7. CHAPTER 7
At the witch’s announcement, Garren’s head turns to me, his eyes wide in disbelief. Even though my reaction was the same, I couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of hurt at his surprise. The shocked look on his face makes me think that he never in a million years considered me as a possible partner. It didn’t need to be a fated-mate type of something, but it’s clear that he never entertained the idea.
All of a sudden, I’m embarrassed for all the times that I noticed how handsome he is or how he gradually grew into his body. His muscles not only doubled, but tripled in size, and his eyes are darker than any other wolf’s that I know.
As the weeks passed by, Garren caught my attention, but I always ignored it because I was his Alpha and he my Omega. It’s humiliating to realize that he had never seen me as a woman, never noticed that I’m more than just an Alpha.
“Makes sense,” Garren says at last when he recovers his wits. He gives me a smile that’s unlike any other. His face transforms, making him gleam with something I can’t explain. “Only someone as incredible, as powerful, and as beautiful as her can be worthy of someone of my level and stature.”
His compliments get lost on me because my mind’s too busy fixating on his puzzling words. He’s not making any sense. Out of the two of us, I’m the one of a higher rank, and he’s the one who should prove his worth to be with me. By the wolf’s standards, he’s no one. A lowly Omega, trying to climb up the ladder. It’s true that he holds a vast well of power inside him, but he has yet to master it.
“Who are you?” Yalinda asks, not missing Garren’s peculiar choice of words. She nods at Linda, giving her the go-ahead to read his mind again.
This time when Linda approaches him, Garren doesn’t fight her. Instead, he keeps his eyes locked on mine, the corners of his mouth lifted in a sensual smile. When her fingers touch his temples and the soft light shines, his eyes roll backward into his head as his consciousness is taken over by the witch.
Yalinda turns the page on her notebook, the grip on her pen tightening as she patiently waits for her sister to pull out more pieces of sensitive information. I’m just as bad as her, holding my breath in anticipation of another revelation.
“Four brothers,” Linda says, grasping at whatever she can. “He’s the oldest of them.”
Yalinda scribbles it down. “Do you have their names?”
“G something,” Linda forces out, struggling but failing to get them.
“Who is he?” Yalinda asks, trying to guide her. “What’s his name?”
“G… Gab… Garren,” Linda stammers at last.
“Garren what?” Yalinda pushes. “What’s his last name? Come on, Linda. You have to do better than that. Hekate will want more.”
“Grey!” Linda exclaims. “Garren Grey.”
I shake my head in disbelief. That’s impossible. The witch must’ve made a mistake because Garren Grey is the heir apparent and my future king. There’s no way in hell that he’d end up as a part of my pack, with the lowest rank possible, especially when he’s one of the highest-ranking royals in the world.
“Garren Grey,” Yalinda echoes, writing it all down. “Who is he? What can you find out about him?”
“He’s someone important,” Linda says after a long pause. “He’s trying to keep it away from me, but I’m getting some images.”
I’m watching them, transfixed by their exchange. A part of me insists on believing that they’re making a mistake, but that part is getting smaller and smaller with every word that Linda says.
“A luxury car. Manor. Servants. Big dining table. A party. Drugs. Alcohol. Women,” Linda says, listing all the things she can see around Garren.
“We need more than that,” Yalinda urges, sounding anxious to get actual proof about Garren’s possible heritage. “Dig deeper.”
Linda grunts as she presses her index and middle fingers harder against Garren’s temples. He’s not making it easy for her, putting up a fight at every step of the way.
“I see people without faces,” Linda continues, her voice strained. “They’re bowing to him.”
“Bowing?” Yalinda asks, looking up from her notebook in surprise.
“Yeah,” Linda confirms. “He’s sitting on a big chair and the people are walking up to him one after another to bow. He doesn’t remember them, doesn’t even bother to look at them. In fact, judging by the quality of the image, I’m pretty sure he’s either drunk or high, or maybe even both.”
