They were back in the mansion. Ash had gathered the Alpha's warriors and filled them in on the situation. One of the cleaners had turned on the radio and Lola heard on the news that extreme weather was to be expected as she walked down after having changed clothes. Extreme rainfall was to occur during the night and the following days in and around town.
She had the keys to her car and a small bag with toiletries.
Ash and the warriors came out of the office and saw Lola standing at the entrance. His shoulders rose in a predatory bow as he stalked towards her.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.
"To find Jax. Whatever he and I are, it's my fault that he's been taken. I'm going to bring him home,"
Ash was in front of her before she could blink and ripped the keys from her hand.
"The hell you are." He put the keys in his pocket and grabbed her wrists when she tried to get them back.
"It's my fault that he was taken, he was protecting ME!"
"And I will get him back!" He growled as he towered over Lola.
They were both heaving as the blood rushed to their heads and anger consumed them.
The sound of a door chiseling, metal scraping against the marble floor, and then closing with a thud that echoed throughout the mansion had Lola look around for where it came from. From around the corner of the stairs, down the same hallway where Jax's office was located came a group of warriors- all of them carrying black body bags, two warriors on each bag.
She followed them with her eyes as they walked with a calm demeanor out of the mansion and loaded the bags onto the back of a car.
Lola dragged her confused gaze over Ash.
"What is going on here?"
His eyes, burning into the backs of the warriors softened as they landed back on Lola.
"Do you remember the pack members that attacked you?" He asked.
"Yes, it's not something you forget," she scoffed and put her arms on her hips.
He remained silent, waiting for the pieces to land on their own and her hands were slowly sliding down her body until they fell at her sides.
Her jaw fell to the floor in sync with her feet feeling as heavy as cement- impossible to lift.
She opened her mouth to speak but closed it in disbelief when she realized that she didn't know what to say.
"They attacked their Luna. They attacked the Alphas mate, his wife- they were never going to survive."
"He killed them?" she said in an exhale.
Ash lifted his head and clicked his jaw.
"No, I did. Jax couldn't do it."
"How could you?" She breathed.
His brows pinched together and he tilted his head.
"It wasn't hard. They would've killed you had Lavina not been there. I don't care who it is, if they are part of Jax's pack or my own, if anyone tries to hurt you I will kill them and I will not blink or feel remorse for the blood that stains my hands," he grabbed her chin and lifted her head.
"I will always choose your life over anyone else's," he said through clenched teeth.
Lola's lip fell when he pulled on her chin, her eyes gazed into his and she saw the faces of the deaths in her vision. She could twist it and turn it however she wanted, they were dead because she was there to begin with.
Lola felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket, the sound of her ring signal filled the hallway and she huffed as she took it in a tight grip and stepped away from Ash's hold. His hand lingered in the air, his fingers in the same position they'd been in when they held her chin and they stayed there for a second before he slowly lowered it.
"Yes?" She snapped at the phone.
Her eyes widened when she heard the heavy breathing on the other line.
"Lola, it's good to hear your voice again. How long has it been? Six- seven years?"
She swallowed and hung her head.
"You made it hard for me to reach you, surrounding yourself with these filthy mutts and marrying an Alpha. Though I hear he's not the only leader you have hounding after you." He chuckled darkly through the phone.
"Lucien." Lola's voice trembled and she couldn't raise her voice above the whisper in which she said his name.
Ash's eyes fell and his lips turned down in a snarl.
Lola's phone dinged and she looked at the screen where an unknown number had sent an address. She lifted the phone back to her ear and felt a shiver crossing her spine.
"I'm looking forward to seeing you and that mutt of yours. Come without a following and your husband lives, fail to come at all and I will send you his head on Christmas Eve." The line fell dead and Lola lowered her hand.
"He knows you're coming after him, you have to call it off!" Lola said.
"He thinks he can't beat us, let him live with that comfort for a while," Ash said.
He took his car keys and went out of the mansion.
They walked up to his car and he opened the door for Lola but as she was about to get in he blocked her way. Their faces were inches away, a stroke of air brushed her cheek and his eyes lingered on her lips.
"If I tell you to stay, you stay. I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to leave both me and Jax and save your own ass, you will do so. I'm not willing to gamble with your life, you will obey every command I give or I will have the warriors drag you away." It wasn't a question or up for debate. He simply stated the rules.
Lola lowered her gaze and brushed against his body as she got in.
As they drove out of town Melissa called.
"Did you get home alright?" Lola asked.
"I did but listen to me," she stressed. "I opened my purse to take my things out and I saw the pendant. It was in there under my phone."
"So?" Lola asked.
"I didn't put it in my purse but then I remembered the story; my mom said that the Mayor's heart never stopped beating for his true love- his true love was a Doe. What if his heart, the one that Rosalie ripped from his chest never stopped looking for his Doe? What if the pendant is a compass to find you," Melissa screeched.
Lola's head snapped to the side but Ash was already watching her.
"That's how they found you. That is how they have always found you." He seethed.
"Which means Elwina knew about the vampires," Lola said.
They were all silent for a moment before Melissa spoke.
"You're going after him, aren't you?" She asked.
"I have to, he's my husband and he would do it for me," Lola answered.
"Be careful."
"You too,"
They hung up and Lola leaned her head back.
"What is this about Rosalie and another Doe?" Ash asked through clenched teeth.
Lola turned her head and cast a glance before turning back with a heavy sigh.
"You have your secrets, I have mine," she said quietly and looked out the window.
Ash's eyes glistened when they watched the side of her face, wishing he could see more but not wanting her to know that he was staring.
He knew she was being honest, every word came from her heart, she was hurt from the lack of involvement in everything happening the last days...weeks...months.
They had left her alone, thinking it was for her protection but he realized now that maybe they were wrong. Maybe the best thing for her would've been to include her, to keep her close, to keep her safe with company and not to keep her in the dark where her demons had been waiting.
Lola tried to pinpoint the exact moment when everything changed from bad to worse. She wanted so badly to blame it on meeting Jax, to say that her life was never the same afterward but that was a lie. Vampires entered her life long before werewolves did and Jax did bring many good things, love being both the best and the worst.
They drove down the highway, the address was tapped into the GPS and all that was left was to reach the destination. She questioned how the vampires had managed to take Jax six hours away when six hours hadn't even passed since he was taken.
Looking down the road she hadn't noticed that she was holding her breath and released it as her chest sunk back.
They sat in silence, no small talk or music filled the car but if a brain made a noise when a million thoughts passed through, that would be what they heard.
"He will be fine," Ash reassured out of nowhere.
"I know," Lola said, feeling the lightness of her words lift a weight off her chest.
"Then what are you thinking so hard about?"
"Lucien doesn't want Jax, he took him because he knew it was his best chance to have me delivered to his doorstep. I'm just wondering how this will all end."
Ash tightened the grip around the wheel.
"It will end with us all coming home." He said.
"Yeah, or maybe change is exactly what we need." She said and turned away from Ash. The passing trees looked like blobs of color at the speed they went and one droplet of rain fell on the window. She followed the drop down the window and another one followed. The sky opened up and the heavy rain that the news warned about was officially starting.
Ash slowed down and watched as the sky lit up from lightning strikes and parted ways for the waterfall to rain down.
The streets would soon be flooded and they wouldn't get very far so he drove off at the next exit and entered a village.
'The Seventh Inn'
Ash and Lola shared a wary look and both knew that they needed a place to lay low until the rain eased up.