Chapter 15

Archer’s POV

Maybe I was mistaken; perhaps the screeching hadn’t been Leah; she didn’t seem like the screeching type, but if not her, then who?

Titan was silent, he would not speak whilst we were in Leah’s presence. He barely even moved. But I found her intriguing; she didn’t seem so scary now that I had been around her for a while. She said she could help us if we help her, that there may be a way out of here if I do a few small things for her.

“You stay right here, my little wolf boy; I’ll be right back” Leah flashed a stunning smile my way; I couldn’t help but smile back. As she walked out the door, closing it with a soft click.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Archer?” Titan’s voice barked inside my mind, making me jump. He had been silent for ages that it came as a shock when I heard his voice.

“What?” I shrugged

“You’re basically dribbling over that witch”, he growled at me “what about our mate?”

“Hey, no, I’m not; I just don’t see what the big deal is about her now; she seems nice and wants to help us”, I pointedly say

“No, she doesn’t. Don’t be such a fucking fool; you’re better than this” he nipped me on the shin as he spoke; he was getting very brave as that wasn’t the first time he dared to bite me.

“I’m not a fool, for fuck sake. What’s your problem? She just seems nice, okay” I was getting angry now; I wasn’t going to take this, not from my wolf.

“She’s done something to you already”, Titan whined; sadness coated his howl. “I warned you, Archer, I said she was dangerous.”

“Well, you were wrong, Titan; as shocking as that must be to you, you were wrong.”

“Can you hear yourself? I wasn’t wrong, Archer; she has done something to make you like her; she has brainwashed you” he pushed the matter, but I wasn’t going to let him speak such horseshit about someone we hardly know, who is nothing but lovely.

“Look, Titan, get over yourself; you don’t want to share; I get it; it’s the first time we have been face to face like this, instead of only being able to speak within our minds to each other”, I tried to reason with him, understand his jealousy, but all it did was piss him off more. His heckles raised as he growled, it wasn’t a warning as such, but if we weren’t linked to each other, I would have been running.

“I hope for your sake, we find a way out of here quickly before it’s too late and you’re lost to that abomination forever”, he grumbled as he sulked off.

“Stupid wolf, can’t see what is right before his eyes. He’s just jealous that my attention isn’t fully on him,” I mutter, knowing Titan was too far away, all ready to hear what I said. Leah had told them to wait for her in the library until she returned. She needed a few things before she could fully tell us what she wanted us to do. Then she would help us get back to the waking world.

“I wonder if Leah could come with us to the, I know everyone would love her back home too,”

Michael’s POV

Watching myself in Aleena’s memories was surreal; how she sees me is different from how I see myself, and seeing that night play out from her perspective was a new experience. The way she felt when I lifted her in my arms and took her back to the pack house that night was total unbridled trust, yet she had only just met me.

The room was tense, all eyes trained on the girl sitting in the chair. Her memories flashed before our eyes one by one; part of me felt I needed to look away; it was too personal to intrude on her life like this; it felt like we were all playing witness to her uttermost feelings, be them good or bad, it was all laid out for the world to see. The pain was written all over her face when we saw that her so-called friends had betrayed her, hurt her and left her for dead.

The girl who had tried to embrace Aleena before was now shrieking that my girl was lying, I knew she wasn’t, of course, but she was adamant Aleena had planned this and planted those memories there. The king had to assign guards to keep Myla in place whilst her mother continued the mind search.

Sweat beaded on Aleena’s forehead; I would do anything to be next to her, hold her hand and take this all away. If I could, I’d take her place. But she had the memories stored in her mind that they needed to see. I only held the ones that would show what I saw and how I felt. If they would help, I’ll gladly offer them up. For Aleena, I feel I would probably give the world.

That realisation slammed into me with such force that I physically took a step forward, rewarding me with firmer holds and warnings from the king's guards keeping me in place.

“Stay exactly where you are, mutt”, one demanded in my ear, causing my blood to boil, and the need to punch him square in the face grew in my belly. The only thing keeping me in place was Aleena, and I knew she didn’t need drama from me right now; I had promised to be there for her, and that was precisely what I intended to do.

“I see; we have a lot to discuss,” The king voiced over the murmurs of the room. Aleena had taken a deep, ragged breath as her mother released her head from her hands. Her body shook, and her eyes watered, but she held her head high; the pride I felt for her was immense; I couldn’t hold the smile back.

“You need to see Myla’s side, father before you make a judgment”, Aleena’s brother piped in, looking nervous but forcing confidence through; I don’t think anyone bought it, though.

“Yes, Iven, we will be mind searching your wife also; I’m sure we will get to the bottom of this matter as quickly as possible.

“I don’t see the point in this; she disappeared for years, no doubt ran off with that filthy wolf over there and now decided to come back and make me look the fool” Myla was seething with anger it radiated off of her,

“If you have nothing to hide, dear, then everything will be fine”, the queen spoke softly, but her stare was dead set on her daughter-in-law, eyes never blinking.

“Are you done with me for now, mother?” Aleena asked as she stood on trembling legs. I needed to go to her, my muscles twitched, but I held them in check.

“Yes, dear, you are done” her mother smiled warmly at her.

Aleena sighed and headed toward me; my heart pounded harder with each step she took, closing the distance between us.

“Can you unhand him” she spoke directly to the guards, using energy I was sure she didn’t have.

