I'm coming for you
17. Gone with the wind

Aleida’s POV

I’ve had a weird feeling in my stomach all day, and I have no idea why; something is coming to us, I feel it in the air. The others don’t seem to feel anything, but on the other hand, they’re not hybrids or royalty either.

“Aleida!” Luis exclaims, annoyed. “Please stop pace in the room; we can’t work if you don’t focus!”

I growl at him; Elisa is annoyed that my beta dares to speak to us with that kind of disrespect. Luis whimpers and shows his throat in submission. I nod at him and continue to give out small growls of feelings swirling around within me.

“I’m sorry, Aleida. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but none of us can focus when you do as you do,” Luis says low.

I’ve been telling you all day that something is going on, but you’re just telling me to get my head straight, I growl in the mindlink. Something terrible is coming here, but none of you take it seriously.

“Aleida,” Luis sighs. “I’ve seen you grow up and have been with you since you started this pack. You’ve been through a lot, and it’s no wonder if you feel a potential danger from time to time. But honestly, you’re starting to appear paranoid.”

This time my growl is so loud that the walls of the house are shaking. How dare he!? I show my fangs, and Luis backs away several steps. The vampires in the room and my warriors back off to make room for a potential fight.

Call me paranoid once more, old man, and I’ll show you paranoid.

He whimpers loudly this time and looks ashamed. No one had taken my concerns seriously, not even my mates when I sent a mindlink to them. Why has everyone suddenly lost respect for me and forgotten what authority I have not only in my pack but also in society?

Do you think I’m paranoid? Then think so. But don’t complain then when a shitstorm comes in our direction to devastate everything.

I whine when I say it in the mindlink and honestly feel hurt that no one seems to believe in me anymore. Maybe it isn’t peculiar, considering I’m stuck in my wolf form without being able to shift back. I mean, how pathetic is that? This is the first time I feel as vulnerable and small as I did in my old pack for many years. The only difference is that I’ve never felt as alone as I do now. In my old pack, I was at least always aware that I was alone. But much has changed since I left them behind, and I now have many wolves who care about me; therefore, I feel lonely. You can compare it to feeling alone in a crowd; I’m alone even though people surround me. My wolf cubs come running towards me with their tongues hanging when they see me outside the packhouse. However, they stop looking happy when they see my expression and whine after me before rubbing themselves against me to comfort me.

Elisa, what the hell are we going to do?

I don’t know, honey. What I know is that we can and will protect our people until the last!

Of course! I’m lucky I have you, my beautiful hybrid.

Same to you, dear human!

I decide to run my frustration off in the woods. It gets harder every minute that goes by to maintain control of my body, emotions, and psyche. Somehow I have to break the curse; this won’t last for much longer. My massive paws thud on the ground beneath me as I run through the woods and jump over every single obstacle in my path. Tears of frustration fall from my big blue eyes over the situation going on. Elisa whimpers inside my head; she senses my state of mind, and I hers. I’m terrified that I’ll lose control near my dear members, or even worse, my family. It’s hard enough to kill a strong, dominant and physically fit werewolf like it is. Imagine, then, what it’ll be with a hybrid that also has royal blood pulsating in its veins. Elisa and I are a strong team; we can cause extreme damage if we want. We can be brutal when we kill, and I don’t even wish such a death for my worst enemies. No one should need to die in such a cold-hearted way that we can offer. Grief and frustration exchange into anger piece by piece. I try to breathe through it and regain control, but this time I can’t. It feels like an out-of-body experience when I see myself running back to the packhouse with only one thought in my head; kill them. I fly through the bushes and growl louder than ever before. All the training that’s going on stops immediately, and they all look at me with horror. I stand on my hind legs and am, all of a sudden, almost a meter taller. Slowly I take a step closer to my warriors, I don’t want to kill or hurt them, but it’s just like I can’t control myself. Luis and Blake come running out of the pack house with the vampires behind them, looking confused about what’s going on.

“Don’t let her bite you; it’s poisonous!” Luis shouts, and I roar again before running towards him.

He doesn’t back down, he also runs towards me, to attack and I’m just about to bite his throat when I regain control of myself. I stop and lie down on the ground. My breathing is extensive, and I howl with sadness that I can’t handle myself anymore.

