Bonded by Fates; The Origin

7. Poisoned by Wolfcraig

Liam POV:

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She was heaven. I’ve never felt so good and satisfied ever in all those centuries.

She will be the death of me. She’s feisty and I couldn’t have been happier by her side.

I lifted her in my arms and she wrapped her legs around me.

“You are spectacular, my princess. I didn’t expect that”, I told her honestly.

“So are you, my King,” she replied.

Fuck, I’m still hard and having her teasing me that way isn’t getting any better, but I took her to shower anyway.

She needs to eat something and I have to call her dad. We’ve been having fun and talking the whole day ever since yesterday and I haven't called him yet. Having her now all over wet here isn’t helping at all, her long wet auburn hair falling all over her body is driving me nuts.

I shampooed her hair and I put her soap in the bath sponge and I was washing her body when I found a sensitive tickle spot and she giggled in the cutest way possible, surprising me. I couldn’t help it and I did it again.

She laughed out loud and she couldn’t form any words and said between giggles; “p…ple…please, s…sto…stop”.

I couldn’t help but laugh over her cuteness and I stopped.

We finished showering, I took a towel and dried her up.

She told me to wait and left her room with her towel wrapped around her luscious body and came back with new clothes for me.

Once dressed, she was drying her hair and I couldn’t stop but keep staring at her, she was heaven, my heaven.

“Princess, I’ll be down in the kitchen, I’ll cook us something.” I told her.

She frowned and stared at me surprisingly.

“What? You like to cook, it seems, and you're good. Can you really cook like that?”

“Actually I do, it’s one of my superpowers” I joked.

“You’re really full of surprises. I’ll be down in a minute to help you. If that’s considered a superpower, I guess I also have one”. She giggled.

I left her room and made my way to the kitchen.

I took a look at what they had in the freezer and the kitchen cabinet and, after familiarizing myself with the kitchen one more day, I prepared the meat and I started to cut the vegetables.

Her scent got stronger and she made her way down the staircase.

My heart stopped for a few seconds, she was beautiful as ever with a floral dress, similar to what she was wearing when we shared the same dream.

“Alice…you’re beautiful” my eyes wanted to be laid on her forever.

“So are you, mate” she replied, and we both chuckled.

“Your dress looks familiar to the one you were wearing in your dream” she gasped as soon as these words left my mouth.

“So, it was real after all…how can it be? I read a lot of books about the mate bond and I couldn’t find anything like that in any of them. I thought we had to complete the bond to mind-link each other, share the same dream and so on, and still it’s not all mates couples that can share a dream” she looked perplexed.

“We were just meant for each other, my love”, I simply told her, but I was surprised the same way as she was.

“I knew that even before I met you when I inhaled your scent” she told me before leaning closer to me and I pressed my lips on her. We parted and she started to help me in the kitchen.

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Randall POV:

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We got to the Royal Pack castle last night. It was getting time to reunite with the other Alphas and King Conri, some wolves received us and took us to the meeting room.

“Your Highness, Alpha Randall Blackford and his Beta Henry Arcane from the Black Moon Pack” I heard someone saying.

“They shall come in”, the King ordered.

The doors opened and we found ourselves in that same extremely spacious room with golden wolf statues, a huge chandelier above the table. The big round golden table had space and chairs for 16 Alphas and their Betas to join and they were already there.

The Gammas usually stay in the pack taking care of the business. The Lunas aren’t allowed to come anymore.

I didn’t want to have a Gamma because there was almost no one else I’d trust and I could take care and handle things on my own even when I’m away.

“Alpha Randall, good you came to grace us with your presence, my friend”, the King of Alphas Conri received us.

"Like we have a f*****g choice", Shadow said in my head, and he was right.

“Thank you. It’s an honor to be here again, sorry for the delay yesterday.” I talked back.

“Don’t you worry, what matters to me is your and all of the Alphas' and their Betas' presence. Before the meeting commences, let’s suit ourselves before we sit and get into the boring stuff. Let’s cheer on this meeting with Wolfcraig. Golden goblet for all the Alphas and Betas” He demanded the last part, waving his hands like a preppy fucker, and the Omegas placed a golden goblet with Wolfcraig inside in front of each one of us. The Alphas and their Betas were happy and anxious.

