Chapter 25

Michael’s POV

I was burning everywhere. What the hell was happening to me?

“Make it stop!” I scream, shaking uncontrollably on the floor. One minute I was fine, reaching out to help Aleena, then the next, the burning started and spread all over my body. It just kept getting hotter, and it never seemed to end.

“Michael!” Aleena’s beautiful voice fills my head, causing the pain to intensify. All I want to do is reach for her, lose myself in her, but I can’t, I can’t move, I can’t breathe, I can’t even see straight anymore.

“That’s some messed up magic right there, " Alune Laughs through my daughter's mouth.

“What do you mean? Just help him, Alune, please.” Aleena begged, still clinging to any part of me she could get a hold of. I could hear the fear in her voice, and all I wanted to do was wipe it away for her, but every time I thought about her or even heard her voice, the pain intensified.

“Gee, I don’t know” Alune looked at her nails like she was bored. “I could, but it will cost you; I don’t do things for free, you know.”

“Alune, don’t assert your dominance now. He needs help,” Aleena begged her, causing more pain in my head.

“You’re hurting him every time you talk or touch him; you know that, right” she smirked. If she weren’t using my daughter like a living body suit, I would want to smack the cockiness right off her face.

“What are you on about? Just help him, please; I helped you now return the favour”, she begged.

“Fine, first off, you need to step away from him. and go find those brothers; get the shadow-cloaked one to stop the spell being cast in that crazy bitches office. That should stop the pain; it won't break the spell,” she rambled on, sounding bored.

“I have no idea what you’re on about”, Aleena tried to say, but Alune stopped her.

“You don’t have to understand, Elf; you just have to do it; the boy will know what I’m on about”, she huffed and pointed at the door.

I slummed to the floor as Aleena stood up and left in search of the Chase brothers. I didn’t care what they had to do as long as it stopped this insatiable burning.

“You are in quite the pickle, aren’t you, my dear Alpha” Alune chuckled, kneeling before me; I didn’t have the strength to answer her; all I could do was stare at the face of the young woman I raised and hope beyond hope that she was still in there somewhere.

“Don’t you worry, daddy of mine; it is so funny feeling all her emotions and actually feeling them with her but also not giving a shit at the same time. For her sake and hers alone, I will help you. It’s in my best interest to keep my little host happy; that way, I benefit from all she has to offer” Alune cracked a massive smile, that when Ayla would smile like that, she looked beautiful, but with Alune behind it, she looked sinister.

I tried to answer, to make any sound I could, but the pain had increased tenfold, and I had nothing left to give.

Finally, the sweetness of escape rushed up to claim me as darkness clouded my vision; the last thing I saw was Ayla’s eyes watching me and her hand as she waved goodbye.

Archer’s POV

Aiden was insanely strong. Dragging him outside with Axel’s help was a challenge. Whatever was going on with him wasn’t good. He was a massive ball of pent-up anger; his eyes were dark, and his features were harsh. My brother was not my brother right now.

Arriving back in the living world was disorienting enough but to be thrown straight back into this was something else altogether. I refuse to let my mind think about Ayla right now. It was my fault she was hurt; my fault she was going through hell. If we lost her because of this, I would never forgive myself.

“Your right; it is your fault; if you hadn’t gotten yourself stuck in that place, our mate wouldn’t have had to go fetch your arse”, Aiden snarled at me and thrashed around as we all but wrestled him into submission.

“What the bloody hell is wrong with you, Aid?” Axel was starting to lose his temper.

“Wrong with me, huh, wrong with me? Nothing is wrong with me, mate. You wanted answers, so I got them for you, be grateful,” Aiden snapped at him.

Blaze was forcing his way through more and more, and it was becoming harder to hold him in place. If he pushed any harder, he would shift entirely, and it would be Blaze we had to deal with, and he was nowhere near as easy to get along with as Aiden is.

“Control your wolf, brother”, Axel growled, but I was sure I could hear Ace coming through a bit too.

“Let me guess, you’re going to bring Titan to the party, hey”, Blaze growled at me, his eyes entirely in wolf form now.

I was going to reply, but something didn’t feel right. Normally when my brother’s wolves show themselves, Titan would insist he be included, but the more I reached for him to ensure he was okay after our little trip, the less I could feel him.

“Titan?” I called out to him with my mind, but there was no reply; I couldn’t even sense him near. Not even a glimmer of an answer in response. Panic swallowed me whole. Titan wasn’t there. I was alone; my wolf was missing.

