05) Neffie Hale

Although all the wolves calmed down after Jade's mate suddenly disappeared with the man who was with her, the Beta of Silver Luna, who was responsible for her injuries, was not allowed to calm down.

As soon as Jade recovered from the shock of her disappearance, his anger and pain overflowed over the Silver Luna Beta, and he was in a near death situation when he was rescued after a series of stern orders from the Royal Luna.

Even after that, it was very difficult to calm down Jade because he had been devastated by the loss of his mate.

It was almost 3AM when all the royals and all the other alpha, beta, gamma, delta and alpha females finally gathered in the living room after sorting out everything.

"Who was that?" The Blood Moon Alpha_Fabe, who owned a well built body as all other wolf males with a sand color hair and a deep green set of eyes, questioned curiously.

"We were did catch one of them... But unfortunately... we failed to catch him alive..." The young man standing next to Royal Luna slowly explained as if it was his mistake.

"What the fu- "

"They are neither human nor rouges..." Interrupting Eldreth's impassioned speech, Royal Luna_Azara responded by acknowledging the seriousness of the situation.

"Then who?" Eldreth asked a in a curious tone but before anyone could answer, two young women ran in disturbing their conversation.

"Grandmother... Mom... Here... Look.. Thi- this- " The girl, who had the same blue-gray eyes as Asara's, tried to speak nervously, carefully displaying a blood-red color tear drop shaped pendent, surrounded by beautiful silver flower and a simple black chain, which she had had wrapped in a cloth to avoid it from contacting with her skin.

But when she failed to speak properly, the other girl who was with her took over the duty of explanation.

"This was found by someone who went to check on the jungle. He said that this was fallen on the ground where the attack took place... where they had disappeared..." She explained.

As soon she said that that, Minu Hale, who had been quietly listening until then, opened his mouth with a lot of cursing and swearing.

"Are you sure, Azure?" She interrogated the girl who was explaining, snatching the necklace from the other girl's hand.

"Ye- yes..." Azure looked at her carefully and muttered slowly.

"Mom... this... this is Neffie's... right...?" When the other girl asked slowly in a shocked voice, Minu nodded and then stormed out of the living room.

"Neffie...?" For the first time since his mate's disappearance, Jade raised his voice and asked curiously.

"Yes. My twin..." The girl answered simply and also ran after her mother.

Before she even went out of the sight , Blood Moon Delta_Seth chased after her, filling Jade's heart with a jealous.

He didn't need any explanation to understand that they had imprinted on each other and are mates, because he too had experienced it. But he couldn't stop his heart and mind from feeling jealous, pain and sadness because he, like Seth, wasn't lucky enough to be with his mate at the moment.

"And I also think that Neffie is your mate!!" After a moment of silence Royal Luna whispered in a soft but sad voice, drawing his attention towards herself.

• • •

Two weeks had passed since the attack took place and Sliver Luna had returned to their normal lifestyle. But no one was able to find out any information about Royal Luna's youngest granddaughter. All the wolves who had come to the ceremony had already left, but Jade and Seth stayed there for their mates.

It has become a normal sight for Silver Luna wolves to see Jade steaming with rage or pulling a long face almost all the time, while Seth tries to comfort his mate_Effie, who had been worrying over Neffie's disappearance. Also the restless behaviors of the city doctor_Carmer Hale's and Royal Luna's daughter Minu Hale's had become very normal for the pack.

Also, those who made the intrusion on that day and the reasons behind it had become a top secret to the high ranked officials of the pack, making it easy for the other pack members to forget about it. But those responsible parties of the pack had not forgotten the danger of the situation.

.

"She rarely came home for Halloween... and therefore we didn't miss her that much either... But this time... I feel like the best and biggest part of Orick's Halloween feist is missing..." Effie sighed as she wandered through the streets of the city with Seth and Jade, the day before All Saints' Eve.

"Let's hope that she's fine..." Wrapping his arm around her waist, Seth assured, earning a disgruntled growl from Jade.

"She had been missing for 16 days, 18 hours and 12 minutes straight. The last time I saw her, he was almost dead!! And now... how dare you say that she'll be fine? Ah?! She clearly wasn't fine!! All this time, this damn wolf pack couldn't even track her!!! And his fucking luna- "

"Man, watch your tongue! You're talking about the Royal Luna here... and I get it... But I didn't tell that to hurt your feelings... Even so, you can't just run around disrespecting Royal Luna..." Interrupting Jade's impassioned speech, Seth warns, glancing at Effie's shocked expression.

