Forlorn

Chapter 25

It has been a couple of days since I have been released from my cell and into the pack. I've been walking around the pack grounds overseeing how the pack has been handling day to day life. They definitely seemed to be struggling but they seemed to put on a brave face. It was a bumpy road at first but they accepted me to help this problem. After they found out that I wasn't lying about being the Queen, they changed dramatically and that sent up a couple of flags. But being a sucker that I am, I didn't think about it.
Some of the children were playing ball by the tree line. The parents were no where to be found. I listen closely, ignoring the children's laughter and shouting. It was eerily quiet.
"Aiyana!!" A child's shout brought my attention back onto them. I glanced down and found all of the children looking up at me with awe in their eyes. The children held up the ball they were playing with. "You wanna play?"
"I would love to." I smiled down at them but still kept an ear out. I didn't like the way nature was behaving. I guess living with wolves did have its perks. One of the kids kicked the ball to me. I happily kicked it back. This happened for about five minutes until Tiana stirred.
Keep your guard up. She warned. I froze playing ball and looked over my shoulder. I could see the glinting of predatory gazes. The children stopped playing and looked upon me.
"Kids stay behind me." I ordered. They nodded and huddled behind me. My eyes scanned the forest, looking for the enemy that has yet shown themselves. Soon the disgusting scent of rogues wafted into my nose, making me almost want to gag. The eyes and scent grew closer as the rogues continued forward. They growled as they stepped out from the forest. The children whimpered as they saw the threat coming. As slowly as I could without taking my eyes of the enemy, I ushered the children back. I could sense that the rogues were coming from the sides. Suddenly one of the rogues pounced and in lightning speed I transformed into my big white wolf. I swiped my paw at the rogue and he went soaring in the air, crashing against the tree. I curled around the children, growling at the enemies. I turned my attention to the kids for a second. They were shivering from fear.
Stanley!
What is it Aiyana?
Rogues on the south side. I'm protecting the children. There are at least twenty. I said while snapping my jaws at the intruders. They jumped at me and with another quick motion, I sent them flying away from me.
I'm on my way.
Hurry. I turned my attention to each of the rogues. The children sniffled and whimpered as they clung to my leg, holding tightly with their death grip. I glanced down for a moment to check on the kids. They stared terrified at the rogues. I clenched my jaws together as I mentally batted my brain around, trying to find an escape route so I could get these kids to safety. I closed my eyes and used my senses to guide me. I could hear every move they take and every sound they make. Suddenly I could sense where one of the rogues were going to be. With lightning speed, I picked up all of the kids, swiftly put them on my back and dashed as soon as the rogue leapt, leaving me the opening. Once through the opening, I made a mad dash deeper into the pack grounds. Stanley's scent drifted into my nose. Only when I saw Stanley's wolf, only did I slide to a stop. I laid down so the children could climb off of me.
They quickly jumped off of me and immediately ran to the Warriors. Once I knew they were safe, I turned around to be met with the rogues from earlier. They were growling and snapping their jaws at us. I grew to my full height and towered over the rogues. I saw them slightly back up before their eyes glazed over and they began to growl again. They lunged at Stanley but I intervened and struck the rogue. He went soaring through the air. But by doing this, I didn't see the one that darted in a different direction and she jumped onto my back, bitting down on my scruff. She had her teeth embedded deep and no matter how much I tried to buck her off, she would not let go. I growled as I twisted my body in a odd angle and successfully grabbed ahold of her. In a swift movement, I crushed her between my jaws. I mentally cringed at this motion but I didn't want my enemy to see my weakness. The blood dripped from my mouth as I dropped the lifeless body. I stared at the rest of the rogues and in a blink of an eye, all of the rest of the rogues were dead on the ground by my hand.
I sighed and went back to Stanley. Only when the adrenaline wore off, that's when I felt the pain in my scruff and my side. Because of the pain, I shifted back into my human skin and fell to my knees. I closed my eyes as I fought against the pain. I looked up to Stanley who immediately ran behind me. He was holding back a rogue. I went to go help him but I ended up collapsing. Then things took a turn for the worst. The rogue got on top and went for Stanley's throat.
