Trapped: By love (Book 3) - Complete

Chapter 6

~Selena~

As night falls the castle comes to life and the pixies go to sleep. It has become a castle that literally never sleeps. Not that vamps need sleep. My clan is lucky in that some ancestor of ours found a way for us to walk in daylight. Unfortunately, not all of us. Lucille is one of the unfortunate vamps. But then, we have learned how to move around in daylight without her burning to a crisp. Especially after the last time she was hurt so badly.

I walk out of my room and look at the stars. Is he thinking of me? What am I thinking? Is he even Thomas anymore? Will he ever be Thomas again? How could Ariel be involved again?!

Every time someone is hurt, it’s because of her doing! Okay fine, maybe not every single time, but still! How could I not have known? All this time and… Damn Ariel and her spells!! Now I have to hide the fact that I made a promise and didn’t stick to it, from the man I love, and it’s not even my fault.

How did Xavier survive the bite though? He should have died when he tasted Thomas’ blood. Was Ariel’s spell that strong? It had to have been for me not to have known… It’s the only explanation. Surely, he can understand that. If it wasn’t for that damn spell, I would have known immediately and done what was necessary to protect him and his family.

“UGH!!” Damn that woman to hell!!! I walk down the stairs and into the square. It was looking beautiful. Flowers growing where there used to be dried dirt, the fountain running after years of neglect. The floor even looked brighter and shinier. I have to remember to thank the pixies for making it look so beautiful.

I told them to make themselves at home and that Lucille would make sure they had whatever they needed. One of the first things Billy asked for was flowers for the square. I was surprised at their suggestion. But looking at it now, I’m grateful.

My walk takes me to the front door of the packhouse… great, right where I don’t want to be. Ah well, I’m here, I may just as well have a proper look at the damage and see what can be salvaged. Cook is fast asleep behind his counter. Does he ever leave his kitchen? The moonlight shining down on the eating hall illuminating the destruction left behind.

Not a single table or chair is left standing. Luckily, they haven’t all been smashed to pieces, meaning some of it can still be used. Why they had to break it all down before leaving, I won’t understand. I was good to them, wasn’t I? I fed them; I even gave them my blood so they could be… stronger… was it my blood that made them react that way?

It’s been proven that my blood drives wolves to the brink of destruction… oh yes, and beyond it seems. Walking up the stairs, I expect the bedroom to look a lot like downstairs, but nothing is touched and all is in good order thankfully, meaning the pixies wanting to stay here, can at least move into the room so long.

When I walk past cook on my way out, I stop for a moment and look at him. Maybe it’s time I release him from his vow. Let him choose if he wants to stay or go join the pack. My ancestors never gave his ancestors that choice. Maybe it’s time to right some of the wrongs from the past.

I walk back into the square nodding at the guards at the gate. Sadly, another thing that now has to be done. With the wolves here, we never needed guards at the gate. We always felt safe. Now we have to protect both the castle and the pixie town. Bringing my thoughts back to Thomas. Why is he so different, talking about his wolf Azi.

Making demands and handing out orders… Ariel sure isn’t talking! I look up to find myself in front of the dungeon doors. Do I go in? Will she answer my questions truthfully?

~Thomas~

If my wolf is split from me, and each ancestor wrote a journal then there should be the one explaining how it felt or how they dealt with it. I can’t believe that none of them went through this! Azi is snoring away in my head, giving me an enormous headache after having drunk so much to try to keep control over him.

I walk into my office, take the key out of my shirt pocket and unlock the cupboard, pulling out one of the later journals.

“I feel it. The anger growing inside me. I can’t explain it, or where it is coming from. All I know is that it is eating away at me from inside.”

Turning a couple of pages, I start reading again.

“She is my light and my savior. Annabel has calmed the beast in me since the day she walked into my life. My mother says that the right woman does that to a man and that I have now settled. That is why they believe that my anger has subsided. I do love her more than I can ever explain. It’s almost like she has a spell over me.

Like I’m being pulled towards her by an invisible force of some kind. She is carrying our son and I can’t wait to meet my heir. She has brought joy into my life. A joy I thought was lost to me.”

I scan between the pages in the middle, but there is no mention of any beast. Just that he carried an anger inside him that went away when he met, what I take it was his mate. Not knowing he was a wolf, probably disguised the fact that she was his mate. But then how do you explain the journals?

The book hits the desk sounding like a shot ringing through the house. The more I find out, the more questions I seem to have!!

I take out my dad’s journal. He was the last and the one person I knew for a fact lived here. Opening the journal on the first page, I hope to find some of the answers I need.

“The voyage has been dreadful! Mum and dad seem to be just as ill as I am. I still don’t understand why we had to leave our home so suddenly, but they said that our lives were in danger. I write from this wet, mold smelling ship where we are hidden in the deepest parts of its underside.

Dad gave me my journal on my sixteenth birthday a couple of days ago and told me to write my thoughts and experiences in it. He said that it’s a family tradition that all the men in our family do it. I’ve seen him write in his after important occasions.

