Twilight isn't mine, also I know this was a chapter title I used in my other story but honestly they are the hardest part so don't judge me please.
Dreams
Pack links
Thoughts
Chapter 2: Painful Past
The atmosphere was homey, if slightly awkward, as we gathered in Charlie's living room. He cleared his throat before speaking.
"So, where are your parents?" And just like that the ease we were falling into shattered, my body tensed and, in my peripherals, I could see Kade wasn't faring much better.
"So you really were cut off from the link when you left..." Kade's voice broke slightly as he stared at the floor.
"Well,yea...I was- wait, why?" As he spoke Charlie visibly paled, starting to piece things together. "Oh god...Kaden, where are your parents? Isabella?" I barely bit back my growl at the name but I couldn't stop the shaking, he didn't seem to notice though.
"They're gone." I barely managed to spit out. "They're all gone. The entire pack was decimated by an army of vampires." I stared resolutely at the space just above his right shoulder, unable to make eye contact. "Kaden and I are all that's left, you're the elder now Charlie." Slowly my gaze slid to his, holding for a second before flicking away again.
"No...no that isn't, it isn't possible! Your father...my brother...he can't be..." His voice trembled as he forced out the words, silent tears streaming down his face. "How? Why? Who coulda done this?" I flinched back at the unmistakable sorrow and anger in his tone.
"A group of vamps targeted us...they wanted, something. And they killed everyone to get it." Kade straightened up, ready to take control of the situation that was slowly spiraling.
"What the hell was so important they killed the entire pack!" Charlie snarled as he jumped to his feet. "Why didn't everyone just run! How were all those lives worth losing for one damn thing!" His pacing became erratic as growls started spilling from him more frequently. "Why did they all have to die! What was worth everyone's lives!"
"A true alpha." I answered numbly. "Its my fault. They wanted me Charlie. They've all been dead for six years, and its my fault." He froze at my confession, clearly not expecting that.
"What?" He sounded so broken.
"They were after me Charlie, everyone died because that bitch and her friends wanted me. And I couldn't do a damn thing about it. I didn't want them all to die for me!" I could feel my control slipping, my wolf pacing within me yearning to break free and seek revenge.
"You...they wanted. Wait, six years? Why are you just coming now?" My whole body started shaking as memories flooded my mind, growls tumbling freely from my lips.
"Bella, stop." I felt the probe of my brother's alpha command but I snarled against it. "Bella!" It was more assertive this time, but still not enough in my current state. "Shit, Charlie help me get her outside!" With a rough well placed shove from each of them I was outside, but the touch was enough to dissolve the last of my restraint. My clothes fell in scraps around me as I burst into my wolf form, red eyes and cold hands were all I could see, all I could feel. That laugh, that damn laugh! A smaller but solid form collided with mine and forced me into the woods, and as I stumbled I fell not just to the ground, but into the past.
Flashback
I groaned as I came back to consciousness, attempting to lift my hand to the place it where my head stung only to find I couldn't. I opened my eyes to darkness, barely able to make out the chains on my wrists. My breathing sped up as I realized the gravity of my situation, the room stunk, like a girl's locker room with too much floral perfume, with no trace of Kaden. Despite still not having experienced my first full moon I knew I could trust my senses enough to deduce what had happened, who I was currently with. I fought back a sob as I pulled at the chains in vain, all it succeeded in doing though was notifying my captures that I was awake.
"Oooh, puppy is finally up Vic." The room lit so suddenly that I winced, a man with a blond pony tail stalked toward me with a sinister smirk tugging at his lips. "I think she wants to play." His red eyes promised nothing but pain as he stared me down, hand ghosting against my lips while I tried to move away.
"Don't touch things that aren't yours James, lest you're willing to part with that hand. And that's if I'm feeling kind." A female voice spoke from a doorway I had yet to notice, it was relatively high but had a rasp that contradicted that. It made my skin crawl. I wanted to gag as she appraised me, looking me over with a smile and desire in her eyes. "Hello darling, I'm Victoria." She crossed the room in a second, pushing James out of the way. "You are to be my mate." She leaned down and kissed my cheek, my stomach lurching with the desire to expel it's contents. "Once you learn that we'll have no need for such, unpleasantries," she eyed the chains, "however you gave me quite the hassle in obtaining you so for now it appears necessary." Her cold hand pet my head and I could feel the tears silently streaming down my face.
