Chapter 49

I stared at Aurora in a mix of horror and dread, wishing she had not spoken those words out loud. As much as I had chastised myself for not learning about this world, I now wanted every detail erased from my mind. Especially the part about the damned bond! It...was alive?

My head spun in circles with all the information I had gained in the last few minutes, none of which seemed to play in my favour by the sounds of it.

"H-h...how do I get rid of it?" My voice sounded breathless, almost wheezy, as I tried hard not to have another meltdown in front of her. The prospect of being at the mercy of the bond and therein tied to the brothers for eternity, left me feeling panicked and defenceless. A feeling that I was very familiar with, ever since I was a little girl.

Not there...don't go there...not now..

Aurora, for her part, appeared guarded, her expression neither surprised nor concerned. But her voice, spoken soft and low, gave away the pity that her expression failed to convey in the moment. "You can't..."

The words slammed into my chest like a bludgeon swung hard, the pain crushing, as I felt my world crash down for the umpteenth time this evening. The light at the end of the tunnel seemed to gradually fade and move out of my reach. And the harder I raced towards it, the further it appeared to move.

Forcing back the nausea that rose at her words, I struggled to ask the next question, mainly out of fear for her answer but also instinctively knowing what that answer was going to be.

"T-there's... nothing that can be done?"

Her brilliant blue eyes turned in my direction, almost glowing under the light cast by the moon. "The bond is divine magic. It cannot be broken or undone... nor can it be replicated. Trust me, witches have tried that for centuries and failed..."

Heart pounding with dread, I sat motionless and still, failing to breathe as I desperately searched for something...anything in her words that could save me from this.

"...Shifters believe that the bond can be muted over time when a pair rejects each other. Not a solid plan in my opinion..."

Uncrossing her legs, she adjusted her robe, fussing over the way it draped down her lithe body before continuing. "...not only do they have to part ways after meeting each other but they would also have to constantly fight their primal urges until the bond fades with time. But even then, it never truly dies...like a stubborn stain on your soul... personally, I think it's a curse rather than a blessing... I mean who would want to be tied mind, body and soul to another... sounds like torture..."

A flash of memory filtered through as I recalled sitting in a room with Alex and being offered a large sum of money in exchange for leaving Thomas and never seeing him again.

That memory felt like a long time ago. A time where I had stubbornly stood beside Thomas to face it all but now... I wanted nothing to do with him... with all of them.

What an ugly twist of fate it had turned out to be...

"...It can however, be corrupted..."

My attention snapped back to her eagerly, hoping that the next piece of information would prove to be my salvation.

"..with the help of some unconventional magic of course...But shifters who have tried that in the past were driven insane and ended up dead. Obviously, this was a long time ago when witches did help shifters-"

As desperate as I was, my mind latched onto the one loophole that it could find in her theory, leaving me momentarily giddy with hope. "But they were shifters! I'm human.... It could-"

She shook her head, her lips pulled tight as she silenced the rest of my words. "It has been tried on human mates before...hundreds of years ago when the goddess blessed such unions..." Turning away, she glanced up toward the night sky, a tired sigh escaping her lips. I didn't have to be a genius to work out the fate of those poor souls.

"They died?"

Aurora shook her head again. "Worse... they simply... shutdown. Neither alive nor dead. Turned into hollow shells that could neither speak, move, react or even think for themselves..."

A heavy silence descended between us as my mind stilled long enough to process everything she had said. Each piece of information had raised more questions than answers and each answer had utterly shattered the last bit of resistance I had within. It was time to throw in the towel and allow things to fall where they may, rather than fight it. For God knows, I have nothing left to fight for anyway.

I stood up slowly, my mind weary with grief and defeat but strangely, at ease. I knew what I had to do and who I needed to find.

"Thank you for everything you have shared. I must go now."

But just as I moved, Aurora stood, blocking my path while simultaneously grabbing hold of my hand. "What are you going to do Mia?"

My eyes travelled down to her hand which was firmly locked around my wrist before looking back up at her concerned face.

"I must find Thomas."

"What for?"

I looked away from her and towards the packhouse, my eyes intent on the door through which I had come.

"I have to tell him the truth."

"You mean, about you and the Gamma?"

"About everything."

I felt her grip release, before she moved back to her seat and casually sat back down, her eyes watching me carefully.

"And what are you hoping to achieve by doing that?"

I turned to fully face her, my confusion increasing as I tried to gauge where she was coming from.

"I-I don't understand..."

Leaning forward, she rested her chin on the palm of her hand. "You wish to tell your mate the truth which I'm assuming has largely to do with the guilt that you're carrying around. So, I'll ask again- what are you hoping to achieve?"

