CHAPTER 35: ALNILAM’S SHOCK

(Alnilam)

The moment Amaia reveals her whereabouts, I decide to visit her old pack and confirm her story. My gut has been screaming that she is hiding something.

The practice session leaves me baffled seeing her perfect technique and relentless fighting spirit. There is something extraordinary about this girl. Not even my brothers can hold their ground in front of me when combat is in question and yet here I can hardly find any fault.

I call Jamina. She possesses the unique power to open portals through space and time.

Jamina and I visited Amaia’s pack.

To my surprise, we find that Amaia has a mate. The Alpha of the pack reveals the truth and his beta confirms it.

The anger grips every cell in my body as I learnt how she has abandoned her pack, her duty to her mate just to chase more men.

"I had to take on a chosen mate just to fulfil her place. Such a woman should be rejected for running away from the pack. You tell her that she is no longer welcome here," Alpha Tarian informs me in an angered voice.

Any man in his position will do the same. He has to do face-saving. It’s shameful that one’s mate runs away.

He doesn’t know how shamelessly she has kissed Huradis and then tried to touch me within a few minutes.

"I am not sure what decision we will take, Alpha Tarian but I understand your apprehensions," I informed him before leaving the pack with Jamina.

My mind keeps reeling with the way Amaia stares at me. How she makes my wolf stir and magic to lose control, there is something very unnatural about her. A simple human can’t possess such an ability.

Does she know about us? About who we truly are? Is she targeting us to secure a powerful position for herself?

She does appear like someone who climbs the ladder of power by dropping their morals.

Not under my watch. I will not fall victim to her charms. To her seduction, to be sucked in those dark pools of hers.

And I will not let her fool my brothers. Mintaka is already broken by the tragedy that has befallen him. I wonder if he will ever recover. His vulnerability has already been exploited by Rahria. Another woman doing the same will completely shatter him.

On the other hand, Alnitak has the most beautiful heart and soul. He cares so deeply for people and is invested in finding his true mate. But Amaia is like a black widow, she is spinning her web around him, exploiting the goodness he carries.

I will expose her, especially in front of Alnitak so he can stay away from her. A girl who couldn’t respect the mate bond doesn’t deserve our respect. She should be expelled and thrown out of the Kingdom but the thought somehow disturbs my wolf.

Does she possess some ability to control men? To bring them under her influence?

She has charmed Kacir too. Instead of mending his broken relationship with Rahria, he prefers to share the room with Amaia and accompany her.

The mystery surrounding her baffles me.

"Go easy on her. Maybe she has a reason to leave. No woman just decides to wind up and run away from a healthy relationship," Jamina advises me when we return to my office.

Always the voice of reason with a heart of gold. She is such an amazing woman, lively, full of energy, and optimistic. She has the tendency to see goodness in everyone.

I don’t deserve her. I am afraid my darkness will diminish her light and yet she remains by my side with every mood swing, every nightmare, every hardship.

I don’t even remember the last time I smiled. On the other hand, Jamina carries a permanent smile at all times.

My heart holds immense respect for her, but my wolf and magic don’t react to Jamina. She is not our mate. They protect her but they feel nothing for her.

Instead, the only woman they have been affected by is Amaia, and that’s alarming for me. Tonight, I will find out every secret she holds.

"She is a temptress, Jamina. Maybe you can’t feel it because you are a woman, but I can sense that men around her somehow get affected. She left her mate on purpose." I settle in my chair and Jamina places her hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down.

That’s when Alnitak and Amaia come to my office.

Alnitak protectively holds her by the waist. The goofy smile on his face and the possessiveness in his eyes reveal that he is already falling under her spell.

There is this scent that wafts from her that reminds me of forgotten gardens. My wolf purrs inside my head, trying to peek at her while I keep him under.

Focus is what I need. After sending Jamina away, I reveal everything I have learnt about her.

Not even once does she falter or feel weak. She sticks to her story but insists that Alpha Tarian rejected her and left her to be devoured by the monster that attacked them on the outskirts of their pack.

What man in his right mind will leave his mate to die? In this forsaken world, which is barely holding on from collapsing, mates are rare and cherished beyond anything.

We know how painful it is not to have a mate. I would have literally given my right hand for my mate but now I am about to settle.

But this woman, shamelessly tells us and wants us to believe that she was abandoned by her mate.

Even Alnitak doesn’t believe her and that fool believes everyone. It’s just so absurd.

The first crack in her facade comes when he walks out the door. The tears brim in her dark eyes and finally leak out.

Pain and agony mingle on her face and reflect back at me.

And that’s when my magic and wolf both painfully hum within me. They don’t wish to see her hurt or cry. A tinge of pain pierces my heart, making it extremely restless.

Yet, I threaten her, ask her about the magic she might possess.

She refuses to yield and challenges me to throw her out. Defiance runs in her veins and I can sense she is not a woman who bows down to anyone.

My hair begins to move, the magic they possess becomes restless, and I can feel it surging as if being called forward by some unnatural force.

And then they reach for her, binding her wrists without my order and I sense myself speaking.

Speaking the words my mind hasn’t ordered me to speak.

"Reveal yourself."

What’s happening, I don’t even understand. I try to pull my hair away from her, but they hold her tight, forming this connection between us.

Surreal. Deep. Magical.

My magic spreads over her skin, coating every hair, every cell, every speck of her being for I feel.

The restlessness of her heart.

The confusion of her mind.

Spark and warmth of her skin.

Smoothness of her hair.

The flow of her blood.

I don’t know what’s happening between us, but it’s like a collision of two different kinds of magic, and yet there is a familiarity.

And then to my utter disbelief, she begins to change.

She appears as shocked at this development as me.

Her raven hair transforms into threads of silverish-gold, and the darkness of her eyes abates, revealing this rich shade of green as if she has captured the ocean in her eyes. Her ears edge out, becoming pointy.

Shell-shocked, I stare at Amaia as she has transformed into another deity, and to my dismay, I realise I understand what she is and what she has been hiding all along.

Amaia is a Fae. I know because only pure-blooded Fae have this appearance.

The ones we thought had gone extinct from our world because of their merciless killing by the Dread Army.

But this one is alive and she is standing right in front of me.