Chapter 19 - Staring into oblivion

MAX HELPED ALARIC back to his office. Alaric had never been in so much pain in his entire life. Even shifting that first time wasn’t as painful as this, and Max quickly poured Alaric a drink. He had just handed it to the cringing Alpha when Argus walked in not looking too happy.

“Well, I’m not going to beat around the bush. She is your true destined mate, Alaric.” Argus frowned and waved for Max to bring him a drink as well. It looked almost as if Argus had expected to find out it was a spell and was now suffering from shock! “The only traces of magic we could pick up from her was a protection spell and the only magic we could pick up from you is your wolf. That is why you are in so much pain.” Argus emptied the glass in one go before sitting down across from Alaric, who was slowly regaining his strength.

“Now what?” Alaric looked at the old councillor who seemed to be just as lost as he was. This was meant to give them answers, wasn’t it? That was why Alaric agreed to it. They were all sitting silently, looking at each other in astonishment when Rebecca walked in.

“Now, you can’t kill her and you, old man, can’t order him to do it.” Her voice surprised all of them, even old Argus. She had a book in her hands that she opened and she looked up to read what she had. “The mate bond as shown by the moon goddess, is the wolf's most sacred love. It cannot be broken …” She didn’t look down as she read.

“But he can reject her, can’t he?” Max interrupted, but the look Rebecca gave him silenced him instantly.

“It cannot be broken even if the wolf so wishes. No other wolf of creature will be able to interfere in this bond as it is a gift from the moon goddess and is blessed by her.” She closed the book. “Yes, we as wolves have been able to find a specific sentence that breaks that bond through rejection, but we all know that some wolves and their humans have died after a rejection. Do you honestly think you can go against the will of a goddess?” This time she turned her attention to Argus and Alaric was about to apologize on her behalf when she shot him an angry look and he closed his mouth. Damn! His little sister should have been the first born. He realized that she showed her true strength and she wasn’t even fourteen yet! Alaric suddenly feared the day she turned fourteen and found her wolf!

“She is right.” Argus sighed. “You know this is true, Alaric. It’s not just a legend or a myth, just because people over time decided they wanted something else.” He held out his glass and Max rushed to fill it.

“Okay, so what the hell do I do because not everyone is going to accept it and I sure as hell am NOT going to mate with her!” Alaric looked at Rebecca as a soft growl escaped. She raised a brow, surprising him even more.

“I would suggest,” Argus intervened between brother and sister as he emptied his glass and got up. “That you keep her around. You have a ranking system in the packs. Make her the lowest rank you possibly can and keep her alive. I will return to the citadel and see what we can find to get you out of this mess.” He was on his way out when Rebecca turned to smile at Argus.

“You know you aren’t going to find anything. This book is from my mother’s library,” Alaric gasped. He had locked their mother’s library the day after her death and he hadn’t been in there since! There was only one key for that room and that key was hanging around his neck. It was the same key that he used for his office!

“How did you?” He started but Rebecca glared at him, silencing him.

“Never mind that. It’s my mother’s and I am allowed access, aren’t I?” She tilted her head to one side, scaring the living daylights out of Alaric. What happened to his sweet, innocent baby sister?! “This book is the original, Councillor Argus. You can check it if you want. It was written by the first witch who created the wolves. In fact,” She opened the book and turned it to show the old councillor. “It’s in her handwriting still.” The look of shock in his eyes wasn’t missed as Alaric looked from Argus to his sister.

“I will check our records just in case.” Argus said, but it had become clear that Rebecca was one step ahead of them all. Argus wanted to take the book from her, but she quickly put it behind her back and told him that it was her mother’s. If they wanted to study the book they were very welcome to do so, but only under her supervision. He had no other choice but to agree and told them he would be sending his people to study the entire library.

Rebecca didn’t seem happy about it, but she agreed. If it could prove her point, she would do whatever it took. After Argus and his people left, Alaric had Max get the pack together in the dining room. By the time everybody was there, he was completely healed and he came to a halt in the middle of the room.

“The council have done their tests and the witch is in fact my destined mate. There was no magic involved. I ask you to please give me some time to process all of this before I make my final decision.” Chaos erupted as the two factions in the pack started to fight. Families turned on each other because of their different beliefs and when Alaric needed Rebecca to stop it, she was nowhere to be found!

After much debate with both sides, he stopped a civil war in his pack and people dispersed. The goddess had cursed him! He was sure of it now! Why, he didn’t know, but giving him the last blood witch, as his mate had cursed him and his damn people!

LENA HEARD THE DOOR UNLOCK and Rebecca’s footsteps echoed throughout the room. Before Lena could say anything, Rebecca told her what the results were. Lena knew, of course, since she knew she hadn’t put a spell on that damn monster!

“Rebecca, I know that you are still angry at me, and I don’t deserve your help, but I need to ask. Please, you have to help me to get out of here.” Lena took a huge chance of asking, but she was desperate. Now that Alaric had proof that she was his mate, she was scared of what he might do. She was never scared of dying, but she was scared that he might want … What if he wanted more from her than she was willing to give?

“I can’t Lena.” Rebecca sighed. “Don’t you see?” Tears filled the young girl’s eyes “You were meant to be here with us.” She hunched down and her knuckles turned white as she clung to the bars of the cage. “Everything that happened.” A tear dropped down her cheek. “My parents, your parents. All of it happened to bring you here.” She took a deep breath as if trying to calm herself a little. “I can’t let you leave.” She said with more confidence as she got up and walked out, leaving Lena alone again.

How on earth was she going to survive a life with these beasts?! Tears started to pour down Lena’s cheeks. She had hoped if they found out she hadn't done any spells, they would just kill her to get rid of her, but after Rebecca’s visit, Lena knew they definitely weren’t going to kill her. What was going to happen to her now? She looked out of the window at the perfect blue sky. Cursing at the moon goddess of the wolves before, she turned her back on the window and curled up into a ball crying.

She didn’t care if they saw her like that. She didn’t care if they thought she was weak! Everyone she knew. Everyone she loved had been killed by these people! She would never forgive them and she would never ever love Alaric, no matter what this stupid mate bond was! She would fight it every moment for the rest of her life!

Night came and the wolf called Max brought her some food, but this time she didn’t eat. She couldn’t. She didn’t sit up or look at him. She wouldn’t even look at the water he brought her, no matter how thirsty she felt. Finding out that they were going to keep her alive was just too much for her system to handle at the moment and all she wanted to do was just lie there and stare into oblivion.