Chapter 71

“Here she is, my lord,” Tarik announced as he led me into Alpha Jaxon’s lair.

“Leave us,” he growled and Tarik promptly disappeared.

Alpha Jaxon watched me warily like a predator. He was sitting on a wing backed chair, nursing a goblet of wine. His beard was overgrown and his bloodshot eyes told me that he was piss drunk.

“Where have you been?” he asked me. His deep voice rumbled like thunder.

“I – I…”

“Answer me!” he barked and I nearly peed on myself.

Why the hell did I agree to this? Why did I let Lynda talk me into this nonsense? I wasn’t even Sasha, so why should I receive her punishment?

“I’m not Sasha,” I blurted out fearfully.

“That’s not the answer to my question,” he rumbled again. “I will ask you one more time only.”

I swallowed hard. My heart was pounding wildly in my chest.

“Where… have… you… been?”

I began to shiver with fear. “I am not Sasha,” I repeated stubbornly.

He was out of his chair like a shot and was standing in front of me within a second. He grabbed my throat and lifted me off the floor.

“Where did you fucking go?” he shouted.

His window shattered and Dominic jumped in through it. “Found you!” he said gleefully.

Alpha Jaxon dropped me on the floor and faced the intruder with a stormy frown.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked angrily.

“I have no business with you,” replied Dominic. “Step out of the way and let me avenge my brothers.”

“I don’t give a shit about you and your damned brothers. Get the fuck out of my room. Now!”

“Have it your way then,” said Dominic and he lunged at Alpha Jaxon.

Even in his drunken state, he was a brutal fighter. He didn’t even bother to shift into his wolf form for this fight. His fists were pummelling Dominic like a baker punching dough.

I took the opportunity to run out of the room. I had to find my way to the harem and get the necklace from Lynda. As I ran across the palace halls, a familiar scent hit my nostrils.

“Rowan!” I gasped. I followed the scent and it led me to the back stairs near the kitchen. Within seconds, I was on the balcony where I’d first met him.

He was standing there like he did that day but this time, he was staring off into the distance. He seemed to catch a whiff of my scent because he turned and looked right at me.

“Jade,” he whispered.

“What? You recognize me?”

He smiled. “Of course, I recognize you. Why wouldn’t I?”

I was confused. “But… nobody recognizes me. How did you –?”

“I would recognize you in any lifetime, Jade. You’re my true mate. You’re the other half of me.”

I heard commotions coming from downstairs and I remembered what I was looking for. “Wait for me here. I have to go to the harem and get the mate necklace from Lynda.”

“Who is Lynda?”

“Are you kidding me?” I groaned impatiently. “You recognize me but you don’t know who Lynda is?”

“I would if you told me,” he said with a charming smile.

I wanted to run to him and hug him tightly but there was no time for that. If Alpha Jaxon didn’t succeed in killing Dominic, he would come after me again.

“Just wait here, ok? I’ll be back in a – “

The rest of my statement was knocked out of me when Dominic dove at me. Well fell over the balcony and landed downstairs on a bed of flowers.

Before Dominic could get back on his feet and come for me again, Rowan jumped downstairs, transforming into his wolf self as he did. He landed between me and my enemy.

“How dare you,” he growled at Dominic. “How dare you attack my mate like that?”

“I don’t care if she’s your mother. She owes me and she must pay!”

“The only person paying here is you. With your life!”

Dominic bared his fangs menacingly. “I can still taste your father’s blood on my tongue. I wonder what yours tastes like.”

“You bastard!” Rowan snarled and lunged at Dominic.

The Alphas began to fight like sworn enemies and it wasn’t a pretty sight. I got on my feet and ran back into the palace. I needed to find Lynda quickly.

When I got to the harem, the place was empty. Neither concubines nor furniture was to be found there. The place had been stripped bare!

“What the hell!” I yelled in frustration. The only response I got was the echo of my voice. I ran outside and met Tarik walking with his head bowed.

“Tarik, where’s everyone?” I asked him.

“How should I know?” he replied dismissively. “Alpha Jaxon is dead. Nothing else matters.”

I sighed impatiently and ran downstairs. Maybe Lynda was in the kitchen. Maybe she was –

“Why are you always running?” someone asked.

I stopped in my tracks and looked at who had spoken. It was Lunaria.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her.

“What else? I’ve been watching you try your best to control the outcome of your life.”

“You’ve been watching me? From where?”

“Everywhere, Jade. Everywhere.”

“What is going on? Why am I reliving these memories?”

“Are these truly your memories?”

“Well, not exactly but they’re similar to my other life.”

She smiled. “There is no other life, Jade. You’re still in the same life you tried to leave. Did you think killing yourself would change your fate?”

“I don’t understand.”

“The outcome will always be the same, Jade. You will be mated three times, first to a set of triplet-Alphas, and then to a Gypsy Alpha and finally to the Alpha of the Highlands, the most feared territory after the Lycan east.”

“And what about the necklace?”

“Oh, yes. That pesky necklace,” she chuckled. “It is the glue that binds all of your life experiences together. Imagine how boring your life would have been without all these hurdles.”

“But not all of them were nice. I suffered in the real world.”

“That’s why it’s the real world. There are two sides to everything. Nobody is ever destined to have an easy life.”

“Why not?”

“How would you learn your lessons without the hard knocks of life?”

“What lessons?”

“How would learn about strength without being weak first? How would you recognize hope without despair? How would you understand faith without fear? And how would you appreciate true love without heartbreak?”

Her words sounded like riddles to me but they made sense.

“But if the necklace doesn’t really matter, why have I been looking for it?”

“Who says it doesn’t matter?”

“You said –“

“It’s the glue that binds your story together. You have shared a similar life journey with me and a few other she-wolves. I think it’s time to end this tale and begin another one.”

“What do you mean?”

“As I told you before, the power of the necklace is about to end one cycle and begin another. You can stop that forever by destroying it and not passing it on to someone else. Someone like your daughter.”

My heart squeezed. I wouldn’t want Nyla to live through the same nightmare that I had experienced. I don’t want her to have a difficult life as I did. She deserved a good life with as few problems as possible.

“Where can I find it?”

“Find what?”

“The necklace. I gave it to Lynda and now I can’t find her anymore.”

Lunaria laughed softly. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?”

“Everything that has happened since you entered the chasm again is barely real. You were just reliving your memories in different ways.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Wait. What about the… sex?”

She giggled. “I’ve never met a she-wolf with an imagination as wild as yours.”

I blushed. “Now, it all made sense. Because why would I be attracted to Scout of all people?”

“Beats me,” said Lunaria as she laughed again.

“So, what now?”

“You tell me.”

“Has Rowan killed Dominic again?”

“I think so. It was easier this time around.”

I chuckled. “Poor Dominic.”

“Don’t feel sorry for him too much. He and his brothers were only pawns in the hand of fate.”

“So, what happens next? We couldn’t find the necklace before I came here.”

“It’s been found.”

“Really? By whom?”

“Why don’t you go and see for yourself?” She said and nodded towards the exit door.

I was filled with excitement. I ran outside happily and saw Rowan standing over Dominic’s tattered corpse.

“Rowan, Lunaria says the necklace has been found!”

He looked puzzled. “Who said what?”

“Lunaria. She said – “

“Jade!”