ear.
"I need air." I managed to get out. I stepped forward, but my legs were unstable I nearly fell over. I needed to get out. I made a run for the door before the girls could stop me. I ran right around the men and dated out the front door. I hid in the nearest alley trying to catch my breath when I heard their voices.
You can't run, Lena. Marcel's voice still had a hint of his Louisiana accent.
We need to talk. Mason was stronger than his twin's, but it had his boyish attitude imbedded.
Please. Tyler was the last voice she heard in her head when the three men appeared; blocking my exit to the alley.
"Why are you here? Alaric swore to me that I would be left alone here." I said still trying to catch the breath they had knocked out of me.
"We need you home. Alaric sent house to bring you home." Marcel informed me.
"Why?" I asked.
"He thinks you are going to be killed." Tyler said as he handed me the papers in his hand. It was from the newspaper I worked for. Cami's article was circled. All the students missing. Brunettes. All with brown eyes. All were graduate students.
"A rogue killed those girls. Your scent is unique but also hard to find." Mason spoke up. "We think the rogue is an assassin. Must have gotten your photo and was working from there."
"Okay, I'll be careful, but I am not going back." I put my foot down.
"This is an order, Elena." Marcel said. "Either you come home willingly or we take you." That was why there was three of them. It would take all three of them to take me in against my will.
"Finn is dead." Tyler told me. "Rebekah was attacked last week by some wolves, and Stefan is still healing from his fight with some rogues that tried to take him. We are being targeted, we need to be together.
Finn is dead. Finn is dead. Finn is dead.
I knew my answer before my lips slipped it out. "Let's go."