Feeling the loss

Alpha Zayne Steele

Then turning to Mekhi, Zayne asked, "Any updates with the USB drive?"

Now Zayne knew he and Mekhi had a crazy week. However, he wanted to see if any contact or so was made.

"Yes, I spoke with Mira, and we are meeting for dinner tomorrow night," Mekhi confirmed.

Zayne lifted an eyebrow at him, and Mekhi said, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. I got this."

"I hope so, Mekhi. I really do." Zayne responded, hoping to the Divine Moon Goddess that Mekhi knew what he was doing with his human friend Mira.

This USB could be their smoking gun, and the amount of information could be stored on that USB. Zayne was concerned because Mekhi and Mira had a thing before.

Who knows if she just wanted to get back at him?

"Everything is under control," Mekhi assured, and Zayne nodded.

The meeting had gone on for a couple more hours, and they had a clear way forward. Given how this week started, he was in good spirits for how it ended.

Zayne was pleased to see how things were progressing and what everyone was willing to do. They were willing to do what it took and volunteered their time and energy to this fight against this unknown entity.

Zayne was hoping for a big break, a lead that would take them to the head of the snake. Nevertheless, it was time to wrap up this meeting as he had a critical call to make.

His ace in the hole.

"Ok, guys, gather around!" Zayne's eyes slid across the room as he demanded everyone's attention. The warriors were all chatting about their next steps in their little cliques, ready to take on the assignment they agreed to take on.

"Thank you all for coming today and for your continued support during this fight!" Zayne knew this was a battle he could not do on his own. He knew he only made it this far because of the men who stood by his side throughout.

And for that, he was forever grateful to this group of men. Men who were willing to stand against injustice just like him...

There were collective responses of 'You are welcome, Alpha,' 'Anytime, Alpha,' and 'How can we not, Alpha? These people are ridiculous,' and 'Thank you, Alpha, for taking the stand that you did, giving hope that somebody would come for us,' That last comment had come from a rescue.

Denicka felt like she owed her life to Alpha Zayne.

Denicka is a twenty-six-year-old woman from Manzanilla Heights. She lived a very mundane life. Nothing exciting or out of the ordinary; she was a merchandising rep for a pharmaceutical company.

She lived with her mom, her dad died, and she had a brother who lived in another region. She had been missing for two months, so the first thing she did when she woke up was contact her mother.

Sadly, her mother died. After Denicka did not get through, she called her brother, which was hard for her because they were not on speaking terms.

But given what Denicka went through, she thought she could try again, but she wanted to know what was going on with her mother.

Her brother Dane had given her the news, and after talking for hours, they had mended their differences, and Denicka promised not to mention anything again about his wife cheating on him.

He did not believe her and still didn't. She decided, instead of losing him all over again. She would let it rest. As he had told her, if she could not respect his wife, stay away from his family.

She then told him what had happened. The night Denicka was taken, she'd left a diner after grabbing dinner. They snatched her right off the sidewalk on her way to her parked car.

Nevertheless, she had nothing to return to, so she decided to stay because...

When they took Denicka, she thought that would have been the end of her life. When they dragged her into that facility, she got glimpses of what was going on, also hearing the screams of those that were operated on and were going through the 'transition,' as she heard one of the doctors call it.

Denicka thought she would never make it out of there alive, and worse, she might become one of those things. She was there for one week, but before, they kept her in what looked like an abandoned warehouse with tons of shipping containers.

She was held up in one of those with about fifty people crammed in with her. Nevertheless, she was next in line to be operated on after the doctor finished with the patient, Alpha Zayne, and his crew interrupted.

Denicka was kept on the fourth floor. At the time of her rescue, she was being prepped for the procedure when a robust, tall, and handsome werewolf named Nathanial had burst into the room and taken out the monsters, and knocked out the nurse.

He had helped her undo the lines connected to her, and Denicka had burst into tears; she could not believe what was happening; was this real? Was this her knight, her savior?

Nathanial had scooped her up and carried her all the way to the transport, and she had held on to him tightly, refusing to let go.

Surprisingly, when Nathanial came roaring into the room, she was not afraid of the sight of him. Denicka was also weak and packed with drugs in her system in preparation for the procedure.

Yet she still felt a slight tingle when his hand touched her bare skin. She felt so safe wrapped in his big strong arms, and at that moment, she thought she would be safe forever.

The next day, after being checked out by the doctor, she went to look for him. The place was in an uproar; there was an attack the night before while she rested in the hospital, and she found out Nathanial had died defending the community that night.

Denicka felt as if he was her life. Her heart was torn in her chest, her human body reacted weirdly to his comfort, and she felt like he had given her her life back.

She needed him closer now more than ever, and she had recognized and affiliated him as the one she needed for that comfort. So when she heard the news and given she had just found out she had lost her mom also, she had lost it.

Now, she wanted to stay here and fight these people, especially for what they did to the sweet beast that saved her.

'So no, thank you, Alpha, for being the one that took the stand, to begin with, and thank you to everyone else that followed him, including..' She burst into tears at the thought of Nathanial recalling last night's burning.

"Nathanial," Denicka continued as she gripped the t-shirt she wore by her chest, and her knees gave up. She fell back unto her chair.

Rafael observing the young woman and her behavior toward Nathanial wondered if this was the woman Nathanial had told him about, he had only told him he had met his mate at the rescue and that she was in the hospital recuperating.

Nathanial had died defending the community giving everything he got, especially now that his mate was there. He refused to let them pass him, fearing they would take her back, so he held on till the others arrived.

He knew he would not make it, but at least he had gotten her out of that place, and she was safe. They would not be taking her back. If it was the last thing he would do, he was content.

Rafael rose to assist her, but she waved him away as she tried to stand again, "No, so thank you, Alpha Zayne, because If not for your initiative, I would have been one of those things by now." She finished with a scowl on her face.

Then adds, "So I am alive now because you and I will stand with you on this because they took HIM from me."

Now the entire room was speculating and doing the mathematics equations about who 'HIM' was, except for Rafael. At that point, he knew she was grieving the loss of her mate and wondered if she knew he was her mate or if her body was simply reacting to the loss.

Denicka then broke down into tears again. She did not quite understand why she was crying and in so much pain, feeling the loss tenfold for a man she only met once.

She could not understand why she was this way. She grieved him more than her mother.