“Sorry, your highness, no, we are under the order of the king to detain him.” the guard on my left said, but his tone was uneasy, like he didn’t want to deny the princess anything.

“Father, this is absurd; you saw how Michael helped me, and you know my memories were not altered. You would have felt it; mother would have shown the floors in them if they were; you know how good she is at that” Aleena’s voice was tired, yet, she still demanded the room pay her attention.

The king didn’t say a word; he just looked at his daughter with a steady gaze; you could tell he wanted to be angry, he wanted this to go easy and not mess things up, yet he knew Aleena hadn’t lied, even though it felt like he wished she had. He looked to his guards and nodded one short sharp nod, and the grip relaxed on my arms.

As soon as my arms were free, Aleena all but flew at me. And wrapped herself around my neck. Instinctively I folded my muscular arms around her waist and pulled her close to my body. Burying my face in her hair and taking her scent in. She shook in my arms, and my heart hurt for her.

“Are you okay” I mutter next to her ear; she doesn’t reply but nods against my chest. “I got you; I promise.”

“Disgusting, he’s a werewolf”, Myla spat our way; I ignored her and warned my wolf to do the same; the worst thing I could do right now would be to growl. It wouldn’t be looked upon as friendly.

“I want to go home now”, she whispered but knew I would hear her; my hearing was impeccable.

“We can leave whenever you are ready. I stroked her back, embracing her the whole time, blocking out the rest of the room.

“Myla, maybe don’t cast judgement on others until your judgment has been cast itself”, The queen declared; I hid my smile. She raised her eyebrow at the girl as her mouth hung open in shock. “I think it’s time we do your mind search, don’t you” she beckoned her over.

“I’ll do it”, a small voice piped up from behind the prince.

“Shut up, Piper; you have no say here; no one wants to hear your drivel”, Myla hissed at her friend, venom in her eyes. Piper’s cheeks lost colour, and her eyes fell to the floor.

“Piper, maybe you would be a good alternative right now; come here and sit on the seat in front of me” The queen shot her a tight smile. It was like she felt sorry for the girl but was still incredibly angry at her for her part in her daughter’s disappearance. Myla looked ready to explode, she hated the fact she had no control over this situation.

“Yes, Ma’am”, Piper replied quietly as she seated herself when told. Her eyes never left the floor.

“This won’t hurt, but it might feel strange,” she told her; the girl nodded.

Before long, the images started to flash by; many of them showed Piper being dictated to by Myla and how she truly felt about many of the things she was made to do. Part of me felt pity for her, but the rest still felt resentment. She was one of the women who had caused so much pain to someone I cared so much about.

Finally, the onslaught of memories before us slowed. The ones we needed began to emerge, and the look on Piper’s face became strained. She was trying to fight against something, something that was blurring her mind and distorting the image. Her memories had been altered, and she knew it. She was either trying to hold the altered images in place or break their hold over her mind to allow the truth to be shown. I hoped it was the latter.

Aleena stood beside me, never taking her eyes off the girl in front of us as the images twisted and turned above her head. Myla stood stony-faced, staring at Piper as well. If I weren’t mistaken, I wouldn’t be surprised if she altered the memories in the first place. Aleena fidgeted as she waited for things to become apparent; her nerves rubbed off on me.

“Enough”, the king’s voice boomed “, this girl has been compromised. Her memories are not clear; something is amiss.”

“Piper, you may leave, but we will have to untangle your memories to find the truth”, Aleena’s mother concluded; the younger girl rose on shaking legs and nodded before turning to leave.

“Father, I must insist we talk about what I came here to discuss with you”, Aleena spoke, shocking the room, including me. Moments before, she had been spilling her truth, and now she was trying to push past it.

“Aleena, we need to get to the bottom of this matter surrounding your disappearance”, her mother spoke softly to her; so much love emitted from her eyes, as she watched her daughter.

“Yes, mother, I know, and I wholeheartedly agree, but I have pressing matters to attend to, and without the help of the seers and their tools here, I cannot do my part.”

“You expect me just to ignore all that has transpired and grant you access to some of our most sacred tools to help your little pets out”, her father bristled angrily.

“Father, don’t speak about my friends like that”, she replied before thinking. “I didn’t mean to sound rude; things are just a bit desperate right now.”

“Hear her out, my love”, the Queen urged; she was rewarded with a huff from the king, but he didn’t protest.

“Father, one of the Exalted has returned and united with a girl I know. Her mate is trapped in the other world, and she needs him back; we all do,” she urged her father to understand. “If we don’t, she won’t be complete, and the greater plan will fail.”

“Which one” he whispered

“Alune”

“Why now?” he pondered “why her?”

“Please say your help, father” Aleena sounded almost defeated; she needed this more than she knew, not just to help Ayla but for herself, to prove her father still cared.

The room was thick with silence for longer than was comfortable; no one dared to utter a sound. All eyes were on the king, waiting for his answer. Apart from Myla, she huffed like an over-entitled pig, but no one paid her any heed.

“Fine, but this isn’t over daughter; we will get to the bottom of your disappearance” his tone was so stern “if it turns out you have betrayed me, I will treat you like I would any other criminal; if not, and what you say is the truth then there has been a crime committed against the crown and the royal family, mark my words I will have the truth and justice will be served.”