Chapter 22

Aiden’s POV

Anger, fear, rage, despair. All the emotions I had to deal with as I watched my girl sprawled on the floor, unable to reach her, even though she was mere feet away. I could feel Axel was struggling too. Knowing your mate could be in danger and you couldn’t help was the worst feeling in the world. I wanted to scrub my skin from my body. Everything just felt wrong.

“I know what you’re thinking, and you know we can’t do it, so shut up and stop pacing”, Axel growled in my mind. I didn’t even bother dignifying him with an answer.

Aleena had left us to watch over Ayla; she said she needed to collect a few more supplies she needed to maintain the spell. Michael had left a few minutes after, stating he needed to check in with Laura. I wished him luck, knowing she was in a foul mood; I was sure his face had lost some of its colour; I couldn’t blame him; the woman unnerved me to no end.

“Aiden, watch that bloody candle, mate! You know any change will fuck things up for Ayla,” Axel shouted at me. “Go and chill out for a bit; I got this covered” he was irritated; I could tell as he dragged his hand through his hair.

“What exactly do you expect me to do, brother, go out to a fucking party or something” he knew I wasn’t being fair; it wasn’t his fault how I was feeling; I knew he felt it too. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that”, I sighed.

“Look, there is so much going on around here, so much we don’t have the answers to, and you are the only one who could possibly get those answers for us, and you know it,” Axel told me; he kept his distance, knowing I was not at my best. Us Chase brothers had short tempers when frustrated; being brothers didn’t give us a free pass from each other’s anger.

“I only just walked in the shadows, Axel. It messes with my head if I do it too often or so close together,” I blurted out before I realised what I was saying.

“It’s never affected you before, has it?” he asked me, scrunching his brow, concern etched all over his face.

“Only recently, it’s begun to bother me, leaving me feeling disorientated and not like myself. It’s nothing, though; as you said, it’s me that can get the answers, so I’ll do it” I rushed on, hoping to squash any questions he may have before he even had the chance to form them. “I’ll go and see if I can find out more about whatever it is the Luna is hiding,” I say as I cross the room, fully intending to leave before my brother could follow. Someone needed to stay with Ayla, so I knew he wouldn’t dare follow me.

Picking up the pace, I make my way down to the ground floor; it was eerily quiet for the pack house, but I really wasn’t in the mood to question it; I had more pressing things on my mind.

It didn’t take me long to find the Luna. Anyone without enhanced hearing would be able to hear her hushed shouting from a mile away. Let alone a werewolf. From the sound of things, Michael had found his wife, and she wasn’t happy to see him. I couldn’t ever imagine not being happy to see Ayla; even when she had put me in a raging mood, I felt sure I would be thrilled to see her.

“What kind of fool do you take me for, Michael?” the Luna hissed, so much anger laced her voice I flinched for him. The door to the kitchen was pushed slightly ajar, and I could see the shadows of the couple moving within.

Taking a step closer, I reach out to the darkness and cover myself in shadows, granting me those extra couple of inches undetected that I needed.

“I’m not calling you a fool, Laura; I love you; you know this; I was just trying to help our daughter”, Michael tried to say, but she was having none of it,

“She is not my daughter, I have never accepted her, and you know it; I knew from day one something was not right with that girl. Yet you insisted on taking her in; you needed her apparently,” venom laced her words.

“Laura, you don’t mean that”, the Alpha’s voice couldn’t hide the pain he felt.

“Yes, I do, but that’s not the issue, is it” she spat, her hands on her hips and fury in her eyes. Inching closer, I was able to get a clear view of the Luna, but I could still only hear the Alpha’s voice but not see his face.

Tugging harder on the surrounding darkness to grant me more cover allowed the whispers to come closer too. Still, I couldn’t understand their words, but their intentions were becoming clearer.

The problem with harnessing the shadows is that no one truly knows what they are made up off, only that it is darkness, and as it stands, no one really knows where darkness originated from. So getting dragged in by my gift could be more dangerous than I ever thought, but the allure was so overpoweringly strong that sometimes it was easy to answer its call.

“That damned Elf Michael, all you seem to care about is her and that fake child of yours; where has the love you felt for me gone? Where is the bond we have? What evilness has tugged your affections away from me?” Laura had given up trying to be quiet. She was all but shouting, nothing like she was when we first met her.

