Chapter 24

Sasha
She stroked her little sister’s hair back. She glanced miserably around at Raven, Sherri and Melissa with tears in her eyes. Her little sister had been unconscious for the last 12 hours. None of the doctors knew why, but Sasha did. For some reason the need to make her bow had outweighed the level of their bond and she sought to make her bend in the only she knew would work. She went after her mate's life. She knew Kalani would have been so broken, she wouldn’t have any fight left. She didn’t know where the dominance came from or why it was aimed at her, but it was and she almost lost the most important person in her life. She didn’t understand why the energy sent to kill Gregory didn’t kill Kalani, but she could not be more thankful to the Goddess. She wiped her runny nose on her shoulder.
“What did I do?,” she cried.
Sherri moved closer to the bed to put her hand on her shoulder.
“She’s going to be okay. She has to be.”
Sasha wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She buried her face in Sherri’s stomach. Sherri smoothed her hair back.
“I know a spell that may help.”
Sasha pulled back to stare up at her. “You do?”
“Well, it’s not really a spell. My mother told me how your mother heals, if you want to try it.”
“How does she know?”
“My mother is her second. She had always hoped that I would take over for her, but I didn’t inherit any special abilities. I’m the family’s black sheep.”
“That’s why we all fit together. We are all outcasts.” She rolled up sleeves. “How do I do it?”
“You put your hands on her body and-”
“Where on her body?”
“Anywhere.” She waited until Sasha had placed her hands on Kalani’s chest to continue. “Now, close your eyes. Good. Now, focus on her body. You should be able to feel where the problem is.”
Sasha started drawing in deep breaths to allow herself to relax completely. She focused on Kalani’s slow heartbeat and shallow breathing. She slowly felt her body melting away until she was nothing more than a ball of energy. She felt herself floating before a warm energy welcomed her, encouraging her to enter Kalani’s body. The energy herded her through narrow pathways until it suddenly stopped. It started to circle an area that was disconnected from each other. Sasha slowly crept forward until she was hovering directly over the spot, looking down at it. She tried to reach her hands out and silently cursed when nothing happened. Kalani’s energy slammed into her, pushing her back. The hostility coming off the other ball had her mentally taking a step back. The once golden light had turned a stormy dark blue as it prepared for another attack.
Sasha took a deep breath, calming herself. Kalani’s energy shuddered once before it faded back to the light, happy energy it had started off as. It moved away from the spot to allow her to take her place over it again. She slowly lowered herself over the broken segment, taking it inside of her energy ball. She grasped the edges and held them back together. She focused on the vision of a complete connection for a few seconds until the heat that was being generated stopped.
She moved back and grew giddy when she saw the broken ends were once again whole. Kalani’s energy surrounded her again, urging her to another area. She repeated the process. After what felt like forever and fixing another 4 fragmented parts, Kalani’s energy entered hers for a second, before shoving out a burst of powerful energy. Sasha was thrown out of Kalani’s body and back into hers. Arms tightened around her as she slumped against someone. She moaned softly, completely exhausted. Kalani moaned and Sasha weakly raised her head to watch her. Gregory stroked her hair back out of her face.
“Annie?”
Kalani nuzzled into his lap. “Gergory?”
He shifted her fully onto his lap, starting to rock her. “Baby, we were so worried.”
“Where’s Sasha? Is she okay?”
He held her tighter and rocked her faster. “She’s right here. Are you okay?”
“Somebody saved me,” she said sleepily. “Who was it?”
“Sasha.”
She smiled a little as she started to doze off. “Tell her… tell her she will always be my forever.”
Sasha crawled out of Aiden’s arms to lay her head on Kalani’s chest while tears burned her skin as they rolled down her cheeks.
“And you are mine, Lani.”
Aiden rubbed her back until she, too, was asleep.

She woke up with a start. Fingers on her face made her let out a strangled, panicked scream. Hands stroked her back as her sister’s voice began to hum.
“Shh, Aja. It’s okay.”
She opened her eyes to see her sister laying on her side facing her. She pulled Kalani against her body, hugging her tight.
“Lani, I am so sorry.”
She giggled. “It’s okay.” She snuggled into Sasha’s neck. “So, I was thinking since you now owe me, that you could buy me my favorite lip gloss.”
Sasha sighed. “Always with the jokes,” she admonished.
“So.. while I was out, did you find out what kind of shifter we supposedly are?”
“No. When that… that spell hit you… I was out, too. It took me hours to wake up. Aiden said I didn’t finish shifting.”
She pulled back slightly. “Well, damn! I was hoping we could be something cool like a shark or something.”
Sasha groaned. “Please, don’t let us be ocean shifters on land. That would suck.”
Kalani kissed her cheek. “It would suck dirty, hairy monkey balls indeed.” She touched her cheek. “It’s time to get up. The rechoosing ceremony is almost here and we need to eat. We haven’t eaten all day.”
“Gregory, I’m sorry I hurt her.”
He shrugged. “She’s not mad, so I guess I have no right to be, either.”
He picked Kalani up and carried her out of the room. Sasha rolled over towards Aiden who took her hand.
