Chapter 14

Aleena’s POV

Walking up to the chair in the centre of the room was more daunting than I had ever imagined. I knew I wasn’t in the wrong but bearing myself to my mother like this was terrifying; she would see more than just the memories she needed to see. She would access everything I have ever seen, felt or said. And the sheer thought made me want to turn, grab Michael’s hand and bolt from this place faster than a speeding bullet. But I knew I couldn’t do that; I had to allow my mother in and let her see the truth for what it truly was.

Each step I took sounded like a boom of thunder as my foot touched the marble floor of my father’s throne room. Every pair of eyes in the place was directed at me as I lowered myself into the wooden high-back chair provided.

Michael was still held mercilessly by the king’s Guards, but his eyes were determined as he held my gaze; he refused to fight or demand the respect he was owed. He just watched me with a never faltering loyalty. My heart swelled but hurt for him at the same time. I know he may be at risk right now, and my mother was about to reach into my mind and search my memories for the truth about my absence. The thing is, she would also see the way I felt about the Alpha Werewolf standing before us.

“Okay, Aleena, I will place my hands on either side of your head; this will go much smoother if you lower your walls and let me in without a fight. I do not wish to hurt you,” my mother spoke soothingly to me, I had missed her voice and how it used to calm me, but right now, it just made me nervous.

She was an understanding woman, nowhere near as judgmental as my father. But there was no guarantee she would allow the way I feel about Michael to stand. She may outright demand I return and never see him again. If my father backed her and demanded this of me, there wasn’t much I could do about it. I either obey, come home and pick up where I left off. Or I refuse and leave with Michael and be banished from the Elven community indefinitely, that’s if they even let Michael go. They may accuse him of misleading me, of kidnap or worse.

“Are you ready, my dear” my mother’s voice grabbed my attention from its downwards spiral of despair. I was worrying about things that hadn’t even happened yet.

“Yes, mother, please proceed”, I answered with a forced smile. Mind reading was never pleasant, but it was necessary this time.

I looked over to where Myla was standing with my brother; I swear I could see sweat forming on her brow, threatening to roll down her face. My brother Iven was scowling at everyone who caught his eye.

I hated that he ended up with Myla; he could have had anyone but fell for her, with her twisted ways and toxic personality. She was all about self-gain. She did not love my brother even though he was the next in line for the throne. He still wouldn’t be enough for her. My heart broke for him, but it hurt more because he believed her lies over my word.

We used to be close, but that all disappeared when Myla came on the scene; she was meant to be nothing more than my good friend.

He had changed. He would back her every time, even if it only rewarded him with a smile from her. She had always kept him hanging on a thread and treated him like nothing important, even though he was the crown prince. She messed around with every guy she could find but still managed to persuade my brother that they were all lying, that she was not seeing anyone and that she only had eyes for him. It made me sick to watch at times, but I learnt quickly that there was no point in trying to get him to see reason; he was under her spell and lost to me.

“Deep breath Aleena” My mother spoke moments before the unyielding pressure of her power slammed into my mind, I mentally shrank back and tried to lower my walls to her, but it was harder than I had expected. Even though I wanted to let her in and see the truth, part of me did not. If I didn’t drop my walls soon, I would look guilty when I knew I wasn’t.

Inhaling slowly, I relaxed, releasing my breath through my nose and lowering my walls simultaneously. My mother's grip loosened when she felt the release, and she was relieved, as was I, but now I had to face the onslaught of my life being thrown out in front of the whole room.

When a powerful seer like my mother mind reads, she can project what she sees to the room as if they were watching a big screen movie, other than keeping the images to herself and then relaying them back. This way there was no way of misunderstanding as everyone would witness the same things. There was no way for me to stop what they would see, as I had to allow the truth to flow through me. You can tell when it is a lie and when it is not.

The room fell silent as my mother worked her way through my mind. Images of my early childhood flashed before me, nothing incriminating but still some embarrassing things I do not wish to share with the room, especially my parents and Michael.

One good thing was that my mother was excellent at this kind of thing; other seers may be able to do the readings, but the images may be all over the place and out of the timeline. My mother had my life laid out perfectly with no jumping back and forth; if I’m lucky, she may stop looking after she sees what Myla and Piper did to me; if not, there was no way I could stop it; I would only hurt myself trying to force my mother out of my head. That wasn’t something I wanted to do today.

As my memories progressed through my life, we edged closer to the ones they needed to see; my nerves started to rage war with my mind. I was scared of what would happen, not to Myla or Piper. But for my brother, myself and even Michael. I was worried this could cause more trouble than I wished for. It was too late to stop as the day in question flashed before me.

Standing by the entrance to our village, a younger version of myself, Myla and Piper were whispering to each other, discussing what to do and how to get away with it. Flicking my eyes over to Myla, I saw her face drain; she knew what was coming, and it wasn’t going to go well for her.

As my younger self crept along the edge of the woods towards the Winter Moon Packhouse, Myla reached out to stop me from going further.

“How close do you dare to go, princess,” she said with a wicked grin.

