Chapter 33

Archer’s POV

Axel spoke with Ayla; I sat silently, doing nothing. I didn’t begrudge him that; it’s just that I missed her too, and it’s my fault she is in the state she is in. I lost my wolf and my mate both at the same time. I felt less than useless right now. I couldn’t shift or mind link, I couldn’t shadow walk, and I had lost part of my strength; I was no longer a werewolf until Titan was found.

“Arch, stop it; you’re not useless; I can hear you, you know”, Axel grumbled from across the room.

“Great, at least you can hear me; it makes me feel so much better”, I moaned back.

“I didn’t mean it like that; you know I didn’t. We will sort this; it just won’t happen overnight” he tried his best to reassure me, but he failed miserably.

Ignoring my brother as I didn’t have anything to say in response, I decided to flick through my phone, looking at crap on social media from my old life. I felt so disconnected from the person I used to be. It was like looking through someone else’s memories and not mine.

The door opened, and Aiden rushed in, looking over his shoulder the whole time. He clutched a book to his chest like it was the most precious thing he had ever held.

“So, how did it go? Was the Alpha mad? I bet he was; I bet he was livid. I would love to watch as he lays into his fake mate and see her lose it all” Axel grinned wickedly. He had never liked the Luna, seeing through her fake kindness from the start.

“He believes Laura, not Aleena”, Aiden sighed; he looked like it was a personal loss for him instead of our new friend.

“What the fuck? How and why would he believe that bitch?” I shouted as I leapt out of my chair.

“The spell she cast was too strong, and I didn’t fully break it. So Aleena cannot go near him. He had stated he would hurt her if she did. He believes she wants to hurt Laura and not the other way around” Aiden brought us up to date.

“I’m going to kill her”, Axel growled.

“No, you won’t, brother; she’s a woman. You would never hurt her”, I reminded him.

“Fine, I won’t, but I will destroy her, so she has nothing left”, he seethed with anger. I could understand his anger. She had hurt people we cared about, which we would not allow.

“Aiden, what’s with the book” I pointed out, eyeballing the old-looking tome.

“This is something you need” he tapped the cover gently.

“Me? Why do I need an old book” I was baffled. But it wasn’t like I could hear his thoughts anymore, so I had to wait for him to tell me.

“Aleena found the spell in this book. She could tell from the conditions and the effects of it that it was the spell the Luna had cast. You need to take it to Michael, get him to read it, and make him understand.” He told me, hope in his eyes, instantly I felt nervous; why me? Why not him? He was better at that kind of stuff.

“Why me” I question, even though I know they heard my thoughts, they already knew how I felt about it.

“Michael hates me, Archer, more so than the rest of you, he has never liked me, and I don’t think he ever will; you have a better chance than I do right now.” Aiden shrugged and pressed the book into my hands. “You need to do this and do it fast; the longer we wait, the more chance the Luna has at influencing the Alpha, making it worse for Aleena.”

“Fine, but don’t get your hopes up; you know I’m not great at this kind of thing”, I cringe inwardly as I accept the book and head towards the door. I might as well get this done now before I chicken out. I had no wolf to protect me if the Alpha flipped.

“You will be fine, brother. Just shout, and we will hear you, and we will come running if anything goes wrong,” Aiden called as I started walking down the corridor.

Lately, the halls in the pack house had been empty; I know the Alpha had sent most of his forces on patrol to ensure we had no surprise attacks. So it didn’t surprise me that I made it to the Alpha’s office without seeing a soul.

Knocking before I could think about it, I waited for an answer.

“Come in”, the Alpha’s voice bellowed through the large wooden door.

“Alpha Michael, I wondered if we could have a word” I held my head high, showing no weakness like my father always taught us.

“If it’s about that bitch of an Elf, then no”, his voice ripped through the silence; I didn’t back down, though.

“Not exactly, no, so please hear me out”, I pressed on.

“You have five minutes, boy; I’m not in the mood today” he didn’t even bother to look at me when he spoke.

“When you were in the room with us, trying to save Ayla, and the burning started, do you remember what Alune said,” I asked him slowly, hoping he would think about it.

“I heard bits but not all of it; I was in pain”, he grumbled. “To be honest, I can’t remember much today, I feel like I’m forgetting stuff, and I can’t work out what it is” he sounded so frustrated.

“Well, she told Aleena to move away from you; she was causing you more pain”, I began, but he cut me off.

“Yes, because she was casting spells on me, boy, do you think I’m stupid” his anger flared again.

“Alpha, please let me finish” I waited for him to explode, but he didn’t “Here, I brought this for you to read. It should answer many questions; just read it, okay” I urged, handing him the book, open at the page he needed to read.

“What is this” he wrinkled his head as he took the book.

