"So what are you going to tell them?" Ciera asked leaning forward in her seat as they made their way up the winding drive way. The heavy thick iron gates were just ahead now, and they both knew that what waited for them at the end of this road was not going to be pleasant.
Aislinn knew that even if Ciera had not already alerted her brother to their impending arrival, which was a distinct possibility since she had been in contact with him on and off over the past few days, then the sentries that were no doubt positioned along the drive and in the woods surrounding her house would have. Meaning they would be waiting for her. He would be waiting.
Taking a deep breath Aislinn tried to calm her racing heart and swirling thoughts. Trying to find a center in the chaos she had become over the last few weeks. Offering Ciera a small smile she looked back at the gate that was ominously opening for them as they approached.
"The truth." She said as they drove through the open gates. Looking in her rearview she had a moment of panic as she watched them sliding closed behind her, the iron clanging and ringing through the air as they shut securely.
The last five minutes of the drive was hushed, the air thick with tension. Aislinn glanced back at Alpha Fide who for the majority of the drive had stayed silent but alert. The only times he had spoken was to ask the location they were travelling so he could alert his pack and have them meet him there, and to answer their interrogation questions. After those small exchanges, he had fallen quiet.
Ciera had of course kept up a low running commentary for most of the journey, instead of irritating her though, Aislinn found the bubbling stream of chatter comforting and reassuring. After everything that had happened, and everything that they had been through, it was satisfying and soothing that Ciera had not changed. That she was still the same person. It was hopeful.
Too quickly for any of their comfort, the trees parted and they were pulling up before the wood, stone, and glass building.
As the engine cut out and silence enveloped them, Aislinn felt herself holding her breath. Unsure if she was truly prepared for what was to come. Unsure of what she wanted to say, her heart torn and throbbing, her head spinning as she stared up at her house. At where she knew her mate waited.
It was Alpha Fide that broke the silence, his voice deep and slow as he watched her, the house, and seemingly everything and anything around them with quick bright eyes. "Your home Princess?"
"Yeah Hulk, this is home." Aislinn said, barely even noticing as her voice shook on the words. Or Hulk's grumbling that his name was in fact not 'Hulk'. None of it registered as she watched the soaring heavy double wood doors, which were the main and overwhelming feature of the front of the house, crack open. As if revealing a god himself, she watched as they parted, light spilling behind him, the deep forest surrounding his fortress of glass and marble. All of it framed the man himself. The god with which those doors split to reveal; her mate. His hands were at his sides, his strides long and powerful, his face a mask of fury and power. Aislinn had to blink as she stared at him.
He was the same, and yet he was unrecognizable. Gone was the timid and the unsureness of the boy, of the heir. Gone was any hesitancy from his movements, the small moments of indecision, the self-doubt that had him second guessing himself. He was no longer a prince. No those doors opened and revealed a King. A raging, confident, powerful King. A King prowling through the night - his night - for her. Even without her wolf she could feel it, could see the waves of power and dominance rolling off of him. The way he held himself, the way he moved, with such absolute lethal grace and meticulous power. He was terrifying; he was unstoppable.
He was hers.
Before she could even react, his long legs had him around the car, she wasn't able to get her fingers to work before he had the door open. A deep growl rumbled from the back of the car, as Kaiden reached in and unceremoniously yanked her from her seat. She didn't even care. She didn't care about anything else as he crushed her to his chest. His arms, bands of iron pinning her to his body almost desperately, his face burying into her neck. His body shaking as he inhaled her scent deeply.
She couldn't have resisted him even if she had wanted to.
Her body melted into his. The hard planes of his body, the ropes of coiled muscle, comforting her as he held her impossibly closer. Tightening his grip as if he wanted them to become one. As if he never wanted to let her go.
The sound of a car door slamming broke into their moment. Kaiden moved without thought. His actions so fast and fluid they were barely perceivable. The effect of their bonding, of his inheritance of her title and position, both strengthening and empowering his wolf until he now possessed the power and speed that signified and defined a Royal Wolf. A King. Before Aislinn could blink she was out of her mate's arms and firmly behind him. His body that only seconds before had been crushed against hers, now shielding and covering hers, her mate sinking into a defensive crouch before her.
