Chapter 29

Aiden
He kept pushing his aura out to keep her asleep on the flight home. This was not how he had expected to find her. This was not how he wanted to take her flying for the first time .This is not something he thought would ever happen when he finally found his other half. He looked down at her, anger surging stronger inside of him. What in the hell was she thinking? Why didn’t she flatten the town like she took down a whole tower when she was assaulted at the castle?
‘Because she accepted her death. Welcomed it even,’ Mikhail growled.
‘What do you mean?’
‘She must have known that she was going to be executed!,’ he hissed. ‘She ran because of you! This is all your fault. I wanted to go to her!’
‘No! I never wanted this to happen. I didn’t want her to leave,’ Aiden argued.
‘She went back to die.’
‘When she heals, we need to find out why she went back.’
‘I already told you. She went back to die.’
‘You don’t know that for sure.’
‘Well, she did and if we had been 2 seconds later we wouldn’t have her.’
Grief welled up in him as he finally let himself think about the way she had looked at him. There was no fear in her eyes. There was only a deep seated sadness and then a look he couldn't decipher. He lifted her higher onto his chest so he could rest his cheek on her forehead.
‘Don’t ever let her go again.’
‘I don’t plan on it,’ Aiden promised him.
She shifted in his arms, moaning in pain. His arms tightened around her.
“Aiden,” she murmured. Tears started falling down her face as she trembled. “AIDEN!”
She jerked up and almost rolled out of his arms. A wing whipped around his body to assist in keeping her against him. He dropped through the air and he quickly repositioned her. His wing flared back out to catch them before they hit the ground that was rapidly approaching.
‘Thanks, Mikhail.’
‘One of us has to protect her,’ he huffed.
‘Shut up!’
He looked down at her and was shocked to see her staring up at him. She raised her hand to touch his cheek.
“Aiden?,” she whimpered.
“Baby, shh, I got you.”
Her lip trembled as she traced his face. “Are you taking me to meet the Goddess?”
His heart broke even more. Did she think she was dead?
“No, my queen. I am taking you home.”
She nuzzled into him. “That’s a nice thought, but I don’t have a home.”
“Sasha, sleep.”
He pushed his aura out to force her to comply. He felt her get heavier as her body went to sleep. He shifted her a little, before asking Mikhail to release some fire inside of him to help keep her warm as they flew. Smoke curled out of his nose and her hand balled his shirt in her grip.
“Aiden? I love you,” she confided, seconds before she succumbed to his order.
His heart thudded hard in his chest. She loved him? Could he believe her? She thought she was dead. Would a dead woman waste her time on confessing their love for someone if it wasn’t true? He hugged her tighter against his body.
“I love you, too, Sasha. Just hold on. We are almost home. To our home. Mine and yours. Where you belong with me forever,” he told her.
‘Gregory, please, meet me outside. Keep Kalani back,’ he linked his best friend.
‘Yes, Aid. On my way down.’
Ten minutes later, he approached the castle. Half a dozen strong male scents reached his nose. He growled. The other kings were waiting for him outside. He cursed. He was not in the mood to deal with them. He landed softly on the ground, easing gracefully into a walk and his wings were reabsorbed into his body. He turned her into his body to hide her face. The other kings watched him. Some of them were concerned and others stood smugly. The older one, King Linus, fell into step next to him. Gregory groaned, already knowing how Aiden was. He had sensed the pure rage through their link and had tried to get the other leaders to stay in their rooms, but of course they couldn’t be bothered to listen to common sense.
“So, this is your queen? Your kingdom must be weak if you can not even control one lowly woman,” he spat.
One of his wings whipped out to surround her, blocking her from view while his arm shot out to let him wrap his hand around Linus’ throat. Aiden jerked him forward as the other king began to struggle.
“DO NOT EVER ASSUME TO KNOW WHAT GOES ON IN MY KINGDOM! MY FUTURE QUEEN IS NOT WEAK! I AM NOT WEAK! AND OUR KINGDOM IS FAR FROM WEAK!,” he growled loudly.
He threw Linus backwards and he flew across the yard to hit a tree. He slowly met every other king’s eyes.
“Does anybody else have anything to say about my queen or my abilities as king?,” he said threateningly. “I am sure we can work it out.”
Mikhail released a small portion of their aura, warning the other kings to watch their step on his land. They all shook their heads, fear evident on all of their faces. Aiden turned towards Gregory.
“Help King Linus back to his room and put guards outside it. I do not want him going anywhere in my castle without my knowledge.”
He bowed to Aiden. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
Aiden walked up the stairs and kicked the door open. He strolled inside, drawing up short when he saw Kalani sitting on the stairs. He groaned. He was going to beat Gregory’s ass. He didn’t want her to see her sister like this. Her eyes were red and she was sitting hunched over. He knelt in front of her and tilted Sasha back for her to see. She lightly trailed her fingers over her sister’s face.
“Oh, Aja. Why did you go back? You knew the consequences.” She met Aiden’s eyes. “I am going to kill that bitch.”
Footsteps on the porch had him standing up, nodding to Kalani and heading up the stairs. Kalani followed him up to his room. He gently laid Sasha on the bed and began to undress her down to her waist, while Kalani sat next to her, holding her hand. He carefully rolled her over and his breath slammed out of his lungs. He traced his finger down one whip slash and she shook, rousing a little. Mikhail paced angrily inside his head as they viewed the damage that had been done to her.
“What are you doing?,” she asked softly.
“I’m going to heal you, just relax, my love.”
She weakly tried to push him away. “No. I deserve worse than this.”
He leaned close and let his aura surround her again. “Sleep.”
She fell unconscious again. There was a knock on the door, before it was pushed immediately open. Gregory came in. He hurried to Kalani’s side and put his hand on her shoulder.
“Aid, what do you want me to do?”
“Get me a washcloth and a basin of soapy water. I want to make sure she is asleep before I heal her.”
Kalani put her hand on her sister’s back. “She said no.”
Aiden looked up at her, misery written all over his face. “Please, let me heal her, Kal. This is all my fault. She shouldn’t be in pain, because I was a fool.”
He could see her falter as her desire to help Sasha outweighed her desire to honor her wishes. She sighed and withdrew her hand. Gregory brought back the small bowl of water and set it on the bedside table. Kalani brushed Sasha’s hair to the side, before ringing out the washcloth a little to gently begin to clean the blood off of her sister. Aiden ran his fingers all over her exposed skin, hoping to use the mate bond to offset the pain. Sasha kept grimacing and uttering little cries of pain. Kalani finished cleaning her back and moved higher up on the bed to situate her sister’s head in her lap.
Gregory removed the bowl and Aiden sank to his knees beside the bed.
He began to run his tongue slowly over each and every mark on her back until they were all gone, while Kalani spoke to her softly, stroking her hair. When he was done, Aiden lifted Sasha enough to allow Kalani to slip out from under her. He tucked Sasha under the blankets. Kalani waited for him to turn to give him a big hug, gritting her teeth when he gave her a little squeeze.
“Thank you for bringing her back. I know what they were about to do to her.” She ran her fingers down Sasha’s face again. “I will come back in the morning unless you need me before then.”
“Goodnight, Kalani, Gregory. Sleep well.”
She patted his cheek. “Do not hesitate to call me if you or she needs me.”
“I won’t.”
He walked them to the door and crawled back into the bed to hold his mate. He got her settled on his chest, with his arm around her shoulders.
“I am never letting you go. You belong with me,” he murmured lovingly as he started to drift off.