My mind scrambled for an answer as I tried to evaluate my feelings against my plan of action but Aurora it seemed had it all worked out.

"Were you hoping that your mate would forgive you and things would go back to what they once were? Or were you hoping that he would get all possessive and go "wolf" on the Gamma and finally mark you? Or is this just an opportunity to unburden that guilt so you can sleep better at night?"

I looked at her, my mouth open in disbelief. "What?! No, that's not-"

She smiled. "Don't worry, I think I understand you better than you do yourself."

Indignation turned to confusion once again as I watched her stand gracefully and come closer. "While you may not yet realise or wish to admit the real reason, I do..."

Standing inches from me, her feminine scent blew in my direction, tickling my nostrils. "...it's because somewhere deep inside you hope that he would be repulsed by your actions. That he would want nothing to do with you...."

Her hands reached out, grasping both my wrists tightly. "...and that you will finally get what you have always wanted in this place..."

Pulling me closer, she leaned in to whisper in my ear. "...your freedom... from your mate... or should I say... all your mates"

I gasped, rearing back instinctively in shock. "How-"

Her grip tightened. "Think you humans call it self-sabotage but you would need more than that to solve your problems, my dear."

Suddenly, my wrists began to burn, a blue light emanating from the point where our hands met. Shocked, I began to instinctively tug my arms away from her, the pain wiping everything else from my mind.

"Stop! What-"

"Mia, look at me..."

My eyes automatically found hers, the shock and confusion rendering me speechless as I watched her eyes glow bright.

"...róaðu þig (*calm yourself) ..."

Though I didn't understand her words, a sense of calmness began to descend. The pain in my wrists subsided as the blue light faded back into her palms.

I tried to pull my arms away but Aurora held on tight.

"What did you do to me? Let me go!"

Panicked, I stared into her eyes, wondering what she had done. Did she curse me? Some kind of spell..

"...listen Mia... You will never have to worry about me hurting you because I am not your enemy. Do you understand?"

I gaped foolishly, not knowing nor understanding what this woman expected of me after literally burning my wrists and also being privy to the fact that I was bonded to all the brothers.

"Now, I know this is going to be confusing and unsettling but you are only going to remember what I want you to remember. You will forget ever seeing me... except that you are not alone and I'm only trying to help."

Unsettling? We were way past that point now.

My breathing increased rapidly, chest heaving, as my thoughts went to the worst places. "What are you talking about?"

She smiled. "I'm saying that we will meet again."

And with those words flowing soothingly through my whole body, I felt a warmth envelope me like a blanket. My eyes closed, my body relaxing in a way that it had never been before. There was a sensation of floating on a cloud, peaceful and serene, numb to all else that was happening around.

Time and space held no relevance for a while until the haze began to clear and I had an unpleasant feeling of being dropped from a height. The first sounds to immediately reach me were the insects followed by the rustling of the leaves in the wind.

My eyes jolted open as my body shuddered violently against the cold. What the-

I looked around instantly and realised that I was standing under a gazebo, alone in the dark and practically frozen cold.

How long had I been outside? I gasped in surprise when I realised that I could barely feel my fingers or much else on my skin. My body was ice cold, my teeth chattering loudly as I tried to get a sense of my bearings and how I had gotten there.

I could clearly recall feeling devastated in the hall and wanting to leave. And I definitely remembered coming outside and being upset but I had no recollection of making my way to this gazebo.

Turning towards the packhouse, I could faintly hear laughter and music coming from within. Had they noticed that I was gone? A sudden sense of panic hit me at the thought. If I had indeed stayed away for too long, I did not want to imagine the kind of sadistic punishment that Alpha Nicholas or the brothers would unleash if they caught sight of me.

And it was that fear that prompted me to move despite being unable to. Shaking out of my bones, I folded my arms over my chest to preserve some heat and began to walk towards the packhouse. I could feel the goosebumps over the exposed parts of my skin as I continued to shiver. Had I been that upset that I did not notice the cold?

The train of the dress was cumbersome as it tugged and pulled against the ground. And without the aid of my hands to hold up the material, the walk was gruelling and painful.

Just as I neared the building, I stopped short when I heard voices. Mostly male, they seemed to be in the middle of a heated discussion.

"I'm telling you something just doesn't add up."

I did not recognise the voice but the man sounded agitated.

"Maybe so. But humans kidnapping shifters? That sounds farfetched."

A round of snorts and murmurs erupted after the second man had spoken, a voice I could not place either.

Peeking around the corner, I noticed the group of shifter males standing around in a circle with drinks and cigars in their hands. I held back a groan as I realised that they were blocking the very door that I needed to get back inside.