Aleena’s POV

Racing away from Michael, my heart in my mouth as I ran, searching for the giant triplets I had sent away moments before. I couldn’t get over the words the Exalted had said back in that room, that I was the cause of Michael’s pain, that I was making it that bad. To make it worse, finding out it was magically caused sent my mind whirling. Only black magic caused pain, and only a binding spell of great magnitude would cause that reaction.

“What on earth are they doing to him? Who is doing this? I can’t lose him”, I muttered as I searched every room.

I saw no one other than Michael’s son Mason’s new girlfriend leaving the house in a hurry. I decided to follow her in hopes that the brothers had followed my direction exactly and taken Aiden outside.

Pulling the massive front door open, the cold air rushed to meet me, but for once, it didn’t bother me; I ran outside. As I rounded the corner, I heard them before I saw them. Aiden was in a full-blown rage explosion, and his brothers were doing all they could to hold him back. He was the biggest of the three, and he was sure as hell giving it all he had to break free of their hold.

If what Alune had said was true. Then one of them, most likely Aiden, had been swept too deeply into the shadows, given his current behaviour. I could sense the shadow’s presence on all of them from day one, I’m surprised I didn’t realise what had happened sooner, but I guess with everything going on with Ayla, it was easy to miss things.

“Calm the fuck down, brother, I get you are worried but fuck me; this is out of order.”

I watched the scene unfold before my eyes, and it was scary but magnificent all at the same time.

Aiden was massive, and his wolf Blaze was trying to bust out. Bulging muscles and strained clothes were all I could see. Axel and Archer had anchored their feet in the ground and held on with all their strength. One had his arms locked around Aiden’s legs while the other had his arms pinned behind his back, using their own arms to lock his in place. You could see Axel’s wolf, Ace showing his eyes now too, but Archer was still fully himself. He must have strong self-control to keep his wolf in check when his brothers reared their heads. It was impressive to see their sheer strength and a warning to anyone who witnessed how truly powerful these three were.

“Boys, enough; I need your help”, I shouted at the top of my voice, hoping I would be loud enough to get through all the growling.

They continued to tussle, not noticing me at all. I was running out of time, and patients they would listen to me if I had to force them apart.

Lifting my hand, I cast a simple holding spell that would keep them in place so that I could speak, and they would have no choice but to listen. The look on their faces was priceless. I would be laughing my head off at them if it weren't so serious. Aiden looked like he had bitten into a chilli pepper, Axel wore the expression of a stroppy toddler, and Archer looked like he was blowing up a giant balloon.

“Listen up, you blundering idiots. Michael is under some intense spell, he’s in agony, and I can’t help him. Alune said someone in this house, a woman, is casting this black magic, and one of you can stop her; the one cloaked by shadow is the one who can accomplish this, so please get your shit together and sort this out” I was almost shouting at them come the end of that, I raked my hand through my hair knowing I looked a mess after the day I had had. Still, I really didn’t care; all I wanted right now was for someone to help the man I was starting to catch powerful feelings for. I didn’t care how they did it or what they had to do as long as they got it done.

“I’m going to release you now, but trust me, I will put you right back under if you start this shit up again, do you understand” I stared them down, knowing they couldn’t answer me. With a flick of my fingers, they were free, and they stumbled forward, catching themselves at the last minute.

“If that bloody Alpha didn’t mean so much to my Ayla, I wouldn’t even be considering doing this”, Aiden seethed with anger; it was obvious to see he was the shadow-cloaked brother. He was breathing heavily, trying to gain composure. Forcing his wolf back inside, sweat covered his brow, and his muscles hummed with pent-up tension.

“Aiden, I can see the shadows in and around you, I can see your struggling, and I can help you, but right now, I need you to fix this, whatever this is. Please. Alune said it’s only you who can do this, so I’m begging you, please do this for me,” and I did, I begged, and I wasn’t ashamed. I couldn’t lose Michael, not when I hadn’t even had a chance to figure out what this between us was. I needed that time; I still needed it, even though he wasn’t mine.

“Fine, but I want my mate back, without that fucking body-snatching whore inside of her, you will help me find a way if I help you save your Alpha”, he spoke with power and purpose, and I knew he meant every word,

Dragging his hands over his face and into his hair, he let out a frustrated, disgruntled howl before heading towards the house. His brothers didn’t make a move to follow him. They knew this was something for him alone, and they had to accept that, plus they needed to get cleaned up. Aiden had put up a bloody good fight two against one, and he still came out on top.

I just hoped, for his sake, by doing this for Michael, he didn’t lose himself completely. It was hard enough pulling a soul back from the shadows as it was, but to retrieve one consumed by shadow was almost unheard of.

I had a long and challenging task ahead of me with that one.