"I... I didn't mean to disrespect." After a moment of silence, Jade muttered letting out a deep sigh and slowly turned his eyes toward the evening sky.

"We know..." Effie said softly, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Tell me more about her... Please..." Jade looked into Effie's eyes and pleaded.

She softly smiled at him and walked towards a wooden bench in a small open space at the side of the road. After Jade and Seth sat down there, she made herself comfortable on Seth's lap as she began her story.

"She's a good girl... A good sister... She loved me so much... But still, I was jealous of her because she was so much smarter than I was. So I fought with her very often. I also argued with my parents that I didn't get beautiful hair and eyes like hers. I admired her looks and abilities even when others saw her as a freak. But, she always tried very hard to conceal herself from others. And eventually she left us... For a long time after she left to live with our father's parents, I cried and begged to bring her back. But she never came to live with us again..." Effie let out a deep sigh and paused for a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes.

By then the sun was almost set and darkness was enveloping them but none of that seemed to matter to them. As Jade stares blankly into the far away infinity and Seth wrapped his arms securely around her body, Effie resumes her story as the approaching cold winter's breezes sweeps over their bodies, adding to the coolness of the night.

"Anyway, it did more good to her... She lived a great life there with grandparents. She completed her high school at the exact time she planned it to and got her first degree last summer as she always wanted to...

Even though it was difficult for her to find friends, they didn't treat her as a freak. From a very young age she had been very quiet but smart girl and she didn't socialize or open up to anyone that easily. But if she wanted to be friends with someone, she never stopped to think twice before make it real.

On the other hand it wasn't a total lie that she is a freak. She was weird... but still, we all knew that there was a very clever, intelligent, kind and lovely girl lived within that weird attitude of hers.

But if she gets angry... her kindness and lovely attitude totally flipped sides. She loves justice and love to see everything to be in order. So when there is a imbalance of those two, she gets very angry... When that happens she behaves like an alpha and it is also very... very hard to control her. When she finally calms down all by herself, the problem that had angered her is also resolved like it never existed!!-" Effie said while giggling so hardly.

"-She's like... like autumn... very calm and peaceful. She believed in live and let live motto... Still, it is hard to predict when a severe snowstorm will end it. Maybe that's why she loves autumn so much..." She finished her speech thoughtfully.

Thereafter, a deep silence engulfed them, allowing them to immerse themselves in their own worlds of thoughts.

It was no secret that Jade and Effie were both worried about Neffie, but Seth is only worried about protecting his mate from the coldness of night. He was constantly checking to see if her body was well covered, but deep down in his mind he kept cursing Jade for keeping Effie out there talking.

Although he was able to understand Jade's situation, he failed to control those nagging feelings that were rising in his mind as just another wolf who only worried about his mate's comfort. So after a long silence the first words that came out of his mouth didn't failed to hint his anger and resentment of the situation to other two.

"Shall we go now? It's almost eight... If we stay here any longer, it will cause a huge uproar in the house, right?" Seth said as he stand with picking Effie up with him.

"Seth..!!" Effie squealed at that unexpected gesture while trying to hide her blushed face in his chest.

With that, Jade let out a sad sigh and slowly got up saying,

"You guys go ahead... I'm going for a run..."

"And... thank you, Effie... For your stories..." He quickly added.

He then said his goodbye to Seth and Effie, and slowly took off his clothes one by one after stepping into the shadows of the forest at the end of the small open space.

In any other time, he would be very happy to shift into his wolf and extend his claws freely, because it was difficult to keep such a fierce and impulsive beast in a tiny human body for so long.

Also, the fact that the beast had its own consciousness and identity further complicated the situation, making it impossible for a powerful lycan to maintain his or her human form for more than a maximum of a few days.

So they often had to allow their wolf to be free, which is why they sought to establish the center of their territory near the forests or in the middle of the forests.

Just as it allowed them to enjoy the freedom they wished, they were also freed from the dire consequences of having to keep their wolf captive for long periods of time.

But at this point neither Jade nor his wolf seemed to be happy or satisfied with his shifting or any other thing.

In front of their eyes, their mate had disappeared without a trace and the fact that Royal Luna was hiding the truth about what had happened that day made Jade and his wolf furious.

His grief over the loss of the most precious gift of his whole life and the one he should have protected with his own life, did nothing but fueling his fury and it also made it hard to contain his wolf.

