Defiance

4.7

apologies beforehand 

Chapter 47

A L D R I C

She cursed me.

When I was screaming in pain that night, Elysia gave the witches the idea to curse me. She gave them the idea to hurt me in the worst way she knew how - taking Heera's death away from me. I ignored the pain in my chest as I stared at the other Alphas who were losing their minds about having a witch at our base. I tried not to think about how she might have done it for revenge. I tried not to think about the way she had cried before me seconds - she was so certain I cheated on her and in her eyes, maybe I did. I wouldn't blame her for it but I hoped she cared for me enough to never let the witches curse me in the way they did.

She gave them the idea.

Laric was silent. His heart had been broken. Even now, I could feel the way he seemed so torn. After experiencing the illusions, he was certain things would be okay. And after holding Elysia, he was certain we would be together again.

We should have listened to her.

And received what? I asked. What excuse would be good enough to allow the witches to tie my life to Heera? If the witches wanted a way to torture me, they could have developed another curse. I would have preferred undergoing the Svesta again but I wanted to be the one to kill Heera.

And she had taken me from that. Elysia had taken that away from me.

There was nothing worst I could imagine.

I should have listened. I reacted the way you always do - out of anger. Laric's guilt was eating him alive. He had called Elysia multiple times but she had shut him out.

Why did you force her to leave? Laric hissed.

She was going to kill Freya! It was a simple fact that her eyes were set to kill Freya. Her eyes were red, the tent was on fire. Elysia wasn't going to stop until Freya was dead.

Freya couldn't be lying; the truth potion was a strong dose. I triple checked it. Elysia watching me with Freya having sex was clearly just a misunderstanding but I couldn't believe she would let the witches curse me the way they did for it. 

What if she cheated on you? What if you saw her with that mortal? Laric hissed. You would kill him on the spot.

I balled my hands into fists.

I needed time to think and to figure it out. Before my whole pack, Elysia was painted as a liar. The same pack that hated her guts. Forcing her to stay here with me wouldn't be safe. The easiest option at the time seemed to force her to leave.

And as I listened to these Alphas I realized I was right. It seemed we also had an audience from the Betas, Lunas, and other wolves before us. They listened to their Alphas yell at each other for the past hour. Freya and Hunter stood in the crowd as well, uneasy and worried. 

We sat at a rectangular table, each Alpha at his designated seat as always. Normally, this was where we planned our battles. Today, this was an interrogation against me. A shield was created to separate the Alphas from the crowd for safety. The wolves were certain the consequences of today's meeting was going to end in a fistfight. My father demanded the Alphas to allow him in the shield and the Alphas voted to let him in as a moderator.

"A WITCH IS YOUR MATE?" Maddox hissed at me for the fifth time. "A witch?"

"She's clearly bewitching you," Cole interrupted. "Isn't she the same witch who threw Accius' army in a blink of an eye? She is powerful enough to get you under her control, Aldric. We have known about your curse since we were all children. Alpha Aldric does not have a mate."