"No!" I screamed as I watched in horror. All of a sudden the rogue disappeared off of Stanley. Not questioning on what's happening, Stanley got to his feet and came over to me. He was examining my injuries. "I will be fine." I smiled weakly at him and patted his head. He used his snout to push up my hand. I chuckled, then noticing that my vision was getting hazy.
A sudden dropping sound made my eyes dart to that direction. I saw a man hovering over the dead rogue. I couldn't see his face because my eyes wouldn't focus.
Aiyana! I heard Stanley scream. Weakly, I licked my hand, making sure it was covered with saliva and placed it against my wounds. It stung for a moment before I felt the wounds closing up at a fast rate. Thank gods I had my vampire genes. As soon as the blood loss stopped, my vision was slowly coming back. I sat up as slow as I could without throwing my equilibrium off. I got to my feet and steadied myself in front of Stanley, still a little groggy but I was ready to fight. I heard a hiss and a growl. My brows furrowed but I didn't get out of my defensive stance. The figure in front of me soon became clear and standing before me was someone I didn't expect. My body went weak as I slumped to my knees and continued to stare at the person. Stanley came up to my side and nudged his snout against my cheek. He whined. I patted his head.
"I'm alright Stanley." I gave him a genuine smile. I looked back to the figure who elegantly came forward. The blood still dripping at the sides of his mouth. The smell of cucumber and melon wafted into my nose as he fell to his knees in front of me. He gently placed a hand across my cheek. Subconsciously, I leaned into his touch. "Seth." I whispered his name as tears flowed down the sides of my face. I truly missed this.
Suddenly a long button up shirt was draped over my shoulders. I looked behind me and found Stanley smiling down at me.
"I see this is your mate." Stanley smiled.
"Yes. This is Seth, my vampire mate." I turned and buttoned up the shirt. As soon as it was closed, Seth wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in closer. He kept eying poor Stanley. "Seth, this is Stanley. He's the one taking care of me." I whispered the last part.
"Nice to meet you Seth. I've heard a lot about you and the others."
"Likewise." Seth mumbled and buried his face into my shoulder. Stanley rolled his eyes but smiled at us. I was enjoying this moment until it was ruined by a very familiar growl. Our heads shot up and we all saw Raoul standing there.
"Where are the rogues?" He questioned, his brow raised.
"Taken care of." I said while slowly getting to my feet. Seth was putting up a fight but he let me go. "The children are safe."
"Good." He narrowed his eyes. "Now come over here."
I clenched my hands together but I nodded and limped over to him. I may have healed on the outside but there were still things inside that haven't healed completely since my release.
"Stay where you are." I heard a familiar voice call out. I stood there frozen like a deer in headlights. Slowly, I turned my head to look over my shoulder. A intense aura filled the place, I could feel the rage thickening in the air. Piercing gold eyes were pooling with bloodlust. The familiar figure walked up and stood beside me. He gently placed a hand to my shoulder and sparks went down my spine.
"Caelan." I said happily, tears were on the brink of escaping my eyes.
"I've waited so long to hear my name escape your lips." He smiled at me before he glared at Raoul. "You know that you have brought upon war to your pack when you kidnapped Aiyana."
"I needed her." Raoul growled. His eyes blazing with desperation. "My pack needed her."
"And you don't think mine didn't." Caelan spat. "You've brought this on yourself. War is going to break out."
"I can handle you." Raoul smirked cockily.
"You've also started a war with the Fae kingdom."
"The Dragon kingdom."
"And the Mer kingdom."
Three other voices echoed from behind me. I jerked my head into the direction of the voices and found them standing there. Ryu stood proudly and he was in his causal wear. He looked more like a punk rocker than a king. Sen stood next to him. He was wearing something similar to what he wore on the coronation. He really looked his part. Whereas Kawaii, he was wearing a full princely outfit with the trident in hand. From here, he looked intimidating. I even had shivers down my spine, from both pleasure and fear. Raoul's scent of fear filled my senses but it quickly vanished.
"I'll take you all on." Raoul growled at my mates. They started to come closer to Raoul. I could smell the bloodlust in the air. I placed myself in between Raoul and my mates. I could barely stand even with my wounds sealed shut. My blood count couldn't keep up yet.
"Enough." I growled powerfully. Immediately everyone bowed down to me, which made me tilt my head a bit. I was confused on what just happened.
