Chapter 78

(Tommy POV)

I had woken a few moments ago and felt a searing pain against my skin, and when I tried to pull my arms away from the pain, I realized I was chained. The chains were made of silver, and I was in a dark room. My eyes tried to adjust to the darkness but with the silver it was too hard for my wolf to try and push his way to the surface. I pulled on the chains again, but it only made me cry out. The sound of my struggle caused the other person in the room with me to wake.

“Hello? Who’s there?” I call out.

“Uh…Tommy?” It was Eli’s voice.

“Eli? Are you ok?” I call to him, even though I knew he was probably tied up just like me.

“W-what…where are we?” He asks.

“Maya’s father took us, and I am guessing we are back at his pack lands now.” I reply with an angry huff. “Are you tied up too?”

I hear rattling of chains and a sigh. “Yeah. Silver chains, how original.”

I huffed out a laugh. “I Doubt anything this guy does is original.”

“Wait! Where is Maya? Did he get to her?” He asks in a panic.

“I don’t think so. I warned Noah as soon as they got me.” I tell him.

“Good. That’s good.” Eli says letting out another sigh.

Silence surrounded us now, and I knew Eli’s thought had drifted to Maya as well. I had hoped that my warning reached Noah with plenty of time for them to get away. But I wasn’t sure, and that was what I was scared of. Like Eli I never wanted Maya to have to face her father again! In truth I had made plenty of plans of my own to kill him myself before Maya would ever have to face him again. None of those plans, however, included me being chained with silver and my wolf weak because of it.

“What do we do now?” Eli asks suddenly.

“Now we need to find out what he wants with us. I am sure we are the bait for whatever he has planned, and if I know Noah…they will fall right into whatever trap he has planned. No offence to Noah but as smart as he is, when it comes to recuse and stuff, he thinks too much with his heart and not his head.” I say with a laugh.

“Maya will want to come for us as well. If I had to choose, Thomas would be the most levelheaded one among them. So hopefully he can be the smart one and not come rushing to our rescue.” Eli adds.

“Maya…I hate that she is going to blame herself for this. I wish she would realize by now how much we would give up for her.” I say with a sigh.

“She doesn’t think she deserves us, and even though she tries to keep those thoughts hidden I hear them. Even when she sleeps, she is worried that we will get smart and leave her. She thinks we will one day realize she is not worth the risk. But she is also afraid of hurting us too, and out of everything she is scared of herself.” Eli adds.

“You heard all those things?” I ask feeling a knot in my throat.

I had not been a good mate recently. My father and I had been talking more as my ceremony to become alpha was drawing closer. He knew I couldn’t leave Maya, but I still had a lot to learn. So, we had been talking, and I figured Maya wouldn’t notice since she was focused on training. When we would go running, I would break off and video call my dad and get updates on pack matters, and I could see how tired my dad was. He was still young but being alpha was taking a toll on him and I knew I needed to take his place soon.

“She had been focusing more on her other powers and keeping them under control that she has not tried to shut out her thoughts from the mind link. She knows that something was wrong with you, and she was thinking of telling you to go home.” Eli tells me.

“She wanted me to leave?” I ask trying not to sound hurt.

“No, she could see you were worried about something and it was making you distant. She knows you have responsibilities and she felt bad that she was keeping them form you. We could all feel part of you pulling away.” Eli says trailing off.

“I’m sorry. My father looked so tired, and I know something is going on that he isn’t telling me. Something is happening involving the pack, but he didn’t want me to worry. But seeing how stressed he looked I couldn’t help but worry.” I confess.

“Maya will always tell you to choose the pack first Tommy, she is selfless and will always sacrifice herself for others. Just remember she will never tell you to choose her, to stay with her, to fight for her. She will always choose others before herself, but as her mates we need to always choose her. But we know as the next Alpha that will be difficult, and we can’t ask you to sacrifice the pack for Maya. What I can say is that for Noah and I, Maya is our family now. The only true family we have, so we will always choose her. So, if her father comes before me and asks me to make a choice, I am sorry, but I will choose to save Maya no matter what.” Eli’s voice is firm, but I wasn’t sure why he was saying all this.

“Did her father say something to you?” I ask him. “Eli?”

“I’m sorry Tommy.” Eli replies with a slight crack to his voice.

“Sorry for what? What did he ask you to do?” I ask, my heart starting to race.

What had he told him?

“I had to tell him Tommy! If we ever want to see Maya again I had to help him.” Eli sounded close to tears now.

“Eli what did you tell him?” I asked again, anger lacing my voice.

“I-I told him how to get into our land undetected.” Eli says letting out a choked cry at the end.

“What?! Eli! He will kill everyone! Including my family! How could you do that?” I yell.

“No, he won’t kill your family! I made a deal with him, and he will not kill your family, I promise.” Eli tries to assure me.

“How do you know he won’t kill them? What could you have offered him for him to promise that?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer right away.

“What did you promise him Eli?” I yell out into the dark room.

“I promised to bring Maya here once we find her.” He says, voice now steady.

“What? How would that be protecting Maya? How would bring her back here keep her safe? This doesn’t make sense Eli!” I keep yelling.

“He says there is a way to remove her Fae powers. All he wants are her powers and he will let her go. We could take her far away from here and she could live a normal life!” Eli replies a little quitter.

“God dammit Eli! He is manipulating you! And you are letting him and now you have sacrificed our entire pack! If you think for one second, he will spare anyone, then you are as crazy as he is! I can’t believe you did this!” I couldn’t help the growl that is escaped me in my anger.

“I was trying to save Maya, and I saw no other way than to give him what he wanted! Maya hates what she is, and I saw this as a chance to free her from that side of herself she hates so much.” Eli says.

He was an idiot! I knew he was the one who Maya connected deeply on an emotional level with and I could see now that he allowed her thoughts cloud his judgment. He was willing to give up everything on an empty promise that I was sure Maya’s father had no intention of following through with.