"Tinley's also really on to you. You need to be careful with her," Willow said out of the blue as she continued her tale.
I let out an angry exhale. Tinley, Tinley, Tinley. She was slowly becoming a problem. She was playing with fire and she had no idea that I burned. I burned very badly. And I wouldn't hesitate to remove her if I needed to. I never hesitated.
"I don't understand what her problem is. She confronted me and told me to stay away from Enzo. Are her and Leilani best friends or something? Why is she so invested in Enzo's life?" I questioned and Willow let out a low laugh then squeezed my shoulder. I wanted to slap her hand away. We weren't friends.
"It's nothing like that. She's just one of those people who is really obsessed with justice. She feels like the rules shouldn't be bent for anyone when it isn't being bent for her," Again, Willow had lost me.
"What do you mean?" I prodded.
"Tinley has a mate. He's not exactly ideal but Enzo is currently in the way of their love story. I mean that literally," my brows furrowed together in further confusion.
"I didn't know that she found her mate," Tinley had never mentioned anything about having found her own mate. Yeah, she talked here and there about mates in general but she never spoke about hers. All I knew about her and mates was that she idealised the bond.
"You don't know anything," Willow resounded and pulled her hand away from my shoulder. Her words stung a little. She was starting to sound alot like Nessa. No one fucking spoke here. How am I supposed to know anything? I'm not a mind reader.
"Her mate is from Arian's pack. He's a witch but he's not just any witch. He's the son of one of the founding witch families in that pack. A family that deeply opposes Enzo and our pack. Very deeply. Long story short, it will be over Enzo's dead body that he will ever let Tinley unite with her mate. As caring as Enzo is, he'll never put his desires or anyone else's over the best interest of this pack,"
Another shocker that had my jaw nearly on the floor. Why didn't I come to Willow sooner? Things in this pack just seem to be getting more and more twisted. I don't even know where to start uncovering anything from. Nessa, where the fuck did you send me to?
"Tinley is pretty jaded about that because she's one of those girls who grew up dreaming about her mate like most other girls here. The reality of her mate bond is a tragedy and not one which either Enzo, Erica or any sane person in this pack would ever let Tinley live out. If she goes to that guy, this pack is doomed. Tinley is doomed but she doesn't understand any of this. So as we speak, they're actively searching for a potential mate for her to arrange her marriage. They want a mark on her neck as soon as possible. Something to permanently bind her to this pack besides her family. Tinley has tried to run away several times but Enzo always catches her,"
"So Tinley feels like if she can't be with her mate then why should Enzo be allowed to have you? Even as a mistress, Tinley will never support Enzo keeping you. She's very vocal about it behind Enzo's back. She's bitter about his hold over her because he's Alpha and her guardian. Enzo doesn't even want to hear one word in Tinley's mate's favour. He won't have it,"
"Mistress?" I interrupted her, once again not understanding. Why would Enzo keep a mistress if he would have a mate? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?
"Alphas of this pack can keep an official mistress after having their mate. Enzo's father kept several at different time periods. Everyone knew that Rhys would also keep one despite loving Leilani. He just had those type of wandering eyes. It was something that deeply bothered Leilani because she knew that when Rhys would take a mistress because Rhys would definitely keep a mistress then she wouldn't be able to stop him. As for Enzo, no one knows. Since he became an Alpha, he hasn't shown an interest in any female, not even gorgeous Leilani until you," Willow's knowing eyes lingered on me longer than I liked.
What was I hearing? What the heck was I hearing? Is this the moon's pack or a crazy show? A mistress? Aren't they supposed to respect the sanctity of mate bonds and what not? Why does it seem like the rules in this pack were only put in place to benefit the Alpha and some others and not everyone else? Why does the Alpha get to have Legally accepted affairs?
"Some people suspect that Enzo plans to keep you as a mistress if he can't return you to your home. He doesn't want Leilani but if he wants you like a few of us suspect then he could have the best of both worlds. On one hand, there will be Leilani to appease his sister and pack and you to appease him. I also think that that's not a very far-fetched possibility because with Enzo, you never really know what he's thinking. Tinley thinks the same and it upsets her very deeply so she's not your biggest fan right now,"
My blood boiled. My blood boiled ferociously. My blood boiled so hotly that it was pinching into my own skin. Enzo planned to do what, now? I don't even know if he really wanted to do this or if it's just their assumption but I was a powerful man's mistress for three years. Now, that is something I'll never be again. Never.
If that was Enzo's plan with me then indeed, he was messing with the wrong girl. Or maybe...
"Except, now people think that you're a witch so if Enzo tries to make you his mistress, people will think that you bewitched him,"
"I am not a witch," I repeated. I was tired of being accused of being a witch. I wasn't one. If I was, I would have caused alot of havoc by now. I was dying to anyway. This pack needed some havoc.
"I know," she repeated and then something struck me.
"How do you know? How are you so sure?" I asked and I watched her brows crease as sweat began to stain them. This little-
"I just do okay!" She screamed out flustered as she started to tug at her braid.