"Are you calling me a liar?!"

The man took a step towards the one he was addressing, both men extraordinarily large even by shifter standards. My eyes went around the circle and it looked like all the men present were larger and broader than regular shifters. Like Alex and Marcus.

A third one intervened, raising his arms out between the other two.

"Gentleman, let's all calm down. There is no need-"

"Don't tell me to calm down Lucien! These are my men that are missing..."

I was desperate to get inside, my shivering getting worse by the second. But at the same time, I did not wish to be spotted by these men who could call for one of the brothers or worse, Alpha Nicholas himself.

"... humans have grown far too comfortable and bold! And while we sit here playing with our dicks, they are out there kidnapping our kind and doing Goddess knows what!"

"And do you have proof of this, Ryker?"

Even in the dim light, I recognised the silvery-blond, long hair of the speaker. Alpha Ezra.

The man named Ryker, who had been speaking all along, turned towards Ezra, his stance becoming less aggressive when he faced him. And though he had been rudely shouting before, his voice lowered with respect when he answered. "I went personally to the site where the attack happened. The bodies that remained were burnt to a crisp, unrecognisable. No trace of the six that are missing. No scent, no tracks...nothing. Even their individual gps trackers were disabled."

Alpha Ezra appeared to take a moment before answering. "Could have been another shifter pack."

Ryker did not seem to like that answer as a low frustrated snarl came from him before he cut it off abruptly. "The site was just too clean. Only humans would go to that kind of trouble to cover up something. And I believe that there is an underground military base where they could have taken the men. It's-"

Another male, who had remained silent, spoke up. "Ryker, those are just rumours. The place you speak off is in my territory close to the Canadian border and I myself along with my warriors have searched the area many times and found nothing."

I placed a hand over my mouth to stop my teeth from chattering, worried that the men would hear me but thankfully, they seemed too engrossed in their argument to take notice of anything else.

Ryker let out a growl. "We should be doing something! We are strong enough to take them on. Together with the vampyres and the elves, we can-"

"And we would be the ones with the most to lose..."

Alpha Ezra who had stopped Ryker in his mad rant, continued in a patient tone. "We have all witnessed a miracle today, the likes of which our kind hasn't seen for centuries. The Goddess has bonded a human to one of our own. And that changes things for us drastically. We would now need to carefully think of the consequences that such a war will have. While elves could care less about humans and vampyres only needing them as a food source, we on the other hand, could be killing our potential mates in an attack like that. Would you doom our race to a fate such as that?"

I stilled, the realisation finally dawning on me. They were planning a war? Against humans?

Alpha Ezra's words were met with silence, the men sipping on their drinks or puffing their cigars in the contained tension between them that seemed palpable. Unable to take the cold any longer, I looked around, wondering if there was another way in but just seconds later a strong gust of wind blew past putting an end to my thoughts and the plan to stay hidden. Fuck this!

I came out of the shadows, hobbling towards the door as my feet and toes had turned numb with cold and did not want to cooperate. I was unable to swallow and my exposed skin stung like needles. I realised that if I didn't make it to the door and the warmth inside very soon, I was in real danger of becoming hypothermic.

Completely ignoring the intimidating group of men, my eyes honed in on the entrance.

Keeping my head down as I drew closer, I was very aware of the looks that I was getting. Their conversation had stopped and not a single sound could be heard. Usually, being stared at by a bunch of men would have made me immensely awkward but right now, that was the last thing on my mind.

"Mia?"

It was Alpha Ezra but all I could manage was a glance in his direction.

He took a few steps forward, coming closer. "You look pale. Are you alright?"

The other men looked on, some with frowns and others with a look of surprise.

The sound of my teeth chattering sounded so loud in the silence that I tried to clench them together but to no avail.

Alpha Ezra was in front of me in an instant, his eyes glancing all down my shivering form with a look of concern. "You look really cold. What are you doing out here?"

Untying his robe, he swung it around my shoulders, the heat a sudden shock to my system.

"Let's get you inside."

Although, I welcomed the layer of robe over my bare skin, it was so heavy that it weighed me down making me stumble. Recognising the problem, his arms went around me immediately, holding me steady as we made our way to the door.

"Is she alright?", someone from the group enquired.

I did not recognise the voice but Alpha Ezra responded. "Don't think so. I'm taking her inside. See if one of you can find her mate."

I leaned on him heavily, unable to make it on my own. He didn't seem bothered by my weight as he easily manoeuvred us inside, train and all. But he wasn't done questioning as he turned to look at me sideways.

"What were you doing outside?"

I faced forward, unable to answer him. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened outside.Chapter 49