Ch. 108: Not Doing This Anymore

CHAPTER 108
Jake~
“Come on dude, it’s been hours. You need to take a break,” Evan says from my side.
He must have shifted back to human form so he could complain. One thing that hasn’t come to me early was any kind of ability to link. Though if that started I wouldn’t be surprised. Everything else has been weird for me anyway.
“No. We keep pushing,” I say and then turn into my half form. A super tall wall of fire who can apparently run very quickly.
I hear Evan somewhere behind me. From his speed I’m guessing he’s back as a wolf.
We need to find Sophie. I don’t care if she disappeared. I don’t care if there was no trace. I would find her. And then I will kill her. No more waiting. No games.
We blaze south. Continuing on and on until we near a new suburb.
Evan catches up and shifts. He’s nearly out of breath. Something else I’ve learned about this half form, it’s much faster than even Evan is at full speed. And it’s got more endurance. I don’t feel tired at all. Well, from the running. My mind, and lack of sleep, that’s a whole other kind of tired.
“Alpha, please. Take a break. We have teams out on patrol,” he says. “Besides, Nick’s shift is almost up. Don’t you want to take one?”
He dangles the idea in front of me, knowing what I’m going to say. Of course I’m going to take this shift. We’ve been taking turns keeping a close eye on Rachel since she left the hospital almost forty hours ago. Ally and Kyle take turns at school and on the bus, then Evan takes the afternoon, followed by Nick during the later parts of the night. It’s now early Tuesday morning.
“I mean, if you don’t want to, I’ll go,” he adds.
“I’m going,” is all I say. And I head back the opposite direction, but this time bee-lining to Melbourne.

I find Nick on the stairwell across her front door. I glance at the bench, where I had held her after that incubus attack. I look at her door, and it’s like I can see our past selves on the night of the tree lighting. I can feel her hand in mine, I can see her eyes as she struggles to tell me what’s been after her. I can see her running into my arms as I stand in her doorway, and she sobs into me while I hold her. I can see her look at me, give me ‘the look’ from up above, as I head out with Nick and Evan, not wanting to move. I was so sure in that last memory that we would be together, that everything would work out. I look back at Nick who has been watching whatever emotions I have on my face, but he doesn’t say anything.
“She’s been asleep most of the night, only woke up once briefly, probably between dreams. No sign of anything out of the ordinary,” Nick reports quickly.
I nod and after a second too long he takes off, shifting. Heading towards Druer City. I’m jealous of Nick for a moment. Being able to take off and see his mate. Hold her. Talk to her.
Instead of me, reduced to standing here like a creep.
Mate will be with us soon, Aamon growls out.
I wish I could believe him.

After a few hours of nothing, there’s lights and movements from Rachel’s house. They must all be getting ready for the day. I can smell shampoo or something coming out from the window, and steam rising into the air.
Maybe half an hour later I hear clattering in the kitchen. Then soon after, the Blancos/ Hansen ladies came down the steps. They headed to the car. And I prepared to follow. I know a few ways down to the park away from houses and prying eyes. And so I race them down to the park. I stay hidden and see Ally approach the crowd. She now has her mom drop her off at this bus stop so she can keep an eye on Rachel. Not that Rachel is talking to her now. I notice Ally’s mom is nowhere to be seen. The bus arrives.
“It’s me,” Nick says as he walks up to where I’m hidden.
I raise my brow at him.
“Ally needed a ride,” he smiles.
Wow, they are already at that stage. A mate riding on the back of a wolf is a big deal. I guess it’s more necessary when your mate isn’t also a wolf. But still. Another pang of sadness hits me.
I look up to see Rachel getting on the bus. She freezes for a moment and looks right up at the trees I am hiding in. She squints, then something calls her attention and she steps into the bus. It takes off. But I can see her in the window, eyes searching the trees for something. For me.
That’s it. I’m not doing this anymore.
“I have to talk to her,” I say, startling Nick from whatever he was reading on his phone.
“J,” he says in a serious tone.
“Don’t ‘J’ me. I’m serious. I’m going nuts here. Just imagine for a second it’s Ally. She doesn’t know who you are and people are trying to keep her away from you,” I sound more desperate than I ever have in my life.
My words throw him.
“I - I - but your responsibilities. I mean - the Goddess - she said-” he starts.
“I don’t care. I need her. She needs me. Did you not just see her there, looking for me? She can feel the bond. I know it,” I say definitively.
Nick opens his mouth to say something but then closes it. He exhales. “Fine.”
I smile. I haven’t smiled since my parents were killed.
“But!” Nick says, holding a hand out. “We need a plan. And don’t go throwing all of you at her. She doesn’t know you. Not right now.”
‘Don’t tell us what to-’, Aamon starts to say out of my mouth but I cut him off.
“Done,” I force out despite Aamon’s protests.

Rachel~
It’s Tuesday morning, a few days left until my birthday. Something about this birthday feels really important. I’m excited about it more than usual. That is until something sours my mood.
Ally is here. Why is she taking the bus from Melbourne? Does she seriously think she can follow me around like this and make things better? A flash of something different goes through me. Sadness. Regret. I shake my head.
I haven't been able to think very straight in days. Not since the hospital. And my dreams. They’ve been disjointed and weird. A wolf. A demon. A forest. Being in the clouds. A field. A lake. Big white wings. There’s no sense to those either.
The bus pulls up and the crowd starts to get on. I hold back, not wanting to fight through the crowd. Not wanting Ally to sit by me. She gets on and I still hang back. The crowd funnels on and I can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching me. I look up at the windows expecting to see Ally. But I don’t. Then I look up over to the treeline up the hill a ways. I’m frozen like that. I’m overcome with the want to go over there. I should go there.
“Hey girlie, it’s time to get going,” the bus driver’s voice breaks me from the trance.
I nod quickly and get on, passing Ally, and choosing a seat near the back. I sit at the window and look back at the treeline, trying to see it - see anything. The bus pulls away and I continue to stare in that direction, squirting my eyes, trying to make something out. Is that the outline of a person? I push my head to the cool glass of the window to try to see more, but then we’ve rounded the corner and it’s gone.