Aislinn let herself mourn the loss of the feel of him for a moment before she forced her brain to start working again. To remember where they were and why they were there.
"Kaiden." Aislinn snapped, forcing her voice to be cold and emotionless. Choking down the pain and heartbreak that it caused to speak to him in such a manner.
"Mate." Kaiden snapped back at her. Neither his eyes nor face turning towards her, his attention staying firmly focused forward.
The sound of boots pounding through the air had Aislinn rolling her eyes. She felt, more then saw, as suddenly her guard, Austin, Clay and Blair fell in around them. Their bodies encircling hers. Kaiden still didn't ease off, his back staying tense and stiff in front of her. Aislinn let out a sigh.
"Luna."
Aislinn turned her head to look at Austin who was standing at her right hand side, his face revealing clear relief as he scanned her over from head-to-toe. She watched as his eyes widened as he focused and took in her neck and face. The few spots where she was unable to cover the bruises and cuts that covered the near entirety of her body.
Offering him a small smile she nodded her head, ignoring for a moment the desire to tell him where he could shove his 'Luna' business.
"Kaiden." She barked again, trying to get him to turn around. Annoyance flaring as her guards attempted to move her back and towards the house. She smacked Hugo's hand as he tried to reach for her shoulder.
"Mate, get in the house." Kaiden said without turning. His voice hard and cool. Power and dominance assaulting her so heavily that even without her wolf she could feel its presence.
She felt herself bristle at his tone, at his words. Her anger that had been so easily forgotten resurfacing in a heartbeat. Her mind flashing back to the night in the study in her house in Montana. To the words he had spoken then. To the orders he had given. To what he had taken from her. Her simple easy annoyance becoming engulfed in flames, replaced with white hot rage.
"Kaiden turn around." She said, her voice hard. Shaking off another hand that tried to grab her, she stomped on a foot that got in her way as she stepped forward and elbowed Austin in the ribs when he tried to block her path. If any of them thought she was going to play docile and tamed, they were in for a surprise.
Kaiden whirled around, his face blazing as he stared at her, anger flashing in the depths of his darkened eyes. "I told you to get in the house mate. I'll deal with you later."
Aislinn didn't let herself flinch under his words or in the face of his anger. Steeling herself she straightened her spine and met his heated glare head on. She watched as he finally took in her face. The cracked lip and cheek, the blooming and darkening bruises, the swelling around her eye and mouth. Her stiff jaw. And finally the clear hand prints that encircled her throat. Each finger having left a perfect deep purple imprint against her creamy snowy pale skin.
His jaw twitched. His lips pressing into an even harder line, and impossibly his eyes darkened further, until they were nothing more than pitch-black dark bottomless pits of fury. "Who did this?" He asked, his voice tight as his gaze stayed trained on the marks on her neck. The hands at his sides clenched into fists. The skin over his knuckles white. His whole body trembling from the force of his anger.
Sensing how violent his emotions were, Austin, Richard and Clay collapsed in front of her. Blocking her from her mate as his form trembled harder. A powerful brutal roar ripping from him as they stepped between them. "Move." He roared at them, his eyes never straying from her, even as she stood encircled by his men.
She could hear as more wolves began to race out of the woods towards them. Obviously one of Kaiden's lieutenants had realized the seriousness of the situation and had called for backup. Recruiting more bodies and hands in case they had to try and subdue their Alpha King in the midst of a murderous rage.
"You need to calm down Alpha." Austin tried, his head lowered in submission even as he remained standing before her and blocking the path of his Alpha.
"Let me at my mate." Kaiden said his voice gravelly and harsh, his wolf out and in full control. His territorial and possessiveness nature, coupled with his Alpha temper, meaning that every wolf was risking their life as they stood between the Alpha pair. Still, not one moved, and even as another growl rumbled from the wolf King more and more wolves moved to block her from him. Each one bowing in submission, yet standing unflinching to protect her from her mate.
"Kaiden." Aislinn snapped again. Her voice hard and carrying a hint of her rage this time. Her indulgence in his tantrum at a very near finish.
