Chapter 23

Mason's POV: Part One

We were rushed to the “Vampire Castle” as soon as Aria had lost her senses. Each of us had our wounds treated, and the silver in my arm was extracted. I never left her side as they treated me, I made sure they treated her palms as they were bruised and blistered when she had tried to pull the silver arrow from my arm.

She has been thirsting for my blood, I can sense that for a while now. The scent of my blood had distracted her for a second even though we were under attack. She was angry when her uncle attacked me with the silver pointed arrow and gave orders to capture her. It had my blood boiling, if not for silver affecting me badly I would have slaughtered them there and then. How dare they say all this? My mate ain’t their plaything.

She had used up all her energy in the transformation, her aura was powerful. I am happy that the head of the soldiers recognizes and accepts her as their princess. I took her hand in mine gazing at her unconscious form with worry.

I woke up from the touch of her thumb against the back of my hand. I don’t remember when I dozed off. My face brightened as I saw her awake, without thinking I got up from my chair and pulled Aria into a tight embrace. She returned my embrace kissing my forehead lovingly.

“How are you doing? Is silver extracted out of your body? She asked me worried about my health.”

“You don’t have to worry Aria. As soon as you teleported us here we were rushed to the doctor. They took care of everyone’s injuries, I am alright now. I just need some rest. I explained to her.”

Even after telling her, I was fine, she forced me to show her the wound. It had almost disappeared without a trace. It calmed her to a great extent to see I was well. I remembered her hands were blistered and took her hands in mine examining her palms. She looked at me quizzically thinking why was I inspecting her palms unnecessarily.

“Your palms are all healed too, I told her with a sigh of relief.”

She didn’t realize that she had hurt herself while helping me until I mentioned her healed hands.

“Where are others, are they alright? She asked me her voice laced with worry.”

“All of them are fine, and resting at the moment. I answered.”

My answer didn’t satisfy her, she wanted to see all of them firsthand. I helped her up from the bed so we could go and see our friends. Suddenly her throat was dry, she asked me for a glass of water. I filled a glass with water from the bedside table and offered it to her. Even after drinking two glasses of water, her thirst didn’t quench.

She ignored it and I took her to see our friends. I took her to Ethan’s room, Prince Caleb’s room, and granny’s room. Ethan and Prince Caleb were with their mates. She was happy to see all of them doing fine. She felt like something was missing, and it was important for her to know.

Remembering the situation we were in she was alarmed that she had forgotten her parents and Anna’s might be in danger. She wanted to go and save them as soon as possible.

“How many hours was I out for? She enquired.”

“You were out for two hours. What’s wrong, tell me? I questioned her.”

“I need to go back right now. She told me.”

“Why do you need to go back? I asked her, raising a brow.”

“Mine and Anna's parents will be in danger. I need to go and get them to safety, I don’t think the King will be silent after knowing about us. I am sure he will go after my parents. She informed me.”

Getting inside the room she started getting dressed in clothes that will be comfortable and easy to fight for her. She was ignoring the urge to dive her fangs deep into my neck. It was making her feel like her throat was burning, and it was all due to ignorance.

“I am not letting you go alone in the enemy’s territory when he is after you. I retorted.”

“Sure, you can come with me. Go get ready, we will be leaving in a few minutes. She agreed.”

I immediately started to get ready. After I was done I told her, we should teleport to her house. I didn't want my parents to know otherwise they won't be letting us go. She decided to use my suggestion.

She was calming her raging thoughts, I went and held her hand as we teleported to her room. There was an unsettling silence in her house. She was on the edge thinking if the King had done anything to her parents, as she opened her bedroom door.

She got into the living room overlooking it and, the kitchen, nothing was out of place. She cautiously walked to her parent's room. I was following close behind her. The room was dark, she found the switch and turned on the lights. Her parents were missing.

It only meant one thing, they were held captive to lure Aria. She soon found the note that was laid under the pillow. Her blood started to boil in rage looking at the letter. He was asking her to come to the castle dungeons if she wanted her and Anna's parents alive. She had a sudden urge to kill him, her animalistic side taking over. I held her hand to stop her from doing anything rash.

It was a trap, we both knew it but, we had to see if he had their parents. It didn't matter to her that her life was on the line as well, she was worried about their parent's safety. Without her telling me I knew that she was going there as bait. I knew she wouldn't back down at any cost and allowed her.

We were going to face King Arthur and his cousin hoping Aria and Anna's parents were safe.

