My Salvation | ✔️

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

I sat down across from him, our distance not that much from one another.

On the other hand, I was concerned for his rib that I had cracked earlier. Wasn't it broken? Why didn't he miss a reaction out of that?

Reese seemed to have read my mind, because he explained calmly, "I'm an Alpha, and we heal very fast. Do not worry about me, I'm fine."

I nod, calm and reassured.

Reese licked his lips, debating silently before quietly saying, "Several years ago, there was a rogue attack on the pack house. My family was kidnapped."

Wasabi's growl slipped between my lips, not liking it one bit.

He has a family?

A lover? Maybe a child?

His eyes widened, hands going up and dismissing what I was thinking, "No, it's not what you're thinking. I've... never had a girlfriend or lover. I've saved myself for my mate, if that's what you're thinking. I'm talking about my mother, father, and little brother."

My growling ceased, instead, I started blushing.

'We're both virgins...'

'Nothing beats a fresh new dick. Good thing he can get a clean pussy too,' Wasabi puffed out, purring at the same time.

'When the hell did you get dirty?! Normally you're so composed and shy!' I resorted.

'Not having them mark and mate with you the same day they meet you is what causes this, I'm just lonely... and I need my mate,' Wasabi whimpered, her eyes softening before she cut the link.

I pondered on that for a minute, feeling sad for Wasabi before turning my attention back on Reese.

He took a deep breath, looking nervous.

"Odette... took them when she had the chance. You see, she was a pack member in my father's pack. Well, now my pack but that's besides the point. She threatened me she would kill them, and god knows how she captured them, but for some reason, my command to let them go never affected her," he trailed off, seeming quite bitter as he relived through his memories once more.

I urged him on, causing him to continue.

"Ever since that day, she has enslaved me to do her dirty work. The rumors you've heard from me taking over packs? It's true. She made me, I had no choice. Till this day, I feel terrible for what I've done," he explained, his eyes sorrowful.

My eyes casted downwards, "Is that why you also treated me badly? Because she commanded you to or else your family would be in danger?"

He nodded.

"Couldn't you send someone to look for your family? Or just simply kill her?" I asked, confusion written all over my face.

"If I killed her, how will I ever know what became of them? Secondly, I tried. But my patrol would always come back empty handed. It's as if their existence was wiped off this world. Odette reassured me they're alive."

"She must have hidden their scent with a spell. How did she manage to control you back there?" I asked.

His gaze casted downward. "If you're referring to that night... I'm wearing a ring that she slipped on my finger. I can't take it off or play with it. It'll immediately shock me and my wolf and alert her to what we're doing."

"Break it? Smash it out of nowhere?"

"No use. Trust me, I tried many methods."

"Is she a witch?"

"It would seem so. She has a lot of capabilities to control others and make sure no harm comes to herself."

"And how did she even manage to slip that mind-controlling ring on you?"

"When she was holding my little brother, a blade against his throat kept pressing further in if I didn't put it on. Right when I put it on, it shocked me and knocked me unconscious. I can still hear my parents and brothers cries for me as they were taken away..." he paused, furrowing his brows. "For an Alpha who rules so many territories, I'm weak for letting them get kidnapped for all these years. And not a damn thing can be done."

"I have tried ambushing her and it would only lead to the same thing. She would make me kneel and I'd have to beg for mercy because her shocks would send me and my wolf unconscious."

My heart throbbed in pain, thinking how much my mate had been through. What he had to continuously go through.

"Then... why would you make me train extra hard like this?" I asked.

He took another breath, playing with the grass, tossing it into the air.

"I made you train extra hard because... she will kill you."