Chapter 12 - The protection spell and the mate bond.

ALARIC WAS FURIOUS, but he couldn’t blame his little sister. He was the one who was at fault here! He should never have allowed Rebecca to convince him to let Lena be her omega! It gave the damn witch the perfect opportunity to escape. The moment Rebecca stormed into his office with her tear-stained eyes, he knew that it was all his fault.

His people would blame both him and his little sister. The entire supernatural world would blame them, and it wasn’t as if he could actually blame the damn witch! Of course, she wouldn’t have stayed! He had hoped that her relationship with his sister was enough to keep her there, but clearly he had been mistaken. The witch was so cold hearted that she clearly didn’t give a damn about what happened to his sister now.

Not that anybody would harm her, but it was definitely going to damage Rebecca’s reputation. People were already talking about the fact that the little girl was such close friends with the witch. The way she took care of her … He sighed as he sat down and called Rebecca over. All he could think about doing right now was try his best to console her. His men were out looking for any signs of Lena.

Alaric asked Rebecca if she knew that Lena was going to leave and the little one shook her head. She explained what happened during her last conversation with Lena and it infuriated him that the witch had lied to Rebecca. But what pushed him over the edge was that it seemed as though Rebecca wasn’t even angry. In fact, she insisted that they not harm Lena when she was returned!

“I can’t promise you that, Becks.” He tried not to growl, but it still slipped out. “She is a prisoner who should actually have died.” He pushed Rebecca off his lap and started pacing as he pulled his fingers through his hair.

“Are you blaming me?” Rebecca stood to one side pulling at her nails and it reminded him so much of the day he told her about their parents. He hated that he shared a mate bond with the woman who had just broken his sister’s heart! He wanted to hate Lena, but the bond wouldn’t allow him! Walking over to Rebecca, he kneeled down on her level as he sighed.

“No, I don’t, but you have to understand that other people don’t see things the way you do.” He started to explain and saw that fury in Rebecca’s eyes that their mother used to have whenever she didn’t agree with someone, but for once Rebecca didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry, sis, but when we find her, things are going to have to change. She won’t be allowed to be your omega.” He didn’t want to tell her what was going to happen because he was finding it incredibly hard to even just think about it.

Lena was going to have to be punished in a way that she wouldn’t run again. This time, even the doctor wouldn’t be able to save her. Alaric knew not only his people were going to demand it, but if anybody else in the supernatural world found out that she had escaped …

LENA WALKED THROUGH WHAT WAS LEFT of her old town and she felt her heart sink. Not a single house was left standing. So, it had been a couple of years since she last saw it, and the weather hadn’t been kind to their beautiful home, but she could see the damage that had been caused on that first day the war began.

Her home had literally been burned to the ground. There were no flowers in the flower beds that used to be outside of all the houses, but worst of all, she could still hear her people screaming. She could feel their restless spirits roaming all around, but until she found all the bones, consecrated them and buried them, she wouldn’t be able to do much.

She wasn’t even sure how to do it to begin with. The last funeral she attended was when she was just a little girl. They weren’t able to have funerals for any of their people during war times and it was clear that the wolves had destroyed everything their people owned, so there was no possibility of finding the right spells there.

Since that seemed to be the biggest problem, Lena decided to start looking through what was left before she even attempted to bury anybody or anything. If she was lucky, the spirits could guide her to something they might have hidden before the attack happened.

Lena spent her entire day going through old rotten wood and broken-down homes, and although she was able to get together a couple of things, none of them were of much value really. At least she had found a bowl and a spoon, so when she eventually found some food, she would be able to eat. She hadn’t taken food into account in her plan to escape. She was scared if someone saw her hoarding anything or if she did anything out of character, they would suspect her.

Luckily, she could remember where her father used to take her to find berries and in the late afternoon, she washed her hands in the river before making her way through the forest. Birds were chirping high up in the trees. The leaves created a thick layer above her, effectively blocking out the light of the sun, but the heat still filtered through.

She found the berry bush easily and it was thick with berries! If she had ingredients, she could have baked ten pies! But she would have to fill herself up with only berries for now. She picked as many as she could carry and slowly made her way back home. She knew she couldn’t make a fire at night because it would be the quickest way for the beasts to find her and she wondered if staying there was such a good idea.

After all these years, she was free. Free from coven responsibilities, and she was finally free after the war. She could travel the world just like her friends used to talk about. She imagined what the world outside would look like as she walked back into her camp and the loud growl made her stop in her tracks! Alaric’s enormous black wolf was standing glaring at her as he bit down on her bag and she gasped before turning on her heel and running.

ALARIC THOUGHT ABOUT IT for just a little while when he realized that she would probably have gone back to the only place she really knew as home. It was the most obvious choice, and it was a damn clever one at that. It was right under their noses!

The more he thought about it, the more it felt right and if he gave in to the feeling of their mate bond, he could actually see her walking about the deserted old coven town! Without saying a word to anybody, he made his way there and he would never admit it, but he was relieved to find her bag. He heard the bushes rustle and his heart ached when her beautiful form came out of the forest.

Unfortunately, she made a run for it and he was forced to give chase! He pounced on her within seconds and his paws pinned her arms tightly over her chest as he growled in her face in the hopes of frightening her enough that she wouldn’t think of doing some kind of spell! Making sure she got the message, he growled into her face a second time and he felt like a monster seeing her cringe away from him as he took a couple of steps back and shifted back to his human form.

He didn’t care that he was naked in front of her! She broke Rebecca’s heart! He would never admit it out loud, but she broke his heart when she ran from them! He gripped her wrist and grabbed her bag with his other hand and started on the way back to the pack house. At least, he had found her before word spread. At least, he had found her and not one of his guards.

Just the thought of them hurting her … Alaric shook his head as they walked. He couldn’t think about things like that. He couldn’t allow her to get under his skin! The goddess only knew what his pack would demand after her escape and he wouldn’t be able to live through it if they demanded that she be put to death!

“Why did you run?” He growled through gritted teeth and she burst out laughing. They both know why she ran. They both knew as well that the first chance she got, she was going to run again!