“Make yourself at home in the castle. You’re allowed to go to any free areas of the castle. We’ll be back in a few minutes after you finish it, my friends. Take your time”, he continued, and stood up and started to have a conversation with the Alphas.

What the hell, we just got here and we’re having break time. That's truly hilarious.

“Let’s not drink today, Henry. We’re not here for that. We’ll find somewhere to throw the Wolfcraig away”. I mind-linked my Beta without looking at him.

“I’ll be up and aware of anything suspiciousness” he mind-linked back.

“Have you seen the King’s wizard personal guard around yet?”

“Not yet, Alpha” Henry replied.

King Conri was strong and respectful, his aura was powerful and threatening, but it had been years ever since he changed.

His aura wasn’t dominant anymore and he found that wizard guard to be working with.

King Conri hadn’t found his mate yet and there were plenty of she-wolves trying to take a piece of him, throwing themselves at him hoping he would choose any of them as his chosen mate. The idea might sound tempting after so many centuries of waiting, but we all knew better.

Wolves can be very impulsive most of the time, but we always take the fated mate bond very seriously, not at all like the King of Elves; Werloth.

He has just found himself a girlfriend and he’s planning on marking her as his chosen mate in almost 20 years from now on. A lot could happen by then. I guess that’s why he wants to wait, he wants to make sure.

“Alpha, let’s walk around. The Alphas are already drinking around.” Henry snapped me out of my thoughts.

We stood up and started to walk outside the meeting room. Some of the Alphas are already walking around the free areas of the castle. We’re supposed to be back in a few minutes.

We don’t have much time. First we need to find somewhere to throw the drink away. The King will take it as a challenge if we don’t drink it or get rid of it in an easily discovered place.

We kept walking until we were alone and there was a door. We tried to open it and it was unlocked.

We entered and it seemed like a theater room. We walked further and there were lots of chairs and a huge screen on the wall. We found a vase with some plants.

“Let’s get rid of the drink on the vase, the scent will diminish sooner on the earth and no one will discover it. If the King finds out we didn’t drink or get rid of it, he will take it as an insult, not that I care, but we don't want to act suspicious”. I mind-linked Henry.

We both get rid of it on the earth in the vase and suddenly some dark smoke was flowing into the air from the vase, killing the plants.

“What the f**k was that?” I asked.

“It seems like dark magic” Henry replied.

“They’re f*****g poisoning us with dark magic” I stated, “let’s go back to the meeting room right now” I continued.

“Alpha, wait, we have to think first. We shouldn’t tell anything to anyone yet. We don’t know what it does and what it is for. We have to find out, collect evidence. Besides, every Alpha might’ve drunk it by now” Thanks Henry’s with me or else I’d make a mess in this castle today.

“You’re right, they were making us drink this dark magic potion like Wolfcraig. What the f**k is happening? I’m going to kill the motherfucker who did it, I wonder if the King knows about it” I asked. I noticed some guilt in Henry’s eyes.

“What now? What aren’t you telling me?” I asked him. I saw some hesitancy and I was getting pissed.

“Spit it out already” I demanded. I know I haven't been in my best moods over the past decades, but I never used my Alpha tone on Henry. If he didn't tell me what was going on, I would do it today.

“It’s been a while since I noticed something wasn’t right in the Royal Pack and I wasn’t drinking it” he confessed.

I was pissed. How come he didn’t tell me?

“What the f**k, Henry, how come you never told me about it? You’re my Beta, we’re supposed to trust and protect each other. That should mean something…” I almost shouted.

“Look, Randall, I’m sorry, but you weren’t leaving me with any other option. When I tried to tell you I felt something weird at the regular meetings, you told me I was paranoid. I had to collect some evidence before I could spit it out to you and not sound like a lunatic, so I’m sorry, Alpha, if I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want to be called a paranoid by my best friend, who turned his back to me for the last decades” he said the last part very bitterly.

I took a lungful of air before I said something I’d regret.

He did say it indeed, it was my own fault, there was no more space for my best friend in my life anymore and I started to wonder why I let it happen.

The King started the Alpha’s meeting so we could solve any possible threat and help each other’s pack if needed after Alice’s mother died.

