Chapter 74 - Fated to the cursed Alpha

Embry

I had made Joshua a hot drink and a sandwich, I had barely enough time to sit down before he had devoured the whole thing. “When was the last time you ate?” I asked astonished by his appetite.

He looked at me as though he had done something wrong, pushing his empty plate away from him he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I apologise, Luna, It has been a long time since I've eaten a full fresh sandwich” his face rushed with blood turning red, embarrassment set in.

“No!” I held his arm, “Please don't be embarrassed, I know what it is like to go without food” I said the words before I realized what I had said, he gave me a curious look but I was quick to shake it off as I stood taking his plate offering more food.

“It's ok Luna, we all heard the stories of how you and Kane came to be together, no matter our positions we all have secrets and things we wish hadn't happened to us” I looked at Joshua giving him a gentle smile.

“How did you know?” I asked curiously.

“Victor wasn't exactly quiet about it, I have to say Kane is not what I expected”

“That's what I thought once upon a time!” I mused, sitting back down next to him I placed the plate back down, his eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the cakes and biscuits that were displayed on it.

“So what was your position in Victor's pack?” I asked as I watched him bite into a piece of cake.

He shook his head as he swallowed hard, wiping his mouth once more, “I'm not from Victor's pack, I'm from Eric's”

“Oh,” I said out loud, wondering why on earth he was at Victor's, “Sorry I just thought you were from Victor's, how did you end up there?”

“When we were attacked at Eric's, men were taken back to Victor's, I had a feeling they made a mistake taking me. As soon as they found out who I was I was thrown out with the others, there are others here also from Eric's”

“What do you mean when they found out who you were?” I asked.

He slowed his eating, placing the partly eaten biscuit back onto the plate, “I'm Lydia's mate, I wasn't supposed to be there, Victor took her to be his mate, I was hoping to find her, so we could escape together, but I could never get close enough to Victor's place. Then when all the fighting happened Victor and his close men all seemed to disappear”

I sucked in a deep breath, Victor's deceipt goes farther even still, “Well you wouldn't have found her, because she was here, however, I don't think Victor took her with the intentions of making her his mate. From what I can work out she was trying to push him onto Kane”

Joshua looked shocked, his brows creased in the middle, “Kane?”

I cocked my head towards him rolling my eyes slightly, “Yeah well, I think she may have been influenced, I discovered a diary, she states Victor was giving her special drinks, I can only presume he was making her drink some sort of potion.” His expression on his face changed, he was angry, angry at the thought of someone doing this to his mate.

“We have some people currently working on it, hopefully, we can reverse what Victor has done to her” I smiled at him to reassure him of our good intentions.

“Is she still here? With him?” He asked quietly, almost as if he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“Has he touched her in any way?” I could hear the hurt in his voice, I didn't want to be the one to tell him of their physical relationship. He seemed like such a loyal honest person, I knew he would want blood for what Victor has done to his mate.

“I..” I stopped and thought about how I was going to tell him, but I knew there was no easy way, whatever I said he was going to be left heartbroken. “I know, whatever she has done during her time with Victor, has not been her choice. She has been under his influence this whole time” Hoping I had got away with saying a blunt 'Yes'.

“So what you're basically saying is they have been sleeping together but she doesn't know she is doing it?” Ok, so that didn't work out as I had hoped.

I nodded, he closed his eyes and dropped his head to the floor, his breathing deepened, “I'm going to kill him!” He seethed through gritted teeth.

“Look I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but Victor has already marked his own death. He has done things here, poisoned not only me but Kane. He had Lydia slip him potions to make him fall for her, His disloyalty runs so deep, he has made his own tunnel to hell itself” I explained, Joshua was stunned at how far Victor had gone.

“Why? What's he done all this for ?” Joshua asked, pushing the plate away from himself he was thoroughly invested in this conversation right now.

