Bonded by Fates; The Origin

14. Lesson for Life

Alice POV:

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After Philip placed his fingers on my temples and showed me what he saw in that woman's mind, I was sure that I wouldn’t call her my mother ever again. I sobbed in my dad’s arms.

He had been tricked.

“That’s why I didn’t feel any pull when I saw her today, f**k” my dad said.

Both my dad and I were mirthless and there was nothing we could do to make us feel better.

All the memories and the years we spent, the 4 years my Dad spent.

It was all fake, it didn’t mean anything. What was I?

I started to think nonstop about my dad and I.

“Dad, what am I? I don’t know for real, I’m lost. Does this mean that I’m bound to darkness? She could only get pregnant by using dark magic since the bond you both had was fake”. It hurt me saying this but I needed to know.

My dad hugged me like his life depended on it. All the kings were speechless.

Atlas was looking down and Liam was almost sobbing with me. I knew he could feel my sadness.

I didn’t want to submit him to go through the pain I was feeling, but there was nothing we could do. I couldn’t just close the bond, we both needed each other’s comfort that our open bond brought us right at the moment.

“I think she’s about to wake up, I felt her soul coming back through her perispirit aura”, Werloth said, and we all fixed our eyes on her.

She woke up with a jolt, she looked scared of seeing the kings mustered together, she fixed her eyes on me and my dad. I could see some wicked grin on her face.

“My daughter, you look so beautiful, come give your mom a hug, I missed you” she said, startling me. I didn’t know what to do.

I sneaked a peek at my dad and I saw he was enraged.

“How come you’re alive after I saw your poisoned with silver powder and wolfsbane's dead body? Worse, how come you’re willingly part of a dark magic group? Why did you lie to me? And how come you simply want to take part of Alice’s life now?” My dad was so enraged that I saw his claws stretching on his finger.

“Dad, let’s hear what she has to say, we’re not like them” I mind-linked him and he relaxed a little.

She stood up, ignoring all the kings.

She knew they wouldn’t do anything to her ever since she was the first evidence they got from the Sixforce. They wanted answers.

I relaxed a little after my rational mind came back. She was expressionless, her eyes were cold and she knew there was no point in faking affection anymore. She got caught.

“Randall, you still look handsome as ever. I really miss our nights together. We should do it again some other time” she said, smirking mischievously.

I felt disgusted, not because it was my parents talking, but by the cold way she was talking to him. My father was so enraged.

I could see his fists trembling.

“ You know, I'd been stalking you for quite some time before that night we met, I tried to cast a spell on you, use any kind of magic to make you fall for me. But when I realized that you’re immune to it, my curiosity over you grew bigger. I wanted to have a powerful hybrid child to fulfill my wishes and you were the only one who would make it happen, so I had to do a little trick on you”, she continued, and we all gasped.

“So, am I nothing but one of your little experiments?” I asked her, trying to control myself and not attack my own mother, ruthless or not, I wouldn’t do it…for now.

“Oh my dear, you almost drove me insane when you were a kid. Your cries almost made me kill you. But here we are now. You were powerful even before you were born. It was a tough pregnancy. You should be thanking me that I didn’t get rid of you back them. Now, be a good girl and let me go, you’re coming with me. I forgive you for attacking me.” she stated. I gulped hard trying to hold back the tears and a growl.

My dad was quivering out of rage and Shadow was on the surface and growled out loud instead of me. I held my dad’s hand in reassurance.

I always admired this woman. I always thought she was caring and good. I wasn’t prepared for that.

Liam was furious at the way she spoke to me, but I fought against the bad feelings and I sent my love to him through our bond and he relaxed. Hope was growling nonstop in my mind.

I could take whatever burden and pain that was meant for me, but I would not tolerate anyone hurting the ones I love. I'd never killed anyone, but if things escalated quickly, I would not hesitate.

I couldn’t stand the thought of my dad getting hurt and in pain right now and it enraged me to a point that one of my eyes went yellow and made Hope come to the surface with me.

“I will not, I’m not thanking you for anything. The only one I should be thankful for was my father. You’re the one who should be thanking me for not killing you right now. Take this as a warning; I’m still 22 and my powers haven’t reached the limit and you know I’m powerful enough to end up with this despicable group. Do you want to wait and see what could happen if some of you ever hurt the ones I love?” my voice was loud and it came out with a growl. Hope and I were talking in unison.

But she just smiled after I said that my powers hadn’t reached the limit yet. What was she planning to do?

Philip couldn’t possibly know, he had the power to see what she'd been through or what she had done before, but it had a certain limit to getting into someone’s mind and thoughts.

“Just a question, how did you do that? How did you make me think you were my mate?” Dad asked her and I was curious too, her face made an ear-to-ear smile.

“It was very hard, my dear, but I managed to get to your fated mate and I had to do a little something with her” she said, like it was the most amazing and fun thing she ever did.

“What the hell did you do to her?” My dad asked, enraged.

