My mother's voice slurred with drink. She was still hammered. Good. It meant I could get out of this.
Swallowing thickly through the tension, I felt my heart drop to my stomach when her brown eyes drifted over to me. The door was half open, allowing the little moonlight to filter into the room. I was certain she couldn't make out my features, being the light was behind me, but the way her eyes narrowed made me think otherwise.
"Who is that? Arabella? Is that you?" She wondered, rubbing her eyes again. "Wait... You're not Arabella..."
I felt my composure waver, and I moved to take a step backward when she shouted a threat at me.
"Hey! Stop! What are you doing here, thief?" Her words slurred as she tried to sit straighter. "Hey! Cat got your tongue? I'll chop it out for you, save you the hassle. Come here! You swine, pathetic piece of-
"Mother." I stated softly.
Her breath hitched, and I saw the way her eyes widened. She drunkenly swayed, crawling to the edge of the sofa bed. Her hands gripped a pillow, glaring in my direction. I wasn't sure if she was going to launch it at me or not, but at least it was just a pillow. I've had worse thrown at me, glass and plates included thanks to Darius.
"Ailia? Is that you?" She wondered, squinting.
I remained silent, opening the door some more. She had seen me, and my voice had shut her up. That was enough.
"Close your eyes and you will wake up sober." I sighed.
She scoffed. "It must be you! Always telling me what to do."
"You are dreaming." I mumbled.
"I must be, because you are dead." She sighed, moving away from the edge of the bed. "Such a shame what happened... That wolf..."
My eyebrows rose with curiosity, but when her mouth opened again, I almost growled like an animal.
"Your death was such a loss of money." She huffed. "Good job. I have another one to seal the deal."
My body snapped, my anger flaring like a shaken glow stick. It swirled across my body, filling in every crevice until I was certain I was blazing with indignation.
I kept my voice low and steady. "What did you say?"
"In a couple of years, I will be rich!" She giggled, waving her hands in the air. "Oh, Ailia dear, your sister is even prettier than you. I got an even better price. They said it was because of what happened, with the whole eaten by a wolf thing, but... She will be so happy with her new husband!"
My fists clenched as I approached her. "What have you done to her?"
Her eyes drifted to me as I now stood over her. They widened, shocked to see my face.
"Ailia? Is that really you?" She gasped.
"Mother. Where is Arabella?"
"Are you haunting me? Is it because you cannot get over your hatred for me?" She pouted.
"I will haunt you for the rest of your fucking life." I warned. "What have you done with Arabella?"
"Always full of questions. You know, growing up, you were lucky your father liked you so much because the amount you always wanted to know about things drove me insane." She huffed. "Always wanting to explore, go to the forest, swim in the lake and play with mud. Nothing a girl should ever do! Not the daughter I wanted. I wish I didn't have you to look after and just had Arabella."
I recoiled, my throat feeling constricted at her harsh words. I was a good kid. I never got into trouble and always came home on time. Even after I grew up, I pulled up my big-girl pants and gave up my entire teenage years and friends to get a job and help my family.
Was I truly that bad of a person? Wishing she never had me was cold, and it made me wonder if she resented me from the very beginning.
Mother sighed before her eyes narrowed into a sneer. "What the fuck are you doing in my house, girl?"
I shook my head, forcing my debilitating thoughts away. "Where is Arabella?"
"Get out of my house. You do not belong here." She rose to her knees.
"What have you done with her?" I gritted my teeth.
"You should've died along with your father." She hissed. "You always want, want, want and never give!"
"I gave you and Arabella everything. My money, my time, even my health." I snapped, my heart pounding in my ears. "It ripped my entire life away because you are so fucking selfish!"
There was a low growl outside, but I doubt my mother's drunken state heard it. I lowered my voice.
"Me? Selfish?" She laughed, swaying as she shook her head. "After your father died, I raised you into a young woman, even though I was alone. I gave you everything, and you-you just whored yourself around! Leaving the house early in the morning and coming home late at night! I never knew where you were! And then, you would always be covered in bruises from your bedtime adventures! Darius's father always confides in me how miserable you made his son!"
She really was drunk; I never stayed out late.
"Like fuck you did!" I hissed. "I was out there working all fucking day long to keep this house. You do not know the shit I went through because you were such a terrible parent!"
She suddenly reared up, her hand coming to land a slap on my cheek. My head swung to the side at the impact and the room's tension snapped tight. It barely affected me, despite the blood I could taste. It was a feat I was used to, but it had taken me off-guard.
I thought she couldn't land a hit when pissed. Perhaps she was learning to swing whilst intoxicated. Maybe there was a class for that in the town hall.
A growl filled the air as soon as her hand fell from my face. It was so low and threatening that my back became tense and the hairs along my arms rose. Mother's eyes widened, darting to behind me as the light vanished from the room. I knew Asra had appeared, his wide form filling the door more than Caleb.
"W-w-w..." she stammered.
Asra growled, pulling me behind him. "You dare lay a hand on her."
My mother's eyes were wide, her skin as pale as saucers as she looked up at him. "M-me?"
"You are lucky I shall not kill you for what you have done." He rumbled.
She swallowed, peering at me from behind my mate's body. I remained still, my face neutral as she sized up the impossibly large male that was seconds away from eating her.
It would be a rather bitter snack, Asra.
"I have done nothing. You have intruded in my house." Mother huffed, still moving backward.
