Chapter 42
Clemencia POV
My hands were clutching the door handle, as if I could keep it forever closed. I thought I had escaped from that place to never come back. I would have preferred to get killed or to give up my life on the Claiming ground, had I known I would come back to square one.
‘You are exaggerating. We have Mate now. And they will protect us. At all costs.’
‘Of course we will. Now, will you please let go? The faster we go, the faster we leave.’
That mischievous scheme worked again. Since we mated and marked, Terra had been playing with the mate-link, opening it to our mates without my knowledge. Ever since, they had access to whatever thoughts I had, and were happily responding to it. That got me into weird and embarrassing situations. Like when I was peeking at Kylon while he was getting in the shower and thought it would be so nice if I was the one he washed, rubbing and caressing every inch of my body, taking care of me and how I could do the same. And of course, at the peak of my lust, Terra opened the link we shared and I ended up in the shower, between his hot body and the cold shower wall.
‘I took care of you alright. Fun times.’ Kylon added to my recalling memories as I blushed from head to toes. “We’ll get back at it as soon as we are back home.”
“For that you need to get out of the car.” An annoyed and bothered Alpha grumbled from the other side of the door I was holding.
My blushing going full force, I held my head low and slowly got out of the car.
“Sorry Alpha.”
“Don’t be. I understand that you don’t want to be here but for all of our sakes, you need to. Don’t worry, you have us with you, and if they abide by their laws, which I would gladly recall them on if they conveniently forget, they can’t do anything to us.”
I took a deep breath in, Terra puffing her chest inside my mind, showing me she was ready too, and I took the lead.
The door flew open before I could even knock, which was good as I might have taken an eternity to do so, and an overly happy Elder Kodard welcomed us in, with his arms literally wide open. I refrained from gagging, and bowed my head even lower. If only I was an ostrich instead, I would have buried my head into the ground right then and there.
‘If you were an ostrich, you’d be ugly as hell.’
I was about to talk back to my insulted wolf, when I noticed Kylon who was trying not to burst laughing, witness of our mental battle, and Alpha Jasper who elbowed him, pressing him to silence, too well aware of our little game, since we barely communicate out loud, as I’m too used of my old ways with Terra and Kylon too happy to have a mate to not take advantage of this detail.
Observing this whole play unfold before him, Elder Kodard expression slid to a concerned one. Not obvious to an outsider, but yet, enough for me to notice the vein twitching above his right eyebrow, while I could count 2 more wrinkles between the white caterpillars reigning over his villainous stare.
“Come in, all of you. We need to talk about the situation and see how we go from here, since it is not a common one.”
We all complied, without agreeing. Kylon was keeping a possessive hand on my hip, sticking me to his side, while Alpha Jasper was walking slightly behind me.
We entered and walked these halls I didn’t quite remember, as we have always been kept in the basement. The ancient design of the architecture, the old portraits and painting were oppressing and gloomy. For some reasons, there were many portraits of Elder Kodard through different ages and eras. It was disturbing and frightening. We arrived in a spacious living room, when we were offered to sit down and our host called for tea. He sat in a big and leathery armchair, facing us all as we took places on the sofa, me between the two colossus.
“It is not an easy and pleasant topic to come across, I implore your comprehension. But you see, in return for services of some sort, Clemencia’s parents sold her to me, to the community. Of course, we didn’t think of the possibility of her having a fated mate, no offense Mr Beta Greer. So we are now at a dead end, since, sorry for the harsh words but things are what they are, own Clemencia and there is no law stipulating that a mate bond overvalued an ownership.”
His face was so calm, almost smiling, as he claimed to be owning me. I felt the body of my mate boiling, and his eyes were flashing back and forth as he was trying to keep Korwin in check. Before I could come up with anything to help, except a begging look not to go berserk, Alpha Jasper straightened up, leaning forward, menacing.
“There is no such thing as ‘owning’ someone, Elder Kodard. Slavery has been forbidden for ages now.” His voice was low, threatening. “In that case, your past and personal agreement is voided by the fated bond, and you have to let her leave.” I heard his words, but they were similar to the growl of a pissed animal. A very pissed one at that.
“Of course, of course, no slave title is involved here! It would be outrageous. So, let me come up with a deal, will you? Because I think I have something, or I should say someone I apologize for the mistake. I was saying, there is someone here that you might want to see if you cooperate.”
Cold filled the air. Breathing was heavy and muscles tensed. I looked over to Elder Kodard who didn’t flinch before the dominance of the aura spread with such a force, it covered all over the domain.
“Where is she?” were 3 words uttered so slowly that I thought Alpha Jasper would choke on them.
“Patience, no deal was made yet.” A knock was heard on the door, but he asked to wait for a short while before coming in. “Are you ready to listen to my proposition then?”
We all nodded. Jasper eagerly to the idea of seeing his mate again, Kylon reluctantly to the idea of including me into this deal. And I did with both of intentions, wanting to save that woman but scared to get trapped in here again.
“Great. You can come in.”
And here she was. The growl that shook the walls was a direct response to the outrageous outfit she was wearing. Her blond hair was tied up in a tight bun just above her nape. The neckline of her tightly laced corset was so low, I could dive freely into her cleavage, but the hem of her skirt was so high and short, it was almost revealing the hump of her rump and the garden of her delicate femininity. Alpha Jasper jumped on his feet but the move she made toward that reaction was to hide behind Elder Kodard, to our utter surprise. Why didn’t she run into her mate’s arm?
“Alpha Jasper, may I suggest you sit back down, so we can discuss the terms of our deal? You are bothering and scaring the lady.”
“Lady from whom I bear the mark. My fated mate.” He roared, visibly hurt and upset. “What did you do to her?”
“The deal would be regular visits, from you, Alpha Jasper, and from Clemencia. We would run some tests, for science purposes only, don’t worry, nothing dangerous.”
“And for Sarabella? Will you let her leave with us?” Alpha Jasper asked, his voice wavering between fear and fury.
“Ask her yourself if she wants to, I don’t object.” He motioned for her to take place by her side and leave the tray she was holding on the coffee table. When she moved to go back behind his chair, he stopped her.
“Bella… Sarabella, do you want to leave with us?” I carefully asked before Alpha Jasper would, who was afraid, and rightfully so, to make another move that would scare her for good.
“Why would I? I don’t know any of you.” Her voice was soft, but so distant it seemed it was coming from another room.
“What do you mean Bella? You know us! Jasper, I mean, Alpha Jasper is your fated! And me, we’ve met before, remember? You helped me so much, you can’t have forgotten…” My voice cracked as I stood and grabbed her hands in mine.
Her eyes flashed, as if the dark blue ocean was illuminated by a lightning strike for a split second. Strike that electrified both of us as I faltered back into my mate’s arms, and as she grabbed her head between her hands. Alpha Jasper was by her side in the blink of an eye but as soon as he touched her, she screamed to the top of her lungs.
To that, he froze, his hands held in the air, while, without a single word, Elder Kodard urged her out in the arms of an Omega who appeared in the threshold.
“Do we have a deal?”
My eyes locked with Alpha Jasper's haggard stare. We came up with the same resolution, more solid than our present demeanour. In agreement, we nodded. It was the only way to take her out of here.
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
And we were each given a cup of tea. We gulped down the beverage. And we both fainted.