Fated Hearts Ch. 09

Wow. Has it been a month? (Oops?) For some reason, I had the hardest time figuring out how to write this chapter. It's getting easier now though, but I don't know if you should hold your breath for Ten very soon. If you don't see it by next week, please write angry comments about me being lazy in updating! ANYWHO, I want to thank LaRascasse for editing this for me and all of that. I hope you enjoy this. Don't forget to comment and so on and so forth!!

Love,

Gia.

Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns?

For the sins of our hand, the sins of our tongue, the sins of our fathers, the sins of our young?

NO!

-Linkin Park

Thessa reached the pond in record time. She wearily allowed herself to shift back to her human form before dunking her head under the icy surface of the pond. The run tired her out enough that she didn't think that she could make it back to her parents' house despite its short distance from the pond. She pulled the baggie of granola from her bag and chewed a mouthful before taking a long drink from the bottle of water. The plastic crumpled with the force and ferocity of her gulps. Satisfied for now, Thessa pushed herself to her feet and took off at a brisk jog for her parents' place.

~*~

"Honestly Jolena. I don't know what to do." Julius paced the wooden floor of the living room.

"We have to find them Julius. I've been doing all we can. I don't understand how they could be gone without a trace like this." Jolena twisted the tear-stained tissue in her hands furiously.

The search for Thessa and Eric started a few hours after Eric left to go find his mate. It started out at first by searching all the rooms in the Alpha's mansion then extending to the grounds that mother and father personally searched with a fine toothed comb. The possibility that the two left together flew out the window when the signs of struggle near the pond were found early one morning on one of the last searches.

"Julius, Jolena." swallowed the bile that rose in his throat.

"." Julius caught his wife as she sagged against him with weariness and fear.

"We found something. It's just tracks but nobody can get a scent from them, it's blocked by some chemical compound. The rain almost washed it away, it's that faint." He explained.

Jolena's head snapped up. "Chemical?" She staggered over to the faintly disturbed grass and took a deep breath. She backed up from it like it was a land mine, waiting for one misstep to explode and blow everything to smithereens. How could someone forget the scent of a poison they had helped create?
"I'd know that smell anywhere."

Stephan and Julius looked at her warily. How could there be only one person in the entire pack that could identify one scent.

"I beg your pardon?" 's eyebrows rose.

"I made it in our labs. Julius...sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph what have we done?" She clutched her chest as the phantom pains of testing the drug on herself forced her heart to skip a beat.

"I led her right to him. We led her right to him, Julius that was the drug I made all those years ago when Dennis. Oh god, he's taken her." She sobbed. The sudden flare of anger in her caused her to lean heavily against her husband. It felt like a wild fire started somewhere within her and quickly spread outward. Its heat was all consuming and energy draining to the point where she thought its intensity would shatter her into a million pieces like an overheated piece of glass.

"Dennis is the only person who sort of knew what that drug could do. I'm the only person who knows what it actually does. It blocks shifting and if used too much can cause incredible mental instability to the point of severe irrecoverable memory loss in humans. Shifters have it a bit easier. The animal is physically affected temporarily. No severe memory loss, just short periods of memory loss."

"Why would you create something like that?" 's eyes widened.

"Sorenan had many very powerful enemies." She said quietly.

Now they sat at the kitchen table in their small house. The unspoken fear that their child and her mate were lying dead somewhere hung in the air like a cloud of deadly smoke threatening to choke them all.

"Julius, I—" Jolena jumped as the phone rang.

They both looked at the display light up Stephan's private number and a million questions ran through their minds.

"Hello?" Julius answered nervously.

"You would never guess who I ran into when I was making my rounds of the perimeter." 's voice came out choked and worried.

"What? Who did you find?" Julius felt his stomach sink as he almost shouted into the receiver. Jolena looked up from her lap, hope and worry filling her eyes with unshed tears.

"I found the little Madame Alpha, but Eric isn't with her. Since I found her she hasn't stopped shaking, mumbling something about finding a witch or a healer or something. Nyoko and I don't know what's going on, but I left them in the bedroom together. I suggest you come at once." He hesitated. "Don't expect anything much. She's not really acting like herself Julius. Whatever they did to her back there wasn't pretty." added quietly, his voice choking.