"Why me?" I managed, despite not knowing if I truly wanted an answer.
"Vampires mate for life dear, I knew the moment I saw you that you were meant for me and I for you. Don't you feel it?" She smiled in a way that was probably meant to be sweet, charming even, but all it did was make me sick again.
"All I feel is pissed off! Mate? What a crock of shit! You kidnapped me! You're holding me prisoner, well guess what? Werewolves mate for life too so I know damn well you're just some psycho bitch that's obsessed with me!" Pain bloomed in my face and I tasted blood before I even registered that she had moved.
"Look what you made me do, now your beautiful faced is bruised." She grabbed my chin and forced me to look into darkened eyes. "You will never speak to me like that again, understood? You are my most prized possession but I will beat you into submission if deemed necessary. You are my mate, say it." As a response I spit in her face, blood dripping from the corner of her eye almost like a tear. She sighed, "No matter, we've an abundance of time to turn you into a more suitable mate. James?" She didn't take her eyes off me as she addressed her friend, a sadness in them that scared me more than anger would have. "Try not to break her too much, she's still hardly more than human right now." She finally let go of my chin and stepped back as James advanced on me, the demented look on his face growing with every step. "Perhaps he can help you see how lucky you are to be my mate." And with that she spun on her heel and left the room.
"Don't worry puppy, you and I are gonna have some real good fun." He smacked me across the face and I saw my blood spatter across the floor. "Loads and loads of fun." The next hit knocked me unconscious, which I would only be grateful for until I woke up again.
End flashback
When I finally became aware of the present again I was panting and could feel a multitude of wounds healing, I was only confused for a second until I noticed two wolves in front of me. A quick sniff identified my brother and Charlie and guilt speared through my chest as I registered the taste of blood in my mouth, a moment later I noticed both their breathing was labored and they seemed to barely be standing. I whined as I sank to my stomach and reached out to Kade I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to. His posture visibly relaxed. Bells? You okay now? I nodded as best I could from my position on the ground, he moved to a bag on the ground and shifted behind a tree, before coming out and tossing the bag to me.
"Get changed, we still have some explaining to do. Charlie, she's okay now go ahead and get changed too." I winced as I saw my uncle's dull grey form limp over to a second bag, but decided the best I could do now was tell him as much of the truth as I could. So with that I receded farther into the woods to change. I fumed silently as I dressed, it seemed that instead of healing like I expected to, everyday was getting harder to deal with what had been done to me. Like my control was simply rice paper holding in my rage and pain, pushing it back was becoming less effective each time I did it and I was worried next time...it would be more than just wounds my brother had to nurse.
"Bells? You almost done?" I sighed softly before walking to my brother's voice, relieved to see him already healing from my attack. "Hey, you okay?" He spoke softly, clearly afraid of setting me off again.
"Yea...well no. But I'm trying." I gave him the best smile that I could muster, which he returned earnestly. "Alright, lets finish this..." I walked past him and into Charlie's house, and winced when I caught sight of him. His wounds were more severe than Kade's, struggling to close as he treated them.
"It looks worse than it is kiddo, I promise. Things just get a little slower as ya age, plus I don't shift as often these days so I'm a bit outta touch with myself." I nodded, knowing all too well how our abilities dampened when we went to long without shifting freely. "Look, if talking turns into...well that," He gestured to his now torn up yard, "then ya really don't have to tell me. Just let me know how I can help." His eyes were so genuine, I could feel a sob fighting its way out but shook it off.
"No, no you need to know what happened. I'll tell you as much as I can manage." I took a deep breath and steeled myself, I hadn't said any of this out loud before. Not even to Kaden. But this had to be done, we were barging into Charlie's life and he deserved to know what we were bringing with us. "We didn't know they were watching us, it was something I learned while they...had me. We didn't know they were there until it was too late."
Flashback
A high pitched whistle pierced through the night and roused us all from our sleep, I stumbled into the living room and found the rest of my family.
"Dad? What's going on?" Kade asked while placing himself at my side, a reaction that had been ingrained into him since the moment I opened my eyes as a baby.
"I don't know bud, you two wait here." He walked to the front door, and upon opening it growls burst forth from his, my mother's, and my brother's chests. An overly sweet smell told me exactly what had caused that reaction.
