Chapter 61

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble between you and your mother.”
“You didn’t. We never had the usual mother-son relationship. I was raised by Luna Elena.”
The mention of that name brought back unpleasant memories. I willed myself to forget them and remain in the present.
“Why?” I asked.
“I was her mate’s first son. She believed it was her duty to fill the maternal role in my life since my real mother was merely a breeder. She was one of many, by the way.”
“Why didn’t your father stick to one breeder?”
He shrugged. “I guess it was just an excuse to have sex with multiple women and pretend that it was for the sake of continuing his bloodline.”
“But he had concubines too. I was one of them.”
“Don’t remind me,” he said curtly. “Are you hungry? I think it’s time for lunch.”
The way he changed the subject made me realize how uncomfortable the topic of me being intimate with his father made him. It was understandable and I regretted mentioning it.
“Where is Jaxon Hall?” I asked as we made our way downstairs to the dining room.
“It’s one of my father’s getaway lodges where he goes to have more fun when he’s bored with palace life or he just wants to get away from Luna Elena.”
“You don’t sound fond of him.”
“You met him when he was alive. I’m sure you can guess why I didn’t like him.”
I could but I let the subject drop. I didn’t enjoy talking about Alpha Jaxon either.
“And his other lodges?”
“They’re currently occupied by my father’s other breeders and my step-siblings.”
“Interesting.”
We had a delicious lunch together at the dining table. Although Rowan had told me not to be concerned about Ria getting kicked out of the palace, I still felt guilty.
Later in the evening while I was playing with Nyla before her bedtime, Ria came into the room. I quickly told the nanny to excuse us because I know I was about to get into another verbal showdown with my mother-in-law.
“You think you’ve won, haven’t you?” She asked me nastily.
“I am not competing with you, so there’s no winning here,” I replied.
“Is that so? Well, the battle line is drawn, Jade. You have succeeded in getting me kicked out of my home and I will make sure you pay for that.”
“I can see you have a short memory,” I said with a lopsided smile.
She glared at me. “Meaning?”
“Your threats were what provoked me to jump on you this afternoon. Don’t make me do it again because if that happens, you might end up leaving here with one less limb.”
“So, it’s now your turn to threaten me?”
I shrugged. “It seems that’s the only thing you respond to.”
“Very well, then. We shall see!”
She marched out of the room like a soldier. Today’s episode has shown me that Ria was all bark and no bite. All she wanted to do was to intimidate and she was furious that her tactics were not working on me.
Nyla’s birthday took place a week later. Ria was invited but she didn’t come. She claimed to be ill but I knew it was a lie. Rowan couldn’t care less.
The party was a celebration that turned out to be bigger than what Alpha Jaxon and Luna Elena had planned for Domarius nine years ago. It brought tears to my eyes to see that I was being honoured in the same palace where I was abused and disgraced.
We partied until the early hours of the following day. When Rowan and I finally found our way back to our chambers, we were both exhausted but happy.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
I turned around and saw Dominic standing behind me and holding up the wolf head necklace. He looked haggard and there was madness in his bloodshot eyes.
“What are you doing here?” I gasped.
“Look around you, Jade,” he said.
I looked around and I realized that I was in Apex Woods. It was dark all around and the trees had lost all of their leaves. Lightning flashed in the sky and I heard the loud crack of thunder booming on the horizon.
“What am I doing here? How did I get here?”
“This is where you belong. In the dark, with us,” he replied with a hiss.
“Us?”
Suddenly, other people appeared in the dark around us. I saw Brianna wearing her favourite blue dress but it was stained with blood and mud, and her head was bent at an awkward angle.
“What the hell!” I gasped.
Then there was Darius whose body was slashed brutally and blood poured out of his open woods. Damian was also standing nearby with his broken legs that shook under him.
“What is going on?” I screamed.
“We are here to take you,” Dominic replied. “You belong to us!”
“No!”
I tried to run but my legs wouldn’t move. I knew this was a dream but it terrified me because it looked real.
Suddenly, I heard Nyla crying. I looked around trying to see if I could find her but I couldn’t. Her cries pierced my soul and caused me pain.
“She’s next,” said Dominic and he threw the necklace at me.
It hit me in the face and I screamed.
“Jade, wake up!”
My eyes flipped open and I found myself staring into Rowan’s worried eyes.
“It’s ok, my love,” he said soothingly. “It was just a dream.”
“Nyla,” I whispered.
“What about her?”
“I have to go and check on her,” I said and got off the bed before Rowan could stop me.
“Was your dream about her?”
“Yeah, sort of.”
I hurried out of the room without even bothering to wear a dressing gown. I needed to see my baby and hold her in my arms. I needed to be sure that she was ok and that nightmare was nothing but a bad dream.
“What is it?” I asked her nanny when I saw her carrying Nyla and rocking her gently.
“She has been fussing all night,” she said. “I think she’s coming down with a fever.”
“What’s going on?” Rowan asked, coming into the room.
I carried Nyla from her nanny and I was shocked at how hot she was. “Oh, dear,” I gasped. “She’s burning up.”
“Get me a wet towel and send someone to fetch the senior pack doctor now!” Rowan ordered and the nanny hurried to do as she was told.
“Did you see this in your dream?” He asked me.
“Not exactly but…”
“What?”
“The triplet Alphas and my cousin… they threatened me and they said they were coming for Nyla too.”
Rowan sighed. “I think that dream was just your fear manifesting in your subconscious. You have to stop being so afraid, Jade. I’ve got you.”
I wanted to believe him so badly but there was just something so eerily familiar about that dream. It felt like a vision.
“Maybe you’re right,” I said. “Maybe I am just overthinking this. Little children get sick all the time, right?”
“Right,” said Rowan with a sympathetic smile.
The doctor came to check on Nyla and he placed her on some herbal medications. Days passed but my daughter’s health did not improve.
It also didn’t help that I kept having that awful dream in different variations. Sometimes it featured Hycinth and Gertrude and at other times, it was just me and Dominic but the setting was always the same.
When two weeks passed and Nyla’s condition did not improve, I knew it was finally time to take action.
“I’m going to make a trip to the east,” I informed Rowan.
“What? Now?” He asked in surprise.
“Yes, now,” I replied matter-of-factly.
“But Nyla needs you.”
“She has you. Besides, there’s nothing I can do for her right now. The doctors don’t know what is wrong with her and I’m going crazy with worry. I can’t lose another child, Rowan. I can’t!”
“And you won’t. Nyla is going to be fine. Besides, what are you going to the east for?”
“Remember that Moon Pack seer I told you about? The one who might have told you about me before we met?”
“Yes, what about her?”
“She told me to bring that wolf head necklace to her to destroy it. Once she does that, I’ll be free of the Alpha triplets and whatever bad luck that ties me to them.”
Rowan rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. “Fine. We’ll send for her to come here and destroy it.”
“We don’t have time to waste, Rowan. Let me go and do this for my peace of mind and our daughter’s life!”
“Very well, if you insist. But you must take some guards with you.”
“Fine!” I said and marched to our bedroom. I went straight to the drawer where I’d kept the cursed necklace. Seeing it again made my blood boil.
“It’s finally time to get rid of you, you bastard,” I said to it angrily. “I am not going to give up my child again without a fight.”