things I have collected here at Belldame’s home, shoving everything in a single rucksack with a lump stuck in my throat. I feel sick to my stomach, my body trembling with what I just did. With what everyone saw.
I quickly change, throwing on some leather pants and keeping Darius’s t-shirt on. I don’t want to think about the reasons why I leave it on, but having not had his scent around me in months, I can’t bring myself to take it off. I lift the collar, taking in a deep breath of cedarwood and earth, along with his scent of power that is solely his before I drop it, my brows furrowing at the comfort of it.
And it is a comfort. He shielded my body after everyone saw it for what it was. A horror, a mess, disgusting. Worthless.
But Darius had no disgust in his eyes, only anger. I wonder if he saw the ones on my back from his whipping, would he feel disgusted then? Disgusted in himself.
He wouldn’t even care, he just wants answers that I don’t want to give him, but now I don’t really have a choice. Not with Sarah being involved and them helping to get her back.
The bedroom door opens, but I ignore the presence at my back, picking up the letter my mom left me and carefully putting it inside my rucksack between my clothes, making sure it stays safe. I do the same with the bone Belldame gave me.
“Milal,” Josh whispers behind me, and I tense, not wanting to talk to him. I don’t even want him near me right now.
Keep it down, Rhea.
“Let’s get ready to go, if we have a chance of getting their help with Sarah, we will have her back in no time, and then maybe we can get the rest of our pack and then Kade.”
I know Josh wants to talk about what just happened, I can feel his anxiousness, his remorse, but I can’t right now. His betrayal of guilting me into doing what I just did, exposing myself like that. No one has seen my body but Josh and Kade when he first got me out of the Aragnis pack, and I don’t even think Kade remembers it after I had his memories blocked.
It wasn’t until a few moons later, after escaping, that I’d learned to cover my scars. The marks on my body that were a daily reminder of what they did to me, and I wanted them gone. Somehow, I managed to cover them, and I have ever since.
And he wanted me to show them, hitting me right where he knew he could to get me to do it. He used my desire to repay him against me, and I felt I had no choice. He saved my life. I could never repay that, but I feel I just did.
But at what cost?
I understand his need to get to Sarah, even in my anger and hurt, I understand it’s driving him crazy, just like my need to get to Kade. I would have never asked him to do something like he just did to me though, not the way he did it. It’s why I didn’t try and stop Darius sooner when he was hitting him, some part of me knew he deserved it, wanting him to hurt like I am. I will come to regret not trying to stop him sooner, but right now I don’t. Though I have no idea why Darius did what he did, it’s probably just an excuse to hit him, he hasn’t liked Josh since he first saw him, so it wouldn’t surprise me.
“Can we talk for a second?” he asks, but I pick up my pack and walk by him.
“We need to go, Josh, make sure you have everything we need.” I walk down the steps without another word to him, rucksack over my shoulder as the others gather near the front door.
“All good?” Hudson asks, eyeing me with concern. Don’t break now, Rhea.
“As I’ll ever be, got everything?”
Colten lifts his own pack. “Yeah, as much as we can carry anyway.”
“I’ve taken some extra things I think we might need.” Anna shows me her bulging rucksack and a smaller one she has in her other hand. “You never know what we may need.” She smiles, her curls now in twin braids, but I can’t muster up a smile in return.
“Are you sure about this?” Taylor asks me, and I shrug. I’m not sure about this at all. It has been months since we were last in Eridian, since we were at Wolvorn Castle, and nothing has changed. We don’t have our pack, we don’t have Sarah and we don’t have Kade. We need help, and Gods dammit, trust it to be the Elites who could be that help. If we have to begrudgingly try and seek help from the Elites, then so be it. I just don’t trust them, I don’t trust Darius, but I can’t wait any longer.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Seb murmurs, tightening his own rucksack and throwing it over his shoulder.
I hear Josh come down the steps behind me. “Time to go then. Are you all sure about coming?”
They nod and we leave Belldame’s home. The paths are silent as we walk over wooden bridges, the only sign of life is ourselves as everyone at Witches Rest sleeps. I hope to come back here soon, but I have no idea what awaits us at Vokheim. The thought has chills trickling down my spine. Are we making a mistake? This could be a trap, a guise to get me to the Highers.
We soon reach the mist and we make our way through it, my heart rate kicking up a notch at what we are about to do. After over two months here at Witches Rest, we are no closer to getting our pack back on our own.
And I want my pack back, I want blood to be spilled, and I want to be free.
I pat my pocket and feel the port stone there, making sure we have a means to escape if we need to.
Belldame waits for us just outside of the mist as the Elites stay further away from the entrance, eyes on us all as we approach her. I can feel Darius’s stare on me, his gaze roaming and searching and I hate it. Hate that he can even look at me, and that I can feel it.
