Two Worlds: Land of Ice Ch. 08

Hello everyone! Sorry this took so long but I had finals to deal with and things got crazy at home and then I went on vacation so I didn't have time to work on this. I just finished and decided that I didn't care about editing it because it has been so long since the last chapter that I think you guys deserve this one right away. This is the second to last chapter of this story and I'm working on the last right now. I'm actually half way done with it.

As usual please don't forget to comment and vote! Thank you all so much for the support!

~Vixen

The next two days I tried desperately not to think of the village and concentrate on Riz. She had been right of course. I hadn't been the best friend lately. I had practically ignored her and I felt really bad about it so I tried to make up for it.

We watched television and Riz talked on and on about California and gossip about our favorite celebrities. I tried to participate but I started to realize how trivial it all was.

The village at that moment was hunting and foraging for food, having to prep and cook it themselves, and here I was eating microwave popcorn just because we were watching a movie. I wasn't even all that hungry!

I was warm and didn't need a fire and several layers of clothing to keep myself that way. I didn't have to do anything to provide myself or my family with food and earlier we had gone to an unlimited source of information that we can access in a second and looked up pictures of nearly naked actors. I was beginning to wonder if human race had lost something when we started to create so much technology that we now depend upon so heavily.

"The CGI of this movie is terrible!" Riz commented, interrupting my train of thought.

"Yeah. Personally I liked it when they used puppets and costumes instead of all this green screen and such. I think the acting was more realistic with those kinds of things too." I admitted.

"Yeah. It gives you something to react to instead of just having to imagine it. Thankfully I won't have to deal with that issue though. You will! But I'm sure you'll be great anyways! And if you need help being scared I can always show up with horrifying pictures from when we were kids and hold them up when you need to scream!" Riz giggled and I smiled weakly before sighing. I looked at her and bit my lip for a moment, watching her giggle.

"Is something wrong?" Riz asked after a moment, noticing my hesitation.

"No." I told her before sighing. I hated lying to her and I decided that I would have to tell her eventually anyways.

"I just... I might not be going back to California." I finally admitted. Her head whipped around so fast I thought I heard it crack and she looked at me in confusion before her eyes narrowed.

"You mean to tell me that you are staying here with that pack of animals instead of going back to California with me? You expect to be able to survive out there? You've only been here for the summer Mina and you've been complaining about how cold it is! It gets even worse in the winter! They probably have people die all the time in that tribe because they don't know how to take care of themselves!" She was shouting and tried to stand up at the end before falling back onto the chair. I got up and helped her get situated again, looking at the ground.

"Look... I'm really sorry Riz... I want to go back to Cali with you and all but... I can't bear the thought of being away from Refre. It is a physical ache in me. I can't go back to Cali and leave him behind. I can't be away from him for that long. I need to be with him. He is my soul mate, Riz. My everything... I can't walk away from that."

"You're only 18 Mina. You could find love again." She replied coldly before looking away. I stared at her in shock for a moment before hearing the garage door open and close. I sat down as Sky came into the living room and sat down next to me.

"Everything okay?" She asked after a minute of tense silence.

"Yeah! Everything's fine! I'm just sitting here alone everyday while you three run around with a bunch of fucking animals and don't even think about your sister or best friend!" Riz snapped back. Tristan paused as he walked into the living room and heard this and we all stared at Riz in shock.

"Riz..." Tristan started to say before she interrupted.

"No! I can't stand it anymore! You are all insane! Wrapped up in the whole lie of 'soul mates' and shit! How do you even know if that's real? They could be lying to you just so they can increase their population or some shit like that! They live in fucking igloos in caves! And you all want to live down there with them? You're going to all die in the first winter! I can't believe how stupid you all are being!"

"No!" Sky suddenly interrupted. We all looked at her in confusion before noticing that her attention was on the television. The show we had been watching had been interrupted by the news. It looked like it was just local story about hunting. There was a man that was being interviewed and it looked like he had an injured and tied up polar bear at his feet. Then the camera zoomed in to the face.

"No!" Tristan and I repeated right as the phone rang.

'''''''''''''''

Nate was sitting down for a chat with Richards when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Richards called out.

"Sorry to interrupt." Jess apologized as she entered. "Charles just called. He's at the front gate."

"Alright. Let's go meet him then."

Nate nodded and they both headed outside, Jess quickly following them. They got into an SUV and headed for the gate across the bumpy dirt road. Richards parked in front of the gate, noting where some of his betas were on alert in the trees before getting out and approaching the gate.

