Because he killed my mother. The voice of Reed rang in my head. I was lying down on my bed. Alpha Andrew was a kind man as far as I knew. He was the descendent of King Lycan. All respected him. Nobody could kill him; he was treated like royalty.
Then why would he kill Reed's mother? Who was Reed? He was surely not some normal wolf. He has a dangerous aura. Also, no one but an alpha could take over the other alpha.
Ugh...too many questions. Suddenly, my eyes drifted to the jeans hanging on the doorknob of my wardrobe. I quickly checked its pocket and found the talisman Diana had given me.
Put your hands on this talisman and say Anochti porta. You will get everything; you will get your answers about Reed.
I take several deep breaths. Diana told me that magic comes with a cost. I took the knife from the cupboard and sliced my palm lightly such that some blood dropped on the talisman. I clutched the talisman tightly and closed my eyes.
The trees were moving angrily due to the wind. The wind was blowing fiercely. My heart was beating fast. Something was not feeling right.
"Anochti porta."
I opened my eyes. The trees were still, and the wind was calmed down. The silence was deafening. Suddenly my bed started twisting and moving like something was under it. My heart was in my mouth, and I immediately regretted not listening to Diana. It was like some crazy horror psycho movie.
Collecting all the courage that I had inside me, I peeked under my bed. That's when I felt something rough and cold pulling me inside the bed. I tried to scream at the top of my lungs as the hands pulled me into the darkness.
I opened my eyes and tried to move but couldn't. Darkness surrounded me. It was like my eyes were still closed. My heart was thundering in my chest, and my stomach was churning sickly. The sense of my surroundings was lost; only the sound of wind swooshing past my ears was all I heard. The coldness didn't leave me either, and my body shivered visibly.
It all happened at the same time. Many voices filled the room. It was instantly overwhelming. I couldn't make out one word of what they were saying.
Suddenly, I felt the rigidness of the ground under my feet. It was like I was teleported to some other place, but the scent of my room was still strong as if I saw some vision. I was amazed at how magic could do impossible things.
I let my hands drop from my head and tried to look at my surroundings. There was a red door at one end, and the darkness swallowed the other end. Without any hesitation, I opened the door and found myself in the familiar corridor of the castle—Reed's home.
I walked through the familiar stairs. The walls looked much better and were maintained. I saw a light at the far end of the corridor. For some reason, I felt drawn to it like a moth to fire. My legs were moving without my will as I found myself in front of another door. This was the same door I had seen in the castle, but Diana wouldn’t let me go near it.
The door was larger, and for some reason, it shouted royalty and danger at the same time. I tried to open it, but it was locked from inside. I knocked, but there was no answer from the other side. When I was about to turn and go back, the door creaked open, and a woman stood at the door with a candle in her hand. She looked past me as if I was not there at all.
I tried to touch her, but my hand passed through her. It was clearly a vision; the woman looked older, but her eyes captivated me for some reason. Her eyes were the same contrast of ocean blue and grey specks. I could distinguish those in a million. She looked so enchanted and beautiful.
The woman suddenly walked through me and hugged a cloaked figure. By the height and well-built posture, and physique, it was no doubt that there was a man inside the clothes. The man removed his cloak only to reveal himself as the one and only alpha Andrew.
He looked young and happy. Andrew kissed the lady. "I missed you, Selene," Andrew said in between the kisses.
"I missed you more,” Selene moaned.
He gave the lady a hot and passionate kiss and pushed her inside the room.
The sounds of moaning and lovemaking soon filled the silence. I covered my ears with my hands and walked back from the door.
Next, I opened my eyes only to find myself on the bed in my room. The sheets were damp with sweat. I sat silently and tried to even my breaths. I clutched the talisman tighter; it was glowing for few seconds before it stopped.
Oh god. Diana didn't tell me that it would be like this. Fuck, that was scary.
I tried to remember the face of the lady in the vision. She looked so much like Reed. Her eyes were the same replica of Reed's. The ocean blue eyes with the grey specs. Selene. The name sounded familiar. I have heard that name. The dots soon connected.
At Reed's chest. Yes, the name was written on the left side of his chest, exactly on the top of his heart. Selene was his mother? But alpha Andrew was in love with her, or it seems in the vision. Then why would he kill Selene? Was Reed Andrew's child?
This gave me the answer to my earlier question of how Read could overtake Andrew's pack. He has the alpha blood; he was from the alpha bloodline. He was royal. Fuck. I am mated to fucking royal.
By now, my head was spinning like a ball. All of my energy was sucked; I was feeling very tired, but I could not make myself sleep for some reason. After twisting and turning for an hour, I gave up on my idea to sleep. I walked out of my room.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw Reed's door wide open. I can't stop myself from peeking inside his room. He was sitting in the same position where I left him last time, only this time he had a glass of wine in his hands. He looked out from the window towards the sky.
The moon was peeking through the clouds. His face was illuminated in the light of the moon. His eyes looked hurt, vulnerable.
I gathered all my courage and knocked on his door. He looked in my direction but soon diverted his gaze to the moon. I sat beside him and matched his line of sight.
"Can't sleep?" he asked after few minutes.
"No, bad dream. You?"
"Same," he said and poured some wine in another glass, and handed it to me. I felt he was saying it in a different context.
I took a sip and let the wine do its work.
"They wanted me to kill someone," he said after a long pause, still looking at the moon. I blinked at him momentarily before the realization dawned on me. He was referring to the witches. I didn't speak a word in fear he would stop talking. Maybe it was wine, or maybe he trusted me. A little part of me hoped for the latter.
"They wanted me to kill someone whom I loved and hated most at some part of my life. I couldn't decide if I wanted her dead, so I did the one thing I thought was best at that time, I ran away."
A single tear escaped his eye and fell on his hand. He quickly wiped his eyes, gulped the wine in one go, and looked in my direction. No, the cold Reed is back.
"It's too late; you should sleep. Tomorrow we have to wake early for training," he said, still looking everywhere but me. His voice was low like a breeze.
I nodded and started walking back to my room.
Reed was not some tyrant, crazy alpha the world claims. He wasn't heartless; he was just heartbroken. He was hurting from the inside, and today I saw another side of him.
I laid on my bed and closed my eyes only to meet the familiar ocean blue eyes in my dream, the eyes of my mate.