"Get in the house mate." Kaiden growled at her, tremors still tormenting his body. It was a testament to just how powerful and how good his control was that he still had not shifted, nor attacked any of his men.
"Austin, Richard, move." Aislinn snapped at the two standing directly before her.
Both risked a quick glance at her in shock and surprise, before looking back at the shaking and fuming Alpha they were attempting to protect her from.
"I said move." She said.
"My Queen-"Richard started, just as Austin said "I don't think-"
Aislinn cut them both off, "I said move." When neither man did. She took a breath, her eyes hardening, "As your Luna, as your Queen, I command and demand - that you move. Now!"
Reluctantly both men stepped to the side, parting in front of her. The other's following suit, although seeming stunned and not at all confidant about it. As she walked between them, she could feel as their darting glances landed on her. Could see as their bodies and hands shifted towards her, every one of them ready to jump and grab or move her away from her mate at a moments notice.
She didn't let it touch her though; their worry and concern. Their fear. She was neither. For she was fury incarnate. And she was finally meeting her tormentor head on.
She focused on the feel and intensity of it as it burned in her veins as she took step after step towards her mate. She watched as his black eyes stayed focused on her. His frame still shaking with the force of his rage. Well, he wasn't the only one. She was pissed off too, and if he got to throw a fit then she would as well.
She moved until she stood a foot from him. He towered over her. His anger and strength making the difference between them even more pronounced and obvious. His broad shoulders, toned and hard muscles, promising power and punishment for any and all that stood in his way.
"I told you to stay in the house." He growled at her, his voice like nothing he had ever spoken to her with.
She didn't even pause, there was no hesitation, no regret in her movements. She closed the space between them, her arm reaching up.
Her hand landed with a resounding slap. Her palm hitting his face with every ounce of strength and power she had left at her disposal. Every second of pain, fury, and hurt he had caused her, she let fuel her as her hand sailed through the air before connecting with his perfectly chiseled and livid face. His head whipped to the side, more from the shock of her attack then from the actual force. After all he was still the Alpha King, and at present she was very nearly human.
Slowly his head turned back, his eyes now back to their icy clear blue, surprise and complete shock replacing any hint of his previous anger. He stared at her as if he didn't know who she was.
Around her were sharp intakes of breaths and stunned silence. To witness a mate physically hurt another was unheard of. To see their alphas', their Queen raise her hand against her mate was downright unbelievable.
Aislinn let her stinging hand fall to her side. She eyed her mate, the side of his face now slightly red from where she had slapped him. She had expected some type of remorse or guilt to flood her after laying a hand on her mate like that, somewhat surprised that she had even been able to follow through with such a thing in the first place, but none came. It was another reminder of just how much he had taken from her when he had stolen her wolf.
"You hit me." His voice was mirrored by the shock in his eyes.
Her eyes didn't soften, her voice still hard and cold, carrying the white cold fury and full weight of her anger. "You left me."
With her words she moved her eyes from him. Refusing to watch as they hit him. Each one a dagger to his heart. Refused to see the guilt and hurt they brought to his eyes, because he had done it. He had made that choice and now he would live with it. She refused to feel bad for him. To feel anything for him.
Stiffening her spine she stepped around him, heading for where Alpha Fide, Ciera and a wiggling Kio stood. Only Ciera seemed unaffected from her brother's, and then Aislinn's, antics. A huge stupid grin splitting her face and an evil twinkle in her eye as she winked at Aislinn.
Aislinn made it one step from him, a single step before a hand was encircling her upper arm. She tried to hide the wince the hold caused on her bruised and tender body though she knew both Ciera and Hulk had caught it. She forced herself to ignore the heat it caused to race through her even with the layers of clothing, a response that let her know who had dared touch her without even having to turn around. "Let go of me Kaiden."
"No." His voice was pleading, close and low signaling he had closed the distance she had tried to put between them. She was thankful he left a breath of space between their bodies. Turning away from him was hard enough without that.
"Let. Go. Of. Me." She repeated, refusing to let herself lean into his touch. To resist the urge to sooth the pain that was so evident in him.