“This is why you need to let me go.”
He leaned down to kiss her softly. “No.”
“I almost killed my sister. What if I unintentionally level this whole kingdom?”
“You won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we will find out what kind of shifter your father is and we will have the clan witch come and teach you how to control and use your powers.”
“Aiden-”
“Save it, Sasha. I am not letting you go. You did wrong, yes, but you also fixed it. Now, let’s go eat and do this ceremony. We will figure out what to do with Malcolm when he wakes up.”
“I really don’t remember what happened.”
“Somebody hurt you. They hurt you really bad. He has to know something.”
He pulled her up and guided her out of the room. They walked into his office where a dozen platters had been placed. Kalani handed her a plate and Aiden pulled her into his lap. He rested his chin on her shoulder as she slowly ate.
“So, it’s good to see you’re alive, Sasha,” Melissa said.
“Melissa!,” Sherri warned.
“What does she mean, Sherri?”
“When a witch heals someone, they cease to be alive. Your very lifeforce goes into the person.”
“What do you mean I ceased to be alive?”
“Your heart stopped and you weren’t breathing. Your body was technically dead. When Aiden came back in he wanted to do CPR on you. I had to explain to both of the men what you were doing.”
“Interesting. Do you know anything else about my blood that you care to share with me?”
She sighed. “No, but Melissa and Raven do.”
“Spill!”
“I know your father’s initials,” Melissa spoke up.
“What are they?”
“L. S. I always assumed the S was Soma. Your mother’s name was hyphenated.”
Raven cleared her throat. “So, I know your father has been giving your mother money for you and Kalani. Large stipends every year that she has been using to keep Tursum afloat.”
“What the hell guys? I thought we were closer than this.”
“We were sworn to secrecy or they would have killed us.”
“I would have protected you guys.”
“You can’t protect us from everything, Sash.”
Sasha sighed. “We will deal with this after the ceremony. I expect you to write down everything you know about my family and I and hand it over.”
“Speaking of the ceremony, thank you, Sherri and Shaun, for continuing to shift around,” Gregory said.
“What?”
“Well, she has agreed to keep her name in the pool until Kalani is picked by Gregory. We don’t want her to end up with Malcolm. We think he was the one who attacked you, but can not do anything, because you don’t remember.”
“But I thought they mated already?”
“Sherri was never confirmed to be mated by the doctor.”
Sasha sighed. “So, what happens now?”
“We go do the choosing and pray that everyone ends up where they belong.”
Sasha’s stomach flipped. “Are you going to let Malcolm choose?”
Aiden’s arm tightened around her. “Baby, you are safe. Whoever is not chosen will be his for the week.”
She kissed his neck, before pulling back, blushing. “We should go.”
They all traipsed to the dining hall. The last 5 girls to be chosen, Carla, Tiffany, Sherri, Kalani and her all stood in a line on the right with the men standing across from them. Aiden stepped into the middle of the two lines and held up a sack.
“As everyone must be aware by now, Malcolm is currently in a coma in the hospital. Everybody will choose a woman’s name and the woman left will be his partner for the week. As already granted, Sasha is mine for the week. Come here.”
Sasha nervously crossed to his side. He positioned her slightly behind himself.
“Let us begin. Gregory.”
The gamma stepped forward and stuck his hand in the bag. After mixing it thoroughly, he pulled a piece of paper out. He unfolded it and his face fell.
“Sherri.”
Sherri gave a terrified Kalani a hug, before taking her place next to Gregory.
“Thomas!”
He stepped forward and picked a paper. His face broke into a huge smile. “Carla.”
She danced to his side and they shared a passionate kiss. He positioned her under his arm, unmistakably giddy with his selection. The atmosphere grew more tense.
“Shaun.”
Shaun walked over to the king and reached into the bag. Sasha watched Kalani’s face as Shaun slowly unfolded his paper. He let out a breath as Sasha gripped the back of Aiden’s shirt nervously. Shaun smiled and held his paper up.
“Kalani.”
She hurried to his side as Aiden turned towards Tiffany. “You are with Malcolm. You may go see him in the hospital if you wish.”
She rolled her eyes. “Alright.”
“Dismissed.”
Carla, Thomas and Tiffany all left the room. Sasha walked over to Sherri and Kalani to hug them.
“Thank you, Sherri.”
“No problem.”
Aiden put his hand on Gregory and Shaun’s shoulders. “Take the girls to bed. I’m going to take my mate to ours.”
Before Sasha could move, Aiden swept her up in his arms and carried her out of the hall to their room. He set her on the bed and removed her shoes, before kicking his own off. He climbed into bed, put his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Sasha, let’s go to bed. You need more rest and I really need to hold you. We can figure everything else out tomorrow.”
She pressed deeper into his side. “Goodnight, Aiden.”
He ran his hand over her back.
“Goodnight, my queen.”
Sasha waited until he had fallen asleep to raise up on her elbow. She watched him sleep for a moment before running her finger down his chest. She feathered kisses over his jaw.
“Aiden, I love you.”
Satisfied she finally told him, even if he wouldn’t remember, she curled back into his side to sleep.