CHAPTER 82

"You were?," Elise said in a high pitched voice, her eyes trained on Mila. She had been caught unaware by the revelation and she could not quell the panic in her voice. They were all giving her a strange look as her eyes darted around the room.
"Yes, I was close," Mila replied with a straight face. It was left to Elise to wonder how close she was. She watched the older wolf clear her throat repeatedly, bending her head to hiding her eyes from them but it was too late. They had all seen the fear in them.
"If you were close, then you should have heard me screaming for help when I walked in to see Rose lying in a pool of blood," Elise said in a teary whisper.
Mila wasn't sure if she was the only one that noticed the slip but she kept quiet about it.
Earlier, Elise had said she walked in to see Shana hitting Rose on the head but she just said she walked in to see her already being hit.
But she knew the statement was meant to test if she was telling the truth about being there. "Maybe I wasn't close enough to have heard you scream," she evaded.
"Oh." Elise mumbled with a nod of her head.
"I want to hear it all Elise," Armando stated rigidly.
"I would like to take a bath now. I'll feel better after and won't be so sad talking about it," she said looking around with a teary smile.
"The bath is not ready. Besides, why not get it over with already? And I believe you need to talk about it to finally move on," Mila replied. She knew Elise was evading.
Elise threw her a sharp look. It seemed the kitten had gotten claws in her absence, she thought to herself.
"Ok. If you say so." Then she launched into her tale, praying she didn't make a mistake.
"Mila wasn't in for a couple of days before it all happened so she wouldn't know this. The day before I was kidnapped, Rose and Shana had a little argument which I settled," she said looking everywhere but the three pair of eyes trained on her. "It was nothing really. Shana just felt threatened by Rose always being around her since her fight with Asher. She felt Rose was keeping tabs on her and waiting for her to make a mistake to report to Asher. I believed that was a baseless accusation," she said looking at Mila, who appeared to be the least frightening of the three devils in the room. "Asher had security around her doing that already," she continued, waving her arms around. "Rose was affronted and she lashed back at her, saying she was a worthless Crier and Shana threatened to throw her out and never allow her into Asher's life again. She threatened she was going to make her life hell. That was when I stepped in and I made them see reason. They agreed they were both tense because of the situation with Asher and they apologized to each other and that was it."
"And then?," Armando prompted her impatiently.
"And then, I came in the next morning to make breakfast. Rose was in the livingroom but I didn't see Shana. Rose believed she was still asleep. I wasn't feeling so good so I decided to take a nap. I woke up later and I came into the kitchen to see Shana standing over Rose, about to hit her on the head," she finished, choking on her own tears. "I screamed at the top of my lungs but it was too late. She delivered the blow and I watched Rose crumble to the floor. Then, I turned around and ran. But I had hardly taken two steps when I ran into a huge wolf. A piece of clothing was slapped onto my face and the next thing I remember was waking up in a dark room. You can already guess all that happened afterwards," she finished, crying and sniffling all along.
If Mila had not known Rose and Shana, and if Elise had not contradicted herself not once but twice, she would have fallen for her wellspun tale and fake tears.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that," Armando said with a poker face.
"Me too," Cole echoed.
But Mila said nothing, and the truth was, Elise preferred her silence over the voices that seemed to mock her. But when Cole added, "I'm sorry you even had to meet my twin," with a sympathetic smile, she felt like she was about to lose it all.
They were definitely mocking her attempts.
Armando was just being usual grumpy self, he had never been a sweet person to start with. But still, she needed an escape from the room, and fast.
"Would you see to my bath now?," she asked, turning to Mila with her teary eyes.
Those eyes were beginning to piss Mila off.
"It should be ready right about now," she answered with an overbright smile.
She made her escape quickly and left them staring after her.
★★★★★★★★★★
"Honey, wake up. We need to go now."
The soothing voice made her burrow deeper into the bed. Although it had an urgency to it, she couldn't understand the urgent need for her to leave the comfort of the bed.
It was her mate's voice and she felt so at home already.
She knew he would come for her. She had prayed and wished it into existence the night before. Everything Collins said to her was a lie and now, she was finally with her mate.
How she loved him, she thought as a sweet and happy smile danced across her face even in sleep.
"We need to go now. He's requesting your presence," the voice said to her again.
She sighed in sleep and told herself she was going to have a word with him about his impatience when she woke up.
And why was he going on about someone requesting her presence?
No one could request for the Luna's presence urgently except the Alpha.
Unless.....
The last thought had her eyelids snapping apart in microseconds and her attention was immediately drawn to the limping wolf who had approached her days before. She remembered his name was Ethan.
Again, there was no Asher standing before her. She had been dreaming.
"What are you doing in here?," she asked and at the same time, scrambling to the far edge of the bed away from him.
"I'm sorry. I knocked before I came in," he answered calmly.
"It changes nothing. I never invited you in. Tell me, how are you different from the rest of them? You claim to be on my side but all you've proved to me now is that you are a pervert," she threw back at him vehemently.
She was scared.
She had stayed alive longer than she expected and it would be no surprise if Collins had finally sent him to kill her.
"I'm sorry but if I didn't come in to wake you and get you to him soon, he would either come for you himself or send someone who wouldn't be at all gentle with you."
Shana stared into his eyes long enough to see that he was telling the truth and he meant everything he said.
"He really wants to see you now. He demands it," he repeated.
"Give me a few seconds," she said waving for him to wait outside.
"I'll be waiting. The time to leave will come very soon," he said holding her gaze. Then he turned and left.
And in that moment, she couldn't pinpoint what really changed her mind about him but she finally believed him.
She was certain what he had meant was the time to make her escape was coming.
As they made their way to the large room Shana had found out Collins called his 'throne room', her heart thudded louder and louder.
"Don't believe everything he tells you," Ethan whispered just before he left her alone.
She stared at his retreating back curiously. What the hell was going on?
Then she pushed open the door to the throne room.
Of course, Collins was there waiting for her and he had been pacing impatiently.
"For someone who believes she is being held captive on enemy's territory, you sure sleep a lot," he said with a mocking smile as he turned to face her.
She never for once thought one could hate anything beautiful but Shana hated Collins' beautiful face more than anything in the world.
"You had something to say to me?," she asked defiantly, her tone telling him she really didn't care much for whatever he had to say.
"Ethan must have gotten it all wrong," he answered with a shake of his head. "I don't have anything to say. I just have something to show you, something that would help you see the truth before you," he said as he moved towards her.
"What do you really want from me?," Shana asked in a strong voice, certainly not an emotion she was feeling as she forced herself to stand her ground instead of taking steps away from him as he got closer.
"Oh come on now, don't be a stranger. We've wined and dined together. Doesn't that make us friends already?
"You wish."
"Ok. I'm your enemy, an enemy who's looking out for you. You should listen to this."
He produced his phone from his shirt pocket as Shana stared on in confusion.