"Aislinn, please you need to listen. To understand. I only wanted to keep you safe. I love-"
"Don't." Her voice so emotionless, so cold, that word on her lips, the absolute strength in her tone, it was so reminiscent of the day in the hotel room in New York. Before everything had changed. Before she had changed. Before he had changed her.
"Aislinn, please-"
"Let go of me." She said her voice losing a touch of its edge.
"No. I won't let you walk away from me." Kaiden said, his voice turning hard and determined. His grip tightening around her arm with his words.
Aislinn bit back a whimper at the pain in her arm, shaking her head at Hulk. Whose eyes' had darkened and narrowed in on where her mate now held her against her will.
"You no longer have that right." Aislinn said her voice barely more then a whisper.
With her words the grip tightened, a gasp from him letting her know he had heard her nonetheless.
"Mate-"
"No." Aislinn hardened herself as that word reverberated through her head. As the pictures, memories and stories of her youth swirled around her mind. She remembered her parents. The love and respect they had held for each other. The absolute devotion and trust they carried. That word ringing in her ears as she steeled herself and turned to look up at HER mate. At the man the fates, the g*ddamn fates, had destined her for. "No, you don't get to call me that. You don't get to hold me. You don't get to protect me. You don't get to worry about my safety, or ask me to stay at your side." She took a breath her eyes meeting his. Icy blue and stormy grey colliding. "You are nothing to me Kaiden, you made sure of that yourself. You. Left. Me." With each word she stabbed a finger into his chest, punctuating each word, the pain she had been carefully hiding erupting to the surface.
"You. Broke. Me."
"You. Destroyed. Me."
With the last word she whirled around, breaking his hold, and sprinting to Ciera's open and waiting arms. She felt as Kaiden tried desperately to grab her, but before he could Hulk was there. Unyielding and unmoving, his face stone.
"Move." Kaiden barked at the alpha, his eyes desperate as he watched Ciera trying to comfort his mate.
"Back off Kady." Ciera said over Aislinn's shoulder, her hands rubbing soothing circles over her back as Aislinn fought to get her raging emotions under control. When Kaiden simple growled in response to her words, Ciera rolled her eyes. "Don't you think you've done enough?" She asked her voice gentle as she looked at her brother seriously, trying to get him to see just how close he actually was to losing his mate forever. "Just back off and give her some space, and stop threatening Hulk. You kill him and your mate will just hate you even more."
Kaiden flinched at her words, guilt flashing in his eyes as he looked at the silvery head that didn't raise to refute his sisters' horrible words. Nodding his head he took a step back from the unknown Alpha who looked completely unconcerned or alarmed at the Alpha King's threats. His only response during the exchange being a slight frown as Ciera had spoken, "My name is not 'Hulk'. We have gone over this m'lady." His gravelly voice finally said slowly.
"Are you still on about that? Give it a rest Hulk. Jeeze, you're like a dog with a bone." Ciera said absently not taking her eyes from her brother or letting go of Aislinn.
"I can't Ciera. I can't just let her go." Kaiden said, his voice quivering. Ciera glanced around, shooting a thankful and grateful look at Clay and Austin who had been subtly ushering the rest of the pack and guard back and away. Offering the Alpha's at least the guise of privacy for such an intimate moment. Aislinn's guards now stood a few feet away, Richard at their front. All of their eyes alert as they shifted between watching their Queen and her surroundings.
"She needs time Kady. What you did-" She had to stop as he flinched again at her words. Letting out a sigh she tightened her hold on Aislinn, feeling the girl tremble at the dark reminder. "What you did, Kady, I can understand, I can. But there are consequences, you did what you thought you had to - but that doesn't mean you get to go without any repercussions. You and Richard did this. You made this decision. Now you have to let her try and deal with it."
"She hates me." Gone was the confident King that had descended the stairs in a cloak of righteous fury, replaced with a broken and shattered man, his heart bleeding and begging for a girl that stood just beyond his reach.
"Can you blame her?" Ciera asked tenderly. Wishing she could tell her brother that his mate in fact, did not hate him. That is was all going to be okay. That she forgave him. But ultimately Ciera found that she couldn't find it within herself to voice even a single one of those lies.
"No. No I can't." Kaiden said at last his voice shuddering, his shoulders shaking with the weight of his words.