“Read the whole page before you jump to conclusions, okay” I got in before he could argue about the page’s title.

The minutes dragged as he read the page; I couldn’t gauge anything from the look on his face, I wanted to pace, to fidget, but I knew that would be annoying and make me look unsure. So instead, I had to show I was confident in what I showed him and knew what I was going on about.

Eventually, he looked up, thunder in his eyes and a low rumble emitted from his throat. His Alpha aura was strong, trying to force me to bend the knee to him, but I refused.

“You tell me, right now, what I am meant to do; if what you are saying is true, then my wife is lying to me and causing me and my true mate harm”, he spoke through gritted teeth.

“First, we have to get that spell off of you”, I state “otherwise, she can control you again.”

“Fine, let’s get that done; I won’t lie. Part of my mind is tugging at me to go to Laura and tell her what you are all doing; it wants to believe it over anything,” he admitted.

“Okay, I think we need to get you out of her reach until we have the spell lifted”, I stated. “Let’s go before she comes to find you again.”

I led the Alpha through the pack house, keeping a close eye on him the whole time. I sent a message through my mind to my brothers, saying I was taking him to Aleena; I just hoped they got it as I had no clue, and I couldn’t hear a reply. It hurt like shit losing that connection to them.

“Alpha, quickly, we need to get to the Archive; Aleena is waiting” I sped him along as much as possible.

Aleena’s POV

Sitting here with a broken heart was one of the worst pains I had ever felt; he hadn’t even officially rejected me yet. The mere thought of it killed me, however. How on earth was I meant to function? I knew what we were meant to be but never got the chance to. Tears left my eyes in steady streams, I tried to read, clean and rest, but my mind would not let me. So instead, it just played over the conversation with Aiden time and time again. Hearing how Michael hadn’t picked me and how he wanted me gone. Constantly stabbed me in the heart.

The wards blared, letting me know someone was on their way down here. Drying my eyes, I headed to the door. I still had a job to do whilst I was still here.

“State your purpose” I recited the words I had said a hundred times before without lifting my eyes. I didn’t have it in me to face anyone right now. I sniffed, my nose blocked from crying, and my eye stung as I tried to keep the tears at bay.

A huge shadow fell over me as I watched my feet; moments before, my chin was tilted upwards by large yet gentle fingers. The Alpha looked down at me. Sadness poured from his eyes as he held my stare. Then, with his free hand, he wiped away the tears that ran down my cheeks, escaping the useless hold I thought I had on them.

“Please don’t be crying because of me”, he whispered

I didn’t understand, not so long ago, he hated me, and now he was here, looking at me like that. Telling me not to cry.

“Aleena, the Alpha read the book,” Archer said, poking his head out from behind Michaels’s massive frame.

“You don’t hate me”, I stuttered, trembling in his grasp, staring straight back at him.

He didn’t bother to answer me. Instead, he leaned forward, placing his lips against mine in the gentlest, sweetest kiss and instantly stealing my breath and heart.

“I don’t hate you, Aleena; I crave you; I have wanted you for longer than I can remember; I just didn’t know it; a spell blinded me, and I still am, but I’m doing my best to push it aside. Part of me wants to go to Laura, I have been made to believe she is my mate for years now, and it’s hard to ignore that after so long. But what I feel for you is so strong, I can’t deny it” the words hit my ears in a torrent, I needed to hear everyone, but I was afraid to believe it just in case he was ripped away from me again.

“We need to keep him away from Laura until this spell is broken, if he’s in her presence, then the spell kicks in, and he believes what she says and forgets everything else. Aleena, you need to find a way to get this off of him,” Archer piped in again. “My brothers are on their way; is there somewhere we can go.”

“Uh, yes, I’ll fetch a room”, I stammered; I couldn’t believe it; Archer had done it; he had gotten through to the Alpha. It was easier than I thought it would be, well, this part, at least.

Turning to face the door again, I lifted my hand to call the door forward. Michael placed his hand on my waist, making me jump. Hearing him chuckle warmed me, even though I wouldn’t allow myself to relax.

“Come on then, this way; we will be safe in here,” I said as the other two chase brothers turned up, looking flustered.

“Aleena”, Michael uttered

“Yes” I looked up at him; dam, he was so tall, my pulse thundered.

“I’m sorry I hurt you; I didn’t know”, he muttered so close to my ear that I shivered.

“It wasn’t your fault, anyway; you’re here now” I smiled weakly.

“Come on, you two, now is not the time to canoodle”, Aiden called. His brothers laughed, and Michael growled in warning.

“We are not canoodling, and if we were, you would have to wait,” he said, his voice thick with a warning; I watched his throat bob up and down as he swallowed, never taking his eyes off of me.

“Shit, I was in trouble now,” I thought, and I didn’t care.