"Charles!" Jess cried out as she ran to the gate ahead of them. Nate watched as the man on the other side stopped in his pacing at the sound of his name. He was a rather tall man and at the moment he looked rather malnourished and like he hadn't slept in a month. Nate could only image what his appetite and ability to sleep would be like though if he lost his mate.

Richards opened the gate and Jess went running into the man's arms, bursting into tears. Charles wrapped his arms around her and after a moment began to weep as well. Richards and Nate stood at the gate and let them have their moment. Jess seemed to whisper to the man for a bit before they separated slightly and she turned to the other two men.

"Richards, Nate. This is Charles Wesley." Jess introduced. Richards offered his hand and Charles took in hesitantly, seeming to pull himself together a bit more. Nate shook his hand as well, noting that his grip was firm and confident even though he could tell that Charles wasn't.

"Why don't we head into the compound and continue discussion in there?" Richards asked, clearly not comfortable with leaving the gate open. Charles nodded and got into his car, Jess following him.

"That poor man," Nate sighed as he got into the SUV and Richards started to head back to the main house.

"He looks like a train wreck. This must be torture for him." Richards agreed. They both went silent after that, wrapped up in their own thoughts until the pulled up and got out. Charles had stopped behind them and just sat there for a moment until Jess called out to him. Finally he got out and Jess turned to pull him inside before suddenly there was a cry.

"Charles!" a voice cried out. Nate turned to see Queen Manu running for Charles. Charles flinched, looking like he was expecting to be attacked by this woman. She surprised them all however by jumping into his arms and bursting into tears. Charles stood in shock for a moment before hugging the woman back and sobbing as well. Several other members of the cat tribe began to collect around them in a big group hug, many of them crying as well. Nate teared up a bit as he watched the tribe mourn their lost princess.

"Perhaps we should give them some time." Richards suggested before heading inside. Nate sighed and followed him after a moment.

'''''''''''''''

"No! How did they get him?! He's the best hunter of the village!" I cried out as I started to panic. "I have to go to him!"

I stood up and started to throw my outside clothes on and rush for the door. Sky grabbed me though as Tristan picked up the phone. I tried to pull away from her, not paying attention to anything around me but the urgent need to get to my mate.

"Mina! Listen to me! Calm down! We will get to him in time! He is only injured. They haven't killed him. We can still get to him but you need to calm down! We don't even know where they are right now."

"Now we do." Tristan replied as he hung up the phone. "Becky saw the news as well and managed to find out the GPS coordinates. We can find them."

"Then what are we waiting for!" I exclaimed as I started to shove on my boots. The other two quickly followed suit and Tristan grabbed the keys from where he had just sat them down.

"I hope he dies," came a small, angry voice. I stopped in shock and turned my head to look at Riz.

'''''''''''''''

"So you are all werewolves?" Charles asked once Richards had explained everything to him.

"Yes." Richards confirmed. Charles was quiet for a moment before nodding.

"Alright. I guess I've seen weirder." He shrugged slightly. They were all sitting in Richards' office and Isaac, Kael, Shelly and Eric had joined them.

"You know any normal human would probably run screaming from the premises." Nate commented with a chuckle. The rest of them all chuckled as well, even Charles managed a smile.

"Well we definitely are not normal." Isaac noted.

"Far from it," Eric added. They all nodded in agreement, smiling.

"Well how about we get on to business?" Richards inquired. Charles sighed and then nodded.

"So the tribe will need some legal help... How do I come in? Just having a lawyer on their side won't help too much. They would need some other legal and political help from the state and federal government as well." Charles commented thoughtfully.

"Like senators and the president and such?" Jess asked.

"Yes. Some of them may already support them but we need a spokes person... Someone to gather up supporters and organize them to help make a stand for their rights... But who could do that? Who would be willing to?" Charles thought out loud. Everyone looked at him pointedly for a moment before he finally noticed and looked up.

"What?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jess grinned. Charles looked confused for a moment before finally understanding.

"Me? But I'm just a lawyer!"

"You have the schooling to run for office though." Shelly pointed out.

"You could start small and work your way up." Eric suggested.

"Maybe start just at a city or county level then work up to state." Isaac added in.

"Maybe even run for president eventually." Jess said excitedly. Charles seemed a little nervous about all of this but he sat there thinking about it for a little while.

"But... I-I couldn't do that... I can't have that kind of power..." He stuttered slightly. Eric suddenly stepped up to him and looked him in the eyes.

"I know what you are thinking about. Stop it. You have punished yourself enough. She wouldn't want you to be this way. If anything she would want you to help her people like this. If she could she would be at your side helping you, I know it." Charles buried his face in his hands and started to cry weakly again. The others all hugged him and whispered words of love and encouragement. Nate's heart hurt for the poor man and he noticed that Richards seemed to feel the same way.

