Leighton

45. Broken Bonds

Estelle

It was still dark when I left the dungeon. I really should go get some sleep but there was a feeling of unease in my soul that wouldn’t let me settle.

I knew my father would want to speak with me when he rose. He wouldn’t be happy I sent Ara to the dungeon but he would have to deal with that for now. I had no doubt he would free her. I knew she had saved his life but the nature of how that happened had always been a tightly guarded secret. I wondered if I was about to find that out too.

I didn’t need anymore secrets. I decided that they were a bad idea. At least I knew Leighton was trustworthy. I could see why his friends had always trusted him with their problems, he felt like the monk orson I could truly rely on.

I had wandered out into the garden and I saw a lone figure sat on a bench staring into the sky, waiting for the sun to rise. I walked closer but upon seeing it was Piper I quickly backed away. Hoping to escape before I caught her attention, in my haste I bumped into a stone pillar and knocked a plant pot smashing to the floor.

She leapt up in fright and the dying embers of moonlight illuminated me so there was no chance of hiding.

“Sorry to startle you. I was just going back to bed.” As I turned to leave I heard her huff and mutter “of course”.

“Pardon?”

“Of course the Princess would be returning to her bed, while others fight for their life, fixing a mess she made.” She had been crying. My anger dimmed as I remembered she would be worried for her mate too.

“Leighton will look out for Peter. He won’t let any harm come to your mate.” I told her, I wasn’t strictly sure how true that was, there was definitely no love for Peter on Leighton’s part now but I liked to think he would look out for his best friend’s mate.

“You think I care about what happens to my so called mate. Pah. The King can keep him, in fact if it didn’t mean Leighton got hurt I’d happily let them kill him, save me the risk of rejecting him.” While her words were full of bravado, I didn’t think she meant any of it.

She was angry and insulated and she had every right to be.

“If you want someone to blame, blame me. It was my fault Izzy tricked us. I didn’t even think of you. I’m sorry.”

“Oh I do blame you Princess don’t worry. But Peter is a grown wolf. He made his choice, now we have to wait and see if he lives to regret it. Either way I don’t care. But I do care about Leighton. Trust me Princess if anything happens to him, it won’t just be King Adalfudis you need to watch out for.”

Who did she think was threatening me. I rose up to my full height, which granted wasn’t as tall as she but I let my royal presence ooze out across the courtyard and I could feel her buckle under the pressure.

“Close your words carefully. I’ll let that slide because you are dear to my mate and you are hurting. But let me be clear. Threaten me again and you won’t live to finish the sentence.”

The wind swirled up in a gust at her, my temper barely in check as I felt sparks at my fingertips.

I spun on my heel to walk away, but she stopped me with a parting blow.

“You don’t deserve him.”

I was actually rendered speechless.

“What, does the princess who believes she is above everyone not believe that isn’t worthy of her mate. Don’t worry Princess Leighton will sort out your mess. Your faithful mate will serve you every whim, while you squander your gift running of and causing trouble, never appreciating him.”

“You have no idea what you are talking about. I’m been raised a god damn Princess.” I slammed my fist down on the now empty pillar. “I’ve been trained to rule a Kingdom, do you think I really planned to fall in love.” I inhaled a shaky breath, “Meeting him has been the highlight of my life, but my duty comes first. He understands that. My family understand that. Clearly you don’t, maybe you are right, maybe rejecting Peter is the best thing for you, because you will never understand the duty we have. We can’t all be selfish fools.”

“Spoken like a true princess who never needed to be selfish, because everything was given to her on a platter. I bet you never missed a birthday celebration? In fact I bet the whole kingdom celebrated your day. Maybe one day when you have nothing and no one, you will truly understand the gifts you have had along.”

“I’m sorry your parents died or whatever tragic event happened to make you like this, but you know, other people have tragic lives and manage not to be such a bitch.”

“You would maybe be a b***h too if you didn’t even know what happened to your parents. Imagine growing up knowing nothing about yourself. Your life history is written in f***ing books for goddess sake.”

There was a sadness to her tone that quelled my anger, this wasn’t about me. Yes she was clearly jealous of my life, or the life she thinks I’ve led and very bitter about it all.

“What happened to your parents?” I don’t know why I asked but I guessed I was interested in how she became so angry.

“I don’t know. I was dumped at pack gates as a baby, before I was 1 year old. I was raised my the alpha and luna but their pups never liked me much. Iris found me years ago and I left to go train with them.”

“Do you still keep in touch with the alpha and luna?”

“They were killed in a rogue attack, years ago before I left.”

“What about their pups?”

“They were older, they didn’t take too well to the token extra pup. I guess they tolerated me when I was younger and after their parents died they let me stay there but I wasn’t really part of their family. It was more of an obligation. I didn’t hesitate to leave when Iris gave me the chance.”

It was a little harder to hate her, but as though she saw my pity her expression changed from sadness to anger.

“So not only have you managed to steal my mate and my best friend you managed to weasel your way into the only group that made me feel welcome. I’m not really a b***h I just really hate you.”

