Chapter 23: The last heir
Ayla donned on the dress, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She had decided to go for this shade of lavender today to compliment her eyes.
Her eyes moved to the dark bruise on her arm that her own father had caused when he grabbed her last night and tried to make her tell him what she had overheard.
She was still not sure how to go about informing the Alpha king that his best friend and Beta was plotting with someone who was now in the pack for an information she had no idea of to protect a secret she also had no idea of.
He would not believe her.
But the weight of what she now knew sat in her chest like a stone making it difficult for her to think of anything else.
She had to say something.
What if she went to Ares with it?
He would believe her.
He had believed her before when she told him she was untouched even when her sister, Willow tried to discredit her.
Yes! That is it!
She would go to Ares and explain what she had heard. Then he could decide how best to approach his father without mentioning her name.
"Astrid" she called out.
Ever since the night Ares had saved her from Damon, he had commanded that Astrid remained with her.
According to him, it would do her some good to have a friend that she was familiar with in such unfamiliar terrain.
She smiled at the thought, her heart thumping happily in her chest.
He was a good man, one that she may already have feelings for.
"What are you thinking about? Your face is red." Astrid’s voice cut through her thoughts.
Ayla’s palms flew up to cup her cheeks.
"Oh nothing" she said but she was smiling so hard.
"Is this about prince Ares?"
"Why would you think that?"
"Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because has been very caring toward you."
Ayla blinked hard at Astrid.
She pulls her toward the bed so they both sat at the edge.
"You think he might have feelings for me?"
"If you cannot see that, Ayla then you are blind as a bat."
Ayla buried my face in my hands.
"Oh, Moon Goddess..."
"Ayla..." She reached over and squeezed my hand. "He has been incredibly kind to you."
Her heart skipped.
"You think so?"
"I know so."
She looked down at her fingers twisted in her laps.
"Astrid, I have to tell you something. You cannot tell anyone. Promise me."
"I promise."
Ayla took a deep breath.
"None of the princes and I have mated."
Astrid’s mouth fell open. "How is this possible? Why?"
"We decided to wait." She shrugged. "They wanted to give me a chance to decide for myself because I am... untouched. And the Alpha agreed to this."
Astrid stared at her like she had grown a second head.
"Ayla, this is so great. Who would have thought this would happen?"
"Who would have thought." Ayla agreed.
"Are there any of them you like? Truly like?"
She thought about all three of them and she did not know how to answer.
"It is complicated."
Astrid squeezed my hand. "It always is."
Ayla rose to my feet. "I need to find Ares."
"I will come with you."
"No." she shook her head. "I need to go alone. I have to tell him something important."
Astrid hesitated.
"You will stay here and pretend I am in here with you, should anyone come looking for me."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but something in Ayla’s expression stopped her.
"Fine but be careful."
Ayla nodded and slipped out the door.
The hallway was quiet. The midday sun poured through the tall windows, casting long rectangles of gold across the stone floor.
The training ground was on the other side of the compound. It was somewhere she knew she could always find Ares.
She took the route that cut around back, the path Omegas used when they needed to move through the pack unseen. It was narrower here, flanked by storage sheds and drying racks for herbs.
Ahead, two men were carrying bundles of harvested grain.
Ayla recognized them immediately.
They worked the western fields. She had seen them countless times before becoming the princes’ mate.
"Good afternoon." Ayla greeted cheerfully.
Neither of them answered. One merely looked her up and down before spitting into the dirt
Heat crept into her cheeks as she hurried past them.
She knew there were some of them that were still angry and in protest about her being chosen but could not voice out their complaints for fear of disrespecting the Alpha and his family.
It would seem she was not popular even with her own folks.
The training grounds were alive with shouting.
Ayla approached one of the guards.
"Excuse me, I am looking for Princes Ares.
"He hasn’t been here all day."
"Oh, I see" Disappointment clawed at her chest.
There was nothing else to do now except wait for him to come find her.
She turned around and began heading back.
Ayla reached the path she had seen both men.
They were leaning against one of the shed this time and they both turned toward her, a creepy smile on their face.
She lowered her head and attempted to walk past them but one of the men stepped out in front of her.
"Well, I wondered if you would come back this way."
"Let me pass, please"
"You think you are too good for us now?"
"No." Ayla muttered.
"Do you?"
"I never said that."
"You don’t have to." The second man laughed. "She is property of the Alpha princes now."
They moved closer as Ayla backed away, fear clawing up her throat.
"I do not want any trouble."
The first smiled at her.
"We do not want any trouble too, Ayla. We just want you"
Before Ayla could register his words, his hand shot up and grabbed her by the wrist.
"I suggest we take what we can from her," he said to the other man, jeering at Ayla. "We will be princes for a time in her sweet cunt."
The other man laughed.
Ayla tried to wrench her arm back but his grip was iron.
He pulled her forward, his other hand clamping over her mouth before she could scream. The sound died in her throat, muffled by his palm.
She bit down.
He cursed, jerking his hand back, and as she opened my mouth to scream again, the second man caught it from behind. His arm locked around her waist, lifting her off the ground.
Ayla kicked and thrashed, her heels connecting with his shins but he did not let go.
"Hold her still."
The first man grabbed her jaw, forcing her head back. His eyes were dark and hungry and the look in them made something cold crawl down her spine.
"You should have stayed in your place, Omega."
They dragged her toward the storage shed.
She screamed but his hand was over her mouth again and the sound came out as a muffled whimper against his flesh.
They threw her onto the ground.
She hit the ground hard, her palms scraping against the dirt floor.
"Please." Her voice cracked. "Please do not do this."
"Please do not do this," he mimicked, his voice high and mocking. "Shut up."
He grabbed her ankle and pulled.
Ayla screamed and clawed at the ground, her fingers leaving furrows in the dirt as he dragged her across the floor.
He reached for her dress, bunching it around her thigh then he climbed on top of her, his weight pressing her into the ground.
Ayla closed her eyes tight.
Her heart pounding with fear and something else...rage.
It rose from somewhere deep inside her, from the pit of her stomach.
She was tired of being preyed upon. Tired of being the small, weak and defenseless Omega.
The rage built and built until it was too large for her body to contain. It burned through her veins like liquid fire, heating her skin from the inside out. She could feel it... raw power coiling in her chest.
Ayla screamed.
The sound that tore from her throat was unlike anything that had ever been heard.
Light exploded from her body, throwing the men off her like they weighed nothing. They crashed against the wooden walls of the shed with a force that splintered the planks.
They did not get up.
Ayla scrambled to her feet, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
The first man lay crumpled against the wall, his eyes open and unseeing. Blood trickled from his nose, from his ears, from the corner of his mouth.
The second man was not moving either.
They were dead!
Ayla stared at her hands.
A faint glow still clung to her skin, shimmering like heat rising off stone. It flickered once then faded, leaving her standing with two dead men at her feet.
"What..."
What had she just done?
Her whole body trembled as she stared at the men.
She had killed them.
She did not know how but she had killed them.
She had to get out of there.
If anyone found her there, no one would believe it was an accident.
Ayla turned and ran, never once looking back.
...
But someone did see.
Hidden high among the trees stood a lone figure with brown hair and a dark mask concealing the lower half of his face.
His eyes remained fixed on the two corpses lying in the destroyed shed then toward the path where the girl had disappeared.
"It really is you." he whispered.