"O-Okay." Charles said after he managed to calm down. "I... I'll do it. But I'm going to need all the help I can get."

"We will do everything we can!" Jess agreed. The other's all nodded, smiling happily now that they had started to plan something finally. They all sat down again and started to talk more in depth on how to help the tribe politically. A little while later they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Forgive me Alpha but we have caught an intruder." The beta who had knocked reported once he was let in.

"An intruder? From another pack?"

"No... It's a human sir..." the whole room looked surprised at this.

"Oh. Well, bring them in." Richards finally said after a moment. The beta nodded before leaving and coming back a few moments later with a rather annoyed looking woman. They all looked surprised again as they looked her over. She was tall and rather skinny, with blonde curly locks that flowed down her back and sharp green eyes. She crossed her arms, making her full breasts look even bigger and looked at the Alpha with a scowl. As Nate looked at her he realized what Jess and Richards realized almost right away. She was the woman from the drawing one of the halflings did of his mate.

"Hello Miss..." Richards inquired.

"Jensen. Debra Jensen." She replied curtly.

"Alright Miss Jensen. Why don't you tell me why you are trespassing on my property?"

"I heard you were the one to take the halflings from our lab. I've come to make sure he- they are alright." Miss Jensen stumbled a bit at the end, making most of those in the room grin.

"He?" Richards asked as he tried to hide a grin.

"I meant they," the woman snapped slightly. Richards chuckled then before turning to Jess.

"Would you mind going out into the hall and calming down the situation out there? Bring in the cause when you are done." Jess nodded, a little confused but handed Losy to Shelly and then left the room. Richards than turned back to Miss Jensen with a smile.

"You can't get him out of your head can you?" he started, making her look at him with wide eyes. "You can't stop worrying about him. Can't stop thinking that maybe he'll get hurt or killed. You dream about him, you find yourself daydreaming about him and no one else will do. Does this sound about right?"

Miss Jensen stared at him in shock for a moment before she seemed to pull herself together. It looked like she was just about to try to make some sort of intelligent remark when suddenly the door opened and Jess walked back in with one of the halflings in tow. He looked at the woman and cried out something in his language before sweeping her up into his arms and kissing her. Miss Jensen didn't seem to know what to do for a moment but then just gave in and kissed her mate back. Nate chuckled as the rest smiled and chuckled as well before one of Richards betas peeked in and interrupted the scene.

"I'm sorry Alpha but there is something you and Alpha Rutheford should see." Richards nodded and followed his beta into the security room with Nate quick on his heels.

"This is about a day old." The beta said before playing a news report from Nate's territory. At first it seemed like it was a hunting report but then they zoomed in on the face of what looked like a polar bear.

"No! Damn it!" Nate cursed before turning to his betas that were in the room. "Dean, get the plane up and running. We need to get back home yesterday."

"Yes Alpha." Dean nodded before running off to do so. Richards was watching the rest of the report and sighed.

"Watch the rest of this on your way home," he instructed as he handed a copy to Nate. "It was good to have you here Nate."

Nate nodded before going to gather up the rest of his betas and thetas and tell them to get ready to go. A couple of Richards Omegas seemed to have realized what was going on and started to pack all of their stuff for them and board it onto the plane.

"Are you leaving?" Jess inquired as she approached him with the other humans trailing behind.

"Yes. There was a news report in my territory that I need to address. It seems humans, werewolves and cat people aren't the only intelligent life on the planet." Nate tried to smile, worry clouding it a bit. He wanted to get on the plane now and be there already to deal with the problem.

"What do you mean?" Shelly asked with a look of confusion.

"I'm sure Richards with show you the report if you ask. I have to get ready to go. Thank you all for your help though. You are amazing people and I'm glad to have met you." Nate smiled genuinely this time. He shook their hands and gave them all hugs before running off to finish boarding everything and everyone and soon they were in the air.

'''''''''''''''

I stood there in shock, my mind not believing what my ears had just heard. That Riz would say something so hurtful... So awful...

Smack!I'm not sure who was more shocked now; Riz for being slapped or me for being the one to do so. The shocked suddenly passed and was replaced by cold, hard anger as I looked down at her and realized that she had meant what she said.

"You are no longer my friend and this is the last time I will ever speak to you again. And don't think this is about me choosing some boy over you. This is about the fact that when you said that aboutanother living being,you meant it. That makes you cruel. I will not have cruel people in my life." I turned away from Riz then and headed for the garage, never looking back.

I got into Tristan's truck and noticed that Sky and Tristan were right behind me. They slipped in as well and he started the car before pulling out and heading for were ever they had my mate.

We're coming my love. I'll be there soon.