The next day, I woke early in the morning. I had already ordered my best warriors to gather on the battlefield to train. I was at the ground; August was the first one. From the first day since he became my beta, he was always first to come, in the meetings, in battlefields, everywhere. He was pushing himself too much, but in this situation, everyone was.
Our ex-beta John was also present, along with the rest of my pack. My pack had already suffered much more than it deserved, and after becoming their alpha, I couldn't let that happen again.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a portal from the tree opened, and a black-brown wolf emerged from the tree. It looked directly at me but didn't move, and within one minute, hundreds of wolves were standing opposite to us. None of them moved. The feeling itself was like deja vu.
I narrowed my eyes at the brown wolf. "Shift, Asher," I commanded in my alpha voice and threw clothes at him; the wolf took the clothes behind the tree, and soon Asher walked in our direction.
I folded my hands. "Why are you here?" He looked surprised and somewhat amused by my response.
"Thank you for having me," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. I narrowed my eyes and didn't say anything.
"I called them." All of us looked behind us, towards the owner of the voice, only to meet my hot and sweaty mate. His clothes were soaked in sweat; he probably had just returned from his run. He walked toward them and signaled them to shift.
After the wolves were gone, he walked back toward me. "Diana helped me. I asked her to send my best fighters." I nodded and tried to divert my attention from his muscles. Although he was only in his jogging tracks, somehow he looked devilishly handsome, more handsome than any male wolf on the ground.
The whole day passed like a blur, first the training, and then we had to arrange houses for Reed's pack. During the whole training, Reed didn't change into his wolf. He fought, ran, and still managed to outrun us without changing into his wolf. He alone was more powerful than his pack put together.
It amazed me how much he knew about the witches: their thinking, fighting skills, and techniques. After we had made possible arrangements for his pack, I retired everyone until tomorrow. They worked so hard, and deep down, I felt guilty about dragging them into our mess.
I laid down on my bed and sighed deeply. My wolf was happy and contained. She was ecstatic I let her fight today. Today's training was tough and hard as compared to our basic one. Each and every one at least fought once in their wolf form except Reed.
He always fought in his human form and with his bare hands. Yet somehow, he was strong enough to beat the hell out of his opponent—each time.
My eyes furrowed by the thought that I had never seen Reed fighting in his wolf form. The last time I saw him fighting in his human form was with my father, and he was still able to beat the crap out of him. My feet turned cold. If he was still so powerful in his human form, I could only imagine what he would be like in his wolf.
The clock showed half-past nine. The time flew as if it had wings. After fighting with my own mind, I peeked under my bed. Nothing, there was nothing.
I gathered my courage and picked up the talisman. Last night's vision was still fresh in my mind. I wanted to know what happened between alpha Andrew and Reed. Was Reed really alpha Andrew's son? Why did he kill him?
I bit my lip and took the knife in my other hand. I closed my eyes and made a cut. As soon as the drop of my blood touched the talisman, it glowed brightly, making me blind for a second. The trees outside again started moving. The wind got stronger. Every atom of my body told me to stop, but my curiosity to know him held me.
With a shaky breath, I put the knife aside and muttered the final spell.
"Anochi porta."
The bed started twisting and turning angrily. My heart was pounding in my chest. I keep telling myself that it was not new, that I have already seen worse. Yet somehow, my inner conscience was denying the fact that the worst had yet to come.
With a final breath, I peeked under the bed. There was an intense force of gravity pulling me toward it. This time I didn't protest and fell willingly. I was standing at the same place where I was last night, but this time it was morning. I walked through the familiar corridors and stood before the portrait—the portrait of King Lycan.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I looked in the direction where the sound was coming from.
"This is not my fault." I recognized the owner as soon I heard the voice; it was alpha Andrew's.
"But you said you loved me," Selene sobbed. She was crying, her eyes were red and swelled up due to crying. She desperately grabbed Andrew's hand, but it didn't bulge him. He yanked his hand from her hold.
"I have a mate," he spits. He was not the same man I saw last time in my vision. He was completely different. He was cold and cruel. Selene bent down on her knees and cried hard.
