Chapter 19

Aleena’s POV

Walking back to the pack house, with the guards my father had insisted accompany us, wasn’t exactly how I had things planned in my mind. I needed time with Michael, time alone, to work out what was going on with us. Everything was so different to how it was before. He’s a married man, for goddess’ sake! Could I really have such strong feelings for him and him for me too?

“Your highness, kindly take the central position; you are to be protected at all times via your father’s request”, one of the royal guards spoke without looking at me.

“You me for the protection of the relics, not my protection; let’s not play pretend; we are all grown adults now” I rolled my eyes; my father didn’t care about me, only the items he was worried he could lose, not once would it have been about my safety. The guard did the right thing and kept quiet. I moved into the centre of their protective square to ease the tension, dragging Michael with me at the last second. Catching hold of his hand as I stepped past him, taking him by surprise, but he never missed a beat. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he fell into line next to me. Much to the guard’s distaste. Which only made it sweeter. Michael had done more for me than my own race ever had; that wasn’t something I was going to shy away from or try to hide.

“You’re getting way too much joy from pissing everyone off”, he laughed right by my ear.

“I have no idea what you could be talking about; I’m perfectly proper in every way, just as a princess should be” I glanced at him sideways, trying to keep a straight face but failing. When he winked at me, that was it. I lost all my hard-held composure to a massive wide grin that stretched the length of my face. I couldn’t help it. This wolf did things to me that I never thought anyone could.

“Sure you are; I wouldn’t think anything less, your majesty” his eyes shone with mischief.

“Oh goddess, no, don’t you dare start calling me that”, I moaned and bumped him with my hip, only making him laugh more, and the guard’s faces get stonier.

“Don’t worry, princess, you will always be my Aleena, just the way you are”, he told me and smiled, his hand still in mine, and he squeezed lightly.

“I’m yours am I,” I say, trying to keep the atmosphere light, but my heart is jackhammering in my chest. The very idea of being his was enough to send me into overdrive.

Michael didn’t reply right away. He just kept on walking; his hand held mine protectively, never letting me get more than a step away from him. My heart stuttered the longer his silence went on.

“If you want to be”, he mumbled to me, hoping the others wouldn’t hear. Looking up at him as we walked, my face flushed, and my pulse continued to speed up. Michael never moved his head to look at me, though, he just walked with a small smile on his face, and hell, did he look sexy. I couldn’t believe my ears. Did he really feel the same for me as I did for him?

“What about Laura?” I muttered; I knew he could hear me, so I didn’t bother to raise my voice.

“I know”, he sighed, and sadness laced his voice.

“She’s your fated mate”, I began to say before he cut me off.

“Aleena, if she were, I wouldn’t feel this way about anyone else” his eyes met mine this time, and the confusion in them was so clear. Something was going on, and it was affecting him badly. “With fated mates, you more often than not, have come into contact with them by the age of sixteen, you don’t know you are fated until eighteen, though, but you do form a very close bond. The goddess works in strange ways like that.” He paused; the weight of the world seemed heavy on his shoulders as he spoke. “Whereas I was not mated at eighteen. I was still not mated at twenty. Then out of nowhere, the mate bond snapped into place when I saw Laura. I had known her for years and never once got the inkling that she would be my mate. Never once did the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and tingle when I saw her, and then bam, we were mated” he finally looked at me.

“That doesn’t sound right, does it” I state, knowing I was pointing out the obvious.

“No, it doesn’t, but I never questioned it as the call of the mate bond consumed me. Even though something didn’t fully feel right, I always pushed it aside. My father was happy; that was all that mattered at that time.

“Princess, which way” the guard in front called. Stopping without warning. If it weren’t for Michael pulling on my hand, I would have walked right into the back of him.

“Careful, beautiful, or I’ll have to carry you back to the house again”, Michael chuckled, melting my heart at the sound.

“Um, left, take the left path”, I stuttered—only causing Michael to quietly laugh more.

“They hate me, by the way,” he said, amused. “I can hear their hushed conversations; I won’t lie, they have some very adventurous way they would like to deal with me.”

“Ignore them; they are stuck in the old ways of my people; they wouldn’t dare lift a finger against you; they fear the wrath of my family too much”, I spoke a little louder, ensuring they could hear me, Michael stroked the back of my hand with his thumb sending tingles through my skin.

There wasn’t much time left until we reached the pack house; the night had taken hold of the sky, filling it with light from the endless about of stars. If the guards weren’t here and the urgency of Archers’ situation didn’t exist, then tonight would be perfect. Our feet were in time with each other, landing on the slightly damp ground at the same time. Everything felt right like we were meant to be doing not only this together but everything else as well.

“It’s going to rain”, Michael declared seconds before the heavens opened, unleashing a heavy downpour upon our head.

Squealing because it was so cold and trying to keep the relics dry, and my head was pointless; I didn’t have enough hands. Each drop that landed on my skin was ice cold, and they were falling fast. We would be soaked through by the time we got back.

“Come here”, Michael’s gruff voice reached me as he pulled me closer to his body. His strong arm encircled my waist, and his other scooped me up so I was cradled against his chest. “We can’t have these relics getting wet now, can we” his breath tickled my cheek. He was so close I could have reached up and kissed him if I was brave enough, but I couldn’t. Not whilst he was with Laura, even though feelings were obviously growing between us.

The rain continued to pour as we trudged on, nestled between the two rows of guards. Tucking my head closer into Michael’s shoulder, telling myself it was to keep the relics dry and not admitting it was so I could feel him around me and smell his scent.