“Come here, child,” Belldame calls, opening her arms for me. I go to her, and let her wrap her arms around me this time. I squeeze her gently. I’ll miss the woman for sure. Her stories about my mom and her knowledge about all things have kept me somewhat sane since we arrived. “Be careful.” I nod. “You have what I gave you?” Another nod. “Good, when you need to, don’t hesitate to use it.”
“I won’t,” I assure her.
She reaches for my face, wrinkled hands on each cheek. “Your mother would be so proud of you.” I swallow hard as my eyes sting, but I keep the tears at bay. “Do not fret. I have no doubt this is the path you must now take.”
“I’ll miss you,” I whisper, and I will. She’s become like a grandmother to me in the short time we have known each other.
“Dear child, it’s not forever, but for now.” She releases me, and I give her one last hesitant smile before I turn and walk toward the Elites, letting the others say their goodbyes.
I keep my head high as I reach them, but I can’t look any of them in the eye, feeling ashamed of them seeing the marks on my body. I notice Darius’s fingers twitch at his side, the sound of his teeth gnashing, but I still don’t look at him. We don’t speak, just stay silent as the rest of my pack trickles forward.
“Ready?” Leo asks us.
“Sure,” Colten mutters, staying close to Hudson.
Damian pulls out a port stone and we gather around. I step up to Anna, resting my hand on her shoulder lightly, and she gives me a nod just before the feeling of being squeezed tightly, goes through me.
Now or never.
We land on hard stone, the flickering lights of torches bringing light dots to my vision before it clears. Glancing around quickly in a defensive stance, I see that we are in some type of hallway. I shiver at its coldness. It’s bare, there’s nothing on the walls apart from the torch holders.
“This way,” Zaide grunts, and we follow as the Elites head down the long hallway and my nerves start to settle in.
What if they are taking us to a dungeon? I feel for the port stone in my pocket, making sure it’s still there.
“We are in the west wing, no other Elites, apart from us and a few others, are allowed this way. The less they know about your presence for now, the better,” Damian says.
Because that’s comforting, being all alone here with just these guys. Runa bristles inside of me and I don’t feel the need to calm her. I’m not calm myself.
Darius opens a door at the end, not saying a word, the hinges creaking as he does. We follow through, entering a spacious room with a large table at the center. A lit fireplace adds warmth to the room with three sofas surrounding it. Large, red rugs with patterns are placed on the floor, and paintings of what looks like Elites are hung on the walls, making my lips curl at the sight. I move closer to one of them, scanning their faces as I feel the weight of others on me. Landing on a male I recognize, my face instantly pales. I suck in a sharp breath, my body tensing as I stare into dark eyes.
Memories threaten to rise, then swallow me whole. Seeing his face up on the wall like he’s something to be revered when he did nothing, makes my stomach turn.
I turn away from it, turn away from the memories and halt in my step as I connect with light, green eyes. Darius looks between me and the painting, his brows furrowing, trying to work out what my issue is. I walk by him and take a seat at the large table in here, following the rest of my pack. Taking the pack from my shoulder, I place it down next to me, shuffling forward in my chair and resting my hands on my thighs.
The Elites sit on the other side, Darius taking a seat directly across from me, a mirror image of the last time we sat down together in Eridian. My pack on one side, the Elites on the others.
“Speak,” Darius says. One word. One command.
I try to get comfortable in my seat. “What do you want to know first?”
“Everything.” Asshole.
“Eridian,” Leo finally says. “Let’s start there.”
“No.” Not happening, not yet.
“Then start somewhere,” Darius demands, his fists clenching on top of the table as he rolls his shoulders.
“What do you know about The Elites and the Highers?” I eventually ask after a tense silence. I feel like I’m about to come out of my skin, eyeing the room like something will jump out at any moment. I don’t feel safe here, but then, I haven’t ever really felt truly safe, for even a moment.
My mind wanders back to how it felt to wake up next to Darius, and I quickly put a stop to that thought.
“What does this have anything to do with us?” Damian’s brows furrow, slumping back in his seat. “We were created by the Highers to protect Vrohkaria.”
I shake my head. “The Elites were created to capture Heirs,” I tell them.
“That’s bullshit,” Leo shouts, and I barely suppress a flinch. I’m too on-edge, too mottled-up inside with today’s events.
I stare at him. “Is it?”
“Talk. Now,” Darius grits out, his body tense.
I take a deep breath. “We had one king of Vrohkaria at one time, as I’m sure you all know. My mother used to tell me stories of our Heir history, how we came to be. It’s how the Canaric wolves were made, us Heirs.” I look at Darius. “When the king died, no not died, was murdered, that’s when the Highers came into power. It was the Highers that killed the king and his mate.”