Asra was tense, not allowing me to move around him. I watched as my mother pinched the gap between her eyes, trying to clear her foggy brain. She swayed, yawning softly, before gazing down at the pillows.
Wine really made her a whole other person.
"You are dreaming. Close your eyes and you will wake up." I mumbled.
My mother nodded, stifling another yawn. In her drunken state, she stumbled on the bed; her face falling into the pillow before her body could catch up. She was muttering something I couldn't hear as her hands shakily pulled the duvet over her body. The moment her eyes slid shut, Asra was turning around and grabbing me around the waist. I squawked at how he held me; his elbow wrapped under my ass as he lifted me. I felt like a pencil, forced to straighten my spine so I didn't fall.
He left the door open, carrying me all the way around the house and past the garden until we were in the treeline. Only then did he stop, and I palmed at his jaw and cheeks, working to calm down the grumbling in his body. Caleb hovered beside us, his face devoid of any emotion as I tried to soothe the Alpha.
"It's okay. Calm down." I murmured.
"She hit you." Asra snapped.
"It's not the first time. I am surprised she managed it, considering she is so drunk." I joked.
His eyes narrowed, glancing at my cheek. "It is not something to joke about."
Sighing, I nodded solemnly. "Okay. Okay. I know."
He growled again, snapping his eyes away from my face to glare at a tree instead. I awkwardly hung on his arm, clearing my throat to ease some of the tension. Caleb looked at me curiously, eyeing the bag in my hand. I was lucky I didn't drop it when Asra picked me up so suddenly.
He loved to man-handle me like I was a damn toy.
Clearing my throat, I met Caleb's eye. "I think I know where my sister is."
"You do?" Caleb cocked his head.
"Yeah. My mother has a loose tongue when drunk." I nodded, looking down at Asra's chest with a frown. "She said that she had gotten a sympathetic pay for her, meaning she did the same to Arabella as she did to me."
"We are not going back there." Asra snapped.
"Yes. We are." I reared back to look in his eye. "My sister is in danger."
"How do you know?" Caleb wondered.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "My mother has given her to my ex-fiancé."
Asra's breath hitched, his dark eyes meeting mine. "You are sure?"
"I will be very surprised if the pieces of the puzzle don't fit," I said, nodding. "Arabellaisn't sixteen yet. She's barely an adult. I dread to think what he is doing toher already."
"He wouldn't touch a child." Asra shook his head.
"I was a minor." I stated. "Didn't stop him."
He growled again, and I cursed internally at myself. That didn't help.
"We shall get her." Asra nodded. "Where is the house?"
"At the top of the hill. The garden is where you found me when..."
"Got it." His jaw tensed, looking at Caleb. "I will inform the others. Let's move."
"Yes, Alpha." He bowed.
Asra finally shifted my weight, so I was now wrapped around him. I sighed with relief, happy to be held like a normal person rather than a sack of potatoes. He crouched, forcing me around his waist. I giggled, wrapping my legs around his back and my hands around his neck, hands falling into his hair. From this angle, I could see Caleb behind him, the male taking my bag from my hand. I warned him of the consequences of losing the bag before we walked.
Asra went at a rather fast pace, but other than a few jostles, I remained locked onto his body. When I would slip, he would snake a hand around me and pull me tighter. Eventually, he just held onto me better, one arm beneath my ass and one around my chest.
Barely two minutes later, we came to a stop. I lifted my head from his shoulder to turn around. Asra set me on my feet and I spun to face the house. Strange feelings rose in my gut as I looked up at the extensive building. Compared to what I lived in at Asra's house, this was nothing and I saw that now, but the fear remained.
This house had been a prison, a place where I was tortured beyond words. My blood painted the floor, my tears and whimpers of pain whispered through the brickwork. My innocence had been taken here, my entire life destroyed because of my mother's selfish greed.
"Welcome to the jailhouse." I murmured.
Asra wrapped his hand around mine. "Let's get this over with. The less we spend here, the sooner we leave."
I swallowed, staring fearfully into his eyes. "Okay. He doesn't have any security sensors out here, so we should be fine."
Asra pulled me down the side of the fence and my eyes wandered from the building to the garden. My stomach twisted when I saw the tree I attempted to climb. They had removed the broken branch, but even in the darkness, I could still see the darkness of one particular patch that had been tainted with my blood. They had restored the fence too, a gate standing where the wolf destroyed it.
"Don't think about it." He muttered. "I am going to pinpoint her heartbeat. Caleb, you have the shirt?"
Together, they shared the shirt, their noses pressing into the fabric. Caleb moved, crouched low, as he sniffed around the doors and windows. He hovered near the back left before pointing to the lower window.
My blood turned cold as I stared at him in disbelief. He had to be bluffing, not that window, surely...
"You sure it is that one?" I whispered.
"I can hear a heartbeat in there. Just one, the other is upstairs." Asra murmured. "It's thick walls, but it's there."
"We need to get her out of there." I panicked, moving away from my mate to run toward Caleb.
"Calm down, wait, Tulip, calm." Asra grabbed me. "What's going on?"
"You don't understand, we need to!"
"Make me understand." He interrupted, his stony gaze holding mine.
I gulped as I stared into his dark eyes, my hands shaking as I grasped his biceps.
"Please, can we just get her out of there? She... It's..."
"Deep breath, Tulip." He soothed me.
"It's the recovery room." My lip wobbled.