Chapter 40 - Where's My Mate? - Part 1.

Cole's P.O.V.

"Come on Cole, can we get this started already? I promised Emily I'd meet her and Nat at the ice cream parlour"

Urgh!!, Natalia....just hearing her name is enough to send waves of pain and sadness throughout my entire body.

I've barely seen or spoken to my mate ever since we had that huge argument a few days ago and to say I've been struggling without her would be a big freaking understatement, I haven't been able to sleep, eat or do anything without her by my side and I've also taken to practically drinking myself to death because I fear that everything I've done as far as my plans to expose Aubrey is gonna be in vain and I'm gonna lose her for good.

The only thing that's keeping me sane and giving me hope of a reconciliation with my beautiful mate is the fact that she hasn't accepted my rejection yet which I thought she would've done by now but she hasn't, all she's done is threaten me with it.

"Hello Cole, is anyone in there?"

My brother asked whilst clicking his fingers in my face.

"Yer sorry, I was just thinking"

"Thinking about Nat?"

I didn't answer him but my silence was enough of an answer for him.

"Don't worry about Natalia, Cole, you'll get her back"

"Oh yer...how can you be so sure?"

Angelo rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath.

"This boy is as dumb as a box of rocks"

I glared at him which he chuckled at when he looked up at me.

"I always knew you were an idiot but I never had you down as a blind idiot"

"Excuse you"

"Natalia is madly in love with you Cole, any fool can see that, well, I guess not any fool considering you can't see it"

"Actually asshole, I do know how much she loves me, I see it in her eyes whenever she looks at me even the past few days when her face is screaming murder her eyes always tells me how she really feels"

"Then you've got nothing to worry about"

He said with a smirk.

"If I know our Nattie then she'll be back in your arms as soon as all of this mess with the wicked witch of the west is dealt with"

"I hope so"

I said with a sigh.

Knock!!, knock!!, knock!!.

"Come in"

I look up at the door as my parents walk in.

f**k do they look rough.

My dad doesn't look anything like the clean-cut guy that he normally is, his hair is longer than usual and he's got a beard as well as dark circles under his eyes whilst my momma who is known for always looking her best from her hair all the way down to her toenails, looks completely unrecognisable her hair is greasy and tied up which it's never been even when Angelo spent a week in the hospital when we were kids and we thought he was gonna die, it just shows that all of this shit with Natalia is taking a serious toll on them.

"Hey momma, dad"

"My boys, how are you both?"

"We're good, momma"

Angelo gives my momma a hug, she then makes her way over to me and gives me a hug.

When she pulls away, my momma cups my face and shakes her head before scolding me on not taking care of myself, I wanted to call her a hypocrite but I held it back, the last thing I need right now is to be slapped up the side of my head by my momma or to get a verbal beating at the hands of my dad.

"Take a seat, guys"

Everyone sits down and I pull out a file from my drawer, this file is filled with everything that we've been able to get on both Natalias uncle and Aubrey who we all believe is working with him, we just need to find some definitive proof that she is.

"So, what is it you guys wanted to tell us?"

"Where's Natalia?"

Myself and Angelo looked at each other and I was hoping he would help me to explain but he just gave me a you're on your own look, f*****g asshole.

"She's at school"

"Oh"

They both said sounding disappointed.

This morning my father called me and told me that he and my mother had something that they needed to immediately talk to myself, Angelo and Natalia about which concerned Aubrey, naturally my ears perked up when he said this and I arranged for this meeting completely forgetting that Nat was in school and when I tried to get her to come home she said 'I'd much rather be in school than be near you Cole, this is how much your presence irks me', it really hurt to hear her say that but I don't blame her, I'm irked by my own presence lately.

"Ok, so what is it that you need to tell us and what does it have to do with Aubrey?"

"Aubrey?...you're here for that bitch?"

"Angelo"

I said sternly, he calmed down seeing the look in my eyes but I could tell that he was still pissed, he hates Aubrey with a passion and has always said that there's something about her that he can't put his finger on that makes him burn with so much hate and anger whenever he sees her or hears her name.

"Yes we are son, we've got something important to tell you and we'd rather tell you all with your sister present..."

I growled hearing my father call Nattie my sister, SHE'S NOT MY f*****g SISTER!!.

