Page 35 of Her Reborn Mate

In the silence of his home, I tried to use my bond again, but this time, just as before, all I got back was darkness. Pain, silence, and darkness.

***

It was the break of dawn when I rang the bell at the commune center, assembling all the men in the square. They were still rubbing their eyes, yawning, and stretching their limbs as they gathered around me.

“We are not out of danger,” I began. “Two threats still exist out there. I do not ask a lot of you, just that you go in groups and see what Blair and Maurice are doing. I must implore you not to go alone. These are cunning men who possess more than just weapons and wits. They have trickery up their sleeves and many devious resources at their disposal, making them a force to reckon with. Today, none of us shall rest until we can ascertain that both those parties are no longer an immediate threat to us. Go where you have to, whether it’s in the town or the areas around it. Scour every last bit. Report back to me if something dubious is happening. If there’s a reason to attack, we attack as one. A pack’s strength is in its unity. Whatever we have to do, we’ll do it together.”

“What if we come across Maurice? Last time I checked, he was still the mayor,” a man asked from the pack.

His question roused the rest of the crowd, all of whom started sharing their suggestions of what they’d do to him if they found him.

“No. There will be none of that. He’s a werewolf. Even though he has betrayed us time and again, he must pay for his crimes. Justice should prevail over revenge. If he’s found, he must be brought here to answer for all his wrongdoings. There will be a fair trial,” I said. “Of course, all the evidence against him will eventually prove him guilty. Of that, there’s no doubt. But regardless, he will get his trial. You cannot kill him if you find him. Only the alpha holds such authority. However, I do permit you to kill any vampires that you come across. They didn’t mean to spare us, so why should we?”

The crowd became rejuvenated at the prospect of hunting vampires. Many men started chanting, shouting, and cheering amongst themselves. I wasn’t done yet. I held up my hand and silenced them all.

“Half of you will go into the town today. You will see what Blair is doing if he’s there at all. Chances are that he’s gone into hiding after yesterday’s events. You will carry out a search nonetheless. The other half will check Fiddler’s Cove and all the adjoining areas. You will also check to see if Maurice is lurking around. Keep in mind that most of his resources are tied up in the town, giving him little reason to escape. Should either group come across Blair or Maurice, I ask that you bring them alive back to the commune to face justice for their crimes.”

I had to give the men some specific instructions on how to carry out the scouting mission. When all was done, and both groups of men were sent out to their respective missions, I wasted no second and assembled all the women and children in the same square.

“Last night was a challenge for all of you. Many of you have not fought at all, what with so many of you being children and young girls. Some of you fought valiantly, I have heard. I intend for all of you to equip yourselves with the tools and techniques that allow you to fend for yourselves whenever something like this happens again. As far as I am concerned, every one of you is a werewolf. A werewolf should strike fear into the heart of their enemies. We should all be strong enough to hold our own. Those who seek to cause us harm should cower from us, not the other way around. Let last night be a reminder that danger is always lurking nearby and that every single one of us should be ready at all times. Now, I don’t expect everyone to become a skilled warrior within a day or two, but what we can do is start learning. Is that something that all of you can agree upon?”

The women and children were silent at first but slowly began nodding and voicing their acknowledgment.

“Then we shall start a separate training session for the kids and the women so that we’re all ready for anything that comes our way,” I said, passing a smile at the crowd gathered before me. “Know this: You are all Grimms, and the Grimms are a strong creed. We have weathered the worst of storms and have seen empires rise and fall. We will persevere.”

After the children and women were dismissed, I tried to do everything within my power to hold myself back from going out. Vincent was right. This was a leap of faith, a trust fall. As hard as it was for me to stay behind, it was essential that I did. It was the only way I could bring myself to trust my pack and believe in them.

Otherwise, I was bound to make the same mistake as I did last time. Had I attacked Beckett Tower that night with the entire pack with me, Alexis and I would have been spared that humiliating defeat.

While the men were off on their missions and the women and children were busy with their chores and schoolwork, I walked around the outer boundary wall of the Grimm Abode, checking to see if the fortifications were intact. It was tiring work, as the boundary extended several miles, but by the end, I had exhausted myself enough to put my mind off Alexis.

It was late in the afternoon that I came back home quite weary from my inspection. Rather than eat or drink, I sought the comfort of my bed.

Sleep would do me good, considering that I’d had several sleepless nights in a row.

Or so I thought.

It wasn’t very deep into my sleep that I was greeted by the most visceral and horrible nightmare I had ever seen in my life.

It was Alexis, covered in blood, her face lifeless and frozen in an expression of pure fear. She lay sprawled all over the floor. I tried as hard to avert my gaze from her face, but my own fear prevented me from looking anywhere else.

Her eyes had been torn out, leaving two hollow and bloodied sockets.

I woke up screaming, and it wasn’t until I had made my throat hoarse that I realized from the alarm clock on my bedside table that I’d only been asleep for half an hour. The sun was still out, and people were gathered outside in the commune.

To hell with waiting and watching.

I shot out of my bed, got hurriedly dressed, and exited my home, adamant that I’d return only when I’d found Alexis.

In all my years of witnessing horror and experiencing torture, I had never come across something so mortifying as that nightmare. Even now, when I was completely awake, that sinister vision danced before my eyes menacingly.

Chapter 15: Alexis

Maurice did not have the heart to keep torturing me. That much was clear after the first few hours. He tried, I’d give him credit for that, but he was not built for it. He was pretty resourceless in this cave, with nothing but a taser at his disposal. There were only so many times he could zap me before it got tediously boring. What was worse for him was my resolve not to show him any emotion while I was being tortured. Sometimes, the pain drew a tear or two, but in that depressingly dark place, those tears might as well be invisible to him. Besides, he had forgotten the prime rule in deriving pleasure from torturing someone: He had forgotten to remove the tape from my mouth, making it easy for me to hide my screams.

“I’ll just leave you to starve, then,” he said tiredly. The battery on his taser had died. From the commotion coming from the other end of the cave, it seemed that he had some visitors. “Maybe when I come back, we’ll try cleaving your skin and seeing if that puts some pep in you. Sooner or later, you’re going to give me what I want.”

It seemed that Maurice’s thinking faculties had taken quite a steep fall. His thoughts were scattered all over the place. His actions seemed to lack conviction. Even as he had tortured me, it felt like he was doing a half-hearted job. His spirit was broken. Even if he didn’t say it out loud, every single action of his spoke of a very tired man on the brink of giving up. In one day, he had lost so much—his pack, his vampire co-conspirator, and his standing as the mayor of the town.

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