“What else?” Yalinda asks, slowly losing her patience. It’s hard to stay cool when close to a discovery.
Hurry up, I say to my wolf, not feeling any effects of whatever she’s doing except the empty sensation in the spot where she used to be. I wish she’d be here with me, helping me deal with all the sudden revelations.
“Holy fucking shit!” Linda exclaims in a mix of shock and excitement.
“What?” Yalinda asks, rushing to her sister’s side. “What do you see?”
Linda takes her hands off Garren’s temples and turns to her sister. I don’t need to see her face to know that she’s grinning. There’s something about her posture and the excited energy that’s radiating off her that confirms everything I need to know. They’ve gotten their proof.
Garren’s face is pale and clammy. His forehead shines with beads of sweat and his head begins to dip forward. The witches exhausted him too much, and now, he doesn’t have the energy to stay awake. His eyelids flutter shut and his chin falls against his chest.
“When he passed a mirror, I caught a glimpse of him,” Linda starts, barely containing her excitement. “He was dressed in full royal regalia, and not just that, he was wearing a crown! Do you understand what I’m saying? He’s their fucking royal!”
“Holy fucking shit,” Yalinda echoes her sister’s previous words. “The big chair that he was sitting on must’ve been a throne then.”
“Yes!” Linda confirms with a high-pitched voice. “We won the lottery with him. There’s no way that Hekate won’t promote us. We won’t be invisible anymore. Everyone will know the Linda sisters.”
“We should be careful,” Yalinda warns, keeping her head level. “No one can know about this, or they’ll take him away from us before we get anywhere near Hekate.”
“You’re right,” Linda agrees, toning down her excitement. “What should we do?”
Yalinda paces back and forth in the room as she thinks through the situation that they’ve found themselves in. I don’t have the time to wait for their decision and glance at Garren. He’s still unconscious, but if this invasion was anything like the other one, he should wake up soon enough.
What’s taking so long?I ask my wolf, but I’m afraid that wherever she went, she’s in too deep to hear me. I just hope that she’ll find her way out because I’ve never felt more alone. If I am to die today, I don’t want to die alone.
“We can’t afford to lose time,” Yalinda says at last. “We have to believe that Garren’s lineage is important enough for Hekate to immediately receive us.”
“What about the girl?” Linda asks, talking about me. “Should I do a quick reading to see if she’s worth taking with us?”
“No need,” Yalinda replies, glancing at me. “We’ve already established that she is his mate. As long as we have her, he’s under our control.”
“But the bond didn’t set in yet,” Linda argues. “He won’t be inclined to protect her until it does.”
“It’s only a matter of time,” Yalinda assures her sister. “I’m sure that Hekate will know what to do with them. All we need to do now is deliver them to her. The rest will be up to Hekate.”
“We should talk to Belinda and Delinda,” Linda says, already halfway to the door. “The sooner we move, the better.”
“Let’s go,” Yalinda confirms and follows her sister out of the damp prison cell, leaving me alone with Garren, who I thought was my Omega, but turned out to be not only my future king but also my fated mate.
When I can’t hear the sounds of witches’ footsteps, I turn to Garren. His head is tipped forward, his chin resting on his chest. His black hair is messily thrown over his forehead, and his chiseled jaw is covered with specks of dirt.
“Garren,” I whisper, not daring to talk too loudly for fear that the witches would return.
Garren doesn’t react in any way. There’s no sign that he heard me or that he’s close to waking up. With my wolf retreating deep into us to try to find a path to access our abilities, I’m all alone. I’m aware that without my power, there’s not much we can do, but at least I’ll have him by my side.
“Garren,” I call his name again, not bothering to hide the pleading in my tone. “Please wake up.”
It doesn’t happen immediately just because I begged him to do it; after the longest and loneliest minute of my life, Garren finally stirs and groans. His head sways left and right, his chin rubbing against his chest as he’s trying to gather the strength to lift it.
