Flash Forward

!!Two Years After She Ran Away!!

Raphael's POV:

It had been two years of searching for Phoenix. I cursed Noah and Jo for telling me not to chase after her the day she left out the window.

I felt an emptiness inside me that couldn't be filled.

I found myself drinking more, getting into fights, sleeping around with any pretty face just to try and get my mind off the way her skin felt. The way it calmed me, the sweet smell of vanilla cupcakes lingering around her, her beauty was unmatched in every way imaginable, and I longed to hold her again. 

The day Phoenix left; soul suckers attacked her house.

They were searching for her. The influx of power that she wielded without control had clearly drawn them to her and part of me was happy she made the rash decision to leave so that she wasn't there for the events that had unfolded.

Noah still doesn't know how he did it. All I remember was a blast of pure white light as I lay on the floor, the shadows moving in and out of me.

I think that they could smell her on me. I felt my soul being torn apart which Noah was able to quickly repair with his weird touch. 

Noah had since joined our pack, not as a wolf, of course, but as part of my counsel.

This was rare, but so was he.

We stayed at Phoenix house for a week, waiting for her to come home before we both left to try to make sense of where to go next or what to do.

He came weeks later in a dream, he had begun to manifest his power and didn't want to draw attention to his own parents' house, especially since he lived so close to Phoenix.

At this point we concluded that Noah wasn't human. It was a verbal understanding, but Jo still wasn't opening up about what Noah was.

I really didn't push the subject. As long as he was loyal and meant no harm, I was okay with it all.

He left his life behind and had been helping us search for Phoenix. While he had many purposes, he dedicated time to finding my mate.

It was like she had completely fallen off the earth all together.

Not a single whiff, murmur, or spotting of her anywhere. 

Atti was going insane. Most days I had to bury him and close off my walls to my wolf side. It wasn't easy but there wasn't much that I could do.

"Noah, you've been having the same dream over and over, yet you have no clues. What does this mean? I'm growing impatient" I knew it wasn't his fault, but my Alpha tone was inevitable each time we spoke about Phoenix.

"Alpha, her surroundings are fuzzy, almost like they're being protected. Like she is being cloaked from being found, I can't make any of it out. The only thing I can see is her." he responded with respect; I couldn't deny that we had grown close like brothers.

He quickly understood and learned the hierarchy of the packs and addressed those around him formally. He was nothing but help, yet my frustration was often taken out on him.

Noah put his hand on my shoulder, like he had the first time years ago, pulling the emotional pain from me. It didn't last long but I was grateful for it, nonetheless.

This seemed to be our routine now. 

"Thank you, Noah," I sighed just before the feeling of my guts being ripped out of me emerged.

I fell to my knees, air sucking rapidly through my gritting teeth as I held my stomach. I looked down to see what had attacked me, what was ripping me apart, but I was fully intact.

"Alpha, what's wrong?" Jo and Noah were looking down at me with concern.

Atti crouched down in the depths of my mind, whimpering, and I realized exactly what was happening to me. 

Jo and Noah laid me in bed. I was fevering for what felt like hours. Crippling pain as my mind flashed with imaginary images of Phoenix betraying our bond, touching and loving another man.

It hurt worse than the feeling of my body being ripped apart. Tears silently fell down my cheeks, mixing with sweat dripping down my face.

Eventually, it stopped abruptly, but I was still in pain. 

I could tell that Jo knew exactly what was happening by the look of pity on his face.

As the pain started to subside, a rage was now fueling inside of me.

Why did my mate not want me?

I needed to find her, reject her, and get this whole mess out of my life.

Atti didn't agree, but I couldn't reason with anyone. I couldn't spend two more years going through this.

If she didn't want me, then she needed to let me reject her and accept the rejection. My decision was firm, and I was a raging mess.