"Understood. I'm on my way." Julius hung up the phone and turned to his wife.

"They found her." He turned to his wife and gathered her into his arms as they both started sobbing with relief.

"Oh thank God. When are we going to see her?" His wife asked hopefully through her tears.

"I uh...I think you should stay here for now, love. said...he said there's something wrong with her...she isn't very responsive. I think I should go calm her down, talk her into coming here with me and that way—"

"Excuse me? She's hurt! Julius she needs her mother. Don't you dare tell me I can't come see my own daughter! I see hurt people all day at that hospital." Jolena pushed him away, her eyes flashing gold as she glared at him angrily.

"See! Look, baby. Just stay here. I'll just calm her down, you're nervous and you already know how she reacts to others' emotions when they're too strong. Let me go and calmly find out what the problem is." He soothed her with a kiss on her forehead. With one strong hand, he cradled the side of her face and wiped a fresh tear from her cheek. When she sighed into his palm, he knew she would let up and wait for him to bring their daughter back.

"Okay, fine. Just bring her back." She pressed her lips against his palm as he grabbed the car keys from a hook on the wall and stepped out into the light rain.

~*~

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm crying all over your nice shirt." Thessa wiped her nose and laughed wearily.

"Don't even worry about it, sis." Nyoko hugged her sister tighter and fought the tears from spilling over her own lids.

The stories she'd heard about Dennis' treatment of her best friend and sister made her blood boil. Had Thessa not killed the bastard, Nyoko decided that she would hunt him down herself. The bruises on Thessa's already dark skin were fading quickly, but the emotional scars that were buried deep in her subconscious would always be there. To be able to laugh so soon after being raped and abused, tied up and left for dead took strength that Nyoko wasn't sure anyone else possessed. The peaceful face of her greatest friend and confidant was a welcome relief even if she had no idea how one could go from one of suffering to one of peacefulness so soon.

She'd asked the question aloud and was shocked when Thessa smiled and gave the answer.

"It's because he isn't dead. There's no way my man is laying cold and lifeless somewhere. I had a dream. I dreamed about him." She'd sniffed.

"I'm a little broken on the inside, but Dennis could really never touch my spirit, Nyo. I never gave up the hope that I'd get out of there, it just wasn't a possibility. And this nightmare is almost over." She'd explained.

When she looked down, Thessa was fast asleep. She moved slowly to avoid waking her up, and pulled the sheet at the foot of the bed up to her chin. She stood when opened the door and motioned for him to be quiet. When they left the room, making sure to leave the door ajar, she fell into his arms and cried.

"Shh...shh. It's okay. She's safe now, Nyoko. Don't worry baby." He swallowed hard as he stroked his mate's hair.

"And we'll find Eric too. Did she tell you anything about that?" He asked when she stopped.

"Are you for real right now? My freaking sister has just been through a traumatic month. She found her mate and now she's going through hell because someone took him away from her. Why the hell—"

"Hey! Don't even give me that, Nyoko, Eric is my best friend, I don't know how you expect me to take with a grain of salt the fact that only one person in that duo is here." crossed his arms and stared down at Nyoko.

"He could be going through worse things right now than she has experienced. And I don't know if even Eric is strong enough to withstand that kind of torture for as long as they both have been missing."

"Sorry. I'm just...I need to sleep. Can we do that right now?" She sighed, rubbing her fingertips into her bloodshot eyes.

"Yeah. Can I leave the door open just in case she wakes up screaming again?" She asked, allowing him to lead her with a hand to her lower back.

"Your dad is coming to get her in a bit, so she won't be in that room for much longer.

"Okay. In that case I'll stay up with you until he comes to get her." She pressed a soft kiss to his lips and rested her head on his chest.

He smoothed a hand over her hair and tilted her head up to kiss her deeply. She moaned against his mouth and lifted a hand to cradle his cheek. When they parted to take a breath, he pulled her into their bedroom and shut the door behind him.

