The Assassin’s Mate

My eyes dilated and my canines elongated. My hair was bristling along the surface of my skin and my wolf was fighting to take charge and run to her mate but all I could do was run away. I needed to get out of here and quick. How could this have happened?

I tore out the yard as fast as I could and once I was out of sight I let her take over, shifting into my beautiful silver wolf and trying to keep her from turning back around. She fought me with all her might but my determination to save his life became my fuel to push on and get us as far away from this place as we could. We ran for hours until the pain in my sides caused us to stop. Then the tears started to fall soaking my fur. My wolf whimpered out in pain as the distance between them started to sink in.

She shifted back sulking in the corner of my mind covering her head with her tail as she cried. I collapsed to the ground in total exhaustion when I noticed a marking on my inner forearm. I turned my arm over and traced the beautiful ink with my fingertips. FUCK! Now no matter where I went people would know that I was the Queen. That my mate was chosen as the Werewolf King, but they would never know my deepest darkest secret, that I was paid to kill him.

I cried out loudly, screaming up at the sky "WHY? WHY DO YOU HATE ME? MY ENTIRE LIFE HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT PAIN AND MISERY AND NOW YOU ADD THIS? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?" I fell back to the ground pounding my fists into the dirt leaving divets in the dew covered ground.

I sobbed until the sun came up and slowly got to my feet as the ache in my bones took over. A crushing pain came into my chest as panic and pain slowly made its way up my neck and into my head. I felt his emotions, I knew he could feel me at the party but his confusion is what hit me hardest as soon as I made it past the border. He was trying to get into my head but the titanium wall block I placed up couldn't let a tank through it was so thick.

I wondered around naked and shaking as I wrapped my arms around myself keeping my arm hidden and trying to conserve my warmth. Every step I took hurt more and more until eventually I stopped at a nearby creek and dipped my toes in it trying to soothe the burn. I sat there just staring into the woods trying to remember my life before this. When it was simple and all I had to do was make a few hits and go home. When no one expected me to kill a King or infiltrate an ongoing sex trafficking operation.

The deeper I got into my thoughts the more I began to pant and soon I could feel the tightness creeping into my chest and through my back into my spine. I couldn't breathe and my head was spinning. I laid down onto the ground and soon all I saw was darkness.

**********

My eyes fluttered open and I began looking around. I remembered falling back onto the ground by a creek but there was no water or grass in here. Where the hell was I? The air was cold and damp and the smell of mold filled my nostrils, darkness covered the space but I couldn't tell if it was nighttime or just a dark room. I sat up and felt oozy immediately making me fall back down on the soft surface I was currently occupying.

"You may want to take it easy there, Queen." I whipped my head to the right where I saw a beautiful girl with long black hair standing against the wall. I looked at my arm then stood up in a defensive stance.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." She said as she walked towards me and grabbed my arm lifting it so she could see the mark on my forearm.

"Who are you? And where am I?"

"Nevada. Well actually, just across the Oregon Border. And you can call me Jane. What shall I call you my queen?" She said and bowed mockingly.

I rolled my eyes at her absurdness then stood there astounished that I had traveled almost 175 miles from where I was staying in Redmond. I looked at her in disbelief as I tried to register everything that had happened. I ran! I ran away from my mate, the King! Who does that? She cleared her throat making me look at her.

"Um sorry, what?" I asked.

"What's your name?"

"Li." I said then froze at the fact that I just told her my real name. Great. I gotta get out of here. I need to get in touch with Romero. "Thank you for helping me but I really have to go."

I rushed past her in an attempt to get away when I realized we were in a cave and the only way out was in the opposite direction. I stopped and used my senses to get me to the opening when a flash of lightning came down from the sky hitting the ground in front of where I was standing. Unbelievable! Mother Nature has the most horrible timing.

"Why don't you come back inside and eat. I'll get you wherever you need to go after the weather passes. I promise."

I turned around and nodded following her back into the cave. For a dark underground rock house she sure kept this place cozy. She handed me a bowl filled with soup and as much as I needed to get out of here the smell had me salivating like a starved dog. Ironic, right? I lifted the spoon to my mouth and closed my eyes as the taste filled me with happiness. I moaned as the liquid hit my empty belly and a loud grumble came from my core. I giggled at the sudden loud noise echoing off the cave walls.

"I'm sorry. I guess I was a lot more hungry than I thought."

"No biggie, it's actually a compliment."

We sat in silence finishing off our dinner when an intense pain radiated through my gut. I winced guarding my belly as it ripped through me several more times. Jane noticed my discomfort and poured me a glass of water handing it to me. I gulped it down and wrapped my arms around myself.

"So, who's this new King of ours?" She asked as she grabbed our dishes and placed them in a makeshift sink full of water. I stiffened at her question and I guess she could sense the tension rolling off of me because she walked back over to me and sat down. "Look I don't know a lot about mates, or you for that matter, but don't you think it's pretty amazing that you were given this chance?" She said with a sorrowful smile.

I looked her into her eyes as I could feel her sadness emitting from her pores and said "He doesn't deserve me as a mate. I'm not exactly the best person. I'm too damaged. So I don't know why the Moon Goddess would even think to bind us together." I stood up and walked towards the cave entrance when I felt her come up behind me.

"We're all damaged in some way Li. I should know, I've been through a lot and being a Rogue was never my plan in life but here I am just trying to make things right in this fucked up werewolf world. So tell me, who's this big bad mate of yours?"

I turned to face her and said "William Reeves."

Her face began to drain of all color and her knees buckled as she fell to the ground. She was sitting there in total disbelief when I fell to her side and engulfed her in a hug. "Are you ok, Jane? What's wrong? Do you know him?"