I'm Sorry, Who's Your Mate?

Chapter 5

I'm really sorry for the delay in updates. I've been super busy and I've been working hard on my other story so I've let this slide. There's no excuse for that and I'll try to regulate my updates. Again, I'm reallyyy sorry. The story will jump ahead again in the next chapter.

Thank you to anyone that voted or commented or fanned on the last chapter. Thank you to anyone that is still reading this after the long wait....

(Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes)

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            Chapter 5

Paige’s POV:

            It’s been three weeks. Three weeks of nothing but grey walls, cold nights, and nothing but Ariel’s voice as a buffer between me and insanity. The only thing I’ve seen outside my cell is the hallway leading to the bathroom and then of course, the bathroom. I was outraged when I found out I had to learn to hold it in until they decided to take me to the restroom. While being on a pee schedule might have been embarrassing, at least it had stability! I had to wait to go to the restroom until one of the bog oafs known as the guards decided to get off his lazy but and unlock my cage and like a dog, walk me to the bathroom. I had never felt so repressed, so animalistic. They treated me like the dog they thought I was.

            “Paige?” Ariel pulled me out of my depressing thoughts.

            “Hmm?”

            “Have you shifted yet?” She asked quietly, eying me. I looked down and fiddled with my hands.

            “No.” I whispered. She hissed in anger and her eyes flashed.

            “Those bastards. You hadn’t even shifted yet…” She trailed off and clenched her fists. In every werewolves life, the first shift is the most important thing besides finding your mate.

            “Ariel, can I ask you something? Something kind of personal.” I didn’t want her to be sad if she did already have one.

            “Sure.” She looked up curiously, sensing the hesitation in my voice.

            “Have you, have you found your mate?” I stumbled over my words as I rushed to get them up.

            Ariel looked down and clasped her hands together, taking a deep breath. I instantly felt bad. She did. She had a mate somewhere out in the world searching for her and we both knew he would probably never find her. I can’t imagine the pain she must be feeling. I’ve heard the pain of losing your mate isn’t comparable to anything else. It’s excruciating and all consuming. While I’ve never met my mate, I’ve also never had to experience that soul crushing agony. Of course Ariel didn’t lose her mate in death but she might as well have as it looks like we’re going to be stuck here.

            “Yes.” She whispered finally.

            “I’m sorry.” I whispered back. She looked up, her eyes glittering with tears. A small smile formed on her face and she shrugged.

            “It’s ok. I met him when I was sixteen, just after my fist shift.” She paused, her eyes far away.

            “You don’t have to tell me about him.” I didn’t want to make her feel even worse.

            “No, I want to. I have to tell someone about him seeing as how I have no one else to talk to.”

            “Ok.” I was more than willing to listen to her love story seeing that I don’t have one of my own.

            “I met him when I was sixteen. His name is Peter.” Her eyes held a loving sparkle as she spoke his name. “I’d known him my entire life and I’d always had a huge crush on him. He was two years older than me and also happened to be my older brother’s best friend so of course he never looked at me. Then, when I shifted and we found out we were mates at first, we didn’t get together right away. He thought I was too young while I pined after him helplessly. I mean he’s undeniably gorgeous and we’re supposed to be together!” She laughed softly at the irony. “Anyway, I let it go and figured if he didn’t want to be together than there was nothing I could do about that. About a year later I started dating this human from school and the first time I brought him home Peter was there hanging out with my brother and just like that, things fell into place. The minute he saw me with him, Peter strode forward, pulled me into his arms and kissed me for all I was worth. Let’s just say it was awkward to have to explain that kiss to my boyfriend, well ex.” She smiled again and I felt my mouth turn up. “We’ve been together for about a year and a half and I am hopelessly in love with him.”

            Tears came to my eyes as I thought about how that love was gone for her now. She would never get to see the person who lit up her eyes every time she spoke about him. It made me mad to think the humans holding us hostage could care less about that. They were too scared to look beyond our furry exteriors to see how loving we truly were.

            “I’m sorry.” I whispered again.

            “I’m sorry you’ll never get the chance to have that. Even if it was just for a little while, I’m so grateful that I had even a little taste of that kind of love.” A pang in my heart reminded me of what I had yet to find but already lost.

            Ariel was about to speak again when the door banged open and one of the hunters stepped in. He took his time walking towards us and I hoped he was bringing food. They fed us twice a day but rarely gave us enough to supplement our needs. A piece of bread and water is the usual. As the man stepped closer I squinted at the books in his hands. Why in the world is her carrying books?

            “Here.” He opened the door to my cage and dropped the heavy books onto the floor with a heavy thud.

            “What is this?” I inspected the books closer and found them to be textbooks. Math, science, english. I even spotted a languages book.

            “Boss wants you to study these. Says you might be useful one day.” He shrugged unconcerned and I couldn’t bit back the bitter laugh that escaped my lips.

            “Are you kidding me? He wants me to do school work while I’m being imprisoned?” I asked sarcastically.

            “Test is on Friday. First three chapters of each book. Fail the test, well the punishment is pretty severe.” He laughed at the end and I glared at him. He walked out and I noticed Ariel had no books in her cell. “Why don’t you have books?”

            “I already graduated.” She shrugged and I gaped. She laughed at my facial expression and shook her head. “I’m 18. I graduated last year.”

            “You still look like you’re in high school though.” I commented.

            “I get that a lot.” She mused.

            I looked back down at the books. Hell no. I am not doing school work while being held hostage. There isn’t anything more severe than this so they can just shove it.