Chosen Legacy

*~*Westin's POV*~*

I had been gone for almost a year. I knew that the deal I had made with Reece was that I was going to be gone for a full year, twelve months, fifty-two weeks, three hundred and sixty-five days, but I just couldn't help it. I felt this pull to go home. I felt something inside of me that was telling me that I was needed. That my mate needed me.

I had been dreaming of her a lot more lately. It was like she was in trouble, but the danger wasn't clear enough for me to make it out. Something was going on though, and she needed me. And what sort of mate would I be if I didn't go to her and help her?

Yes, it was true, she hadn't bonded with me like I did her. I was her mate, but she didn't know it. She hadn't had that click inside of her, for whatever reason. That didn't matter to me though. I knew what she was to me, and I would never give up on her. She needed me, and I would help her, even if she never bonded with me.

In truth, I only left because she told me to. She was hurting at the time. She felt a pain that I wasn't able to comprehend, even if I could feel a little bit of it through the bond that I had with her. I knew that she was feeling so hurt and depressed, and at the time, she associated me with that pain.

I could still remember what it was that she said to me. The words that she screamed at me when she was in the height of her pain. The were the words that made me leave Colorado and come all the way here to Wales. Yes, I was learning a lot while away, but I still wanted to be with her. Then again, those words still echoed in my ears every single day.

"SHUT UP! I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear anything else you have to say. Go away! Leave me alone! I don't want to see you ever again."

She had told me that she never wanted to see me again. She didn't want me there with her, no matter the situation. Did I overreact by coming all the way to Wales? Probably. Should I have stayed? Probably. Was there anything that I could do about it now? Not a thing.

I had left the compound, the city, the state, the country, and the continent. I came to another wolf pack, even though I myself was feline. In fact, I was a Jaguar, and my beast was powerful. Even with how powerful I was, I felt weak and scared. What was she going to tell me when she saw me again? Would she connect with me this time? Would she know that I was her mate, or would I be doomed to want her forever and never have her?

I hadn't told the King and Queen that I was returning. Nor that Clovio was coming with me. He was leaving his punishment a little early as well. However, Alpha Cadwal said that he had completed all the training that he had for him. Clovio was one of those Jaegans that had been a part of the problem last year. Although he hadn't been one of the ones that were murdering people, so he was given leniency.

I had hated the fact that I was with that man, that he was with me. He had been a big part of my problem. My mate had thought that this human asshat was her mate. She had latched onto him and hadn't seen sense yet. At least, not before I had left the city.

While I was in Wales, I was mostly on vacation. However, I did have to help with some things. It was up to me and the other nonhumans in the area to settle the humans that weren't happy with the announcement that we existed. Most of the humans in that country though, had no problem with us at all. They had a lot more folklore than most other nations and they accepted us pretty easily. Probably because they suspected we were there all along.

The plane that brought us back to Colorado had landed just minutes ago. We had deboarded and were on our way to baggage claim. I felt nervous though, and needed a stop off in the restroom. And even here I couldn't get away from that human. He said that he needed to go as well. While he relieved himself, I washed my face and stared into the mirror.

I felt like I had changed, but I still looked the same. My hair was still short, but not like it was buzzed for the military. It was a coppery brown, just a little bit of red in the highlights that were shining in the bright fluorescents in the bathroom. And my eyes, bright jewel green that I had always thought were cool, looked like they were filled with sadness at the moment. Well, sadness and nerves. I was going to see her again soon. And I needed to know if she had changed at all. If we had changed together.

"Are you ready to go?" Clovio asked as he washed his hands. I had ignored him, so I hadn't thought that he was right beside me. I was focused on myself and my own reflection. I was a little pale too, a little less tan than usual, but that probably had to do with the fact that it had rained a lot while I was in Wales.

"Yes, let's go." I nodded. "We need to check in with Trinity and Reece." I grabbed my carry on bag and threw it over my shoulder. And with a smile, Clovio grabbed his and followed after me.

The bags were already in the carousel waiting for us. We grabbed them, hopped into a rental car, and were off. We couldn't take a taxi because they weren't usually allowed in the compound. Then again, things were different now, so I wasn't sure if they had changed that rule yet.

My heart raced with every second that we got closer to the castle and the secrets that it held. I couldn't wait to get there and see if her scent had the same effect on me as it had before. Maybe I would even see her today. We might make that bond together. I could hope at least.

When I pulled the car to a stop in front of the castle, I couldn't smell her yet. She hadn't been out here yet today. And the weather had washed away her scent from the last time that she had walked these steps into the building.

There was something off here. As I walked toward the elevator, and toward the royal tower, I didn't smell her as strongly as I had before. In the past, I would smell her throughout the castle so strongly that it was like it was being pumped in there just to mess with me and my senses.

"Are we going to Queen Trinity's office?" Clovio asked, being formal now that we were here. That was how he had been taught by the other wolves though, so I guess that was to be expected.

"Yes." I nodded as I pressed the button to the floor just below the tower itself. It was where the offices were, specifically the ones for Queen Trinity and King Reece.

That smell was still so faint, but Queen Trinity and King Reece's were strong. I knew that they were in the office at the moment, and that was a good thing.

"Come in." I heard the words when I knocked on the door to the office. They might not know it was me, but they knew that it was someone familiar.

"Good afternoon, Queen Trinity, King Reece." I nodded to them as Clovio and I entered the room.

"Wow, you two are back already?" Reece asked as he grinned at us.

"A little early, I apologize." I felt as if I needed to say this, I had broken protocol after all.

"That is fine." Reece seemed to be in a good mood. As I looked around the room, I saw that there was a baby in here as well. That was the baby that Trinity conceived right before the battle with the Ancient ones and the Jaegan. I hadn't thought about it, but she was here already.

"Congratulations on the baby." I told them as I set my bag down.

"Thank you, her name is Reeselynn." Trinity said with a smile, looking down into the face of the little girl. She had reddish brown hair and bright blue eyes like Trinity. She was a cute little baby.

"So, you're back." Reece clapped his hands as he took a seat. It was like he didn't know what to do.

"Yes, I was wondering if I could continue from where I left off. Go back to being a guard for Rika." I tried to make sure that I didn't sound too hopeful as I spoke.

"Well, you can guard someone, but Rika moved out of the castle. So did Reagan. She is living in the city now, to be closer to the campus." I could tell that Reece wasn't happy about this.

"Oh." My heart felt like it was about to rip out. How was I going to make sure that Rika bonded with me if I wasn't there with her? How could I make her understand that I was her mate if she wasn't able to see me? "Well then, perhaps I should get settled back into my apartment before I get back to work. I have been away for a while, I am sure that it's a mess."

"We had it maintained for you." Trinity assured me. "But yes, settle back in first and then we will talk. Clovio, you can have your old room back as well, so there is nothing to worry about."

"Thank you, Queen Trinity." He bowed to her.

I was at a loss. Rika wasn't at the castle anymore. I didn't know where she was. And without being able to see her, I couldn't make her mine. I couldn't tell her that she was my mate, and that I had known it since the day she turned eighteen. Now, she was almost twenty and I still didn't know when she was going to bond with me.

I left the castle and headed out to my apartment. It was small but nice. It was in a building a little ways from the campus, and perhaps I would just walk over there one day, just to happen across Rika's path. That might be good, she would smell me, see me, and bond with me.

I could hope, at the very least.