"Sorry son...anyway, since your sis...I mean Natalia isn't here, I guess we'll just have to tell you both for now and hopefully, we'll get to tell our Natalia later on"

Pfft, good luck with that, Natalia is as stubborn as a mule.

"What is it?"

"Well....honey, why don't you tell them?"

My father says to my momma, most people would probably think he's weak for relying on his mate to tell us but something tells me that my momma knows more about what's going on than him.

"Ok erm....well you guys remember what happened when Natalia and Aubrey were kids and how Aubrey claimed that Natalia had attacked her"

"Yes"

"Well...it turns out that...that Aubrey lied"

I narrowed my eyes at my mother feeling confused.

"I already knew she lied but for the sake of this conversation I'll ask, how do you know?"

Angelo asked sounding irritated.

"I overheard her talking about it"

My mother started whilst looking at my brother.

"It was a few years ago, she was bragging to her friends about how proud she was for setting Natalia up and it was all because she was jealous of her and wanted to take her place because in her words she deserved to be a part of the alpha family more than her, anyway, she confessed to the girls that on the day it happened, she had defied your father's orders and had gone into areas that were prohibited for kids and teens and she came across a rogue who was the one who actually attacked her"

"What?....well, where the hell did Nattie come into it? I mean she was obviously there with her because we saw them both coming back to the packhouse from the woods"

My momma looked down and sighed, I then heard sniffles and I realised my momma was crying.

"Natalia was the one who saved her....according to what Aubrey said, the rogue was about to kill her when Natalia appeared in her wolf form and scared the wolf away"

Oh my god, this can't be happening.

I lean forward resting my arms on my desk and run my hands through my hair in anger and frustration.

My baby was telling me the truth and I didn't believe her.

"I told you she was telling the truth, moron"

Ace said angrily.

"f*****g BITCH!!"

I pick up my mug and throw it at the wall smashing it into pieces.

"Calm down, Cole right now"

I glared at my father and I felt Ace wanting to take over, he doesn't care if he's our father or that he used to be alpha, he doesn't take lightly to anyone except for Natalia talking to us in that tone.

"Cole...control yourself"

Angelo said and I closed my eyes to control my rising anger which wasn't easy but I just pictured Natalias beautiful smiling face which instantly calmed me down.

I let out a breath as I sit back down in my seat.

"So...are you...why..."

I sighed not knowing how to continue with this conversation, luckily, Angelo knew.

"Why didn't you say anything?....you said you found this out a few years ago but you still continued to treat Natalia like shit, you abused her and allowed this pack to abuse her, you f*****g took her to the torture room knowing full well she was innocent...why?"

My anger started to rise again when Angelo mentioned my mate being taken to the torture room but I managed to control it.

I look over at my parents who had both lowered their heads in shame or at least that's what I assume anyway.

"Answer my question, momma...why did you continue to abuse Natalia when you knew that she was innocent?"

Angelo was pissed but I don't blame him...he and Natalia are closer than close and I know that he's always been angry and disgusted by the way Natalia was brought up.

"I'm sorry, I really am...I wanted to stop we both did but we couldn't"

My momma said whilst shaking and crying, my father wrapped his arm around my mother's shoulder and grabbed hold of her hand to calm her down.

"Why couldn't you?"

I ask her.

My momma took several deep breaths before looking up but she didn't look directly at either of us.

"She threatened us....we had confronted her about what she had told her friends and we said that we were gonna call a meeting with her parents and make an announcement to the pack to reveal the truth but....but we couldn't because she threatened us, she said that if we told anyone about what we heard then she'd tell Natalia about us not being her biological parents"

"How the hell did she find that out?"

She shrugged her shoulders before wiping away her tears.

"I don't know, all I know is that she knows and she used it against us"

Conniving little witch.

"It wasn't the last time she threatened us either, she also threatened us when she turned eighteen and told us that she would tell Natalia the truth if we didn't find a way to get you to reject your mate and make her your Luna, we really didn't want to do that not just because we didn't want Aubrey to be the Luna of the pack that we had worked so hard to build and expand but also because we didn't wanna mess with your destiny Cole....we're not nice people son, we've done things to that girl and allowed things to happen to her that we'll forever regret and it makes me feel so ashamed as not only an alpha but as a man that I didn't do anything to stop it but I wasn't gonna let that girl ruin this pack the way she ruined our daughter's life"

My dad was crying and it was the first time in a very long time that I actually believe what he's telling me, it wasn't because he was crying but because I could hear the sincerity in his voice.

