Three weeks. I've been here for three weeks and still no sign of mom. My hope and my patients are running low. On the bright side, Georgia seems to be okay now.

Manus got his men to stop abusing her I'm assuming. They still pull her out of the room sometimes. Probably for questioning, but I'm pretty sure they don't touch her. No one wants to cross their leader, especially if that leader is Manus.

Manus still has this bizarre image in his head that I am my mother. It turns out that my eyes being a different color doesn't seem to affect him anymore. He is lost in a world that is just him and Rachel.

I suppose it's for the best though. He loves my mom, it is creepy, but it is what's keeping Georgia and me safe.

He likes to see me on a daily basis, which is a little weird for me. My hands are always in handcuffs but I shouldn't complain, it is nice to get out of the cell. He sometimes takes me on walks or lets me watch a movie with him in their movie room. He might seem nice, but I know he is crazy. Crazy people can turn at any second.

"When are we going to get out of here?" Georgia asks in an annoyed tone.

"Soon I hope. I don't know if I can keep pretending to be my mom anymore. Manus is becoming creepier and creepier." I state and lean my head back onto the wall.

She huffs at that. "Well at least you get a chance to get out of this dark cell and see the sunlight." She says.

"Yeah, I suppose." But she gets taken out of the cell too so I don't really know why she is complaining.

I ended up telling Georgia about everything that happened when I was in his office. About the crying, his imagination going wild, him being on the verge of shifting, and my phone call to my mom. Our hopes have been high recently. I know that she will be coming for me, but the real question is, when?

What if she can't find me? What if this place is too far out of the way? I don't even know if we are still in Maine to be honest. It could take years before she finds me.

Suddenly the door creaks open and Hank walks into the room. It must be that time of day already...

He walks over to me and starts to undo my shackles. After cuffing my hands I follow him out the door and wave to Georgia as I go. She mouths, 'Good luck.' and I mouth 'Thanks.' right back.

Hank brings me up the stairs and out the front door. Huh, Manus must want to go on a walk or something today. I continue to follow close behind Hank and we make our way out to a lake. There is a small dock and standing on the edge of the dock is Manus himself. He seems happy, that's always a good sign for me.

Hank stops and pushes me toward the dock. I look back at him and he motions for me to go without him. I do as I'm told and meet Manus on the dock.

"Hello sweetheart."

"Hello Manus." I say and look down at the small row boat lying on the water near our feet.

Huh.

"I'm sure you can guess what we are doing today, love." He says.

He bends down and hops into the boat. Honestly, I'm kind of frightened to go on this tiny little boat with this huge guy.

"Going on a boat ride?" I ask.

He laughs and offers me a hand to help me into the boat. I shakily grab his hand and he helps me in. I quickly settle into the seat in front of the rowers seat and face the front of the boat. I take in a deep breath. I can do this. No biggie. As long as he thinks I'm Mom, then I'm safe.

"Right as always." he says.

He starts to untie the boat from the dock and soon enough, we are floating off into the lake. The water is beautiful and the way the sun reflects off of it is just as radiating. I feel a small ache in my heart.

I wish I could share this moment with Jayden. It's been so long since I have talked to him. I miss his shinning smile and warm embrace. I miss the fact that he couldn't resist kissing me when I unconsciously bit my lip. Most of all, I miss the way he made me feel complete.

I've tried everyday to contact him through mind link but nothing works. Georgia was a rogue so she doesn't have a pack to contact through mind link. I don't know why, maybe the distance is preventing me from reaching him. I have tried others too, like my mom and Lexi. No one is answering.

I realize now that I haven't tried to contact Jayden today. Maybe I should give it a go now. Since I'm kind of far from Manus's pack house.

I close my eyes and focus my thoughts to Jayden.

'Jayden? Can you hear me? I really miss you... I want to come home, I do, I just don't know how to get away.'

I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Nothing.

I let out a hopeless sigh. It's useless. I'm useless. The only thing I can do is wait for my mom to find me. She can't even find her keys in the house! How is she going to find me when I don't even know where I am!?

"Is everything okay Sweetheart?" Manus asks me.

I turn to look over my shoulder and smile at him. It's fake but I'm sure it can pass as a real smile.

"Everything is fine. I'm just enjoying the view, thank you for taking me on this ride."

He smiles and continues to row the boat. Maybe I should use this time to learn more about this so called 'resistance'.

I turn around and face Manus. He is still smiling happily so I figure now is a better time than ever. If he appears to get upset I will just try to get him happy again. It shouldn't be too hard considering I'm his 'love'.

"Manus, can I ask you a question." I say.

"Anything my love." He says.

"Well... Do you remember anything about the resistance." I see him stiffen and I quickly reassure him. "I just want to know about it and why people would betray their own kind. I don't agree with it."

