Ch. 107: Royally Fkd

CHAPTER 107
Jake~
All is pretty quiet for a while but we don’t go anywhere. Well, except Ally. She figures out some way to make it seem natural for her to go into the hospital and visit. She confirms, after she’s back out, that Rachel seems okay. She felt around the auras and such while in there and she knew it wasn’t anything dark. The redheaded fae said when he got close he could tell she was ‘under’ of her own accord. He said it was like her mind was trying to protect itself.
Which of course still made me angry as f*ck. Because something or someone was attacking her mind. So when my body started catching fire again, I had to refocus on keeping cool while vaguely hearing Evan move Kyle the h*ll away from me. Something about a ‘safe distance.’
I’m pretty sure once I’m fully unleashed there will be no such thing.
Once I pulled it back in they waited a few minutes before walking back up to the car.
“I’m fine,” I grumbled out.
“Uhuh, yeah, whatever you say boss,” Evan says from my left.
I look over to see Nick elbowing him in the gut. It seems so normal I get a better hold, until-
“She’s awake,” I say before I’m really sure. But I know it’s true.
They all look at me as I feel the bond and check on her, she seems - confused.
And then it hits. Pain.
‘MATE!’ Aamon roars. Or maybe I do. Maybe us both?
“Sht! Take cover!” I hear Evan. He pulls me out of my seat and slams me to the ground. He’s punching at me, trying to give me something else to think about but I can’t.
My bones start to crack and I need to see her. I need to stop whatever it is that’s-
And she’s lost consciousness.
The emotional whiplash stuns me for a moment.
And then I’m okay. The fire recedes and my bones reform.
“I’m okay,” I tell Evan as he studies me carefully.
The group sighs and returns to the car as I stand up and take some focused big breaths. I feel for the bond and she is calm. And in turn, I am calm. Mostly.
I am ready to sit back in the car and wait more when my phone rings. It’s my Beta. I have a bad feeling about this so I hand it to Evan. He answers. He listens and hangs up before turning to us.
He takes a breath and says, “So, Sophie has escaped.”

Ally~
“Go, you guys should go. I’ll wait here with Kyle. We’ll call if anything changes,” I say to the three wolves.
Jake just growls and lets out this frustrated howl. I’m thankful no one is around to hear it.
“She’s right, Alpha, we need to get a lead on Sophie before she gets too far. You know you’re needed there. We have to stop her from whatever else she could plan for the Luna,” Nick says.
I notice he dropped the ‘future’ part. I hope Rachel ends up with a choice in all this. I know when she comes-to from all this, she’ll choose Jake. But Luna is a big responsibility. Not to mention basically impossible for a human since other beings aren’t allowed in a wolf pack. I know a lot about this now.
Jake grunts again and then walks to the car before turning to me, “If anything - anything at all changes…”
I nod. He seems satisfied.
After a few minutes Kyle and I go back into the hospital. We get close to Rachel’s room, and nothing feels different. So we continue on to the elevators and go up to the cafeteria to charge our devices and hopefully get something to eat. We’re both starving. I’ve totally lost track of the last time I ate, the last time I slept.
I can see the lack of sleep on Kyle’s face. Being a Dream Walker he really needs to catch some shut eye.
“Why don’t you sleep for a little while, maybe feel for Rachel while you’re there?” I suggest.
Kyle hasn’t said much since the sleep walking incident. And here again his usual bright and chatty ways are diminished. He just nods and pulls his beanie down to cover his eyes.
I scroll on my phone for a bit, making sure I haven’t missed any messages, and I let my mind wander. I think about the weird place Kyle was kept, I think about who we might have seen, and I think about Rachel. I wonder what triggered her to shut down like this. I send prayers up to God, up to Hecate, up to whoever will listen to somehow get us through this.

The next time Rachel woke up it was hours later. She was confused but in no pain and she had no memory of what had happened. I updated Nick, to learn that unfortunately Sophie seemed to have just disappeared into thin air. No scent to follow anywhere.
This worries me. She has to be in contact with witches. Most likely with Maxine and her evil relatives/ cult buddies. The thought makes me shiver. I know things will come to a head and I know I am no match for a group of well-trained witches.