I do not know a lot of things at the moment and I know a man is not supposed to admit it, but I am scared. If I lose my parents before we reach our new country I will not know where to go. My dad said that he will explain the danger to me once we are safely on the other side, but for now, I just hope we make it there.”

Thomas “What? Dad never said anything about arriving on a boat! He sure as hell also didn’t talk this way!”

I flip the cover and look at the front of the book. It is my father’s book. His name is right there in golden fading print. At least now one question has been answered about the journals. But how did all of them end up here?

Azi “Our father? Scared? This is a disgrace!!”

I didn’t realize he had woken up in the meantime.

Thomas “He was a sixteen-year-old boy Azi, cut the guy some slack!”

I feel agitation growing inside me and try to calm myself before I give him the upper hand again.

Azi “Sixteen is not a boy! That is a man. Or at least it’s supposed to be.”

Thomas “And how would you know? You have been alive for a couple of days! You don’t know anything really. You are simply a part of me that has woken up because a spell was cast to keep you dormant.”

Azi “Just because of that spell, doesn’t mean I know nothing. I was dormant, not dead.”

Thomas “I don’t understand.”

Azi “Yes, you wouldn’t with your puny human brain! I was there, witnessing everything. Or I tried to when the fog lifted more than usual and I had the chance to see through your eyes. Just because I was pushed too far down, it didn’t mean that I wasn’t there when we were trained as a soldier, or when we were fighting in the war!”

Thomas “Oh, why are you telling me this now. Why didn’t you say anything before?!”

Azi “I’m only remembering it now! Not everything is clear… I was under a spell remember i***t!”

Thomas “Azi, we are seriously going to have to find a way to get along. We are one and not separate entities. You need to stop thinking this is only your body!”

Azi “It is, isn’t it? Once the witch releases the vial of blood, I will be rid of you, then it will be only me. So, you can stop this being the good guy act of yours. I will not marry that blood Queen. I will crush that pixie town and you won’t be around to see it.”

Thomas “What do you have against the pixies? They never did anything to you.”

Azi “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I have. I want to crush them and I can do whatever I want. I’m the Alpha King.”

Thomas “UGH!! You are so frustrating!!”

Azi “Just go to sleep so I can take over.”

I didn’t think of that! That is probably why he slept so soundly. He was getting enough rest so when I fell asleep, he would be rested enough to take over.

Thomas “I won’t be ordered around. I’m not tired.”

Azi “I’m inside our body… You are tired. You can’t hide it from me.”

Thomas “Damn!”

I have to think quickly. The cells!! Walking down there he starts protesting realizing my plan.

Azi “Don’t you dare! I will just break the chains!”

Thomas “No you won’t be able to. We both know that.”

Azi “You will also be locked up. You do realize that. Neither of us will be able to get out. Our pack will think we have gone mad.”

Thomas “No they won’t.”

I take one of the chains and lock the cuff. Putting my wrist in the other, I hit the rocky wall until it locks. There, now I can sleep… I just hope the rest of the plan will work. It doesn’t take long before the darkness starts pulling at me and I surrender to it.

~Ariel~

I would know those footsteps anywhere in the world. Selena.

Ariel “Your Majesty… what can I do for you?”

I ask, sitting in the dark corner of the cell.

Selena “How are you connected to all of this?”

Ariel “I did a spell for a desperate wolf King, to protect his family from a pixie Queen, who I believe you also have captive in these cells.”

Donella “WHAT?! It can’t be! My warriors went after them. They brought me their hearts!! On a silver platter!”

Ariel “Animal hearts my dear. Your warriors didn’t know what they were killed after I blinded them to the truth.”

Donella “You deceitful, unbearable creature!! It’s because of you that I’ve now lost my kingdom! You let them escape and now his heir came back to take back what is his!!”

She jumps up from the floor, grabbing the bars of the cell, shouting at the darkness where Ariel is sitting.

Selena “You did what? That was not part of the agreement! They left their territory with nothing! Then you still sent people after them!!”

Donella turns around and slides down to the floor, sitting down on the ground again.

Donella “Yes well, it wasn’t easy. Always running, always hiding. It took a long time for me to find them. To find his heir in fact. An heir, generations later who didn’t even know who he was.”

Ariel “The Alpha King knew she wouldn’t keep to her part of the agreement. So, he and his family came to see me before they left. I didn’t realize who Thomas was until those minions of yours came and found me. I had forgotten about the Alpha King, to be honest.”

Selena “You didn’t even sense or smell your own spell? Don’t lie to me, Ariel!! I won’t believe you. I don’t believe you!”

Ariel “Selena darling, I’ve done so many spells over my lifetime, I don’t remember all of them. The scent could have come from anywhere. Especially with Thomas, and with this territory.”

His life, no our lives are turned upside down… again, and to her, we are just… nothing. She seems to lose her temper and storms out of the dungeons.