“It’s okay. You’re okay,” I whisper reassuringly after he groans, sounding pained. “They’re gone for now.”
“What happened?” Garren asks, forcing his words out through gritted teeth.
“They’ve got the information they needed,” I reply, not wanting to overwhelm him too soon. “They’re making plans to transport us again.”
“Fuck,” he groans, the sound guttural and raw. “They know, don’t they?”
“Know what?” I ask, wanting to hear it from him.
“They know who I am,” he replies without missing a beat. While he managed to lift his head, his eyes are still half-closed, and his jaw is clenched whenever he’s not speaking.
“Yes,” I confirm, carefully watching him for a reaction.
“What else did they find out?” he asks, not bothering to address the massive elephant in the room. “Did they get any names? Locations? Plans?”
“I don’t think so,” I reply, although I can’t be sure what else Linda saw and decided not to reveal in front of me. “After they figured out your lineage, they couldn’t wait to organize our transport to Hekate.”
“Not ideal, but there’s still hope then,” Garren says, sounding surprisingly optimistic for someone who’s tied up to the chair with unbreakable ropes, had his mind invaded twice, and proved to be quite possibly the most valuable wolf that the witches have ever gotten their hands on.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you are?” I ask, unable to hold it back any longer. “Why didn’t you tell me that you’re Prince Garren Grey?”
“What difference does it make?” he muses, giving me an insufferable little smirk that I’d normally love to wipe off his face, but right now I’m just glad that he’s awake.
“For one, I wouldn’t risk Blaine giving you so many beatings,” I say, but Garren shakes his head and chuckles.
“I think that would have proven counterproductive,” he replies. “I’d still be the same self-absorbed asshole I was when I first joined the pack.”
“Blaine could’ve gotten in trouble for laying his hand on a royal,” I insist, wanting him to see just how dangerous his secret was to all of us.
“Quite the opposite,” Garren disagrees. “My father would reward him for beating me into shape.”
“I don’t believe that,” I argue, knowing that the royals have severely punished the commoners for much lesser crimes than that. “I doubt that King Grey approves of his son getting disciplined by the lower-class.”
“That’s where you’re mistaken,” Garren tells me. “You’re not lower-class. When he shipped me off to the military camp, he temporarily stripped me of my rank. My father made sure that I’d start on rock bottom as a lowly Omega, a servant to the commoners. What might’ve started as a punishment, turned out to be the best thing that happened to me.”
I tilt my head to the side, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ve abused drugs and alcohol for so long that I’ve tainted the bond between me and my wolf,” he explains. “Until you handed me over to Blaine, I had completely forgotten what it feels like to be one. I deserved every punch I received. I even deserved to be on the toilet duty for three weeks in a row. There’s nothing more humbling than cleaning other people’s shit.”
Despite myself, I chuckle at his words. While I haven’t spent much time with him, I did follow his progress and read Blaine’s daily reports on Garren’s training. Since he was the newest and only Omega of the pack, I made it my priority to stay on his case as much as I could without giving him any special treatment.
“The witch’s words might come as a surprise at first, but the more I think about it, the more sense they make,” Garren continues, locking his eyes on mine. As the pain leaves him, his jaw relaxes, and his face softens. “You might’ve been born a commoner, but you’ve risen up the ranks by yourself, which is what my father was trying to get me to do. You’re an Alpha in your own right, and you have all the traits that would make for a great queen. You are everything I didn’t know I was looking for.”
My breath hitches and my heart gets stuck in my throat. He’s not only showering me with way too many compliments, but he also implied that he’d like me to be his queen. I’ve ever only wanted to be an Alpha of the most powerful pack in the kingdom. My aspirations didn’t go higher than that, but now that he’s dangling the offer in front of me, I’m not sure how to even go about considering it.
