One Girl Two Mates
Chapter 26

"Do you know where she is?" Diego asked, barely hiding the panic in his voice.

"Yes, she's a few miles west of the pack house. Kane has some strange camp set up." I rubbed a hand down my sweaty face. Edith's cool hands calming my burning skin. "Did you see how my wolves were with him?" Rafael asked.

"No, but I know there's about twenty or more tents." Edith helped me rise to my feet, walking me back to the pack house.

"So, um, is your mother dangerous?" I turned to look Diego straight in the eye, watching him visibly gulp.

"Very dangerous." He raked a hand through his long hair.

"What does she have to do with all of this?" Rafael asked, my head was throbbing and I felt exhausted.

"She's a f*****g psycho b***h that is hellbent on becoming immortal." Edith snapped at Rafael.

"And again, what does that have to do with Lili?" He snapped back.

"She's like an untapped power source. Instead of sacrificing her to get back Kane's mate, she's most likely going to take Lili's powers." I told him, trying to stop the hostility between Edith and him. "How will she do that?" Diego asked in a hoarse voice. I grimaced at the look on his face.

"It's not a pretty process, she has to remove Lili's soul from her body." The dining room was dead silent as we entered and sat down, absorbing the information. Rafael clenched his fists, his jaw locked into place.

"How much time do we have?" He gritted through his teeth. I glanced up at the giant clock, my chest tightened with worry.

"A little more than two hours." I watched as he and Diego closed their eyes, taking ragged breaths.

"Rafael, do you have a map of your pack lands?" Diego asked him, gently stroking his upper arm. Rafael nodded stiffly and headed up to his office to grab the map. We sat in a tense silence for what felt like an eternity before he came back with the map in hand. I watched as he spread it out across the large table.

"Do you see where she was?" Rafael asked, anxiety in his voice. I searched the map, looking at the west side of the pack house.

"This area." I drew a little circle with my finger in a sparsely wooded area.

"That's close to your pack." Rafael commented, turning to Diego.

"I'll send some of my warriors." He quickly whipped out his phone and stepped outside.

"We're going to get her back." I laid my hand on Rafael's arm, giving it a light squeeze.

"Thank you, both of you." Rafael's gaze lifted to Edith's, she gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

"Alright, they're on their way, let's head out." Diego said once he came back inside.

"Are you both okay with riding our wolf forms?" Edith and I nodded in unison. I avoided looking at the two Alphas as they transformed into their wolves, giving them some privacy. I hopped onto Rafael as Edith hopped onto Diego. The wolves were running in a flash. I had to flatten my body against Rafael's wolf and grip the fur in hopes I didn't fall off.

LILIANA POV

I sat on the flimsy mattress and played with the fraying fabric. My tears had stopped hours ago, my throat felt dry and sore. I had prayed to the Goddess Selene hundreds of times, I hoped she could hear me. The later it got the more I feared that my prayers were falling on deaf ears. I took time to mourn the loss of my mates even though they weren't the ones that would die tonight. I mourned the loss of the life I could've had with them. I wondered what our children would look like, what their wolves would look like. Would we really have eight kids? A fearful thought crept into my mind, what if I'm pregnant right now? I held my hand to my flat tummy. The tears that I thought had dried up came back full force. Trying to distract myself I took my time to go over my surroundings. The tent was tall inside, maybe over six feet. It wasn't very wide. There was room for the bed and a walkway around it. There was a red bucket next to the bed that they told me to use as a toilet. It made a shiver of disgust run through me.

"Hello?" My head snapped up. There was a frail red headed woman standing at the opening of the tent. She held a tray of food in her hand.

"They sent me to bring you food." Her eyes were cast downward, dark circles rimmed the sockets.

"Thank you." I accepted it, worrying she might get in trouble if I didn't. She bowed her head before she darted back out of my tent. I had tried several times to escape the tent, but it's like there was some invisible force field keeping me trapped. I stared down at the food on the tray. There was a bottle of water and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Great choice for a last meal I thought sarcastically. As I absentmindedly chewed my sandwich the redhead reappeared. She held a beautiful white gown in her hands. A bucket full of water was tucked into the bend of her elbow.

"They want me to help clean and dress you." She spoke softly, gazing at the floor.

"Okay." I replied as I finished my sandwich. My gut twisted with anxiety, my sandwich threatening to come back up. I reluctantly pulled my yellow dress off of my body. I felt myself redden at the thought of a stranger seeing me naked.

"What's your name?" I asked quietly as she gently ran a wet rag over my skin.

"Gwen." She responded in a hushed tone, avoiding my gaze.

"My name's Lili." I told her as she dipped the ends of my hair into the frothy water. She was running a wide tooth comb through the thick strands. It was obvious she didn't want to speak, so I didn't push her. I didn't cry either, I held my head high as she cleaned and dressed me.

"You look beautiful." I looked over to see Gwen staring at me with wide eyes.

"Thank you." I smiled politely. Although she'd just cleaned me, I felt disgusting.

"Can I ask you something?" Gwen asked quietly.

"Sure." I replied.

"Why don't you just leave? Just shift into your wolf and run?" Her eyes held worry for me and I felt my heart break some more.

"I can't, that witch did something to me." I looked down at my hands, a frown twisted on my lips. I watched as Gwen reached out, squeezing one of my hands. I slowly raised my eyes to peer into hers.

"I'm so sorry." Tears spilled over her cheeks. I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tightly. This girl I barely knew was wrapped up in my arms.

"It's okay, I have faith in Selene." I murmured against the top of her head.

"Times up." I heard someone growl from the opening of the tent. A large, rugged man stood in the opening. He was filthy and smelled terrible, obviously a rogue wolf. He stomped over to me and unlatched the chains around my ankle after Gwen and I pulled apart. Anxiety rocked in my stomach, making my heart race. He grabbed me by the arm and yanked me up, forcing me to stand. I bit back a growl at the feeling of him touching me. I looked at our surroundings as he pulled me from the tent. It looked like a campsite. Tents scattered around with random camp fires here and there. There were more rogue wolves, their smell making my gut twist with unease. Their eyes were so blank, so emotionless. These wolves were suffering, I could practically feel it in the air. The wolf's hold on my arm hurt, I knew it would most likely cause a bruise. My hands trembled as we entered a clearing in the woods. There was a large cement slab in the middle of a wide circle made up of salt and white rose petals. As we came closer I noticed there were candles too, dozens of them. As we walked I tried once again to use my powers or shift, but it was no use. Whatever she'd done to me suppressed everything. I couldn't even feel my mates, I felt cold without the warmth of the bond. I noticed there was a man standing next to the circle. He must be the rogue that wants to bring his mate back. That's what I assumed with how he looked at me. He was obviously trying to keep a stoic face, but I saw hope in his eyes. I gulped audibly as we stopped in front of the slab. The rogue that escorted me was instructed to chain me up. I was laid flat on my back as he chained my wrists and ankles. I kept my face neutral, well at least I tried to. I didn't want them to see my fear or my worry. If I'm going to die it will be with honor and my head held high. I spent too much of my life being a shy, quiet girl that was treated like scum. I was done, I won't cower away from them. I won't sob and beg for my life.