"Aiyana!" I heard a familiar voice call out. My head snapped to the voice and I found Calanon riding on the back of my brother's wolf form. Zen was behind Calanon keeping him up right. It seemed that he was taking a lot longer than I thought he would to heal. Alyan was running next to my brother. Suddenly Alyan picked up some amazing speed and sped towards me. In mid-pounce, he shifted into his human/Neko form and engulfed me into a hug. I returned the gesture. I could feel his tail wrap around me. I smiled and patted his head as he buried his face into the crook of my neck. Suddenly I felt a strong demonic aura behind me, which got me to smile but scared poor Alyan. I felt him tighten around me and a growl formed in his throat. I pulled him back and flicked him in the head.
"Be nice." I whispered to him.
"You dare try to attack me." Kano's voice washed over me. I turned towards him, ready to say something until I saw Zen with a dagger to Kano's throat. My eyes widened when I saw Zen's eyes full of bloodlust.
"I won't let any more harm come to my Queen."
"Zen. Leave him alone. That's my demon mate." I ordered. As soon as I said that, Zen removed the blade, hid it gods knows where and smiled at Kano.
"Sorry about that chap." Zen said with a smile as he extended his hand. "Don't know all her mates yet."
Kano arched his brow, staring at him with slight disbelief.
"It's alright. It's not every day that I meet someone who would stand up to a demon." Kano smiled. "I like you." He draped his arm over Zen's shoulder and gave him like a bro hug. I think that's what it's called. A flapping of wings were heard. I looked above and found Gwyn gracefully landing. He was smiling until he really looked at me. Suddenly his eyes went wide for a moment before they became ablaze.
"What happened to you?" He roared at me. Alyan actually focused onto me too now that Gwyn brought it up.
"Yes what did happen to you?" Alyan growled. These two made everyone's head snap to me. I didn't want to be under pressure like this. My eyes glanced to Raoul, which he narrowed his eyes.
"I...uh...you see...um." I tried to come up with something. Gwyn and Alyan rolled their eyes before they placed their hands over my body. Faint light orbs formed around their hands and I could feel a warming sensation throughout my body.
"Elf can you handle the outside healing?" Gwyn asked.
"Yes why?" Alyan gave him a questioning look.
"I'm going to fix the internal damage." Gwyn stated.
"How are you going to do that?" Alyan asked.
"A technique that my mentor taught me." Gwyn shrugged.
"From Uncle Raph?" I tilted my head. "What technique is that?"
"You'll find out." Suddenly Gwyn turned transparent and came closer to us.
Don't let him enter your body! Dangelo screamed, but it was too late. Gwyn had already entered. A very warm and a little disturbing feeling wrapped inside in my body. Soon a loud snap was heard before I cried out in pain. Gwyn rebroke my rib, my leg, and arm. I laid on the ground withering in pain as I felt it heal back to where it originally would go. Alyan flinched at every scream I made but he continued to heal the rest of my outside wounds. When I knew the brief torture was done, I was breathing heavily as Gwyn came out of my body. He was covered head to toe with my blood. Everyone moved away from him. He was glaring at me with rage.
"You have split your soul." He growled at me. I sighed well tried and closed my eyes. I didn't expect him to figure it out this soon. I couldn't look anybody in the eyes right now.
"That would explain why she seemed different since the night of Alaster's death. That would also explain why he suffer some of the effect she did." Niru pointed out. I opened my eyes and found him standing by Seth and Grim. Behind him, I saw Alaster rubbing the back of his neck while Cleo was at his side, holding his arm. Sage and Travis was with them too. I assumed that they had gotten a pack protector to protect the pups. I glanced around at everyone's faces. They were all filled with disbelief except the ones who already knew. I used my arms and pushed off the ground, landing gracefully on my feet.
"Yes I did. I had my reasons. No need to go ballistic on me." I growled. "I finally get to see you guys in how long and you are more worried about my fucking soul. You think I want to argue about this. I left for you guys to survive, not for you to criticize me."
"Well, well. What do we have here?" I heard a voice that made my blood run cold. "What a touching moment." I heard a smile on this tone. I slowly turned my head and found the one person I didn't expect. "Hi Aiyana."
"Roric." I whispered.

*Well the secret is out! And the worst enemy is here! I wonder how Aiyana is going to fair.
What did you think of their reunion? Her mates and her as well as Roric's.

Sorry that it took so long.

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