Warrior Tony Hearing my mate's story is already tearing my heart apart and yet, I have a feeling that it's only the beginning. To know that she has spent so long on her own without her family is hard enough, but to know that I literally walked over her safe house, to know that I was mere meters away from her and I left her there just guts me. If my math is right, then she was 14 when this happened, which means that if I had gotten her out of there that day, then I would have known that she was my mate. Granted, nothing would have happened nor would I have told her, but I could have made sure that she had a good life while I waited for her, and could have kept her safe and protected. Goddess, I would have done it for her regardless of her being my mate. She was just a child, and she had lost everyone she ever knew. I would have personally looked after her regardless of who she was to me, but instead, she has been alone all this time and I hate it. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we didn't find you that day." My voice feels raw with the emotions I'm feeling as I talk to her. She looks straight at me, but she seems confused by my words. "No, don't do that, brother. Don't you dare!" Nick's firm voice has everyone's attention turning to him. "I know what you're doing. You feel guilty that we didn't find her that day and I get it I do, but there were a lot of us there that day, and not one of us had any reason to believe that she was there." "No, please don't feel guilty. It was not your fault, it wasn't anyone's fault. My dad had our safe house built underground for that reason and his plan worked. Everything happens for a reason and I believe you not finding me is no different." My mate's voice is so soft and calm and instantly makes me feel calmer. I look into her eyes, and it's clear to see that she means every word that she says, and while I believe and appreciate her words, I don't think I'll be able to get over the guilt that I'm holding any time soon. Despite Nick's words, I know that he's feeling guilty about it too, because, no matter what, he would never leave a child behind. I give her my best smile and nod, but I'm pretty sure that she knows that I'm still holding that guilt. I can't help it. It's just who I am. I would have protected any child that was in that situation, but knowing that I could have been protecting my mate when instead, she's been alone in this world all this time is gutting-wrenching. Alpha Nicholas Rosie's Story is hard to hear even for me, so I can't imagine what Tony is feeling right now, but either way, he has my full sympathy. Since the moment she started talking I haven't taken my eyes off her. I'm watching and waiting for any signs of her being here against us, but so far I don't see or hear anything that makes me think that of her. If anything, I just feel sorry for her, and I'm praying with all I have that she is being genuine and that I get to welcome her into our pack, into our family. "Wait, you said that there was a guard with you… Callum was it?" Shit! How the fuck did I forget about that? She smiles as she shakes her head no to Robbie's question "Connor. But yes he was with me." Her smile turns sad, and I already know that I'm going to hate whatever she's about to say. "I'm guessing that he's no longer around?" I ask as a sinking feeling hits me when I realize that she said that he was with her, not that he is with her. She shakes her head and I don't miss the tears that are lacing her eyes. "No, he's not." I watch as Tony has an internal battle with himself and I get it, she could still potentially be a threat to us, but she is his mate, and it has to be gutting him to see her so upset. Hell, she's not my mate, and yet, I'm struggling with seeing her like this. I work to hold back a smile when Tony grunts before lifting Rosie out of her seat and placing her on his lap. She lets out the smallest squeak when he lifts her, but she quickly settles on him and I find myself praying that she's being honest with us. Tony has already lost one mate and, despite the situation that we are in, I can see that he has already fallen for her and if we are wrong, and she is against us... Well, I'm not sure if Tony will ever recover from that."Can I ask what happened?" She's had a few minutes to calm herself, but as much as I want to give her more time I can't, I need to get this over with, Tony needs us to get this over with and I need to get back to dealing with the pricks in my cells who thought they could hurt my mate. "The truth is I don't know. Once we knew that there weren't any survivors, well, as far as we knew, that was the case anyway. There could be more out there, but he never came across any. Anyway, Connor decided that it would be best if we lived in the safe house for a while, and once he knew everything was OK, he said he would move us from the house to another pack. He was good friends with several warriors at a pack that we had an alliance with, and he was confident that we would be welcomed there. He told me that I always had a home with him, no matter what happened. We came to think of each other as brother and sister and I loved every minute of it. However, he used to drive me mad because he wouldn't let me leave the house. The house was already stocked well with enough supplies to last at least several months, but he would still go out once a week and come back with supplies, mostly meat, and it was put in the freezer for when we needed it." "He always told me that if one day he went out and didn't come back I was to know that he hadn't left me. He said that the only way he wouldn't return was if he had no choice. He said that if he went out and didn't return within two days, then I was to leave the house and head for his friend's pack. We had bags loaded with supplies that we could grab if we needed to make a quick exit, and he also drew me a map to get me to his friends." "He sounds like he cared about you a lot, Rosie," Robbie says sounding sincere. I never met this Connor guy but from just what I have heard here alone I have huge respect for him and how he treated Rosie. "He does... he did..." Tony tries to cover a growl with a cough, but he fails miserably and this has Rosie smiling. She places her hand on his chest and leans into him. "As I said earlier, Conner was like a brother to me, that was all." He nods giving her a gentle smile. "I know sweetheart. I didn't mean to growl. Zero is just being an asshole, ignore him!" Everyone in the room chuckles, including Rosie, before we sober up and come back to our reality. "Rosie, can you tell me what happened next?" "We had originally planned to stay at the house for one month and then move on to his friend's pack but then winter set in and Connor decided that he didn't want me traveling in the bad weather, so he said that we would spend winter in the house, and then we would leave, he even decorated the house ready for Christmas." She smiles as she relives the memories. "Anyway, we were at the house for a few months when one day he went out for his usual weekly hunt, only this time he didn't return. I waited for almost a week for him to get back. I refused to believe what I already knew... that he was gone, but soon enough, I knew that I had to keep my promise to him and get to his friend's pack." "Did you make it to his pack?" Shane asks, drawing our attention to him. "No, I didn't. According to the information that Connor had included with the map, the pack was a 4-day hike. I took both backpacks with me when I left as I knew that Connor had stuff in his that I didn't have in mine. Carrying two overflowing bags wasn't easy and that slowed me down, but still, I kept going, finding safe places to try and sleep at night and using the tent he had packed when I needed." "3 days into my hike I stumbled upon 2 women in the forest. They were both hurt and I didn't want to just leave them, so I asked if they were OK. I know it was risky to approach strangers, but they looked frail, and I didn't sense any danger coming from them. Anyway, it turned out that they were both witches, older witches and had been attacked by a Rogue. Thankfully, they managed to fight him off, but they were quite badly hurt, so I offered to help them home. They weren't a part of any coven, they lived together in a little cabin in the woods." "After I had helped them back they asked me my story and I found myself telling them everything that had happened. They offered me a place with them, but I wanted to keep my promise to Connor. They weren't offended that I wanted to leave, but before I left, the oldest witch told me that she wanted to give me a gift before I left." "A gift? What kind of gift?" Tony asks as he sits up a little straighter. "One of her powers was reading people and seeing glimpses of their future and that's what she wanted to do for me. She wanted to look into my future to see if she could help me with anything on my travels."