We visited Anna's house on the way to find the same thing. I told her not to teleport directly near the dungeons, then finalized to teleport near Castle and walk to the dungeons. Aria was having a hard time controlling her fury and hatred toward King.

Aria was thinking about how he had their parents, her real parents as well. She was furious with him for playing with people's lives. He had his son and wife under restrictions too. All of them were forced to obey, they were suffering under his rule.

She calmed herself before we teleported to the castle. The castle and dungeons were clear in view to us. She was the decoy, and she didn't want to take me with her as I was still recovering.

"Mason, please stay here. I will call you in case an emergency occurs." She told me, trying to reassure me.

"Are you sure you want to go there alone?" I questioned her.

She thought for a moment before answering me.

"I am sure I can face him. Don't worry about it. She told me"

Knowing what she was thinking about I pulled her in for a tight hug and then released her.

"Be safe, I told her before releasing her hand."

I didn't want to let her go alone but we had no other choice. She got out of our hiding spot walking toward the dungeon gate. The guards saw her coming and immediately opened up the gate. She told me she was going inside with our mind link. I permitted her to go, as she got inside the doors were locked. I could feel her anxiousness over the situation.

She focused on her senses to find where the king and his cousin were. She could hear some hushed voices and followed the sound and found the basement door. Opening the door she climbed down the stairs, preparing herself for the encounter when the smell of iron hit her nose. Her fangs sprouted out and her throat felt parched.

They had hurt her and Anna's parents. She was feeling dizzy, angry, and thirsting for blood at the same time. Recollecting herself she went inside the room. The first thing she saw was her and Anna's parents chained to the wall. It had her blood boiling enough to think about killing them.

"Aria you need to calm down, I told her."

My voice gave her strength and she proceeded forward. The King might have smirked at her as she wanted to slap it off his face.

"Oh look who is finally here, you sure took your sweet time to come, King said mockingly."

"Leave my and Anna's parents alone. You wanted me to come here. I am here now, let them go. She retorted."

"Dear little niece, do you think I will let you go that easily, do you? He said laughing like a maniac."

"You are not worthy of calling me niece, you held my parents captive and made people's life miserable. You aren't even worthy of your title "Alpha King". She blurted out angrily."

Someone was keeping a watch on our every action. Without me noticing a soldier had snuck behind me and knocked me out. I didn't even notice his actions as I was focused on reading Aria's mind.

I was chained and taken to where Aria and they were. I heard him say something to her, making her worried about me. My mind was foggy due to the hit I took, she couldn't contact me.

"Little Aria, come with us if you want them, and your mate to be safe. He commanded her."

"What have you done to my mate? Where is he? She asked, almost shouting."

"Evan go get her mate, she wants to meet him. He taunted her."

I was angry at them, they were treating my mate badly. But, I couldn't do anything, I was tied with chains. I was dragged to the basement where they were.

As soon as she felt my presence she took a look at me and was relieved to find no silver. She was thinking about what to do next, she couldn't trust the king. She was thinking of accompanying them to her real parents.

"Don't listen to him Aria, take Mason and get away from here. Her father insisted."

"I can't go without you, you are my family. I don't care about anything else. She retorted."

"Evan, King Arthur called out to him a sly smile painted on his face."

He was up to something we both knew. He placed an order on her parents and they couldn't speak. A silver knife was thrown in my direction. Without a second thought, she jumped in front of me. The knife hit her shoulder blade, the silver and pain she was feeling were making her dizzy.

My eyes had flashed red with the smell of my mate's blood and fury. I was angry and worried at the same time. Her parents were worried about her as well. She was furious as he hurt me.

Her aura became intimidating, scaring them. Color had drained from their faces. She took a step forward holding the King's gaze.

"Scram out of here, and don't you dare to show me your faces for the time being. She commanded them using her authoritative tone."

They were shaking, bowing down to her before they ran off the basement. She went ahead and helped her and Anna's parents, releasing them from shackles. She didn't notice Ethan was here and helping me while she was busy.

The aura reduced as we were the only ones in the basement. Her body began to sway while she was walking to her mom. The silver knife was making it worse for her.

"Are you alright? She asked her mom, looking relieved."

She winced in pain as the silver assaulted her shoulder. The world in front of her became blurry.

"We need to hurry back fast, her shoulder is bleeding. Her mom said laced with worry for her.

Her mom was the last thing she heard before her consciousness faded away. But, she was grateful to be able to save them.