Being a powerful lycan and an future Alpha, like all other high ranked lycans, Jade had to share his consciousness with his wolf.

It was a rare gift given to the high ranked lycans by the moon goddess to make it easier to manage their power and dominance, but at the moment how he hated it...!!!

'You should have been able to stop it! All this is because of your carelessness!! You should have look for her earlier!! See how that male held our mate like she was his!! It should have been us!! If you were quick enough our mate- '

'That's enough, Amarok... That's more than enough! I don't need you to point out my mistakes all the time!! I know that already!! I'm still here because I too need to find her... and you spelling it 24/7 did not help my situation here... So please shut up... I'm begging you... Just stop..!!' Jade pleaded with the beast in his consciousness.

He clearly knew that that request alone wouldn't be enough to silence his wolf_Amarok, but by then he had heard enough of Amarok's accusations and blames.

'Do you know what kind of creature our mate is?' Jade, who was approaching an open field in the forest by then, thought out of curiously, breaking the silence of his mind.

'Nope. Although she was the granddaughter of Royal Luna, I didn't feel the presence of a wolf in her. She didn't have a wolf, boy...' Amarok answered in a thoughtful voice, narrowing his eyes.

'What is th- '

'Mate!' Amarok exclaimed excitedly, interrupting whatever Jade tried to ask leading his paws out of the woods and into the beautiful mansion situated in the middle of that open field.

'Amarok! Neffie isn't here!!' Jade reminded harshly, but his wolf didn't seem to hear it.

He decided to drop his protest as Amarok lead him through the main doors of the mansion, which was already open, out of curiosity to find out what his wolf was so interested in.

Like all other wolf houses, the mansion was designed with more space and less furniture so that a larger wolf could easily walk, made it easy for Jade's giant black wolf reach his destination without difficulty.

It was a dark wood double door at the end of the second floor, decorated with beautiful floral designs and a huge wolf's carving, and it only took Jade the effort of putting his front paw on the door handle to open it, which too had been unlocked.

His eyes immediately grasped the elegance and coziness of the large bedroom as the doors opened, but the distinct soft vanilla scent that wafted through it, and it instantly subdued all other senses he was experiencing.

The room seemed to have been abandoned for a considerable period of time, but Jade was surprised to see that there was not a single cobweb or dust on any surface, but Amarok seemed pleased with it.

There was little light entering the room through the closed windows and unopened golden silk curtains, but it didn't matter to his sharp eyes whether the room was lightened or not.

So his curious gaze wandered across the room, trying to absorb the faint scent as possible as he could.

Jade did nothing to stop Amarok from freely peeking and sniffing through the well-arranged royal-size bed in the center of the room, and the simple bedside table which had a mirror with it and the comfy seat next to it, and the wide window with the comfy windowsill behind the bed, and two closed doors_probably the bathroom and the walk-in closet doors_on the left wall of the room, and the ceiling high bookshelves which consisted hundreds and thousands of books in them covering the whole wall which had the entrance to the room, hoping it will be helpful for Amarok to calm down.

So all the while he stayed in the back of his consciousness in silence giving full control of the body to Amarok, but when he saw the photographs hanging above the large fireplace on the right wall of the chamber he could no longer remain silent.

'Is that our- '

'Mate!' Amarok answered enthusiastically without giving chance for Jade to complete it. But somehow Jade felt that there must be something wrong with it.

He had no doubt that the little girl in the photo was his mate, but he had a problem with the other two not being Minu and Carmer Hale. He didn't want to read the description of the photo to know that the woman was Minu's sister who died 18 years ago and that the man was her husband, but he had to read it to find out about the baby.

" , , , , , - , , ~ ..."

- O . O . OO -

'Amarok... Are you certain that this little princess is our mate?' Jade questioned his wolf, trying to remember what he knew about these royals.

But when Amarok said 'yes' without any delay, a frustrated growl came out of his mouth.

'Eighteen years ago... Along with the previous Beta Luna... this princess die- ' Jade tried to speak, but was immediately stopped by a intense pain that had spread throughout his body.

'What the-' As soon as he recovered, he tried to ask from his wolf, but soon cut off by his pissed off wolf, who was steaming and swearing in his mind with anger and pain, muttering a series of dreadful snarls and short vague words.

'HOW DARE YOU!! Grrrrrr- Stupid mutt- Grrrrrr- how- grrrrrr- You can't- grrrrrr- Our MATE- Grrrrrr- IS.FINE.!! ALIVE.!!!- You ass! I won't- Grrrrrr- let you- grrrrrr- speak of her- like THAT! MATE!! MINE!!!'