She turned away from me and went back to sitting on her chair, staring at the sky. I didn’t want to argue with her. None of what happened to her was really my fault, but now I understood how she felt there was no point me trying to change her mind.

Hell if Peter wanted he could leave with her, I could always keep on of my fathers advisors. I felt a dull ache in my head. Lack of sleep and worry were catching up with me and I needed to go get some rest.

I got to the end of the courtyard before the real pain started, first in my neck then my chest and my legs. So many pain sensations hit me all at since and fell to my knees. Pain so intense my breath left me and I was even unable to scream in pain.

My thoughts were swimming as I tried desperately to cling on to consciousness. Before I collapsed to the floor sadness flooded my emotions. I felt tears leak from my eyes.

“Leighton,” I called out before the darkness consumed me and I found myself falling, drifting further and further away from the voices in my head urging me to stay.

Iris

I heard Piper screaming and ran to see what was going on. The Princess was collapsed on the floor and Piper was shouting at her, her frantic graze fell to me when I arrived.

“Something is wrong, she was screaming for Leighton. Oh Iris I think he is gone.” She burst into floods of tears, collapsing beside the Princess.

“Estelle .” I tried waking her, but there wwas no response.

“He’s gone.” Piper wailed beside me.

“We don’t know that Piper.” I tried to keep my voice calm but yet be heard above her sobbing. “I need you to be strong. If it’s true…”

I didn’t want to think we could have lost Leighton. He was like a brother to all of us.

“Don’t spiral, we don’t know anything yet. Think positively Iris.” My wolf took control.

I immediately linked Greer, regretting it immediately. The last thing she needed was to worry about Leighton.

Seeing Jackson with Ara had shaken her, even more than when she was meant to be carrying his pup. While she hid it well she has major trust issues, almost everyone she had loved had hurt her, or used her in some way. Expect Leighton, losing him on top of what possibly felt like a betrayal from Jackson would send her back into her shell.

It had taken her ages to consider me a friend, now she felt like a sister to me and I didn’t want to lose her. Rationally I knew she knew that Jackson hadn’t been at fault but keeping Ara’s presence from Greer had sown a seed of doubt that was so hard to stop from growing.

I acutely missed Oliver, it was times like these that cemented how much he meant to me. We had come along way on our journey of hating each other to still being so madly in love. Oliver was still as passionate as ever and he didn’t care about anyone’s feelings so I had never had to doubt his feeling once I accepted him.

It wouldn’t be long before he would arrive here, I had known the instant he found me gone he would follow.

“What’s wrong” Greer arrived in a flash. Jackson hot on her heels, hovering beside her, not the slightest bit interested in Pipers sobs or the fact that the princess was collapsed into floor.

“She collapsed, I don’t know what’s going on.” I told her.

“Let’s get her to their medical bay. They will surely have something to help her.” Greer suggested, quietly adding “and something to help Piper too?”

“I think we probably need some witch help, if we don’t know what’s going on then there probably is a magical element to it.”

The obvious witch was in the dungeon but that didn’t need to be mentioned. I didn’t want to see her again either. Despite classing er as a friend all those years ago I had been done with her then. I definitely wasn’t supporting her now. I was going to have to find Loletta or that witch from her. Esme was it ?

I kept expecting the King or someone to appear. I knew it was daybreak and most would be asleep but surely Estelle reached out before she passed out.

Esme was the first witch to arrive and she directed us to the medical bay. Jackson was able to carry the princess and Piper followed behind, lost in her own world.

“I think we need to wake the King.” She said after a while.

While I had tried to remain optimistic this didn’t sound good. She exchanged worried look with Loletta.

“Do you know what’s happened to her.” Jackson asked, sounding more like his normal self.

“Her mark, it’s gone but there’s more than that. Something else has changed. It’s like her other bond is damaged too.”

“Other bond, wait a moment. Wolves only have one mate. How can that be possible.”

“She does only have one mate but a forced marking forges a bond. Which can only be broken by the death. We can assume that the prince is dead as her mark has faded but there is something wrong with her wolf. I’m sorry I don’t have a wolf so I can’t explain it more.”

“Allura. Can you reach out to her wolf.”

Strangely Allura and Raine had no affinity for each other, but she complied.

“She is blocking me, but she seems lost. The witch is right, it’s like her true mate bond is frayed. I don’t understand.”

“Could you bewitch a forged bond to damage a real one?” I asked Esme. I wasn’t sure I truly understood what I was asking if I was honest.

“No, no normal witch couldn’t certainly. Mate bonds are sacred, you can manipulate them a little but I don’t know how you could tie two together, which would be the logical explanation here. Something else has happened.”

“Like something bad has happened to Leighton?”

The King had assured us that King Adalfudis was bound by the rules of the challenge to allow Leighton safe passage to leave but what if something had happened to him after he killed the Prince. Losing both her mates could be the reason the Princess collapsed.

I needed Oliver to get here soon because if Leighton was still alive we needed to find him, and quickly.