I shrugged my shoulders, “I don't know exactly, all I do know is he thinks there is something in here that he wants, something none of us know about. But he's not answering any questions at the moment, I'm hoping a few days locked away that Kane may be able to break him” I explained the shortened version else we would be here all night.

“There you are” Kane shouted from the doorway, he looked at Joshua then back to me. Sudden fear filled the room, Joshua stood from his seat and bowed his head to Kane as he walked over and kissed my cheek.

“Is this a private party or can anyone join in?” Kane said as he went to the fridge grabbing a beer.

“It's ok Joshua, take a seat please,” I said, Looking at Kane I nodded towards Joshua, getting him to say something to him.

Kane walked around to his front “At ease soldier!” He teased, I rolled my eyes as I let out a loud breath, of all the times to tease the poor man it had to be right now. Just after the moment, I've broken his heart telling him his mate has been doing the nasty with the local psycho!

“Sorry Alpha, I mean no disrespect, Luna asked to speak to me” He explained as he sat down nervously.

“If my Luna wanted to speak with you that is fine by me, she is a good judge of character” He smiled at me trying to make light of the situation.

“So what is so interesting you brought him all the way in here to speak to him?” Kane asked me, he said he was fine with it but I could hear the jealousy in his voice.

“After reading Lydia's diary, I learnt of a man called Joshua, someone she cared deeply for, who she was taken from. This..” I motioned my hands towards the poor man who still couldn't bring himself to look up at Kane. “Is said Joshua, her mate!” I said the last word loud and clear enough for him to understand.

“Her mate? I didn't know she was mated, she doesn't bare your mark?” Kane asked spoke to him placing his beer on the table.

Joshua shook his head, “No, we only found each other a week prior to our separation, we informed both families and were planning on a mating ceremony within our pack, we were going to complete the mating ritual then”

“He's from Eric's pack” I added, looking to Kane.

“Eric's pack?” He repeated.

“Yes Alpha” Joshua confirmed.

“What happened to Eric?” Kane asked him.

“I don't really know, we all presumed Victor held him captive somewhere, his body wasn't amongst the dead. A week later his men came back and escorted the rest of us back to his lands, but his men didn't know I was Lydia's mate. When they did find out I was kicked out the back with the rest of the men and women who refused to follow Victor, there were also the injured ones and the elderly, mainly ones who couldn't serve him”

“Well, you all safe now” I smiled, masking the horror that was going through my brain at the torture some of these people had been through.

“Thankyou Luna” He returned a smile.

“I think tomorrow, we should take him to Lydia, let him talk to her, see if he can get through to her,” I said to Kane, he seemed reluctant at first but did agree. We all talked just for a short while, but I couldn't hide my tiredness any longer as I Yawned Kane was quick to end things.

“Ok let us get some rest, I feel tomorrow is going to be a long day for all of us,” Kane said, standing from his stool he downed the last of his beer and chucked it into the bin next to him.

“Thankyou, both of you, I promise I will do all I can to help, I just want Lydia back, I will take any punishment for anything she has done wrong here” Joshua began but Kane was quick to cut him off.

“There will be no punishment, if we are right she has not been herself, this is the influence of Victor, he will be the one to receive punishment” I waved goodbye to him as Kane walked him to the door, shaking his hand he sent him on his way.

I quickly washed the empty plate and the cup leaving it on the drainer to dry, I walked to Kane who was standing in the doorway watching me with a smile on his face. Placing my forehead on his chest he brushed his fingers through my hair, “I could just fall asleep right here” I croaked, tiredness soon swept over me.

I barely had the strength to climb the stairs, Kane could see how I struggled as he swooped me up into his arms and carried me the rest of the way.

He placed me down in bed, it was so soft and comfortable, I closed my eyes and hummed to the feeling. He began to take off my shoes, I could feel his eyes on me “So what is it you needed to tell me?” He asked, my eyes shot open, it was time to tell him about our little cub.