The Hellhound's Mate

Chapter 31

Five days. It had been a really strange five days. It felt as if it had been five days since anyone smiled or was happy or actually told the truth.

Kira had left town to try and tame the growing Kitsune spirit inside her because it was beginning to consume her. Things were worse because they'd managed to convince Angie not to tell her boyfriend that he was the one taking bodies, at least until they had more of an answer to give him, but to be honest, they were running out of options. And Stiles was nervous that one of the bodies that they'd find at the Nemeton would be Donovan.

Stiles and Lydia had been trying to find the Nemeton for the last five days, Angie helping here and there to avoid Jordan because he knew that she was tenser than usual, that something happened that she wasn't telling him.

But that fifth day, Angie had had it. She couldn't do it anymore.

Of course, he didn't really believe her at first, despite it accounting for the pieces of missing time he had in his memory. So, Angie vowed to prove it was real by showing him that his dream was real. Which was how they ended up in his car as they drove to the Beacon Hills Preserve.

"Baby, is it because of your bad experiences at this place the reason why you've never shown it to me before?' he asked, and she shook her head.

"No. I mean, I'm obviously not fond of going back there but it's not exactly easy to find," she explained.

"Should we put it in the GPS?' he asked, and she laughed.

"Sure, babe. I'm pretty sure the GPS will be able to find a magic tree stump that doesn't want to be found," she retorted as he smiled and took a right turn and her brows narrowed.

"It'll probably have better luck than me considering I can't remember ever being around a giant tree stump," he said, and she just turned to him with a smug look on her face.

"You sure about that?"

"What do you mean?" he countered.

"You just made a right turn. You've been this way before and you're starting to remember."

His eyes widened at the realisation as he kept driving and Angie was hit with a wave of déjà vu as she closed her eyes, her senses overwhelmed as they tried to tell her something. "What's wrong?" he asked as he noticed it.

"I don't know. But this road feels familiar, the bumps, the potholes. I - I think I've been down here before but - stop! Stop the car!"

Jordan hit the brakes as Angie tore off her seatbelt and jumped out running through the trees as he chased after her, slightly worried when he saw that she was running with her eyes closed, working off instinct, her senses and memory.

He had no idea how long they ran for or if they could even find their way back to the car before she came to a screeching halt and Jordan nearly crashed into her.

"I don't - I don't understand. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue. My senses remember coming down this way but it's like I've hit a wall. No familiar scents or sounds. Nothing," she tried to explain as they heaved.

"Well, you did say this magic tree was hard to find. Maybe it's magic is trying to confuse you?" he suggested and Angie turned to him.

"But it shouldn't confuse you. If it allows you to bring the bodies of chimeras to it then in theory it should allow you to find it. Does anything look familiar to you?" she asked as Jordan scanned their surroundings intently.

"Nothing. I'm trying, but it all looks like woods to me. I couldn't even tell you how to get back to my car much less find a magic tree stump."

Angie sighed before an idea popped into her head. "Maybe it's like the lighter. You didn't get burned because you didn't think about it. You can't find the Nemeton by looking for it."

"Ok, that, that made no sense to me whatsoever," he replied and she rolled her eyes before throwing a punch that he half-copped and half-blocked as he staggered backwards.

"Did that make sense to you?" she asked.

"What the hell was that for?!" he exclaimed as she advanced on him again.

"To get you to stop thinking," she huffed, each word punctuated with a punch or kick that Jordan easily blocked but grimaced slightly from the force of it.

"Is this supposed to motivate me?" he grinned as he backed away from her, Angie only following after him. "Because the last time you tried to get me to stop thinking, you took your clothes off. I think that was much more motivating."

Angie leapt into the air as her foot met his chest and Jordan crashed to the ground.

"I thought about it. But then I remembered that I had to get you back for punching me in the face the other day," she shrugged casually as Jordan hauled himself to his feet, brushing the leaves from his jacket.

"Not my fault you read a magic book that brought back a memory you repressed," Jordan sassed and his girlfriend gave him a very unimpressed look before she kicked out her leg again and Jordan deflected it this time.

Angie stood in a defensive stance as she jerked her eyebrows at him with a challenging smirk. He copied it as he raised his hands, flexing his fingers in a 'come at me' gesture before the two of them lunged for each other.

Sparring with Angie was unbelievably fun to Jordan and it made working out that much more enjoyable. It was easy too. They just flowed so effortlessly. And he knew that he didn't have to take it easy on her as he grabbed her wrists and twisted her body around so that her back was flush with his chest. But then he wasn't prepared for her twisting out of his grip as she spun around, her hands pushing flat on his chest to create distance between them. Jordan was the one to strike next, Angie jumping over the leg he kicked out to try and sweep her off her feet before continuing the motion and springing up as his foot aimed for her head. But rather than duck out of the way, Angie bent back at her hips like a limbo before grabbing his foot and pushing it up, making him lose his balance but not his footing.

It was when they went for each other simultaneously. When Angie caught Jordan's fist and he caught hers as their eyes glowed in unison.

They lowered their arms, breathing heavily as they turned to the side where the Nemeton appeared in a grove behind some trees, Jordan taking a few nervous steps towards it because in the clearing there wasn't just an old tree stump.

There were bodies piled on top of it.

All of the bodies that had gone missing.

And Angie had just proven Jordan right. He'd taken them.

His dream was real.

And he just turned and walked away from it.