“We will be home soon; once this is all done, I want to talk to you about what this is between us,” he spoke softly. I nodded into his neck, not trusting my voice right now. With that, he kissed the top of my head, and I swear I felt my magic sizzle through my body at the touch of his lips, making it stronger. If we weren’t meant to be together, why was my body reacting to every one of his touches?

The pack house came into view a few moments later, not that I could see, cradled the way I was into Michael.

“Your Highness, you and your wolf better go ahead before more of those dogs approach us”, one of the guards said, but it was like he had a bad taste in his mouth as he spoke.

“You will do well to remember that the werewolves are my friends, and you are now on their land, show some respect, or I will be forced to report your insolence back to the queen” I raised my chin and held his stare, he soon averted his eyes to the ground.

“Yes, your highness, forgive me”, he muttered, not meaning a word, but I had no time for his stupid prejudice right now.

Michael had put me down just before any of his area patrols would see us. Instantly I missed his closeness. The rain felt colder, and the wind was harsh against my skin. I needed to get my head back on the task at hand; Archer needed me more than anything. I couldn’t become distracted by my own selfish needs, no matter how desperately I wanted to.

“Tell your fathers guards to stand down, they won’t listen to me, and any of my men who feel I am in any danger will not hesitate to attack; I do not wish for a war with the elves right now”, Michael smiled at me but his eyes were deadly serious.

Moments later, as Michael had stated, we were flanked by five of his area patrol. I held no fear of them whatsoever. They knew of me – if not of my race but of my importance to the pack’s protection – and knew never to lay a hand on me, but no such command had been given towards the other elves.

“Stand down; the relics are safe, and so are we; you may stay with us as long as you follow my command”, I spoke to the elven guards. For a moment, I hesitated, not knowing if they would listen or not and hoping they would with everything I had. We really couldn’t afford a fight right now.

“Alpha! is all well”, one of his patrols called to him, circling the elves as he spoke. The rain continued to pelt us relentlessly; the longer I stood out in it, the more I was sure I would freeze to death.

“All is fine, Pedro; step out from the tree line with the rest of your patrol. We have some guests with us tonight.” Michael called, his Alpha aura taking over and making everyone want to comply.

“Yes, Alpha” Pedro replied

“Please show our guests to the guest wing, make sure they have everything they need, oh and Pedro, they are Elven, so show them the same respect you would show me”, Michael commanded, then reached down to take my hand on instinct. I don’t think he meant to, as anyone could see us now, but I loved it all the same.

Pedro did incredibly well at hiding his surprise; most would baulk at the idea of elves on their grounds.

“Your Highness, we are to stay with the relics at all times, king’s orders.” One guard tried to protest.

“Fine, one of you may accompany me. The rest may not. The magic needed for this task will not be easy, and the more people I need to be concerned about, the harder it gets.” I told him, and I would not budge from it. The guards got that exact feeling and didn’t push the matter.

“You ready?” Michael turned to me; softness returned to his eyes and the tone of his voice.

“Not really, but they need us, and no doubt Ayla is doing her head in, waiting all day for us like this.” I sighed, knowing the night ahead was going to be tough.

“Let’s go then; I do not want to be on the receiving end of Ayla’s temper”, he laughed as he led me toward the house.

Ayla’s POV

My dreams were plagued with images of my mate, stuck in a hellish place with no one to help him, being tortured by goddess knows what. I couldn’t even get a break from my living hell when sleeping. I could feel Archer’s chest beneath my cheek as I lay in his bed with my eyes closed. Sleep was short and not so sweet for me at the moment.

Clinging to my man and forcing myself to pretend he was sleeping next to me was all I could do to keep the constant flow of tears at bay. I knew we were doing everything we could to get to him as soon as possible, but it still didn’t feel like enough, and the wait for Aleena and Michael was damn near killing me.

“At least she’s getting some much-needed sleep”, I hear Aiden say as he relaxed back into his chair after Laura had left. Keeping dead still to appear asleep throughout that little outburst wasn’t easy; something was up with my adoptive mother; her whole demeanour had changed overnight. she wasn’t the kind-hearted lady I grew up knowing.

“Yeah, I wish we could do something to ease her pain. It’s hard enough for us, but it must be harder for her” Axel’s voice was so concerned it broke my heart a little. It’s not that I wanted to fool my other mates into thinking I was sleeping or listening to what they had to say. I just needed to give them a break from constantly worrying about making sure I was okay and give myself a break from their pandering. I loved them with everything I was. But right now, I just wanted to get the job done and get Archer back before something terrible happened.

Inhaling I take in the delicious scent of the man lying beside me and open my eyes, right at the same time as Aiden and Axel looked towards the door. We could all hear footsteps approaching. My heart pounded in my chest.

“They are back” I whispered and bolted upright. Both of my mates looked at me in surprise that I had heard anything at all.

“Ayla, how do you feel” Aiden was by my side and reaching for me within seconds. I let him gather me into his arms enjoying his closeness, it was just what I needed before we faced what was to come next.

“I’m good, I’ll be better once we get this over with and Archer is back where he belongs,” I said as the door opened, framing Michael and Aleena within the glow of the hallway lights.

“Call Alune, Ayla, we have everything we need” Aleena’s voice was strong and determined, giving off a whole new air I had never seen coming from her before.

For once I finally believed we were going to get him back, and it would actually work.

I hoped!