“The Highers at that time came to power because Vrohkaria was in chaos over their deaths, not because they killed them,” Darius says. “The lands needed balance, an authority to help people stabilize and to keep them safe.”
Yeah? And look where that bullshit got us.
“No, they became Highers because a small group of people decided to murder them in cold blood, to become the authority over Vrohkaria, acting like saviors,” I explain. “They were jealous, they wanted what the king and his mate had, the power, the control, but more specifically, they wanted their child, an Heir. They felt injustice that some received special treatment, while others did not. They thought it unfair. So they plotted, bribed, and threatened anyone they could to get close to the king and his mate, to where they stayed for years with them in Wolvorn Castle. They spent all that time earning their trust, only for them to kill them one night and say it was an assassination attempt by their child, an Heir of Zahariss. They made up some bullshit about their child wanting to become sole ruler of the lands and becoming crazed before she killed her parents. That made their child a target, but more importantly, made the Heir of Zahariss a target.” I look between them as I make sure they are listening to the truth, to what has been passed down along the Zahariss line for as long as anyone can recall.
“The lands were shocked, they loved their king and his mate, but also their Heir to Vrohkaria and Zahariss. But that soon turned into a hunt when she escaped, and the Highers formed the Elites when they couldn’t capture her, and she was nowhere to be found. Years later, after coming out of hiding and being chased across the lands, she’d had enough, she couldn’t hold her anger and grief anymore at what they had done. She returned to Wolvorn Castle to take her revenge on them all, all that hunted her and believed the lies that were told. She went on a rampage to avenge her parents, and innocent lives were lost in her attempt. With killing many innocents who were not guilty, the lands believed what was told of her, of an unstable and dangerous Heir to everyone.”
“Or she went mad with power as it’s said with Heirs.” I give Damian a flat look at his words.
“Be careful with your words, you’re in the presence of two Heirs and if we are so unstable, you might find a knife in your throat.” Damian says nothing to that, but I catch Darius’s small smirk before his shoulders stiffen. I continue. “The daughter managed to kill three Highers in her rage at the time, but ultimately she was captured and taken. Where? No one knew. Cazier’s Heir had already been hunted and subdued. It wasn’t until forty-three years later that the next Heir of Zahariss arrived. In a small village, a female gave birth to a pup, and the Elites tried to drag them away, but she managed to escape them with her child. A few years later, Cazier’s Heir was born to an Alpha’s mate. The Alpha helped them escape and he was killed for his refusal to cooperate as to where his mate and son were. The Elites were growing in numbers, and at the Highers’ decree, continued to hunt them down whenever a new Heir appeared. Heirs had no choice but to hide.”
“How did they capture them if they are so powerful?” Jerrod asks. He leans forward on his arms on the table, his focus solely on me as Zaide sits silently next to him.
“Terbium.”
“It’s just a metal,” Damian scoffs.
“It’s a metal that affects Heirs, no one knows why though. They were forbidden to be used by the king and his mate. But when the Highers took over, they allowed it.”
“And this metal is the only thing that can hold an Heir?” That was from Leo.
“The metal stops your wolf from coming out, and slows down your healing dramatically.” They all tense and look toward Darius, whose eyes haven’t left me.
“That can’t be right,” Damian mutters.
“What Rhea said is true. She wasn’t healing from her wounds from Wolvorn Castle, she was going to die if we didn’t get them off her. They were infused within the iron cuffs.”
“Sebastian,” I hiss at him as Darius’s whole body stiffens. They don’t need to know that.
He shrugs. “They need to fucking know. They need to know how close they were to killing you.”
“The Highers decided, Seb,” I correct, even though I don’t really believe that, but I also don’t think Darius knew that terbium was infused within the iron.
“No,” Taylor disagrees, his eyes hard. “Him.” He nods toward Darius, and I hesitantly look over at him, not sure what I’ll see.
There’s a storm behind his eyes, his fists clenching on top of the table as his nostrils flare. The other Elites look over at him warily as we look at each other, and something flashes in his eyes, something painful. Regret maybe? But I can’t see Darius feeling that sort of thing. It’s kind of too fucking late though, if that is what it was. But Taylor is right, the wounds inflicted by him whipping me, did nearly kill me.
I clear my throat and look away, he doesn’t deserve my attention. “Like I said, the metal slows healing and you’re unable to call your wolf. All you have is your strength, but when that goes, you have nothing.”
“But you managed to use your power in the hall at Wolvorn Castle.” Jerrod tilts his head, resting his elbows on the table.
“I had felt my Heir power since before I was seven, but I suppressed it. With everything that happened at the hall…” I blow out a small breath, refusing to show them any more of the emotions I’m feeling, even though they are right under the surface. Waiting to explode. My magic swirls at the thought and I try to settle it. “I let go of what held me back. That sudden rush of power, at its fullest was strong enough for me to wield it for a time.” I don’t tell them how it rapidly drained from me, or that I couldn’t control it, they don’t need to know that.