"Vampires." My mother's eyes flicked over to me, her eyes glowing and filled with determination.
"There's no point trying to run, we want the girl. Give her to us and no one will be hurt. We desire your alpha, the true born." This caused a variety of growls and roars to sound off from our pack, along with shouts of defiance. My father stalked towards the intruders with the grace and power of a true predator.
"You must be a fool to come here with such demands, a soon to be dead one." Within seconds he had shifted, and that's when all hell broke loose. From houses that should have held members of our pack vampires burst forward, their scents only appearing as we could see them. I was frozen, there were so many of them and we were clearly outnumbered. I watched as pack mate after pack mate fell, I felt each death like a knife to my heart. I moved to help when a slender copper wolf cut me off, shaking his head.
"Kade I have to do something! They're all dying because of me!" But he stood steadfast in my way. A white hot pain speared through my chest then, enough to drop me to my knees as I gasped, I frantically looked around for the source, hoping against hope that I was wrong. But my eyes glanced over a white form before focusing on it, and a scream tore from my lips as I looked into the lifeless eyes of my mother. Blood seeping into her once pristine fur, I hardly noticed when my brother yanked me onto his back and took off into the night. I didn't know how long we'd been running, or where we were going. But none of that mattered as my brother and I crumpled to the ground, twin roars of pain ripping from our mouths. I clawed at my chest, attempting to alleviate the pain somehow when, just as quickly as it came, it vanished. I gasped for breath, but sobs soon overcame my efforts. I knew there was only one thing that pain could have meant. "Dad...no, no, no, NO!" I was dissolving into hysterics when I felt my brother's arms wrap me.
"Bells, Bells please. We have to keep moving, I have to keep you safe." His body and voice trembled in tandem, but even so I could feel his will imposing on mine. It was much weaker than I'd ever felt but there was no mistaking it, my head snapped up and I stared into his eyes, iris' rimmed with gold.
"Alpha..." I didn't elaborate, couldn't, as a new wave of despair washed over me.
"Isabella, we don't have time for this. I'm sorry but we have to make use of the lead they gave us. No matter what, don't let go." Without another word he shifted, and I clung to his back like a drowning man to a life preserver. Running from my home, from my family that in the span of less than an hour had ceased to exist, from the only life I had known for sixteen years, to an unknown future that was sure to be stained in blood.
End flashback
"We were on the run about three months before they caught up to us, Kade never stood a chance. I'm just glad they didn't kill him, but to be honest they probably thought he wasn't worth it. He's only one half-baked alpha after all, no offense." I directed the last part at my brother.
"Still slightly offended..." He grumbled.
"Three months...so then the rest of the six years, they had you?" His question was innocent enough, but I still had to clench my jaw against the rage filled retort that wanted to come out.
"One thousand nine hundred and seventeen days, fifteen hours, forty-two minutes and thirty-eight seconds, that's how long they had me. Over five years, and in those five years I experienced more torture, more horrors than I ever even knew existed..." I shuddered as I tried to fight off the memories closing in on me. "Six months ago I managed to escape after...gaining their trust." It wasn't a lie, just not the whole truth. I wasn't sure I'd ever let anyone know just what I'd done to escape. "But I know they're still after me, they won't give up the chase until I'm theirs again."
"Four months ago I finally found her, I had been tracking them the whole time but I'd only ever tracked animals before. This was a wildly different ballpark." Kaden took over, grimacing as he no doubt remembered the pain of failing. "They kept moving her around the country, sometimes even going into Canada and Mexico. When I managed to catch up and actually find her, she was in North Carolina. I barely recognized her...but since then we've been running here, doubling back through states and across borders to make it harder for them to track us. Now here we are, and you're all caught up." I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding then, feeling proud I'd made it all the way through without wolfing out again. A smile tugged at my lips, maybe I could do this.
"Oh Bells..." I looked into my uncle's eyes, tears were threatening to spill from them as he held his arms open for me. I hesitated, touch was something I was still very bad at...I walked towards him anyway and threw myself against his chest while he held me gently. One day she will only be a scar, and I want to start really healing now. I cried against his chest, a full bodied cry that shook us both, and I could hear Kaden in the back of my mind time will heal.