"I don't like seeing you stressed out like this, Nyoko." He said softly, reaching for her again to pick her up.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him again. He groaned and slid his tongue into her mouth. As he walked over to their bed, she started unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his muscular chest, sprinkled with curly brown hair. He groaned and laid her down slowly letting his hands run over the firm twin mounds of flesh large enough to fill his palms. He reverently slid her tank top over her head and licked his lips in anticipation of tasting her small brown nipples. He smiled against her hot skin as he did just that, rasping his tongue over the underside of her breast to flick it over one hardened peak then the other. As Nyoko's soft murmurs of encouragement reached his ears, he smiled and released her to press a few lingering kisses along her flat stomach and over her shapely hips.

"I wish we could mate." He sighed against the hot flesh of her mound, teasing her clit with the tip of his tongue.

"We can." She spread her legs for him invitingly, giggling when he gave her a puzzled look.

"How? The Alphas haven't mated yet, so we can't mate." He said slowly, wondering if she hit her hear somewhere. She laughed aloud when he reached up to run his fingers lightly over her scalp.

"I have to tell you a secret. But you can't tell anyone else." She winked and pushed herself onto her forearms.

"They mated. And she's the only one who can find him." She whispered close to his ear, flicking the lobe with her tongue.

"What do you mean they mated? They didn't have a ceremony, nothing. There were no witnesses." He pulled away from her to search her face.

"It was so romantic...in a twisted kind of way I guess. She told me that he convinced Pavla to let them have a few moments together and they mated. She said that they said the words and everything." Nyoko sighed dreamily.

"Wait, so they've definitely mated?"

"Yes! They did! She said that they have shared...dreams. Although she doesn't think they're dreams because she can remember everything that took place in the dream." She explained excitedly.

"So we can mate?" He asked hopefully.

"We can do whatever you want, mate." She licked her lips slowly.

"Turn over." He growled at her.

"Magic words, Stephan..." Nyoko pushed herself to her knees and leaned forward to unbuckle his belt.

"Turn over...please." He whispered. She shivered as she took in his brightly glowing eyes and dilated pupils before turning onto her hands and knees.

~*~

Eric? She projected the thought into the pitch black room.

Yes, mate?

Where are you, baby? She felt his arms wrap around her from behind.

"I'm right here. This is pretty sad huh?" He laughed, pressing his face into the top of her head.

"What do you mean?" She turned to look at him, not surprised to find that he was naked behind her.

This was the second dream she had about him, the first being the one she had before she left Amelie and Brigitte's. She figured that they only had a short time together. A short time in which she could get information she could use to rescue him.

"I mean, I've never seen a big, strong Alpha trade places with the damsel in distress." He laughed again and leaned down to kiss her deeply. "Why does this have to be a dream?" He groaned against her lips again.

"I have an idea, damsel." Thessa joked, kissing him back before pulling away. She smiled to herself as he caught her hand and laced their fingers together.

"What ever shall we do strong hero?" He sighed, forcing his voice up a few octaves before it cracked.

Thessa nudged him with her shoulder as she felt her laughter bubbling close to the surface. It was strange to her that in a time of such turmoil and distress he could find a way to make her laugh. Her wolf sighed contentedly inside her subconscious. Now that the animal was awake, she could begin to plan in earnest. Emotional scars be damned, she could break down once she had her man back for real instead of having to enjoy him in her dreams.

"I'm serious. We can use this time to plan your escape...or rescue. Whatever." She waved a hand and pulled him to a bench as it materialized.

"Can't we just make love? I missed you. And when I wake up it feels like we actually had sex. Don't you like that? You know I even had some of your hair on me when I woke up?" Eric's heart soared when he felt her skin warm against his. He wished it was as easy to focus on something else when his dream woman was sitting right next to him. They could plan his escape later.

"No. We can't! Come on. Think, Eric. Where did she take you?"

"I'm underground." He sighed.

"Are you sure? Or are there just no windows?" She rubbed her thumb soothingly over the back of his hand like he used to do for her when she was unsettled.

"No, wait. There was one time that she took me up the longest staircase ever." He nodded.

"And it was like looking out of a lighthouse."