“Don’t call me that; you know I hate it”, I snapped at her.

“I bet you are too scared to go right to the edge of the tree line”, she goaded me, hands on her hips in such an infuriating way.

“I’d go further than you ever would, Myla, and you know it”, I bit back.

“Go on, then prove it!” Piper dared me; I knew she was all for Myla; she always was.

I remember feeling pissed off at my so-called friends; I was adamant I would prove them wrong and show just how brave and reckless I was. I would ensure they knew I was the most daring of the three of us.

I watched my younger self crouch low, ready to dart out from the cover of the dense trees, right to the edge of the woods. But before I even took a step, I was attacked from behind, hit full force with a rock or branch to the back of the head. I crumpled to the ground, gasping and clutching at where the pain was exploding through my skull. I had no time to react before blow after blow rained down on me from every direction.

“Make sure you get her good; we don’t want her coming to any time soon”, I heard Myla hiss at Piper, and the girl grunted as she booted me in the face again. Myla laughed a few times whilst they assaulted every part of my body. All I could do was lay there and take every blow, hoping it would soon end.

“That will teach her to think she’s better than us, to make me look second best to her, no one is better than me, and I am destined to be the next Mystic seer, not a stuck-up princess that gets handed everything on a silver platter, she doesn’t even have to work for the role, but that’s fine, it’s easily going to be mine now” Myla bragged as she bashed the same object into the side of my head over and over, making sure her job was done well.

Her cruel words were the last thing I heard before the darkness took me, and my pain resided for a short while.

“She’s lying”, I hear Myla screeching, her voice reaching a new octave. But my mother calls for Silence.

“I want to see what happened next; keep your wife quiet, Iven”, my father demanded; I trained my eyes on him as he spoke, trying to read his mood. I prayed he believed me for once, but I wasn’t going to hold my breath.

My mother pushed deeper, dragging the memories from my exhausted mind. I knew the next one was about Michael, which made me nervous, yet I knew this one would aid us as it showed his kindness and generosity.

I thought about this day often, well, the part when Michael appeared, like some Knight in shining armour, to pick me up and whisk me off to safety. Or at least that is how I liked to think of things. It may not have been quite as pretty as that, but it was still perfect.

“Woah, what the hell do we have here” I hear Michael’s voice, saying the words I had heard in my mind a thousand times before. I remember exactly how his hands felt when they touched my body that night and how I didn’t have enough energy to be afraid. The room around me could only see blackness from my memory and hear Michael’s words as I hadn’t opened my eyes for quite some time.

The tension was so thick I could taste it, yet I didn’t dare move whilst mother had her hands firmly attached to the sides of my head. Closing my eyes, I focused on the next part of my memory. From now onwards, things might go south for my wolf and me.

“Are you okay, Miss? What happened” Michael mutters, as he tried to work out the severity of my injuries. I grunt as he touches my head and sides, his touch was so gentle, though, like I was something precious and he needed to be careful.

“Goddess, your no wolf, wait, no, how can that be” he stumbled back; I remember he moved the hair away from the side of my face, and that was when he clocked my ears, my biggest giveaway, bar my tattoo like markings, but I was pretty sure he hadn’t seen them yet.

“You’re a fucking Elf!” he gasped, but he didn’t leave.

I hear myself grunt along with the rest of the room, and I hold my breath for the next part.

“Help me” I cough and reach out my hand as my eyes start to open. The world is blurry and darker than when I was awake last.

“I, um, what can I do to help you? Where are you hurt” he stammered, I looked towards the voice and my eyes slowly adjusted to the light, and my head cleared enough to make out the face of the voice’s owner?

“Everything hurts”, I grunt.

“Shit, okay, I’m going to help you stand, then you can tell me where to take you,” he said as he laced his arm around my waist and hoisted me up; I screamed with the pain. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” he cooed into my ear, and I was filled with a sense of calm.

I knew the throne room could feel how I was feeling; it’s all part of how mind reading works; its witnesses feel and hear the thought of the one in the memories.

“I can’t go back; they will only do this again”, I spoke through gritted teeth. “Please just do me a kindness and kill me now.”

“Why on earth would I kill you?” Michael was beyond confused, and so was I.

“I’d rather die than be tortured or experimented on. I will not put my people at risk of being found by outsiders,” I managed to say before a spasm of agony ripped through my body.

“Neither of those things are going to happen, please I just want to help”, He sounded so worried; I wanted to hug him right then and there, but I was concentrating so hard on controlling the emotions flooding through me and the fact I pined to this chair. “I’m going to take you back to my place, okay, and fix you up, then when you are ready, I will help you get to where ever you need to go,” he told me moments before I passed out again.

“Hold on, I got you”, Michael Whispered as he cradled me to his body, my subconscious mind must have heard him, but I didn’t ever remember him saying those last few words. My belly lurched as emotions slammed into me. He cared about me even back then. What did this mean?

Lifting my eyes, I found his, and he could see the memory was affecting me, yet he sent me the warmest smile, which was exactly what I needed. He never failed me, not once, and I had a feeling he never would