“Your acting crazy, Laura; where has all this come from? You haven’t ever had a problem with me working with Aleena before” he tried to soothe her, but it was clear he was fighting a losing battle.

My head started to swim; I had submerged myself in darkness a step too far, the whispers were now shouting, and my skin felt like it was being pawed at by clawed fingers. Breathing hard, I stagger backwards; I had to get myself out of sight and drag myself back towards the light, the living, and everything pure. I’d never admit it, but right now, the shadows scared the crap out of me, and I was losing my hold over them.

The doorbell rang just then, giving me enough of a distraction to stumble away and push myself out of the shadow’s grasp. Reaching behind me, I fumbled around until my hand grasped hold of the distinct metal of the storeroom door handle. Pushing down hard, I fall into the little room backwards and get the door closed enough in time for Laura to storm out of the kitchen to answer the door.

“Fuck me, that’s enough of that today”, I mutter under my breath, dragging lungful’s of life-giving air into my body; my hands shook as I dispersed the remaining darkness from my skin. But my mind continued to race with a thousand ideas, and not one of them was mine.

“How bad is it, dear,” a new voice says moments after I hear the click of the front door closing behind the newcomer.

“He’s straying, and my son has no respect for me; I have a horrible feeling his true mate is near”, she whispered, pure fear lacing her words.

“Well, you know what you must do then, my dear, you find this mate, and you kill her, that is if you wish to stay in the position you currently hold,” the new woman said.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; even though my vision was obscured and darkness still clouded my judgement, I knew my hearing was still sharp. If what I heard is correct, then Laura isn’t Michael’s true mate, and she intended to kill whomever it was meant to be.

Waiting for Laura to lead her new guest away so that I could have a clear shot back to Archer’s room took forever; why did women like to stand talking at the door? It was infuriating. I waited, and I watched. I saw Michael leave the kitchen and totally ignore his wife, and head to his office; sadness ebbed from his every being. Once the coast was clear, I scrabbled out of the store cupboard and up the stairs. If anyone saw me, they would have had a good laugh. A guy of my size should not be scrabbling around the way I was, but I didn’t care. I just needed to get back to my brother and tell him what I heard. I just hoped I had time on my side, and I couldn’t trust my legs right now.

Laura’s POV

Things were worse than I originally thought; I was losing my hold on Michael and my son. Those Chase brothers definitely had something to hide, and my husband’s love for that girl was becoming overwhelming, let alone his obsession with that elf. How was I meant to remain calm when I was losing control over everything?

Beth arrived as she promised, not long after Michael had come to see me; if she hadn’t turned up when she did, I think things would have ended up a lot worse than they did, and I would have a lot more to fix than I already have.

“Lead the way; I think we better get started, don’t you? I’m on a tight schedule right now, Laura; my skills are needed for another as well,” she said pointedly.

I knew what was coming; I have had to do this a couple of times now. My hold on the Alpha is slipping quicker each time now, and if his true mate is nearby, then I will gradually lose all control I have over him regardless of how hard I try and how many times we recast the spells.

Shutting the door to my privet study after Laura, I made sure I locked the door twice and took a deep breath. The pain was coming, and it only got worse each time I had to do this. Days from now, I would still feel it; the burn lives under your skin until the spell has taken its full hold on its intended target. Annoyingly Michael is fighting it each time. I just hope my hold over him is still strong enough; for now, I just need time to get rid of Aleena; the older she gets, and the closer she comes to the age she must be to be able to be a werewolves mate the harder it will be, if I eradicate her, then nothing will come between us again.

“Okay, I think I’m ready”, I lied, and she knew it, but in all honesty, no one would ever be ready for what I was about to endure. “I hope you’re worth it, Alpha Michael”, I whispered just before living fire engulfed my body, and I screamed silently inside my head, for a sound from my lips would break the spell, and we would need to start all over again.

“Ignite and take the flames in; accept it as one with your body, and they will grant you your desires; the worthy will always prevail”, Beth’s voice sang out.

I sank to my knees and focused on anything other than the pain I would endure, and I would come out on top; I had come too far to let it all slip away now.