The King wanted to know how the packs were going and if any packs needed something, but it turned out to be the most bullshit thing ever.

King Cori used to care and use his power to check on the packs simultaneously, but he doesn’t do that anymore and the other Alphas have their asses full of alcohol to even think about it.

“Henry…” I really didn’t know what to say. I was enraged but also ashamed.

“It’s all right, let’s just go back, the meeting’s about to start.” He cut me.

“No, wait Henry, you were right, I don’t know what got into me, I’m starting to see it clearly now. After Alice’s mother died and these f*****g meetings started…I don’t know, I just don’t feel like myself anymore, I do things I normally don’t do, I’m enraged most of the time, I kept my own daughter locked up inside the pack house and almost nobody ever got to know about her, not even you know why exactly I did that and you had to be the first person I should’ve told about it. It’s for her safety indeed, but it’s not only that, there’s something about Alice’s mother you don’t know and I guess I should’ve told you before, you’re my best friend ever since we were pups, damn…” I confessed him hesitantly.

“Randall, what the hell are you talking about?” Henry asked, looking startled.

“Henry…Alice’s mother was a witch…Alice’s a hybrid”.

Henry frowned and his jaw dropped wide. He was quiet for a moment thinking.

“That’s impossible, Randall. Alice is a wolf. Her mother never casted a spell, never scented like a witch. If she was a hybrid, we’d already know, witches have a peculiar way to demonstrate it, since when they're still babies.

Besides, you know it’s impossible to give birth to hybrids”. He was clearly refusing to hear me. Now I know what he might have felt all these last decades, I didn’t hear a thing of his words.

“Henry, now you’re the one who’s not listening. Alice’s mother was a witch. Damn, she covered her witch scent and she casted a spell to scent like us and lived kind of hidden in the pack house working as our Luna so the pack members wouldn’t notice. She never shifted. You know Lunas don’t need to shift like us, so her protection was not only because I cared about her. When Alice was a baby, she used to flash all around the house. One moment she was in my arms and the other she was already in the kitchen. She was so powerful and at one moment surely someone would find out about her. We tried to reach the Elders council of the Realms. We couldn’t find them, but we did find an Elder Elf and found a way to block her witch power. It’s f****d up, I know, and on that same night we met the Elder, we also got to know that Alice is a part of something important and her legacy would start the moment she finds her mate, so you have no idea what I felt when they found each other at such a young age, that’s why I also couldn’t let him leave yet”.

Henry was startled, speechless, pacing back and forth.

“Goddess Randall…you must tell Alice, I’m not the one who should advise you or to judge you. I’ll always be by your side. We’re friends. But you better tell her, maybe that’s why she got hurt. She found her mate and she didn’t get to know about it, she wasn’t prepared!” Henry considered Alice as much as I did.

“I will. When she turned 18, I wish I could have told her many times, but it seemed like it was never the right time and I was also too afraid of her reaction. I can take a lot of things from her, but I’d hate myself until the end of my miserable life if she ever falls into sorrow because of me and, like I said, I just didn’t feel like myself recently…” I told my best friend honestly.

“Randall, I think it was some of the effects of the dark magic from the Wolfcraig. Actually, I’m sure of it because I felt almost the same way as you but worse, and when I quit drinking it, I felt the same as you are now…since you’re immune to magic, it might have only twisted your personality in such a small frame, you haven’t noticed properly ever since this kind of dark magic are stronger than regular ones”

I wondered…could it be? Was the King poisoning us so we could be susceptible to listening to his order or that wizard’s order? There was so much to investigate.

It was really weird and something just didn’t feel right with these meetings and the king himself was making us drink this s**t.

“We better go back now.” I told him and he nodded.

We started to walk and my cellphone rang. I picked it up.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Alpha Randall, it’s Liam, Alice’s awake and she’s fine.” He asked.

“Finally, we found something here. We have to go back to the meeting room now. I’ll talk to you later and Liam, we all have a lot to talk about.”

“ OK” he replied.

We took a last look at the vase and the now dead plants and made our way out of the theater room.

When we left the room, we came across the King’s wizard guard and he was staring at us like he knew exactly what we were doing.