"You have to leave from here, Selene, before my mate comes and sees us like this. Nothing could happen in between us; sooner or later, we have to split," Andrew said, still looking in a different direction. Selene sobbed and hiccupped. The whole scene brought tears to my eyes. She stood before him. She grabbed his hand and brought them to his stomach.
"I am your child's mother," she said; fresh tears were streaming from his eyes. It tugged at my heart. Andrew looked as if deep in thought before started laughing coldly.
"You think I believe your shit, you bitch. We alphas can only bear pups with our mates, and right now, mine is waiting outside," Andrew said and shook his head before walking in the opposite direction. Selene cried and tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen.
"This is YOUR child," Selene cried at the top of her lungs. Andrew was already gone, leaving only me and her. I sat on my knees next to her. I sobbed uncontrollably; I know how much it hurts when someone rejects you. I wanted to hug her, ease her pain, tell her that she wasn't alone.
"I should have listened to her," she whispered lowly, barely above a whisper.
She looked directly at me as if she could see me. I tried to touch her, but my hand passed through her. She cried for god knows how long before she stood and walked to the other room and locked it. I tried to follow her but couldn't pass through the door. As if I was restricted to go to the other side of the room.
I tried to open the door, tried to push it, but it didn't bulge. The door soon changed into smoke, and in the next moment, I was standing in the middle of a crowded village. I scanned the crowd and trained on a lady with a swollen belly. She stopped at one shop and bought some food. Without any doubt, I recognized her; she was Selene and heavily pregnant.
"That makes four pennies," the shopkeeper said without looking at her. Selene counted the coins in her hand before returning some food and started walking towards the city's outskirts.
She walked on the dirty road trailing towards the forest. I followed her till I saw a small house in the middle of the forest. It was a small and dingy house with a damaged roof. She walked inside, sat on the floor, and started examining the things she had bought today.
She sighed heavily. I could already tell she was on the brink of crying. She rubbed her swollen belly. "You have to be the strongest king; you will avenge for your mother. My dearest son, alpha Reed Xander," she said, and a single tear escaped her eye.
Suddenly the whole scene changed into smoke before the cold hands grabbed me from behind, and in the next moment, I found myself in my bedroom.
I closed my eyes; the pleading eyes of Selene were printed in my mind. How? How could she be pregnant with Alpha Andrew's child? He didn't mark her; she was not her mate, then how come she could be pregnant with his child? Could Reed be the child of Alpha Andrew? This was the only theory that could explain some of my other assumptions.
I massaged my head. I was sure I would have a headache by tomorrow. I picked up the talisman and the knife and again did the ritual, but nothing happened this time. I cried in frustration before trying it another three times. I wanted to know what happened next.
I should have listened to her. The words of Selene were ringing in my head. Who was she referring to? This was all messed up. I tried once again before putting the talisman in my drawer. It wasn't helping much. Sleep was long gone.
"Fucking magic." It only complicated and confused me more than when I started using the magic to know about him. I went to the bathroom and washed my face. I started crying again.
The pain I thought was long buried in these last few years, the wound I thought was long healed, all the feelings I suppressed hit me in full force. I cried for the loss of Selene, for mine.
"Esma?" Reed knocked on the door. "Are you alright?" his voice laced with worry; this only worsened my condition. I tried to wipe my tears and washed my face several times before opening the door.
"Yes, what do you want?" I spit coldly. He looked surprised by my reaction but moved closer to me and put his hand below my chin to make me look straight into my eyes.
"Were you crying?" he asked softly, his voice like feathers. His voice was like a hundred melodies played together. I looked away. He was the reason I couldn't sleep at night. He was the reason I have a void in my heart.
"Why do you suddenly care for me? You didn't like me. Hell, you didn't want me. Why do you suddenly start caring for someone you deny is your mate?" I said loudly. By now, fresh tears were flowing from my eyes. He looked hurt. His eyes showed guilt and loathing for himself, and for some reason, I regretted saying those words to his face.
I quickly sprinted toward my room and locked it behind me before jumping on my bed and crying again. I cried till the sun peeked through the window. The pain was unbearable.