“You see, you’re immune to magic, so I had to maim her to get the parts I needed. Sorry dear, you won’t ever see her again” she said, and I cried like a little kid and my dad seemed to have lost all the strength he had, he just fell on his knees and, for the first time, I could see how deeply hurt and in pain he was.

He never really had a mate and probably never will, since a second chance mate was rare.

My heart clenched like never before for my dad.

“Take her to the dungeon, the Kings and I will go there in a few,” Atlas shouted at his soldiers, enraged, and they immediately did as they were told.

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Randall POV:

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How could that despicable woman have the guts to treat my daughter like that in front of me and the Royals and how could she have found out who my mate was and got her killed like she was some piece of thrash?

I’m going to kill her slowly and make her feel all the pain my mate has felt.

I won’t get enough of any of it until I see her dead body and this group destroyed.

She used dark tricks on me to make me think she’s my mate ever since simple spells wouldn’t do the job.

Fuck, I’m so enraged. I feel like I should let Shadow take control and sink my fangs into her until the life vanished from her body, but yet I couldn’t.

I hadn’t found my mate before her and I couldn’t protect her like I should have, she made me think “she” was my mate instead.

Patsy killed her and she used I-don’t-f*****g-know what to make a fool of myself. All this situation drove me insanely enraged.

Alice was uneased. I know she was extremely disappointed and hurt.

“I’m sorry, Ali, I should’ve treated you way better, just like you always deserved. I used to think that surrounding you with gold, jewelries and luxury would replace my absence. I locked you up, I just wanted to protect you from any danger and the danger was right under my nose...” I ran my hands through my hair as I apologized to my daughter.

“You never dared to challenge or disobey me and still, I managed myself to be the worst dad you could ever ask for”, I finished looking down.

I was an Alpha and this despicable woman killed my mate, but Alice’s still my daughter.

I had to comfort my pup, but how could I?

She’s going through hell right now because of that b***h.

She was still holding my hand and I could see the tears falling from her innocent face.

She might be hating everyone right now, I’m sure of it.

I couldn’t just keep myself from being a bad father but also by bringing this awful woman into our life and making her the mom of my daughter.

This thought made even Shadow whine in pain. Shadow was the coldest wolf, but right now he couldn’t help but also feel like he failed our pup.

“Dad, are you kidding me?” She asked and I was ready to hear whatever hurtful words she had to say.

She needed to spit it out and I couldn’t care if I was the one to handle it, as long as she didn’t suffer because of my failure anymore, but to my utter surprise, she hugged me instead.

“You’re not the worst, dad. You acted the way you thought it was better for me, you protected me. I know you were also a wonderful mate to her even though she didn’t actually deserve it after all and you never touched a strand of my hair to hurt me. You raised me ever since I was a little pup. You should give yourself some credit for that. I admire you deeply for being the great man you are. Stop torturing yourself by thinking you failed me, you did not. I understand why you acted that way and you were also mind-poisoned by the royal pack's Wolfcraig. So you don’t even need to feel sorry for anything. I’m the one who should be sorry right now. I can’t imagine how hard it is for you now to just look at me knowing that I’m the daughter of someone so wicked and ruthless who killed your mate. I love you, dad, and that will never change. I look at you now and I can see exactly the kind of wolf I want to be. Protecting my beloved ones from anything bad that might happen. You never failed me and I won’t let this darkness take over me” She replied and I could feel some stray tears falling from my eyes.

I had never cried before, not even when I thought my supposed-to-be true mate had died. I felt for my real mate right now, deeply, but we never met and I had no idea how it would feel like to have this bond with her. Our father-to-daughter bond was stronger and greater than anything by now for me, and I'd make sure she'd get the happiness she deserved ever since I couldn’t find mine.

My heart was clenching painfully in the deepest part of it, knowing that my real first mate wouldn’t ever be coming out of anywhere.

Besides, I had another little secret. The truth was, I found my second chance mate a while after Alice's mother died, but I've been avoiding it up to now for Alice's sake.

I had to protect my pup. I've been having nightmares at night dreaming about losing her and, after 20 years, it's getting harder to keep myself away from her.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, you’re still my pup” I told her and held her tight.

I relaxed with Alice by my side, she was my everything and she was my pup, it didn’t matter who her biological mother was.

I looked around, the kings were quietly and sadly staring at us. I felt uneased about what was happening now. Their eyes were also gloomy, I shook off what we'd just been through and I thought about the royal meetings.

“We need to find King Conri Lincoln and bring him back, they are probably keeping him forced to use a f*****g gag ever since the chances are high that they have werewolves in this f****d up group and he could easily use his royal tone”, I told them.

“We will go interrogate her, don’t you worry, Sir Wolf”, Philip told me, looking down and patting my back.

What the hell is wrong with this man?

“You both should stay here, you have already suffered too much” King Atlantes coaxed us.

Actually, I liked the nickname Atlas that the fairy king gave him. I didn’t know anything useful could come out of him. He’s very responsible and a great King in the Fae Realm indeed, but his lack of royal manners enrages me sometimes, not that he has many problems to deal with besides bedding every woman that offers themselves to him.

