Amethyst

Chapter 18

Lea's POV

The guards came over, picked me up out of my seat and took me back to my room.  I didn’t struggle or put up a fight, if anything I was glad to be out of there.  I walked back into my room and saw Jade sat on the chair reading a book; she looked up to see who it was and when she realised who it was she jumped up from her seat.

“Sorry Miss, I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.  How did it go?” She asked politely.

“I may have made him a bit angry.”  I replied as I eased my shoes off.

“Oh no, what did you say?”

“I told him my mate would come for me and that I knew he was afraid of him.”

“Your mate, you’ve already found him?”

“Only recently but yes.”  I said with a heavy heart as I reminded of how much I missed him.

“Wow, what coven is he from?”

“He’s not a witch; he’s human.”  I corrected nervously, knowing how insane it sounded,

“But how is that possible, a witch and a human.  Nothing like this has happened in thousands of years.”

“Zane isn't like any other human.”

“I’m sorry, of course Miss.”

“Jade, you don’t have to call me Miss, my name is Lea and there’s no need to apologise.  I think anyone would be just as sceptical as you, it seems so unlikely."

“Mi…I mean Lea, would it be alright if I stayed here tonight?  I’m afraid if I leave this room that your uncle won’t be too happy to see me.”

At first I was surprised by her request but as I thought about it more and more, whatever I did would impact whoever else was under Maximus’s thumb.

 “Of course you can.  The bed is big enough for about twelve people.”

“Thank you.”  She answered with relief.

“And another thing, when Zane comes for me, I want you to come with us."

“But what about my family?”

“By the end of this, Maximus won’t be a problem anymore; I promise you will get them back.”

“How can you be so certain they will find you?”

“Have you heard of the Fray pack?”

“Of course, everyone knows the Fray pack, they're fearless.”

“My dad is Peter Fray.”

“Oh my god, I should have made the connection.  You’re the alpha’s daughter.”  She said almost trembling.

“On leave Alpha, he’s left my uncle in charge until I get my powers sorted.  Not that it’s going to happen any time soon.”

“Well then I have no doubt they they will try to find you but this castle is so well hidden, no one has ever found it."

“My dad and Zane will find me.  And when they do, there will be hell to pay.”

Zane’s POV

By the end of the day, we had gathered well over forty-eight wolves.  Once word began to spread that we were on the hunt for Maximus, more and more people joined the search.  In the end we had seventy-three wolves, twenty-six witches and even eight elves. We had to keep them all hidden in the woods as their numbers were drawing attention.  Not only that but the elves didn't look especially human. 

I walked with Peter from the house into the woods, we stayed silent most of the way only talking about the amount of people who had arrived to help.  When we joined them, all fell silent as they stared at me; one hundred and seven pairs of eyes burning my skin. 

Then all hell broke loose as they all asked why a human would be present at an event like this.  I ran over to the nearest tree and climbed into it, carefully balancing myself as I stood on one of the branches.  I watched as Peter tried to calm them to no avail.

“Everyone be quiet!” I yelled at them, and a hushed silence fell.  “I know you think I have no right to be here, but the truth is that I’m Lea’s mate and have every right to be here.”

“How can a human be Lea’s mate? It doesn’t happen.”  One person yelled from the crowd,

Peter stepped in to answer this question, “It does happen, just not very often.  It is true though, Zane is Lea’s mate.”

"That can't be true, that would mean that Lea is...But that's a legend." 

“Lea is the girl from the prophecy and Zane is the human that is supposed to help her; he has the strength of any wolf here and twice the skill.  I’ve seen him, there is no doubting it, in fact if it wasn’t for Zane we may not have won the battle last time and we are lucky to have him.”

I stepped back in and tried to get them all on side.

“Lea and her family have lived in fear for the last eighteen years; no family should suffer through the pain they have.  Lea was forced out of hiding by Maximus and in doing so she was captured along with James and Michael, we need you all to help us find them and take down Maximus so that no one has to live in fear, so that no one has to run and so that no one has to hide.  Who will help us?”

A huge cheer came from the crowd and fists where raised in the air.  It was the first time in months that I had felt positive, the idea that all this could be over soon filling me with joy.  I went on to explain how we could follow the scent that the rouges had left; even after a day, the trail was still fresh according to Peter.  We then decided that the fastest way for us to travel would be if Mia and the witches flew above and the wolves ran below carrying me, and the elves. 

When we found Maximus, the elves would move in first as there were fewer of them and they could sneak through their defences much easier than the wolves or the witches could.  Whilst this was going on, the witches would break down whatever spells protected the area so there would be no chance they were protected. 

Then finally the wolves would go in through the front door, attacking the rouges and whatever else Maximus had on guard.   Whilst this was going on, I would go in with a wolf called Ivy to find Lea, James and Michael.   

As we were getting organised Peter came up to me and patted me on the back.

“That was one hell of speech back there.”  He praised.

“Thanks, I’d have done anything to get them to help.”

“You’re a natural leader; just like your father.”

“Lea told you about him?”

“She mentioned it just so we knew, she didn’t go into detail.  He’d be really proud of you.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Because I’m proud of you.”

He gave me another pat on the back and took up his space at the of the front of the pack,  a chorus of howls and ripping clothes echoed through the trees as they all changed into their wolves while the witches took to the air with Mia leading them.  Once the wolves had changed, Peter and the two rows of wolves behind him kneeled to the ground so that me and the eight elves could climb onto their backs.  I held onto Peter’s fur as he stood back up; he sniffed around for a second then with little warning, howled before he pounded forward following the trail that would lead us to Lea.