Luis, lock me up in the dungeon, I say in our pack’s mindlink so that everyone can hear what I’m saying.

“Aleida, it’s okay. I’m okay; we don’t have to lock you up anywhere!” he exclaims and pats me gently.

Lock me up!

I give him a direct order that he can’t help but follow. He nods sadly, and after a few minutes, two warriors come out with six handcuffs of different sizes. I’ll have one on each leg, one around my torso, and one around my neck; otherwise, I’ll get loose. The warriors put on my handcuffs, and I howl from the pain that follows; there’s silver in them. Luis and all my other members howl when they hear me. I breathe heavily but let Luis lead me down to the cell I have to be in until the curse breaks. Luis connects the handcuffs in thick and heavy chains that’ll prevent me from getting free. He doesn’t like this, neither do I, but what option do we have? I can’t risk hurting anyone, I can destroy the entire werewolf community in one night, and I don’t want to. My puppies, mates, brothers, my pack, and basically every creature’s life is in my hands. If I get free, it’s a death sentence for all of them, and everything I’ve been through has been for nothing. Blake, Luke, and Luis stand at the door with sad looks on their faces.

It’s okay. I’ll be fine.

“We don’t know that for sure, Aleida!” Luis exclaims desperately. “If we replace no way to break the curse, we’ll lose you long before we have to kill you!”

He’s crying, and I can’t do anything. A tear falls from my eye, and Blake walks up to me to wipe it off. I rub my nose against his hand, and he gently caresses my head. My feelings make themselves felt again, and I growl without meaning to. Blake uses his enhanced speed to back away, tearing Lucas and Luis out before slamming the door. I hear how the big bolts lock, and I feel a little calmer with the knowledge that now I can’t get out of here to hurt anyone in my vicinity.

“You’ve been locked up enough in your life, my girl,” Luis whispers. “I’ll get you out if that’s the last thing I do!”

They leave me, and I lie down on the floor with a deep sigh. Fucking feelings to bother me! The silver in my handcuffs stings, but I’ll survive; it takes more than that for me to give up. I hope Luis tells my family about this; they deserve to know the truth, no matter how disappointing it may be.

Miliano’s POV

I don’t know how to tell Kian. In just a few days, Aleida has begun to lose control completely. Luis called me a little while ago, and I’m still unable to get up. Kian must know, but I know he’ll take it as hard as anything else about our mate. As you know, Kian is the “aggressive” of the two of us while I’m the logical thinker, which also usually results in him breaking things down in his anger. I send a mindlink to the betas and the gamma to meet me at Kian’s office. I slowly walk towards the office and feel the tears that desperately want to fall over my cheeks. Nathan’s here, too. I forgot he was coming to visit. They all look uncertainly at me but walk with me into the office, where Kian looks at us confusedly.

“Yes, what is it?” he asks confusedly.

“I’ve gathered you here because Luis just called me; it’s about Aleida,” I say with a shaky voice.

“Aleida? Is she okay? What happened!?” Kian exclaims and rises so violently that the chair falls.

“She has begun to lose control and is now locked in the dungeon with chains around her,” I reply and let a tear fall.

“What the hell is she doing locked up!?” Nathan exclaims, angry.

“She ordered them to, she doesn’t want to hurt anyone, and obviously, she thinks this is the only way until we have a way to break the spell,” I say, breathing heavily.

Nobody says anything; what is there to say? We’re about to lose our wonderful Aleida, and none of us have any idea what to do to avoid it happening. Our elders are going through their ancient scrolls as we speak, and we work hard at bringing out a witch who might be able to help us. The problem is that the witches hate all other races that don’t belong to them. All they focus on is making their magic stronger than it was before. Of course, there are kind and harmless witches who instead want to be helpful. That kind of witches draws their powers from the elements of nature instead of dark forces such as war like the other type does. It isn’t easy to replace witches at all, and above all, not helpful ones. None of us will give up until we have a harmless Aleida with us in her human form. Both me and Kian want more puppies with our fantastic mate; no one can stand in the way of that. Not even the moon goddess herself!