"So erm...why are you telling us this now?"

"Because she's back....we were relieved when Natalia ran away because as selfish as it sounds, our secret was safe and Aubrey couldn't tell her and then not long afterwards, Aubrey left...we thought when she left that she'd be gone for good and that you could live happily with your mate and Nattie would never find out about us but it's too late now because the cats out of the bag and we've seen how miserable both you and Nattie have been since Aubrey came back and we decided it was time to end her reign of terror"

"Wait, what are you talking about? Aubrey said that you guys knew she was coming home, in fact, she told us that you guys are the ones who called her to come back"

"What? no, we didn't"

"Seriously bro, you're still believing this bitches bullshit?"

Angelo said whilst looking like he wanted to laugh, I just ignored him and rubbed my forehead in frustration.

"We never called her back Cole, I promise you, we didn't even know that she'd come back until we overheard some pack members talking about you and Natalia breaking up because of Aubrey"

"I believe you"

"You do?"

They ask shocked and I nod my head.

"I know you've done wrong by Natalia and I know that you deeply regret it and wanna make it up to her....you wouldn't invite this bitch back here with intentions to make her my Luna knowing full well Natalia is my true mate and that she wouldn't ever forgive you if you did"

I let out a sigh.

"Is there anything else?"

My parents look agitated as they look at Angelo, they then tell us that they believe Aubrey was involved in the murders of Emily's family because of a comment that she made to them, according to my momma she said 'you don't want to mess with me, alpha and Luna, Natalia may have been the first life I ruined but it certainly wasn't the last' and when she asked Aubrey what she meant, she smirked and said 'look into the beta murders'.

I always knew Emily wasn't the one who orchestrated her families murders, she adored her parents and absolutely idolised her big brother Dalton but I couldn't say or do anything about it at the time because I was just a kid myself and I wasn't alpha and when I was, I was your typical cocky and arrogant alpha who cared more about partying and getting laid than my alpha duties which is why my parents ultimately sent me away for a while to get some alpha training even though I didn't really need it.

Angelo wasn't happy, in fact, he was downright pissed when my parents talked about the beta murders and all of the blame that was placed on his mate, if you thought he was angry over the treatment of Natalia then you haven't seen anything yet.

Angelo growled an earth-shattering growl, he maybe my beta but he's an alpha by blood not to mention if the rumours are true then he and his wolf are bonded to a royal because he was there with Nattie when she shifted so that makes his growl just as strong and as powerful as mine, I tried to calm him down but before I could really get a chance too he stormed out of my office.

I dismissed my parents and thanked them for everything before leaving my office, I searched my whole house for him but I couldn't find him anywhere, I even tried to mind link him but he's blocked the link.

I was standing in the kitchen when I started to feel that my wolf is very antsy and on edge.

"What's up, boss? are you ok?"

"Mate"

Ace whimpered which immediately put me on high alert.

"What about Natalia? what's going on?"

"I can't sense Natalia or Lucky, I can't even link with them"

"WHAT?"

"Nat...Nattie baby, please answer me....NATALIA, FOR f***s SAKE, ANSWER ME!!"

I continued to try and contact Natalia through our mate link but was met with nothing but silence, I started to panic and fear that something may have happened to her since I haven't seen her since she went for her run and now I can't mind link her, what if she's hurt? what if she's unconscious? what if...

"ALPHA!!, ALPHA SIR!!"

"Yes, what is it?"

"It's Luna Natalia, sir"

f**k!!.

My warrior explains his fears that my mate has either been hurt, taken or both when he found something of hers in the woods after following a suspicious scent.

As soon as he said this, I stormed out of my house and headed straight for the area that he told me about.

When I got there, I smelled the horrid scent of a rogue as well as the scent of blood...Natalia's blood to be exact, oh god no.

"WHERE THE f**k IS MY MATE?"

I growled causing the ground to shake.

"W..we don't know s..sir, we erm...we smelled an unknown scent a..and followed it to here, th..that's when we found this"

I looked back down at the blood and that's when I saw something next to it which I didn't see before, it was a piece of folded up paper.

I picked the piece of paper up and as soon as I did, Natalia's necklace that she got off Emily for her birthday fell out into my hand, I then read the note which consisted of only four words but it was enough to have my anger boiling.

I finally have her.