"You know because you are a witch," I stated and the minute the words left my lips, Willow's hand rushed to clasp over my mouth as if I had spoken blasphemy.
"Ssh," She said, worry present in her huge brown eyes. How didn't I guess it before? "Yes, I am but its not something I'd like getting out there,"
"Does Enzo know?" I interrogated her. This was very interesting piece of information.
"What do you think?" She gave me a knowing look and I pulled myself back away from her.
Willow knew I wasn't a witch because she was a witch herself. She could sense me. I should have figured it out sooner.
"Aren't witches banned here?" I asked. I mean considering that everyone here was so afraid of witches, the fact that Enzo knew about Willow and she still lived here was beyond me.
"They are but those are specific witches. To start with, I am not a practicing witch. I just know the basics. I can't practice because Enzo would feel it and I would be in alot of trouble. He's very strict about witch business in general. My mother was from Arian's pack but she denounced her magic after marrying my father. She didn't even teach me anything before dying. I only know basic healing magic and that isn't exactly banned in this pack. You just have to be indoctrinated into a special society to be allowed to use it. I don't want to so I don't practice. Enzo knows everything. He knows my powers aren't strong enough to threaten him so he lets me be,"
Somewhere along the line, I didn't believe her. There was something about her being a witch which was deeply unsettling and I saw that she was lying about her powers. She downplayed whatever powers she had. I was certain of it.
Then it was her turn to stare me straight in the eyes.
"So tell me, do you actually have amnesia, Aoife?" I was waiting for that question for so long. It was a question which I was surprised she hadn't asked sooner.
I only offered her a smile. "What do you think?"
A knowing smile also settled atop her lips as she nodded in understanding. I hated the fact that I had to share my biggest secret with such an untrustworthy girl but it was necessary. She needed to think that I trusted her. I was probably making a mistake but I was prepared for damage control if needed.
"Can you tell me about your-," she waved her question away. "You know what? Nevermind,"
"You don't want to ask me anything?" I enquired. It was weird that she didn't want to know. I would want to know. Anyone would want to know. Not that I would have told her the truth but still.
"I can't. It's safer for you and me if I don't know anything," she explained.
"Why?" I asked curiously.
"Enzo. You can't lie to Enzo. He just lets you get away. If he ever suspects me and interrogates me then I won't be able to lie to him. It's literally impossible to lie to him once he is on to you," Her explanation had terror flashing through her eyes as if she didn't even want to consider what she was thinking. I lied to Enzo just fine though. Why was she making it out to be such a big deal?
"What do you mean by that?"
"Have you ever felt the true extent of Enzo's power? Or even just seen it with someone else?" She asked me pointedly, taking the side of her shawl and pushing it back. "I don't mean just his dominant gaze. I mean the more powerful aspect of that gaze? What he does with his eyes?"
I shook my head. Yes, I had felt Enzo's power before but I felt like what I knew and what she was talking about were worlds apart.
"Enzo's power is so strong that if he lets out his full wrath on anyone, he could kill them without even touching them. He once got so angry at someone that the person's heart exploded in their chest. I've seen people bleed from their eyes and noses just from looking at him. Broken spines are so common here that there's a healer who lives in this mansion just to treat that. When Ronan lost you that day, Enzo was so angry that his gaze nearly broke that Alphaborn Ronan's ribs. He was in pain for days. I don't know what it is about the Alpha in him but sometimes he's more like his father than he even realises. If he suspects me, he'll get the truth out of me. I don't want that,"
Her point was valid and it terrified me deeply. I did not want to experience anything that Willow had just described. Whatever I had felt from Enzo's Alpha-side was already more than enough for me to digest. The fact that he could hurt Ronan who was an Alpha-born was already telling so what would he do to me?
On one hand, there was Nessa and on the other, there was Enzo. And on one leg there was Kai and the other, there was Mak and his mad Assassins'. Raven, when will you ever catch a break?
I laid down on her bed.
"Now what do we do? How am I even going to get Enzo to like me if there's all these factors in play?"
I asked honestly. This was actually a whole lot more complicated than I ever imagined it to be. I never anticipated it to be this hard. So many external factors. So many internal factors. This was spiralling completely out of my control. I felt like I had stepped on a landmine.
Willow laid down beside me and then we both laid there staring at the ceiling.
"I think he likes you. He's just controlling himself out of respect for Leilani. Stopping himself because of Erica. Maybe try to get Erica to like you more and hate Leilani," She noted. I turned to stare straight into her eyes. I dragged my finger across her cheek.
"I swear by the moon, Willow, if you ever betray me then even Enzo won't be worse than me," She shivered beneath my touch. I would stick a dagger up her spine quicker than Enzo could break it with his Alpha eyes.
"I won't betray you, Aoife," she re-assured me. I neither believed her nor tried to. She wasn't someone I could trust. She was someone I could use but I didn't want her to know that. "There's one more important thing which I forgot about,"
What is it now?
"Leilani isn't just here to hang around. She has absolutely no power over Enzo as only his betrothed. So her wedding date to Enzo has been fixed. They are getting married on the day of the next upcoming full moon,"
~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~
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