Raised Among Alphas

77 - Waters Aftermath

Alora POV

"Alora!" Ithax screamed at me as I felt him pulling me out of the water with one hand.

For some reason, I had completely forgotten he was here.

"How are you? Are you well?" He had panic all over his face. His hands were all over me desperately searching for any signs of injuries.

I had to cough out some water that lingered in my lungs, but I nodded to answer my mate trying to ease his fear.

"I'm fine. I'm fine" I finally said to him as he kept holding my face between his hands.

His breathing was all agitated.

"What happened in there?" He was almost growling, I couldn't tell if it was at me or at the situation, but his wolf was clearly upset.

"I... I... Don't know." It's true. I was still dizzy trying to put my thoughts together.

Ithax's eyes wouldn't leave me, and his skin was pale as the moon during a cloudy night if that was even possible.

"What happened?" I asked Ithax as the cloud around my mind began to ease, and my voice finally came back to me.

"You dived into the water, I was going in after you, but this place froze me in my spot. My legs were trapped in the limestone. The next second this whole place was beaming... all those hieroglyphics lighted up." He was pointing at the ceiling and the upper sides of the walls as he was explaining.

I have seen the tribal signs he was talking about many many times, but never not once had they glowed.

"I couldn't see you in the water, it was too bright in there to see anything. That's when... then there was this..." Ithax continued explaining but when he was lost for words I turned to him.

"Song?" I asked, thinking that maybe he heard the same thing I did.

"Yes. A voice. Did you hear it too?" My mate asked me more upset than before.

"Yes. It talked to me in the water. It told me to go to the Forest and... and it gave me some sort of warning? Advice? I... I truly don't know what it was. All I know is that it was beautiful. Almost divine..."

Something in his face changed drastically as I finished talking. Something he tried to hide without any success.

"What is it?" I asked him as his gaze got lost in his thoughts.

"Let's go" Ithax stood us up, his eyes now locked in the water.

"Ithax? What's wrong?" I asked again and stopped walking.

Searching in our bond I faintly felt his unrest growing. Clearly, he had me blocked off. Whatever he heard or experienced couldn't have been the same I did. My experience was magical, pleasant, and pure. Sure, it was unexpected and I was still unsure about what it was. But my bubble of bliss was popped by Ithax's disturbed feelings.

"I don't know what you heard but that voice wasn't coming from anything close to beautiful. Alora that was the song of nightmares."

"Ithax... what did the song tell you?" My heart was racing, and I knew it couldn't be anything good, just by the way it had shaken him.

"It... it... it doesn't matter let's get out of here."

I saw him flinching, he was debating whether to tell me the truth or not. But, I was not leaving here without an explanation.

"Tell me," I demanded, not like a plea but like an order.

He stared at me for a long minute, still fighting himself. His grey eyes were almost silver under these lights, but completely lost, far away from my reach.

Finally, after a devastating internal struggle, he came back to his senses, seeming almost sad, and said...

"It said... I found her. I'm coming. I'll take her."

I didn't have to ask who was he talking about. I knew with every bit of my being that he meant me. But what was it? Why it wasn't that threatening for me? Did the song try to fool me? Or did I encounter something completely different?

I was still trying to sort out my ideas, going over everything the song had said to me when Ithax reached my chin with his hand and lifted my face up to him. He was staring down at me, all of his emotions conflicted and battling right in front of me.

"There's something more..." He said almost hating his words.

"Your scent changed since you came out of the water, and... you no longer bear my mark."

My hand immediately flew to my neck where my silver mark had been, but I couldn't feel the scarred tissue anymore. It was gone...

Panic took residence in my heart. My blood pressure went into an override. Despair was rooted in my brain.

No.

It doesn't make sense, because Ithax still smells the same. His scent still delights my soul.

I can feel our bond.

I can feel his feelings.

I can... I can... damn it I can't reach his mind. Our mind-link is gone.

My hands were shaking, my legs trembling losing their ground. I was short of breath, my lungs refusing to function.

Tears gathered in my eyes, and desperation hit me harder.

If I lost my mate bond, what else did the waters take from me?

"THANA! THANA!" I searched for my wolf terrified.

"Alora." My wolf replied, stern, not saying much but just enough to allow me to breathe in a way. Her voice though, her voice was the same but different. Her voice was stronger... sharper, more imposing.

Ithax brought me to him, close to his chest, holding me close.

I was breaking down. Knowing my wolf was safe was a relief, but losing my mate. What does that mean? Did I genuinely lose him? Are we not fated anymore?

Is it because whoever was the song deemed me unfit to be a mate? Was I not enough? Was I truly being punished? Is it to free Ithax from me?

"How?" I asked with a broken voice, shivering under Ithax's arms.

"Alora, the waters turned you into an Alpha."

My eyes went straight to his.

"What?" I was shocked. "What are you talking about?" I asked again dumbfounded.

"You can no longer bear my mark because you are not a Luna but an Alpha." I felt him hurting through our faint bond, but his voice didn't show any of it. His tenor voice was subtle and with a hint of what seemed to me... Pride? Honour? 

I heard him, but none of it made sense. It couldn't make sense. Alphas are born from Alphas, not made. Certainly not born from Beta blood like me. Alphas are born into packs, and my packs... the Grasslands, the Rainforest, they have their Alphas. Why would the waters turn me into an Alpha?

"Let's go back," Ithax's voice pulled me out of my mind, where I was going down a rabbit hole.

I nodded and held his hand, leading the way out of this limestone trap that I just fell into. The only thing keeping me going was the realization that his touch still made my skin burn with him. It made me trust our bond wasn't completely gone. So much was left of it. I could still feel some of his emotions filtering through, the same way I felt him before he marked me. I could tell he was confused, disrupted, distracted, angry, hurt, afraid, but overall he was alert. His wolf paced restlessly, watchful for any threats. 

Silence governed between us when suddenly...

"Alpha Alora??" A familiar voice intruded into my mind, his wolf recognizing mine.

"Our Beta" Thana pushed forward howling proudly in reply, as if she had been patiently expecting him.

"It will be the greatest honor of my life," Roger answered back through our mind-link.