“I’ve traveled all over the world, and I’ve met a lot of people in my life,” Garren continues, talking as if it’s the last time he will get the chance to do it. “Granted, I’ve been drunk and high for most of it, but I’ve also been both of those things when I first arrived at the military camp and met you.”
I smile, remembering our first encounter. Drugs and alcohol would definitely explain his arrogance, and now that he’s clean and sober, it also makes sense why his personality changed so much. He’s finally being his real self.
“Despite all that, I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” Garren says, then chuckles. “I’ll admit that those thoughts weren’t of the kindest variety, especially when I was ordered to clean all the toilets.”
“You deserved it,” I tell him, speaking up for the first time and participating in his speech.
“I really did,” he agrees, giving me a gentle smile that’s nothing like his usual infuriating and insufferable arrogant smirk. “You keep me balanced and in check. You bring out the best in me. If we ever get out of here, I would like only one thing.”
“What’s that?” I ask, then hold my breath as I wait for his reply.
“I want us to give this a try,” he says with a soft but sure voice. “I would like to give our bond the opportunity to form. If we get out of here, would you be willing to do that?”
I bite my lower lip, starting to realize the magnitude of what he’s asking of me. I’m literally more or less being offered the position of ruling by his side as his queen. This whole thing is incredible and quite frankly, impossible. In fact, it’s so crazy, that I’m starting to believe that I might be under some kind of a spell. Maybe I’m having my mind invaded right now and I don’t even know it.
Whatever it is, I like it, and I’m going to go with the flow. If it’s a mind invasion, the effects of it are a lot better than the pain and a headache.
“If we get out of here,” I echo, giving him my answer, while at the same time not wanting to forget our situation.
Garren’s face lights up, the edges of it softening to a degree that makes him look several years younger. During these last few weeks, his wolf successfully healed away the traces of his drug and alcohol abuse. His high cheekbones aren’t covered with the redness that accompanies the drinking and the bags under his eyes are smoothed into their flawless state, making it clear that he’s getting a good amount of sleep every night.
“Speaking of, we should come up with a plan,” Garren says, his brows furrowing as he looks at the unbreakable rope around his wrists. “Any ideas?”
“Actually, while you’ve been busy keeping the witches distracted, my wolf went to look for a way for me to tap into my abilities,” I explain, still missing her presence.
“Any luck?” Garren asks, but his face tells me he already knows the answer.
I’m about to shake my head to confirm his assumption when a wave of energy washes over me with sudden and intense force. My eyes widen at the sensation, and my lips slowly curl up when I realize what it means.
You’re welcome,my wolf says, riding the wave up to the surface.
I push down the joy and laughter that’s threatening to burst out of me. We’re already making enough noise, and I don’t need the witches to put their guard up or storm into our small prison.
Garren raises his eyebrow in question, understanding that something has happened, but he knows better than to ask and call attention to us. I give him a small nod, wordlessly answering all of his questions.
My eyes narrow in concentration, and I take a deep breath to calm myself down. Time’s running out, but I shouldn’t let it affect me. My focus needs to be strong and uninterrupted.
While transforming into my wolf shape would get me out of the chair, it would also cause too much commotion. My best bet is to cut through the unbreakable ropes as quietly as possible, then use the advantage of surprise when the witches return.
I have no trouble calling on the dark shadows around me, manipulating them with Umbrakinesis. The damp room is full of them because the witches have been overly confident with their spells, and they didn’t bother to try to extra bind us by setting up strong stadium-like lighting.
With some fairly simple manipulation techniques, I create a shadow knife. The level of sharpness depends on my skills, and considering that this isn’t my first shadow weapon, I’m quite confident that it will cut through the ropes. They might be unbreakable, as the name suggests, but they’re possible to cut through. I hope.
I briefly meet Garren’s eyes, and he grins. He looks more proud than impressed, which just shows me that he expected me to be able to do this and probably much more. Well, I didn’t become an Alpha for nothing.