I really hope his mate gives him a very hard time when they find each other…a mate…

I was uneased by this thought. I couldn’t believe I wasted my time trying to be a good mate for someone who killed her.

My gaze found Liam and Alice holding each other like their life depended on it, everything was so intense between them like they were really holding half of each other’s souls.

Now I know why I was attracted to her, but I never had this strong pull towards her. I felt guilty for a long time thinking that I wasn’t good enough and there was something wrong with me, so I tried to treat her the best as I could.

But I was almost losing my mind.

Why did things have to be so hard for us? What did I do wrong in my life to deserve it?

When Alice was born, her mother complained a lot, she was always tired and I wanted to help somehow. I changed diapers, fed her, took her to play around the pack house. Alice really gave me a reason to be good and fight for.

Alice cried a lot with her and she usually got really upset, but whenever I took my baby in my arms, she smiled at me.

“Dad?” Alice asked me, snapping out of my thoughts. I just looked back at her and noticed the kings had left.

“Are you OK?” She asked me again.

“I was remembering how uneased you were with your mother and how happy you were when I carried you around”, I told her honestly and she gave me a big smile, laying her head on my shoulder.

“You’ve always been my favorite. I’m so sorry for your mate”, she told me, and I smiled back at her.

“It’s fine, I wasn’t there to protect her, not even knew who she was, it won’t change anything now” I told her.

“We have to bring King Conri to safety again. I wonder why they kidnapped King Conri and, as far as we know, they haven’t tried to kidnap the other Kings and the more I think about it, the more I feel the guilt taking over me and…” Alice said and I cut her.

“Don’t say such a thing, you’re not responsible for their despicable acts. A war is not about throwing flowers at an enemy that wants to kill you or skin you alive, Alice. I want to teach you a very important lesson that I want you to carry it for the rest of our immortal lives, and if the time comes for them to fight, let’s hope not, but still, I want you to teach this same lesson to your pups and so on, if I’m no longer here, they’ll be stronger and prepared for anything but the time’s coming for us right now. So you probably will need to kill, you need to survive and if things get too bad, you’ll have to run to save your and your mate’s life and leave people behind. A war is not a fairytale story where you can ask for peace for both sides and hope for them to act rationally, there’s always something to gain and something to lose and they will not give up on that, either it is for good purposes or bad, can you understand what I just told you?” I asked her and she nodded dramatically, she did pay attention to every word I said.

“And the enemy will try to get into your head, try to disturb your mind and your feelings, they want you to be and feel weak so they can achieve their purpose. They will also try to divide us so they can have fewer enemies to deal with, you’re not weak and you’re not guilty of any f*****g nasty decision they make. They’re evil. They have planned it all, they do whatever it takes to manipulate us and kill us, do not give it to them so willingly. It’s not all the endings that turn out to be happy. That's why we can’t ever give up on our happy ending”, I told her, finishing my statement.

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Alive POV:

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I listened to my father and I never thought about it that way.

He was absolutely right, his words gave me a jolt of hope and courage in order to always do whatever it takes to protect the ones I love and myself.

I’m not weak at all and I won’t succumb to darkness.

I knew that, I could feel it in my heart and on every bone of my body, my dad’s advice would be forever stuck in my mind.

I’m stronger than I thought, I have to deal with so many things already. I could feel like I’m ready for more, but let’s hope not.

“That’s some important advice he gave us”. Hope said. It was indeed.

A big smile formed on my face and I kissed my dad’s cheek.

“Thank you, dad. You’re right and I won’t ever forget it.”

He ran his fingers through my hair like he did when I was 5 and it brought me some good and nostalgic feeling.

“We will find King Cori and bring him back to where he belongs” my dad stated.

“Doesn’t the King have a Beta, Gamma and a Delta? I mean, he’s the King of Alphas. The wolves' realm is pretty huge to attend it all by himself.” I asked him and he shook his head.

“He never got a chance to. His friends got killed before he got crowned, some positions were meant for the most trusted ones, the ones he could trust with his life, and the King was always attending to his duties, so nobody even had a chance to get close to him that way. He trusted no one. Besides, he has the power of ubiquity” My dad replied, making my eyes open wide in surprise, but I also couldn’t help but feel sorry for Conri.

He has been through a lot indeed. He had no father and nobody ever heard of Conri’s mother after he died. He became the King at such a young age and, before that, his friends were killed. I started to wonder if it was also one of the Sixforce's doings, but I shook this thought off, it was way centuries ago and there was no way they would know about me back then.

Why was Conri's past so intriguing?

“I have my doubts. I wouldn’t let any option be missed”, Hope told me.

I was uneased pacing around Atlas' office and my Dad noticed.

“What are you thinking now?” He asked.

“About what happened to Conri’s friends and his parents. Now he’s gone and a usurper is taking his place. What are the chances that the Sixforce is related to all of that?” I asked him, expecting to hear from him that I was imagining things.

“Very high” he replied, and I stirred up.

I was getting worried. I hope the Kings can get something from her.

I wish I could go there but I knew that my presence would muddle more than help, so I sat on a chair across the Atlas table and waited patiently.