Mates: Revenge

Chapter 24

~Kehlani~

That phone call was really weird and unexpected. I’m not sure why someone would call for Jayden at my office. It isn’t like our businesses are tied together or that the human world knows of us. I haven’t gone to any major business events though I did present him once. We have discussed having a ceremony so that the human world will see us as a unit.

I get home, still thinking about the weird phone call. I head upstairs and check in on Brooklyn. She is reading a book in her room. When she sees me, she gives me a huge smile and waves. I wave back and walk out of her room. She still hasn’t spoken a word and we are really starting to become concerned.

Alpha, where are you?

I just checked on Brooklyn. Anything wrong Jax?

I’m not sure. Melanie is asking to see you.

Melanie has been on a long road of recovery. She went through a lot more than we thought. Issac’s doctor informed us that Melanie was dealing with the remnants of a witch’s spell. The witch was invading her subconscious to get to her essence. She needed that in order to create a fake mate bond that would fool her into thinking she had actually met her mate. The bond was damaging the tie with her wolf. Had the fake mate bond continued, Melanie would have lost her wolf, along with her own life. It makes sense as to why Malachi was dead in the room. Malachi was Daniel; posed as a different person in order to fool Melanie with the fake mate bond. We have been letting Melanie rest more before telling her all she’s been through. We didn’t want to do anything to interfere with her recovery.

I make my way over to the hospital where Melanie has been staying since she was rescued. I greet pack member I see along the way. When I reach the hospital, I run into the doctor and as if everything is okay. He said things were good, Melanie just wanted to get in touch with me. I head down the hall to Melanie’s room and open the door. Jax is already in the room sitting by her bedside. I nod to Jax and look at Melanie. “Hey, how are you feeling today?” Melanie looks at me and so many emotions are visible in her eyes.

“Hey Alpha.” Melanie takes a deep breath. “I……I remember what happened.”

~Melanie~

“I……I remember what happened.”

The memories have been coming to me in pieces over the past couple of days. Some pieces were so blurry that I wasn’t sure if they were real. Others were so vivid that is was like I was reliving everything. When everything came through, I had a clear view of what I went through. What Brooklyn went through. I almost lost Winnie, but I heard from her the other day. I was beyond relieved that she was still there. She has been silent since because she is still so very weak. I fell for a fake mate bond and was bonded to Malachi. I remember pretty much everything, but I have no idea who ended Malachi. For some reason, that detail is eluding me.

Kehlani takes a seat next to Jax and takes my hand. “What do you remember exactly? We only know so much information ourselves.” I proceed to tell Kehlani everything I can remember about my kidnapping. My kidnapping; isn’t that just crazy. The Gamma of a large, successful pack was kidnapped. Isn’t that rich? “Yeah, we learned about the fake mate bond. We also found Malachi’s body in the room when we found you two.” I nod and then the thought hits me. Brooklyn was there too. She went through some of what I did and she is so young.

“How…….” I gulp, trying to get the courage to ask my question. “How is Brooky doing?” Kehlani smiles at me, but it doesn’t seem to be a genuinely happy one.

“Uh……Brooklyn is…..she is okay.” Kehlani is looking everywhere but at me at this point. I feel there is something that she is not telling me. I don’t remember anything horrible happening to Brooky. I did everything I could to make sure she got food and water. I fought to make sure Malachi kept his attention on me and not on her.

“What are you not telling me Alpha?” Kehlani has been looking at her hands in her lap. She looks up and me and I can see sadness and worry in her eyes.

“She’s fine. It’s just that….well….Brooklyn hasn’t spoken.”

“She hasn’t……spoken? What do you mean? Kehlani sighs and focuses on me.

“I mean she hasn’t said any words since we got her. We don’t know why that is or what put her in that state, but she hasn’t spoken.” My shortcomings, my mess up did this to Brooky. She was taken because of me and she is mute, at the moment, because of me. My job has always been to take care of and protect Brooky. How can I face her after what happened? I feel a few tears fall down my cheek, but I don’t bother to wipe them away.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. As a matter of fact, Brooklyn was in a decent place when we found you two. You took good care of her.” I look at Jax and shake my head.

“She should have never been there in the first place. This is one me.” Kehlani goes to correct me, but seems to think better of it.

“One question you didn’t answer.” I look towards Kehlani. “How did Malachi die?” I knew this question would be asked and, truth be told, I don’t know how to answer it. No matter my answer, my weaknesses are exposed.

“Honestly, I can’t remember how Malachi died. I can remember everything else at this point, just not that.” Kehlani pats my hand with hers.

“That’s okay. We will figure it out along the way.” Kehlani stands up. “The doctor says you should be able to get discharged soon.” I say nothing, just stare off into space. “Hey.” Kehlani touches my cheek as she talks. I turn to her and meet her eyes. “Everything is okay. We will get through this together.” I nod to Kehlani and watch her walk out of my hospital room. Jax stands up, gives me a squeeze, and follows Kehlani out of the door.