Violet

Time dragged and the days seemed to all role into one as I found myself walking aimlessly passed tree after tree with no where to go. I was so unbelievably lonely, trapped in a forest of nothing with silence surrounding me. The only comfort I had was Layla in my mind but even our conversations had become fewer and far between as the week rolled on. It had been almost a whole week since I left Alpha Liam's pack but it felt like months. If it was possible, I felt even more sorry for myself than I did when I left my old Pack, my father and Dimitri. It gave me time to think about everything, my life, the decisions I had made which brought me here and the terrible relationships I had either formed with the wrong people or had inadvertently ruined on my own accord. I often thought about Anya and when my anger subsided after day two of leaving the pack, all I wanted to do was apologise for how I had behaved towards her. The knowledge and fear of what threat the new comers posed to her and little Noah terrified me but I had to believe that Alec and Liam would protect them with their lives. My only friend now was Layla.

Consumed in my own thoughts and self pity, I decided to crawl up against a nearby tree and nap for a while. I had traveled in circles in recent days and I decided it would be a good idea to rest before needing to hunt. I hated hunting for food but it was key to both mine and Layla's survival as living in the forest as a human was just not an option. I had spent night after night sleeping under trees with no protection from the elements and to say I was exhausted was an understatement. It had rained every night for last 3 days and all I wanted was to cuddle up in my own bed and cry. Taking in one last sweep of the forest, scanning for all potential threats, I decided it wouldn't matter much anyway if another wolf did happen to come upon me. Not when it was so unlikely that anyone would even miss me anyhow.

I placed my muzzle down on the forest floor and felt myself falling into a deep sleep sooner than I had expected. Surely I wasn't this tired? It was so deep mind you that it felt almost unnatural. Like I was being forced into this black hole of a dreamlike state that there was simply no way out of. My animal instincts were raging as the eerie familiar dream from before entered my mind and I panicked trying to claw myself back into the world of consciousnes. I couldnt see those eyes again. The threat of that man finding me scared me enough that I started to shake and I felt cold. Thats when I heard a calming voice in the distance...

"My child, you must open up your mind to him"....

I opened my eyes but I was in total darkness in the same forest I was in before. Almost the same dream I had from before when Alec woke me. The yellow eyes had disappeared however but the fog surrounding my feet remained. The forest was in darkness again and I searched for the voice but came up empty. I felt no fear this time though, it was like this person meant me no harm like the voice in my previous dream had. This voice seemed maternal almost. Soft and soothing. I felt calm and found myself wanting to converse with it or someone...

"Who are you"? I asked timidly but genuinely curious as I could not find them amongst the trees surrounding me.

"Open up your mind to your mate..... he is in need of your help". She said.

The voice was definitely feminine and I felt relief knowing she meant me no harm. The light from the moon above shone down and illuminated my hands and the fog around me started to dissipate. Her words finally hit home.

"Do you mean Dimitri"? I asked. My voice came out more confident this time but I had to know. Since I cut off all communication with him I had no idea if she was implying him or someone else... surely not... I mean... why would he need me? Maybe it was not him she was referring to.. it could be Alec?

"There is much you are unaware of my child and it is not yet the time to enlighten you. Your mates life is in jeopardy and you must open your mind to him, find him, protect him and bring him home to his pack. It is not yet time for you both to reunite permanently, but he has need of you now".

"He is in danger"? I asked. I sounded far more interested and concerned than i meant for it to sound but i was curious anyway. My interest was peaked and a small part of me worried for him. But surely, with Milly by his side he had no need of me?

"If you do not go to him now, he will die." She said sadly.

My heard skipped a beat. Dimitri... die? No. He couldn't. I began squeezing my hands together and my anxiety took hold. I hated to admit it but I was nervous, scared and conflicted all in one. I realised in this moment that I care about him even if I did not yet want to admit it to myself. It was unavoidable, we were destined mates. He hurt me but I wouldn't wish pain on him. If I went to him now I would need to see my old pack and I was not looking forward to that at all. I was also angry, who would dare to hurt the Alpha of Redfang? It didn't make sense.

"You have many questions but limited time. Find him and bring him home. Once you do this, come back to this spot in the forest and I will find you again and give you the answers you seek. You will need your mate in order to face what is to come. Without him, you will fail".

Her voice was a warning, an ominous promise and a premonition of failure in my future if I did not succeed in protecting him and in that moment I believed her. The voice faded into the recesses of my mind and I found my eyes opening to the same forest floor I had just closed my eyes to sleep upon. I found Layla push against my mind with urgency. What was that? What plans did the voice have for Dimitri and I? What was I supposed to face with Dimitri's help? The questions swarmed my mind.

"Viiii we have to find him... NOW!"...

Layla sent a forceful command into my head and without thinking twice I opened my mind link with Dimitri immediately and felt a wave of pain unlike anything I had felt before. My knees caved from under me and I felt my breathing become laboured with the shock of the pain. I groaned and tried to catch my breath.