'I just said that I- ' Jade tried to explain, but once again was interrupted by someone who had entered the room.

"Holly mother Hera!!!" An extremely shocked female voice rang through the room, making Jade's head snap towards her.

He was furious that his speech was interrupted for the third time during the last few minutes, while Amarok seethes with murderous thoughts because the intruder women destroyed the peaceful time he had in his mate's cozy room.

But he was glad he didn't attack the woman instantly because the next words that came out of her mouth helped him to calm his mind instantly.

"I'm sorry... I just... didn't expect to see a wolf at this time... Especially you... Jade... Still, it's nice to finally meet you... I'm Caroline Hale... Neffie's grandma..." She explained in a soft and kind tone as Jade kept eyeing her surprisingly.

All this time he totally forgot about Caroline, and he cursed himself for not meeting her before because she knew more about his mate than anyone else here.

"It will be easier for us to talk if you shift back. I guess you need to know more about your mate...?" When Caroline asked a softly, Jade nod his head slowly in response.

She smiled at him, and left, returning with a black shorts and a white shirt in her hands. She put it on the bed and left the room again, allowing Jade to shift freely.

When Caroline returned with a small food tray and a glass of hot chocolate milk, Jade was looking at a small jewelry box placed on the vanity table. It was a simple rectangular box covered with high quality black velvet fabrics, and the beautiful necklace and pendant in it caught his attention.

He was so sure that it was the same necklace they had found in the woods the night she had disappeared, but he was reluctant to touch it. Jade was surprised that even Amarok, who was more than interested in anything his mate was involved in, was not interested in touching this special necklace that belonged to his mate.

"NO! You definitely canNOT touch it, Jade!!" Before he even had a chance to consider about touching it, Caroline's stern voice rang out starting him. But when she caught his curious look she heaved a sigh and started explaining putting the tray away.

"This necklace belonged to Onica. She received it as a wedding gift from Adrian. This pendant is a single Painite Gemstone and it is said to be one of the rarest gems in the world. And the floral arrangements around... those are made of pure silver... and... this necklace is also made of pure Stephanite... or in other words... it is pure black silver... That's why I said you can not touch this..." When Caroline explained, holding the necklace in her palms, the young man stared at her, dumbfounded by the explanation.

"This necklace was enchanted... Therefore, it didn't harm Onica. Also silver doesn't affect on Celestial royals as they have mixed blood in their systems..." Seeing the confused look on Jade's face, Caroline further explained with a slight smile. But his confusion did not seem to clear up.

"So... how does my mate... Neffie...?" When he finally managed to stutter his question out, the happy look on Caroline's face quickly changed to a troubled look, causing Jade to feel uneasy.

And his wolf, who had been quiet since the moment he saw the necklace, had almost vanished by then, allowing Jade to deal with the problems himself.

"First you eat. These are already half cooled. However, I don't know if you like these... But after a shift, Neffie always wanted to fill her stomach with these dishes... She also loved to empty a large cranberry jar too... And here's everything except the cranberry juice that Neffie loves... Because of you guys are mates, I thought you wouldn't dislike what she likes. So start digging in now. I'll speak while you eat."

When Caroline commanded in a motherly manner, Jade sat on Neffie's bed and began to enjoy the food brought by Caroline, struggling to understand what she said a moment ago. But before his thoughts could wander too far, Caroline began speaking.

"Neffie has been a very special person since he was a child. As a kid, Neffie never struggled to recover, or more accurately she never sustained an injury while playing as other wolf cubs did... Once a elder boy pushed her down a flight of stairs, calling her a freak, but it did nothing to her. Not even a scratch.

Also during their self-defense classes, she had even touched sliver without harming herself while other wolf cubs git sick. As a wolf it should be poisonous for her too...but some reason it wasn't. It was something that no one knew the answer for and we-"

'Jade! Come to the pack house!! NOW!!!'

As soon as Royal Luna's voice was clearly and strongly rang in Jade's head, distracting him from Caroline's speech, he stood up straight, startling Caroline as well.

"Royal luna is calling me. I need to go" He said nervously and the next moment he was running towards the pack house.

• • •

A / N

I hope you enjoyed the chapter...

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With so much love,

Luranshiya

See you soon with next chapter...

'Till then...

Stay safe and happy...