Monday comes and we are determined to stretch the connection between Rachel and Sean. It’s dangerous, we know. But I can’t sit here and keep watching it. And so I start crying on cue when I see her so that we can talk in private. Sean seems displeased but he doesn’t stop her.
We walk to the bathroom and I just stutter out some things between tears about an argument with my mom that never happened. I feel bad lying to her, but I need to see if I can get her to start waking up if he stays away.
“I’m so sorry Ally, that sucks,” Rachel says and goes in for a hug.
I hug her back and think about how desperate I am to help her. It brings more tears to my eyes. Why won’t she wake up from this?
The bell rings. Classes are starting soon.
“Do you want to meet up at break and talk more?” she asked me.
I just nod and wipe some tears away. She goes to get a paper towel and wets it in the sink. My girl has always just known when I needed a little extra help. The cool water feels good on my pink and puffy face. I close my eyes for a moment and ask for strength. I hope someone hears me.
At break later Rachel meets me near our spot in the back of the school by the student parking lot. We walk quietly until we get to our seats, the top row of steps leading down the track. The fog is breaking apart now and the sun breaks through in a few areas. The breeze hits us again with the smell of salt water. I breathe it in and my mind races to find anything more to talk about - well anything besides the real reasons we should be talking.
“So - so how are things with you? Are you feeling better?” I ask her.
She seems a little surprised by my question and tucks some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, yeah. I feel great. The doctors still can’t really explain what happened but they couldn’t find anything physically wrong. So I guess they think it’s psychosomatic. You know, like I’m crazy.”
She laughs but it comes out hollow. There’s something there. I dig for it.
“Oh come on, lots of people experience psychosomatic things. The brain is a very powerful thing. It can make people shut down or forget things to, like, go into self-defense mode. It’s actually really cool stuff,” I say.
She doesn’t respond so I keep going. “I mean, can you think of anything that could have made your brain want to protect you?”
She looks away with a pained look but instead of answering the question she throws back, “I thought we were out here to talk about you? Deflecting much?”
Her tone is something I can’t place. It’s like one millisecond she’s herself, and the next… I don’t know.
I try to laugh and it comes out choked.
“I just need something else to focus on, you know? We don’t have to talk about the hospital stuff though. Tell me something else - distract me?” I leave it open for her.
“Ugh, it’s just. It actually hurts me. Gives me a migraine, when I think about it too much. I think I just need more time to let my brain heal or whatever,” she says, rubbing her temples.
“Sure yeah,” I say nonchalantly. “Well, to change topics then - how are things with Sean?”
“Oh, they’re fine,” she smiles in a strange way. Like she tried someone’s food and hates it but doesn’t want to insult the cook.
“You can talk to me, you know, about anything. Like if things aren’t working out with him or you want to work things out aloud. I’m here,” I say in as casual a tone as I can muster.
Her eyes narrow. “What are you getting at?”
The sharp tone throws me off. She’s acting defensive.
“I - I don’t mean anything by it, it’s just we don’t talk about him anymore and I want to remind you that I’m here. Always,” I add.
“As opposed to Sean? He’s my mate!” she says, her words cutting my light tone down.
“No - I don’t-” I start.
“Just because you’re starting to date someone doesn’t make you an expert on relationships,” she snaps.
I feel like she just slapped me across the face. My mouth hangs open.
“It’s like you’re threatened or something,” she goes on.
Now I’m angry. “I am NOT threatened. And that was a crazy thing to say about me and Nick. What the h*ll Rach? I’m just trying to be a friend. I’m trying to keep you safe from-”
“From Sean? Are you serious?” she asks, her face twisted and eyes full of accusation.
I don’t recognize her like this. I try to remember that she’s under the influence of something I don’t understand. I shouldn’t push her. I shouldn’t have reacted to her like this. But it’s too late.
“Please Rachel, we just want to help,” Kyle chimes in from somewhere behind us.
Goddess of Witchcraft. That was the stupidest thing he could’ve done.
“What- what is this?” she asks incredulously, her head whipping back and forth between the two of us. “Some sort of intervention?”
“Rachel-” Kyle starts.
“Just let her go,” I say sternly to him.
“I can’t believe you both. Threatened,” she jerks her chin at me, “and JEALOUS,” she jerks her chin at Kyle.
She stomps off back to the school.
“I royally f**ked that up didn’t I?” Kyle asks me after a few breaths.
“We both did,” I sigh.