Mate, You Are My Enemy

Chapter 15: Illusion

Ezra’s pov

Zayn was about to give me the details when there was another knock on the door.

Isabella walked in as well and bowed her head.

I sat down on the couch while Zayn told me everything that happened.

Zayn is my trusted beta; we grew up together in this place, and he is what I would call my closest friend.

Yes, I was raised by my father; he raised me to be a carbon copy of him.

But as an outsider looking in, I knew they were things that I didn’t want to be.

I knew that his biggest mistake was being paranoid and not trusting anyone.

I do understand ruling with fear, but there should be two or three people who don’t fear you.

For some time he managed to do that; he had Alpha Elman and another Alpha.

,

But his paranoia got the best of him, and he killed them both.

I admit, his instincts were right when he went after Alpha Elman’s family.

His purpose, or what he truly wanted, was to kill Diana’s brother.

But he knew that the father wouldn’t just sit and watch as his son was killed.

So, the only solution was to kill off the entire family.

But again, he is also really greedy; the chance to own the daughter of an Alpha presented itself.

Diana was strong, not just physically but also emotionally as well.

She has or had something that neither my father nor I possesses, and that is empathy.

Her pack members loved her, and so did anyone who ever met her.

To have someone like that as a daughter-in-law would have worked in his favour.

He took in the daughter of a traitor because he doesn’t believe that kids should pay for their father’s sins.

That man always calculates everything, but that time he miscalculated.

The one he should have gone after wasn’t her brother, but it should have been her.

He went after the wrong child and was about to bring his worst enemy into his home.

The moment he killed them, I knew that everything would spiral out of control, and I took advantage of it.

I manipulated his paranoia and made it so that he couldn’t even trust himself.

For the last few years, I have been playing a psychological game with my father.

And in the end, because he had no one to turn to, he became even worse of a tyrant than before.

Which is why I was able to challenge him to a duel for the crown.

I did it for my people, or so they think.

I did it to save them from the tyrant that my father had become.

But I did it for the throne, because it’s only with a title and a throne that I could get her.

It’s only by defeating my father that I could ensure both mine and her freedom.

The only person who is allowed to own Diana is me.

I am the only one who can claim control over her and no one else.

And yet that old man wanted that; he wanted to control what was mine.

He wanted to use her to keep me in check because he already knew how I felt about her.

Although I tried my best to hide it, he already knew she was my weakness.

I pushed aside all my thoughts and then focused on Zayn, who was talking.

He was telling me about how Diana just appeared out of nowhere and returned to the coven.

According to her aunt, she was in perfect condition with nothing out of place.

I want to go there and bring her back right away.

“Alpha, is this a good idea? I mean, we have no idea where she was the last few years. You shouldn’t bring her back here. I mean, can such a person be trusted?”

Before she could add another word, I looked at her.

I watched as she started shaking like a leaf and dropped to her knees.

“Forgive your Gamma Alpha, I spoke out of turn,” her head and voice were lowered.

“Your concerns are correct. I also want to know where she has been all this time, but bringing her here is not up for discussion,” I said firmly, and she nodded.

“I want you two to dig deeper, spare no effort or money to find out the truth. Where has she been the last few years? Zayn, make preparations, we leave in an hour.”

I got ready, and before going to get Diana, there are a few questions I would like answered.

I walked to the dungeon where my father is being held.

His eyes looked up when he heard my footsteps.

He has been given enough wolfsbane to kill a bull, but he is alive.

“Well, if it isn’t the traitorous son. What brings you here? Are you here to gloat?” he asked with a mocking laugh.

“You know why I am here, I want answers. Still not willing to give me the answers I want?”

That look in his eyes told me that he is still not ready to talk.

That is the reason I didn’t end his miserable life.

He needs to give me answers, because the battle revealed a lot of things I didn’t know.

My father has been hiding something really important from me, and I need to know what and why.

I turned to walk away when he spoke up.

“Is it for that girl? A son turned against his own father for a w***e. A man as strong as you are letting a girl be your weakness, how stupid.”

I didn’t answer him and just continued walking straight to my car, where Zayn was waiting.

The drive took longer than I would like; the coven is far, which is why I chose it.

Diana, I wonder how she looks now.

Last time I saw her, she looked so broken, and I hated it.

Now that I have found her, my next focus is on looking for her brother.

Where the hell could Chris be?

In all this time, he hasn’t made a move to even look for his sister.

But I don’t think that he is dead; it would be too easy if he were.

He is somewhere out there. I guess that he is buying his time until he comes.

I caught her scent, even from this distance; I caught it.

It was subtle and warm, just like how it has always been, but now something was a little different.

There was another scent hidden between the vanilla scent I am used to.

Something cold and dark, but that wasn’t the only thing I noticed.

This is the scent of someone who is on the same level as an Alpha.

But at the same time, something else didn’t make sense.

Can she now hide and suppress her aura?

Her aunt walked towards me, and her welcome wasn’t very welcoming.

It makes sense. I am blackmailing the woman and forcing her to do something she never wanted to do.

Not only that, but I did threaten, or should I say promised to erase her coven if she made any stupid moves.

Had she not taken me on my word and taken Diana in, I would have erased what is left of her coven.

“This way,” she said as she led the way, but there was no need.

Her scent, it was pulling me in, and Torin was dancing with joy.

Her room was far away from everyone, and the place where she was living was completely isolated.

Zayn stayed outside while I walked into the room and found her sitting on a couch.

She was looking outside at the trees as if they were fascinating.

“I don’t like being ignored,” I broke the silence.

I watched as she slowly turned, and I forgot how to breathe.

Breathtaking, her long black hair was now shoulder-length.

Those hazel eyes, they were just as I remembered.

I made sure to look at every part of her body, from her face, and slowly travelled down.

No scar in sight, she is perfectly alive.

“I don’t like being disturbed,” she retorted after some time.

Gosh, that voice, it’s mature now, and although there is coldness in it now, it is still the sweetest voice I have ever heard.

She got up.

I started taking slow steps towards her.

I really want to pull her into me and never let her go.

But I also want to look at her, just stare at her from a distance.

I am scared that if I close the distance and try to touch her, it might be an illusion.

So I took slow steps, her eyes never left mine, and she stood her ground.

She has gotten stronger than is for certain.

I stopped in front of her, her body just inches away from mine.

I took a strand of her hair, and she was real.

I closed the distance between us and hugged her.

Her scent, the warmth of her body, is all still the same.

Then I felt something cold on my neck, and it burned to the touch.

A silver dagger, so you want to kill me, huh, mate?

But do you have the guts?