He gives me a funny look. "Rachel, you led the resistance." Then his features grow serious.

"No, honest Manus I don't remember that part of my life. I let it go when I met you again." I say and look deep into his eyes.

I cannot believe I just said that. Grab me a barf bag because I'm about to puke.

To my luck, he smiles and and places the oars in their resting slots. He scoots closer to me and reaches out to caress my cheek.

"You're beautiful my love." he says.

"Thank you Manus, but do you think you could please answer my question?"

He sighs and allows his hand to fall from my face. He grabs my hands in his own and rubs his thumb over my knuckles. I stop myself from shuddering in disgust. I need to learn about this resistance and this is the only way I can get information.

"It all started the day you found that filthy maggot. You fell head over heels for him. It sickened me, how you could just leave me alone like that. You started to get these ideas in your head, you were reading about legends of the packs and history books related to mystical objects that could be used to protect the holder of the item. You went crazy. You started stealing from all over. I tried to stop you, I did, but you're excuse every time was that you had to do it for your love.

"I was disgusted, it got to the point where I had enough. I loved you so much, I still do, it's just I had to tell our Alpha. Our Alpha's father is the one who created the law that you could not mate with humans, he became furious..."

He looks down ashamed. He squeezes my hand lightly and looks up into my eyes apologetically.

"I didn't want him to kick you out of the pack. So I begged and begged. Finally he decided to give you one last chance."

He shakes his head.

"You ruined it. You broke into the sacred temple and stole a precious jewel that was placed there many years ago. I don't know why you did it, greed maybe. But that was the final straw for the Alpha. He wasn't even going to just kick you out. He was coming after you with revenge, to kill."

I stare at him dumbfounded. My mom did all of that? She was a thief, a lawbreaker and a criminal on the run? I don't know if I should be proud or be ashamed.

"I did that..." I ask shocked.

"Yes, but the past is in the past my love, and we are here for each other now. I won't let any harm come to you."

He reaches out and scoops me into his arms. He pulls my into his lap and rests my head on his chest. I resist the urge to fight him and allow him to stroke my hair tenderly. He doesn't appear to have any creepy motives, he just wants to hold his love.

In a sense, I feel bad for him. He fell in love with someone who wasn't his mate. I guess the same goes for Ashley huh? She fell in love with Jayden, but Jayden is my mate.

Although she is such a mean person, I don't even feel remotely bad for her. Manus on the other hand. Sure he has a couple of crazy bones in his body but he is mostly filled with love toward my mother. I feel like I should help him get over her. Maybe find someone else for him to love.

"Manus?" I ask quietly.

He continues to stroke my hair and says, "Yes love?"

"Did you ever find your mate?" I ask.

His fingers freeze mid stroke. Did I just hit a nerve with him? I can't see his face so I can't tell what he is feeling.

He lowers both hands onto my shoulders and gently pushes my torso away from his chest. He gazes into my eyes and I look back into his. To my amazement, his eyes show nothing more than adoration.

"Rachel, I have never laid eyes on anyone besides you. No matter what the fates say, you will always be my true soul mate and I mean that."

Oh boy. This is starting to get weird. I feel the urge to pull away from him but he holds me in a tight grip.

"I know it has taken you a while to get over your maggot, but I have and will always be here for you."

He glances down at my lips and I freeze. My heart sputters out of control and sirens in my head warn me to pull away. I know I need to get out of his arms but what would he do if I tried to get away? I'm scared.

I start to move out of his arms but he holds onto me tighter, keeping me in place. He doesn't want me to move. He has been waiting for this moment for a lifetime.

"I love you Rachel." He says.

With that final mark he closes the distance between our lips. I feel nothing but disgust in myself and I try to push him off of me. He is so big he doesn't even realize my struggle and he takes the kiss further, trying to place his tongue in my mouth.

I resist as much as I can but he is just to strong. After and couple of minutes he stops and slowly releases me. I take in a few sharp breathes and I feel tears lined up and ready to fall. I hold them back and look out into the water, feeling disgusted.

"Rachel it's been a while since we last kissed, you seemed shy this time, more... innocent."

I don't answer him. I din't think I can. If I tried to speak I would burst out into tears. Imagine how Jayden is going to feel. He is going to hate me. When he looks at me, all he is going to feel is disgust.

"I have to say, I don't mind the innocent you. Unfortunately, we need to head back now."

He slides me back onto my seat and grabs onto the oars. He rows us back to the dock. When we get there I see Hank waiting for our arrival. My mind is blank and I don't know what to do. I'm in shock.

Manus is first out of the boat and he helps me up. I remain silent as he kisses my cheek and sends me off with Hank. My mind is still spinning and I feel light headed. Am I going to have to deal with this side of Manus for much longer? I don't know if I can.