Chapter 22: Rescue my mate

*SAVIOR'S POV

I watched Thalia from the window of my office. She seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to her current state of full blindness.

She was getting teased by her fellow slaves in the courtyard. They took the flower basket she was going to deliver and passed it around while she desperately tried to follow the sound of their voices.

Right now, she was no better than a human because that potion not only took away her sight but also suppressed her dragon abilities, which could include heightened hearing. I knew it might seem like I was being cruel, but I was just doing what I must to keep her dark side at bay.

The scene below was heart-wrenching to watch, but I forced myself to watch it because I wanted to quench that strange feeling in my heart that I got whenever I saw her in pain.

Janio had left me alone for now, even though I still had access to our power. I felt empty, but I was willing to endure this emptiness so I could finally be free of the feelings I have for Thalia.

The girls teasing Thalia advanced their teasing by picking up sticks that they used to poke her. I clenched my jaw as I felt a mild pain in my back. I could only guess that Thalia was feeling five times as much pain as I was feeling.

Every fiber of my being wanted me to rescue Thalia, but I fought against it even though it was at the cost of deep pain in my chest.

When I thought I might have to endure this for longer, a knight in shining armor came to rescue Thalia. It was a maid I knew all too well for her bravery.

Ellie, the slave werewolf, attacked the other girls teasing Thalia and she came with a weapon bigger than theirs; a huge piece of plywood. She violently swung it at her fellow maids, hitting anyone that dared to come near Thalia.

I watched everything with narrowed eyes. Ellie acted without fearing the consequences, consequences of which may land her in the dungeons. There was blood splatter everywhere as she continued her vicious defensive fight.

Some of the maids even passed out while the others went to call for help. Eventually, two guards came to their rescue, but even they had a hard time taking the weapon away from Ellie.

She hit them a few times before they caught her, but as they dragged her away, she stabbed a finger at those she was fighting, passing a warning to them, "listen to me, you whores, if any of you near Thalia while I receive my punishment, I will come back and give you three times as much pain as you caused her!"

The girls knew she wasn't joking, so they left Thalia. Alone there, Thalia cried her eyes out, digging her fingers into her flesh to punish herself. "Useless, useless, you are utterly useless," she told herself. "You can't even help your friend after she saved you, you are worthless. Just die!"

The weight of her words was heavy enough to drive me away from the window, but even though I was far from the window, I could still hear her crying thanks to my heightened senses.

It made me restless, but I knew I had to be strong if I wanted any progress. Because of the feelings I was developing for Thalia, I sent my Delta to the physician, and I sent Janette to the Caevirinal mountains to fetch me a fruit I wanted to eat, and she was allowed only four guards who would not help her in finding the fruit.

I did that to her to punish her for suggesting that what was mine should be given to another. It was after I had finished doing all that, that I realized that I was truly growing soft on Thalia.

Even if it would cost me momentarily losing my wolf, I had to end whatever feeling I was developing.

I groaned loudly, feeling suffocated by the room. I went out and instructed my guards not to follow me. I wanted to clear my thoughts.

I walked with stealth so no one would hear me coming or notice when I passed. But as I passed by a room, I halted. Thalia was standing by the door, crying as the screams of her friend filled the air.

I peeped into the room and saw that Ellie was getting whipped by the maids she attacked, and her mistress, my beta's wife was present. She instructed the guards to continue flogging the half-naked Ellie because she was not satisfied with what the maids were doing.

My eyes, however, left the scene and fell on Thalia who had collapsed on the ground, crying silently. She couldn't feel my presence, which was surprising because she usually always knew when I was near.

Out of nowhere, I saw my beta, Kaleb approaching, looking like the god of war himself, anger blazing in his eyes. I strode to him first, stopping him before he could near the door.

"Control yourself, Kaleb," I mind-linked him.

He had a look that was a mix of conflicted and angry in his eyes. "But my mate..."

"Could get targeted on if your wife discovers that she is your mate," I reminded him.

We were both stuck with keeping the existence of our mates a secret. I only managed to keep mine with Thalia a secret because the lycans present that day had their memories of that day erased by a powerful witch.

But my situation was better than Kaleb's. His feelings for his mate could barely be contained, especially since they had been hiding it for years.

I pushed him back until we were away from the punishment room. He snapped his hands out of my grip in frustration.

"I can't hold on much longer, Savior," he told me. "You need to help me rescue my mate."