"She was right"... I said, more to myself than to Layla. The recognition hit me full force and my fear grew insurmountably. He needed me!

The pain was intense and I could tell he was waneing in and out of consciousness. I stood up on all fours and scanned the forest searching for his direction. How could I find him if we could not communicate? Without thought I found it. Like a string of Violet light a path formed in the forest. It was a tether of our souls linking us together.. a path leading me straight toward him like arrows of bright violet light on the floor guiding my way towards him. Towards ... home.

I bolted towards the lights and followed them as fast as I could. I'm unsure how long I ran for but at one stage I think Layla had to take over. We ran for what seemed like hours before the cast of night took over and seemed to envelope the forest. I didn't care, I had no other thoughts than finding him and protecting him. Damn this mate bond. I tried to convince myself that I was only doing this for myself, afterall, everyone knows that you're practically the walking dead once you loose your mate. The other half to your soul. I was way too strong to become a walking zombie for the rest of my life and this man was more trouble than he was worth. I huffed to myself whilst Layla's paws pounded through the forest. The Violet light glowed brighter as the days rays left us behind completely with only the moon's glow for guidance.

It must have been well past midnight when I reached not but a mile away from my old pack's territory. Why would he be so close to our pack and yet no one could find him? What happened to him anyway? It was obviously serious in order for him to be in so much pain. Was Redfang attacked and he managed to escape? It was a possibility, especially with the Rogue King on the loose. I had to tread carefully and trust no one just incase. In the distance I noticed a burning light... torches it seemed and a few of our warriors searching the landscape. I hid behind a tree as the glow passed me.

So they were looking for him? But how did they loose him to begin with? Warriors are supposed to remain with the Alpha and they obviously failed him. If I was the Luna right now i would start ripping off some heads for their negligence. A pack without its Alpha is worthless. This was even more suspicious. I kept low to the ground and shifted. On my left I saw a cliff with some leaves and branches that seemed broken. Interesting.... I moved closer to it and peered over. It appeared that a few rocks had fallen below and were currently blocking my view of what was below it. That's when I smelled it.

HIM.

I gasped. No!

He couldn't have. Did he fall?

I jumped to the ledge and looked over again in wild panic and sure enough the string of Violet light was directing me down there.

"ALPHAAA"!!!!

I heard a few of the men nearby shouting for him frantically and I knew I had to act quickly as I had no idea how long he had been down there for. I tried mind linking with him again but the pain I had felt from him before in waves had dulled somewhat. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise how bad that was. This was serious and his life was hanging by a thread. Without thinking too much about it, I threw my legs over the ledge and started climbing down the steep rock face of the cliff.

Ok... I definitely should have THOUGHT about this. GOD... why am I risking my life for a man who didn't want me in his? It was laughable and I had to take a few calming breaths before descending again. Noticing how dark it was and how easily it would be for me to loose my footing. I tried not to panic too much. It must have taken me around 20 minutes to reach the bottom and when I did I had noticed there seemed to have been a cave built into the cliff where he had fallen and these rocks currently blocking the cave were thrown down on top of him after he had fallen. I looked up again and saw a few dusts of rock falling down from above me. So someone had pushed him?...or was it an accident? These rocks fell here they weren't here before.

I started picking up each rock one by one.. praying that none of them fell on him. Merely just blocking his escape. A girl could dream at least. I was frantically throwing the rocks aside like I had no spinal cord to worry about whatsoever....note to self that I might be a powerful Alpha Female but I should probably just call for help next time.

Layla huffed impatiently in my mind.

"When you are threw cracking jokes to yourself can you save our Mates life now please"? She spat!

HAH.....

"The same Mate who threw me over for an Omega... oh yeahhh I'll go a little faster shall I so when I'm done saving him he can run into her open arms in slow motion in a field somewhere whilst I watch from the sidelines like the great little cheerleader that I am"!...

She mentally tapped her tail in my head impatiently.

"Stop tapping your tail"! I shouted. I just about had enough of this wolf.

"Well put your back into it"!

I exhaled.. and wiped the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead with the back of my hand. I looked down and realised that I was not even close to freeing him and decided that arguing was getting me no where so I shut up and carried on trying to not to make too much noise to alert those looking for him above us. I had no idea how he got down here or who threw these rocks after him but they certainly tried to make sure he wouldn't be found or had no way of getting out. I couldn't trust anyone right now. I carried on with my work of removing all of the rocks and tried to clear my head. But the thoughts kept coming back to me and the panic started to build.

What if I can't save him?

What if I never get to see him again?

What will I do if he dies?

Layla sent me a few waves of warmth and courage into my mind. Sensing I was on the verge of breaking. Tears started to flow down my cheeks before i could even stop them and my vision blurred, blocking me from seeing the next rock I was picking up. I wiped my eyes and moved faster. I have to see him. Even if it's one last time... I'll save him. I have too!

