CHAPTER TWO: TURNING POINT

ARIA POV

A wave of sorrow engulfs me. My heart pounds as if it is going to leap from my chest. My hair stands on end, my breath uneven, and the scorching sun angrily pours its wrath on my skin as floods of emotion come crashing over me. Why, Mum? Why do you have to leave me this way? I hope she is alright, but my eyes tell a different story.

A cruel reality washes over me like water on the shores of a beach, and my soul basks in ultimate displeasure. Pain and despair embrace me like a shield.

The Lycan King comes. He sees me in this state, and I catch a flicker of pity in his eyes. He turns to the two alphas with him.

“Get those idiots. Don’t let any of them escape.”

The two alphas growl as they charge toward the bandits. He tries to lift me up from the ground, but I nod in displeasure, giving him a faint, sympathetic look as I struggle to mutter words from my mouth. He crouches down to hear me.

I tremble vigorously.

“Don’t die on me, Aria,” he blurts out.

But I struggle, my finger pointing toward my mother.

“Save my mum, please—” I spit out a mouthful of blood.

He looks at me with sympathy and replies, “She was shot, and the injury is fatal. The bullet tore through her heart. I can sense a heartbeat from a hundred miles away, and I can tell you hers was gone ten minutes ago.”

He watches me to see how I take the news, and he is right. Images and noises flash before my eyes—the scream of my mum rings in my head like a wailing bird, the way blood splashes on the lonely road and its surroundings, that metallic stench filling the air.

My heart numbs, and I lose my sense of reasoning. Everything stills for what feels like eternity. The quietness is deafening. The silence is unexplainable. I feel like I should leave with her.

The alphas return with blood all over them. “Your mum is avenged,” the emperor replies. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

He speaks in a calm, steady voice. His voice feels like thunder at the same time, yet it is strangely comforting.

My heart races as he stretches out his hand toward me, and a bolt of lightning shoots through my spine as I feel both fear and excitement. My wolf is still asleep. Am I falling for this man? I ask myself. This is definitely not the mate urge, but I feel something—something undeniable.

He mutters the word “Mate” as his hands run over my body. His palm reaches my ribs, pressing hard against them. A surge of unbearable pain hits me, and I groan in agony.

But he doesn’t stop. He flips me over and presses hard against my back, and I cough out dark clots of blood.

“That’s not the way to check someone’s injury, stupid. You’re killing her!” Damon, the alpha standing beside him, snaps.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers to me.

He turns to Damon, “You know more about these things than I do.”

 “Put her in the van, Damon, ensure she is well catered for”, he orders

………

They set me up in an ambulance, and I vaguely see Mum in the ruins by the roadside, covered in blood, her eyes deadshot. This sight sends shivers down my spine, and I see his medical team rushing towards her, trying to pick up the pieces of what’s left.

I know she is dead, but I feel comfort in the thought that Bond still assigns men to take care of her despite the bad blood between them. Maybe this man isn’t so bad after all, or so I think, as a layer of resentment towards the alpha begins to shatter.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask in a still, small voice as the darkness begins to creep into my consciousness. I am about to pass out from blood loss and exhaustion.

“We are going to the nearest pack hospital to get you treated,” he replies. All these years, I have been running from Emperor Bond, but I am now at his mercy, and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

“Now go to sleep. The more you fight it, the harsher your injury hurts,” he advises me.

“Shut up,” I bark at him and cough violently. The werewolves in the car stare at me in surprise; nobody speaks to the emperor that way. Who gave her such audacity? they think.

He looks at me in a weird, surprising manner. Then I begin to understand something, even in the midst of my pain. This alpha is a pampered and proud king; nobody disagrees with his requests. He probably hasn’t been told no all his life.

He frowns and glares at me, then his frown turns into laughter. He laughs in a weird, awkward manner.

“You are mine now, Aria. There’s no running. This isn’t the Deviant Splinters anymore; you will embrace pack life and live as a proper werewolf from now on.”

I feel a wave of illusion flash successively before my eyes, my tongue tastes metallic, I drown in the horror of my own blood, my breath’s shaky and uneven as I gasp for air.

I want to ask another question. I want to protest, but I am too weak to do so. The darkness embraces me like a woman would her suckling child, and there I lie.