Mine to Protect Chapter 44: VISION

*Hazel*

I wasn’t expecting this. I stand there frozen not knowing what to do, staring at the ring in his hand, made of white gold topped with small diamonds and a green emerald at their center, the same color of my eyes.

“Kitten, say something,” he pleads, his voice filled with vulnerability and uncertainty.

“I..” I stutter uncertainly, trying to gather my thoughts, “I knew what a mate mark meant when I let you mark me, so I am already yours. There is no need for marriage. I just wish I could mark you too, let others know that you belong to me.”

“So, you don’t want to marry me?” he asks deflated.

I chuckled at his pout.

“I am yours already, but if you want to make me yours through marriage too, then my answer is…” I pause, to torture him a little longer, “Yes, I want to marry you Alpha Derek O’Brien.”

He laughs a breathless laugh of relief, then puts that beautiful ring on my ring finger, and kisses my hand gently. He stands, enclosing me in his arms, bringing me closer to him.

“Why would the Moon Goddess pair me with such an evil mate?” he demands dramatically.

“To keep your mischievous ass in line! Plus, it’s too late to regret it, you marked me, we are stuck together for life.”

“No, not for life, you’re mine for eternity, mine to love, mine to cherish, mine to protect.”

I feel a sense of warmness spread through my body at his words, how can he be so sweet, and so equally irritating at times? It’s a mystery to me, but I guess it adds to his charm.

I pull him down for a passionate kiss, hoping I can convey my love for him this way, not knowing how to express it in words. The kiss becomes soon something more, and we end up taking each other’s clothes off, wanting to feel each other without barriers. We are left with our underwear only, when Derek suggests “Why don’t we go into the water? It will keep us warm.”

I eagerly agree, feeling goosebumps rise on my skin at the cold breeze.

Once we are immersed, and I am melting in the cozy warmth of the thermal water, I lift my head back, to admire the cloud-free blue sky, and the white moon already shining tall and bright.

My body starts feeling funny, like small spiders are crawling all over my skin, and a sucking sensation starts from within me, I recognize it as the same sensation I felt when I met that monk in my dream.

I want to call Derek, plead him to help me, at least turn to look at him, but I can’t move, I am completely paralyzed, while the sucking sensation becomes stronger and stronger, until my vision blacks out for a moment, and when it comes back, I am not at the lake with Derek anymore, I am in hell, werewolves’ hell.

I don’t know where I am, but the stench of fresh blood, piss and fear is making me sick, the screams of agony piercing my ears, cries of people strapped to metal tables, being tortured by other masked people. They are wearing white protective suits, like the ones you’d find in chemical labs, welding scalpels and saws, and what they are doing to those werewolves tied to the gurneys is making my heart die in my chest.

They are removing their eyes from their sockets, their fangs from their mouths, their organs from their bodies, without any kind of anesthesia, like they are dead meat. Their blood is pouring like water on the tiled floor, flowing to the middle of the room, where a metal drain is placed, drinking up greedily their life essence.

I let my gaze slowly drift over this horror scene, every single soul being abused in here is a werewolf, some of them are in human form, some others are partly shifted. Why?

I yell at the men in suits to stop, I try pushing them away, but they can’t hear me, and I can’t make contact with them, like I am made of thin air, my hands just passing through.

What is this? Why am I seeing this? I feel like I am going to go insane, my surroundings are spinning, when suddenly I find myself in Derek’s arms, his face inches from mine, a look of panic on his face.

“Hazel! Thank the Goddess!” he exclaims, hugging me tightly.

“What happened?” I rasp out, still feeling sick at the scene I just witnessed, and confused about my surroundings.

Derek moves back, enough to be able to look at me, keeping his hands securely on my waist.

“We were in the water, you were gazing at the sky, then suddenly you went all rigid, and started screaming. Your eyes, they changed, they became two white orbs of white light, I’ve have never seen anything like that, Hazel. I didn’t know what to do, didn’t know if you were screaming out of fear or pain, didn’t know how to help you. I brought you out of the water, then you went still, your eyes went back to normal, and here we are.”

“What was that?” he asks me anxiously.

I shake my head, my body trembling in shock and fear.

“I don’t know. But, Derek, what I saw when I blacked out, was horrible,” I can’t hold my tears in at the thought of those people suffering, “there were people being tortured. No, not people, werewolves, they were all werewolves. I think they were removing their organs in what looked like a lab, I am not sure.”

Derek doesn’t say anything, but his expression is troubled, making me feel even more anxious. What I saw, was it all real?

“Derek, do you think what I witnessed is real?” I asked him tentatively.

He ponders for a moment, not answering me, his eyes not meeting mine.

“Derek!” I say with force, “If you know something, you need to tell me!”

He gives me a long look, then says defeated, “I am not sure. At the last Alpha meeting a number of packs reported pack members gone missing, but it was a small number, not enough to raise suspicion. I don’t know if this is connected to what you have seen.”

“It could be! We have to do something! We can’t let them be killed like that. We should call the police, but I don’t even know where that place is. Maybe I can go back into that vision, find some clue.” I start blabbering, getting on my feet, and walking towards the water.

“Wait, Hazel, you can’t do that, what if something happens to you? What if you get stuck in your vision? We don’t even know if it was real, maybe it was just a bad dream.”

I look pointedly at him, “We both know it wasn’t a dream! Let me try, Derek, I can’t leave with myself if I don’t at least try. If that vision is reality, I can’t have the blood of those people on my conscience.”

Against Derek’s pleads to let it go, I immerse myself again in the water, and bring forward the images of that horrendous place, hoping the magic, my powers, or whatever it is that did the trick before, will bring me back there again now. But nothing happens, I stand there in the pool, gazing at the moon for I don’t know how long, but still nothing. Saying that I am feeling frustrated is an understatement.

“I have to go home! Now.” I announce, climbing out of the thermal pool.