For what seemed like forever I continued with the monotonous task of throwing rock after rock after rock when I finally had an opening into the cave and I caught a glimpse of him lying on his back. There was dried blood on the cave floor by his head and the strong smell of blood invaded my wolf senses. Luckily the rocks appeared to have just missed him by a few inches to where he had fallen. I tried to reach out to him in his mind but i came up empty. It was like I couldn't reach him mentally or physically and a whine came up from the back of my throat like a puppy missing its owner. I crawled through the opening on my hands and knees, scraping my knees in the process on the floor of the cave. As I crawled i opened up fresh wounds of my own but I didn't care.

Dimitri. He needs me. I had this innate need to touch him. To hold him close to me.

I crawled over to his human form and immediately checked to see if he was breathing. He was and I closed my eyes in relief. I tried to roll him slightly to check the wound on his head. It did not seem to be too deep. More of a flesh wound but he could have internal bleeding or a concussion. I pulled him to me and rested his head on my lap and then mentally cursed myself.

Rule one... never move someone who had a fall. He could have a spinal injury or anything. I studied his face and brushed the hair that had fallen across his eyes shielding my view of him. His raven hair was soft in my fingers and I kissed the top of his head taking in his scent. Thats when I noticed he was so cold.. like stone. It was scary thinking how injured he must be to be in his human form. We heal much faster in our wolf form and for him to be stuck in this state means he must be in more peril than I originally thought. I tried to put my brain into gear. I can't get emotional right now, I have to save him now and cry about it later. He was cold so I would start there. We were both naked in our human form so I wrapped myself around him for body heat. After around 30 minutes his breathing seemed to be more responsive which meant he was content. I smiled inwardly. Then I realised we needed firewood to keep him warm and I also needed water if he was to catch a fever. I hated leaving him again but I had no choice.

There is no way my mate was dying tonight.

*******

The pain I had felt ceased and I started to feel weightless. Floating on a cloud almost. I felt arms surrounding me and then warmth followed. My wolf Midnight purred and I was content, painless. We were both happy to just be silent and soak up this warm feeling we both felt. Happiness....The first time I had felt that way in a long time. I was bathing in sunlight that shone on me, warming my body through and my eyelids felt the heat from it also. I heard crackling and smiled when something wet went against my forehead and a soothing hand caressed my cheek. That hand... it soothed me and I wanted to thank the owner of it.... I opened my eyes for a moment and caught a glimpse of a figure but nothing more before the darkness and happiness pulled me under again.

******

I watched the rise and fall of his chest in the darkness of the cave. As crazy as it sounds it was the only sound I ever wanted to listen to and I prayed with every fall of his chest that it would rise again and it did which relieved me. His breathing had become calmer and steadier by the hour. It was a blessing that wolves could recover quicker than humans. He would still be in pain for a good few days but he would live. Dimitri had broken his right arm during the fall and hit his head but other than that he seemed to be doing fine. I managed to find a small cabin not too far from the cave which miraculously had everything one would need from first aid kits to provisions such as blankets, a gas lighter and bowls to carry food and water in. It took me two trips from the cabin to the cave but I eventually managed to light a fire with the gas burner I had found and wrapped him in blankets as best as I could. He had gone through a bout of fever for an hour or two but it seemed to have subsided by now and like the fool I was I checked his temperature by placing my hand on his cheek every two minutes out of habit. I told myself I was just checking on him like I would with any other wolf but I decided to stop lying to myself and just admit that I cared for the man.

I re positioned and re bandaged his broken arm twice now in an attempt to re set it. The second time seemed to do the job and it was clear that his wolf's fast healing ability was helping to mend the break. I could probably remove the bandage soon but I wanted more time to look at him. He was beautiful, not in the pretty sense.. but he was classically beautiful for a man. Sharp cheek bones, electric blue eyes that would open every now and then with thick and luscious eyelashes that would flutter occasionally. His raven hair although tousled from his fight with the fever made him look rugidly adorable and his chest which he kept revealing after I attempted to pull the blanket over him was chiseled to perfection. His abs were like the rocks I had removed to reach him. There was no doubt that the young boy I had looked up to as a little girl had grown into a Greek adonis. His olive tanned skin reflected well from the lights of the crackling heater and I found myself envying Milly and what she took from me.

I rubbed my hands over my eyes and tried not to think about the life we could have had. The one he threw away. I was tired that's all... tired and cranky. I had been running all night, descended down a cliff, threw rocks like a heavy weight champion and was continuing to nurse my mate without a morsel of food to keep me sustained. I had to eat I decided. I opened up the bowl of fruit I had found in the cabin and bit into an apple. Come to think of it.... where did all this come from? A niggling feeling in the back of my head told me that the woman who warned me about Dimitri's condition was involved, like a guardian angel almost, but I tried not to think too much into it. A freaky lady coming to you in your dreams and giving you premonitions wasn't something to brag about.

I heard a slight moan and twisted my kneck around to look at him. He had shifted again and seemed to be more comfortable moving than he was before which was a good sign. He raised his unbroken arm over his forehead and it rested above his head. Completely oblivious to everything around him.