Beads of sweat gather at the edge of my hairline. Shadow manipulations such as these would usually need even less than an ounce of my focus. I grew up playing with Umbrakinesis, and it comes to me as naturally as breathing. This time it’s different though.
My head still feels heavy from the spells the witches had put me under. While my wolf gave me a straight path to my ability, it’s the concentration that is causing me problems.
With deep, controlled breaths, I keep my heartbeat level. I have to be very careful, otherwise I might hurt myself by accident. The knife is sharp, and the ropes are tied up very tightly around my limbs.
“You can do this,” Garren says encouragingly in a low whisper.
Slowly and carefully, I bring the knife down to my right hand and then start moving it left and right.
“It’s working,” Garren tells me with a big smile on his face. I don’t dare to react, afraid that my focus will waver.
After several seconds, I successfully cut through the ropes. I allow myself a small smile before focusing on moving the knife to the other hand. I repeat the whole process, struggling to keep my concentration. It becomes harder when I’m down on my last foot, but I power through it.
“Done,” I say, pointing out the obvious when I get free.
It takes me a moment to stand up, my feet rather unsteady and wobbly. Feeling the pressure of the time, I push through the weird feeling of instability long enough to lower myself on my knees in front of Garren.
“Hi,” I say, looking him in the eyes.
It’s not the first time that we’ve been in close proximity to one another, but something has changed. It’s as if I’m seeing him for the first time, and if I don’t focus on the task at hand, I’ll be in danger of being overwhelmed by everything that is him.
“Hi,” he echoes, his breath tickling my cheeks.
Focus, my wolf growls, sounding exasperated. I can’t blame her, because she did all the hard work to reconnect me with my ability.
Lowering my gaze to Garren’s ropes, I go through the same motions as I did with mine. It takes longer than I would’ve liked, mostly because I’m more tired than before, which makes it harder to focus. Fortunately, I manage to do it without cutting into him.
“Thank you,” he says when he’s free, rubbing his wrists at the spots where the ropes were.
We help each other to stand up, both of our feet not quite reliable, but together we manage. As we hold onto each other, I realize, for the first time, that we’re of the same height. Our eyes are level and our lips are inches apart.
It’s as if time has come to a stop, trapping us in a moment that no one can touch. Nothing else matters except that we are here, together and with our arms around each other.
His body is hard against mine, pressing at me in all the right places. His shoulders are broad, but not too wide for me to put my arms around. When he tips his head forward, he rests his forehead against mine. The small contact of our skin is powerful enough for me to let out a small gasp.
For fuck’s sake, just kiss him already! my wolf orders, and it’s all the encouragement I need to lean forward and close the distance between our lips.
As if he was waiting for me to decide what to do next, Garren reacted immediately when I made the move. His lips part, welcoming and tasting me. I do the same, relishing the unexpected softness and the heat of his mouth.
Both of our bodies are tense as if we’re trying to control ourselves, worried to scare the other away if we let go. Our tongues meet halfway, teasing and beckoning at each other. They wrap themselves in a dance of their own making, moving to the rhythm of their own music.
I move my hands higher up Garren’s neck and bury them in his silky black hair. Even though there’s no space between us, I still pull him against me, needing him even closer, wanting him harder.
My heart’s racing faster than ever before as if I’m running a marathon. Something in me speaks to him, making him speed up even more. If this didn’t feel so right, I’d think that I’m going to have a heart attack.
Garren’s heart beats just as hard as mine, drumming against his chest and into mine. It’s as if our hearts have established a communication of their own, connecting on another level.
It’s then that it clicks. Something settles, making a small clicking sound that echoes inside my head and, judging by Garren’s sharp intake of breath, he heard it, too.
We break the kiss but don’t separate. Our foreheads are still pressed against one another, our lips still touching when we speak.
“Did you feel it?” I ask, needing his verbal confirmation that I’m not crazy.
“I did,” he breathes, his lips curling up into a small smile that gently rubs against my own when they move. “We’re mated.”