“What did you do to me?” Darius asks, his head tilting in question. My brows furrow. “At the castle.”
“I have no fucking idea, other than my power went into you and your wolf ate it.” I shrug as everyone around the table looks at us with wide eyes.
“Darius’s wolf ate your power? What the fuck?” Leo gasps out.
“I have no idea how she did it, but when my wolf inhaled her power, it was like everything was unlocked. That’s when things became clearer,” Darius murmurs, eyeing me closely.
“Wait.” I sit up straighter. “What do you mean clearer?”
“I couldn’t remember that I was an Heir.” What? “Your powers cleared my mind and I remembered everything. That I was an Heir to Cazier.”
If I did that… “Kade,” I whisper and look at my pack. “What if I can do the same to Kade?”
“Kade is with his family, he’s fine,” Darius tells me, and my head whips back to him.
“He’s not safe,” I glare at him. “His memory is wrong. What he said, what he thinks, it’s wrong.”
“He’s with his family, where he should be.”
“I’m his family!” I shake my head, the tendrils of my hair falling in my face. “Those pieces of shit do not deserve him.”
“They’re your family also, something you didn’t tell me,” Darius fires back.
“Why would I have told you?” I spit.
“Because I am the authority, you were to undergo a trial and receive punishment.”
“I think I have given my pound of flesh for my punishment,“ I growl, and his shoulders tense. I try to settle my anger. “Kade is confused. I think they messed with his memories. If I cleared yours, then maybe I can do the same to him.”
“I doubt that’s the case, and you’re in denial of the shit you have done, but back to the Elites,” Damian grunts and I scowl at him “There is no way the Elites have been created to hunt Heirs. The Elites are here to protect the lands of Vrohkaria.”
I growl at him. This back and forth conversation is getting us nowhere and they are not listening. “They go around the lands on power surges from the Highers witches when they scry. They are not looking for creatures, they are looking for power from the Heirs, waiting until they get a hit and then you guys are sent out. Every time the Highers are hoping it’s an Heir and not a creature. And you have all been trained to capture an Heir and to take them back to the Highers, have you not?”
“We used to be trained in what to do should we come across an Heir,” Zaide grunts, now cleaning a blade on the table. “But since none have been seen in many years, we haven’t had to worry about running into an Heir, and the Elites were only trained to subdue, not kill.”
“And take them back to the Highers?” I remind them. Their silence answers my question. “What will you do now?” I ask him then look at Darius. “Why hasn’t Charles killed you if Heirs are dangerous and unstable?”
“Charles has his own uses for me,” Darius reluctantly answers.
“Uses? So he keeps an Heir alive over the protection of Vrohkaria? What will the people say?” I snark. “The people are taught as children how bad the Heirs are, the Highers demand it be taught. They are also taught how unstable they are, and are punished if they worship the old Gods, the wolf Gods, instead of the Highers prayer. If Heirs are so bad, why has Charles kept you alive and risked the wrath of the people from the poison he has carried-on teaching,” I scoff. “What a fucking joke.”
“The people aren’t happy, sure. I understand that,” Leo says slowly. “But the whole bullshit about Elites being hunters for Heirs, I don’t fucking believe it.”
“Me neither,” Damian agrees.
“You ask me to share my truths, and once again, you don’t believe a word out of my mouth. What is the point in all of this?” I fume. “You all need to wake up and see what is going on. You would think with how you are all trained, you would notice something isn’t right somewhere. Your minds have been poisoned with lies, just like everyone else.”
“No, we’re just not deluded to some fucking stories your mother made up and told you as a child,” Damian snarls at me and I stand, slamming my hands on the table, my Heir markings appearing.
“Keep my mother out of your mouth, dog, or I will stitch it up,” I growl, Runa echoing it within me.
“Let’s keep on track,” Zaide interrupts me while I stare at daman with murderous eyes. “We will get nowhere otherwise.”
I stare down Damian until I’m tugged back down into my seat by Josh. “Let’s continue, there is no point trying to persuade them of this.”
“That’s what we came here to do though right? What you wanted?” I snap back through the link, shrugging out of his hold on me.
The link fizzles out and I turn to Darius, who’s looking between me and Josh through narrow slits. “Stop having a private conversation or I’ll cut that blood link between you two.”
I bristle and peel my lips back at him. I don’t want that, even after what Josh has done. I don’t think I could go through another link being broken.
Darius just holds my stare and smirks, not in the slightest bit threatened by me. I huff and sit back down. Growling to myself.
Gods, this is going to be a long night.