"Visualize it. Show me." Thessa blurted excitedly, pulling him up with her when their bench fell away and turned into a stair. The old-looking staircase wound upwards in an almost never-ending spiral, except for the dot of piercing light all the way at the top.

"This is crazy, Thessa." He squeezed her hand, feeling his heart speed up as she forced him to remember.

"Be realistic. It wasn't that far up." She sighed, eying the dot of light and sighing when it slowly got bigger as the amount of steps diminished.

"Thank you." She sighed and began jogging up them.

"Wait, we don't have to do this." He called. Thessa looked around as the staircase turned into the top of a tower, the walls crumbling in some places.

"She kept saying that she could hardly wait until the moon was full." He shivered. "She thought I was unconscious." He was just playing possum, but for a while he was really unaware. He couldn't remember the journey to the tower, but had the impression that they went from a main house through a series of tunnels.

"Okay what else?" Thessa asked excitedly, reaching for his hand again.

"That's it. I don't remember other things. Wait." He smiled down at her and closed his eyes.

"Open your hands." He told her. She gasped when a sheet of paper materialized in her hands.

"I know your memory isn't all that great. I made you a map of what she's shown me that I might not necessarily remember right now." He tapped his forehead with a finger.

"Eric, this won't even stay with me." Thessa complained, looking down at the paper, trying to memorize the mazelike patterns on it.

"Thessa. Didn't you hear what I said before?!" He asked loudly as he shook her.

"When I woke up from the last dream I found a few strands of hair on my chest. Curly, dark brown hair."

"You found what?!"

"I know! I wasn't expecting to see that at all, so when I did, I figured that maybe the next time I dreamed with you, I'd think of something to give you so that you could hold onto. I don't know how long that map will last. The hairs were gone after a period of time. I don't think they stay forever...make a copy when you wake up. As soon as you wake up. My office is locked, but if you ask Stephan for the key, he'll give it to you." He nodded. Thessa cried out as Eric's image started flickering.

"Don't go. I haven't given you anything yet." She felt her fingers slip through his.

"I can't someone is waking you up. Just hold onto the papers and make a copy as soon as you open your eyes. I love you, mate." His deep voice rumbled like distant thunder as she felt her eyes closing.

~*~

"Well, good morning Princess." Julius pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead as he woke her. That was the only way that ever got her out of bed when she was a child.

"Daddy!" Thessa cried once she woke up enough to realize who was leaning over her. She felt something fall into her lap as she threw her arms around his neck and started crying.

"It's okay. It's okay. I came to bring you home." He rubbed her back reassuringly. He didn't know what to expect, but when Stephan and Nyoko let him into the Alphas' mansion, he prepared himself for the worst.
"What's that?" He asked her, reaching to pick up the piece of paper that fell out of her hand when she awoke.

He pulled his hand back quickly as she grabbed it and pulled it open. Julius' curiosity peaked when he saw the tears that began coursing down Thessa's cheeks.

"It worked! I dreamt that Eric and I were in the same place that he is right now and he used his subconscious to make a map for me and..." She looked down at the paper.

"Where's Stephan. I need to copy this right now." She stood up and pushed past him.

"STEPHAN!!" She yelled down the hall.

"What? I'm right here." He poked his head out of a doorway.

"Is that Eric's office? I need to use the copier." She pushed past him holding onto the paper tightly.

"Yeah, come in. Sure you can use the copier." He grumbled under his breath.

"Shit, its fading." He looked at the piece of paper in her hand as she pulled it from the scanner. The machine whirred loudly as it spat several copies out onto the tray under it.

"What's that?"

"I had a dream about Eric. And he made me this map of the all the places he's been in once Pavla took him to her lair or whatever." She waved one of the copies in his face before putting it in one of his hands.

"That's crazy. Are you sure you don't need the hospital?" He looked down at the paper once before dropping it like it was a live coal.

He watched Thessa's face turn into a satisfied grin before he picked up the piece of paper covered in Eric's scrawl.

"Where'd you get this?" He whispered.

"I told you where I got it from. We're going to rescue him, Stephan. He's my mate and your best friend. We're going to get him back." She smiled happily.