Chapter 108: Chapter 108
“I can't believe you chose Lucas over your freedom, Miatta,” Addy kept saying over and over again after I had sent Ryker away. The pesky bodyguard had seen me on my back from the path and had suggested that I came with him.
“No,” I had said to him, not taking more than a minute to make up my mind. “The festivities are over and he no longer has a reason to keep me cooped up in his room. It will be best for all if I returned to the slave room where I belong.”
He was not convinced by my act of martyrdom but knowing Ryker, I was confident that he would not force me to do anything I didn't want to. He respected me not just as his master’s mate but as a person. He waited to see if I would change my mind but instead, I walked around him and continued on the route I had earlier set out. Lucas would not be pleased with him but I tried not to think about how Lucas was feeling.
Bringing my roaming thoughts to the present, I saw disappointment boldly written on Addy’s face. I was disappointed in myself as well; I had been close to liberty and I had chickened out for the love of a lycan. Goddess knew, I was going insane over my love for Lucas. It was late at night and most of the other slaves were asleep. However, immediately I had crept into the room, Addy had become alert, rousing from her shallow sleep. For the sake of privacy, we had stepped out of the room and conversed under the shade of the palm trees.
“Explain yourself. Explain why you felt the need to return instead of running away with Ramona. How could you leave her all on her own? She could be lost, scared or worse, captured by the rogue wolves living in the woods. We have no means of reaching out to her to make sure she is okay. I felt so happy when I sent her to you but of course, how was I supposed to know that your resolve to be free was not strong enough to get the job done.”
As she spoke, her voice increased with several notches that I wanted to shrink into the ground. Once thoughts of Lucas had filled my head, I had not thought of the danger I was putting Ramona into. She was barely past pup stage and her heart ruled her head, meaning that she could be easily deceived. Although at the last moments of our separation, she had showcased some maturity I didn't know she had in her, it still did not mean that she could not be harmed.
“I’m sorry. I wasn't thinking straight. It goes against everything I believe but it is what it is. I’m in love with a lycan. You would understand why I did what if you had a mate.” I didn't care if I sounded unfair or selfish. I wanted to be with my mate and if the only way that could happen was me being a slave, I would endure. The Moon Goddess was the one to be blamed, after all because it was all her doing. I was just an innocent victim.
Addy distanced herself from me, pulling at her long, golden locks. The golden glow around her head was a sharp contrast to the dark green leaves on the trees surrounding me. She resembled a glowworm in the midst of caterpillars, a goddess of light. I was usually very sure of my sexuality but whenever I was around Addy, I tended to question every truth I had told myself. She had a smile for everyone, meant to delight the heart but she didn't have one handy for me then. Her lips were encased in a grim line and the gentle breeze teased the tips of her hair, lifting it occasionally and whisking it against her butt. She was deep in thought all of a sudden and the silence between us was so loud that I thought I was going deaf.
“I can find out where she is,” she finally asserted, flipping back a lock the wind had tossed over her shoulder. “I gave her a necklace to remember me by and I think I can track her whereabouts with it. However, it would sap a lot of my essence and I would require a lot of rest afterwards.”
When I first arrived, it was Ramona that told me who Addy really was and I could remember hearing that her powers had been suppressed by her mother who had been under duress by the Lycan King. However, after watching the episode between the lovers in the forest, I doubted that anyone could force Athena to do anything under duress. Had she done it deliberately to please the Alpha or had she been jealous of whom Addy would become? Many said Athena could see the future and so she did fortune telling for some folks. Had she looked into Addy’s future and grown envious? The possibilities and hypotheses were endless and somehow, I knew that Athena had no good reason for doing such a terrible thing to her own daughter. What did she stand to gain? Besides, the Lycan King had rejected her and her child publicly when Addy had been just a little pup.
“I’m sorry, Addy,” was all I could say and I meant it more deeply than she knew. I was sorry for letting her down and for letting Ramona go off on her own. I was sorry that she didn't have the happiest childhood, that her mother was a two-faced traitor amd her father was a bloody tyrant.
“I will be going in to rest now. I need all my strength if I’m going to attempt a location spell. You can come in whenever you are ready.” She bade me a good night and retired for the night. I remained under the shade, thinking of my next move. Perhaps, Ryker had gone back to Lucas with my message. Hopefully, Lucas would understand and in that way, give me enough time to discover what Beta Logan and his fellow conspirators were planning. They had not tried anything during the festival but it didn't mean that they had given up on their efforts to get rid of my mate.
Little streaks of sunlight shone from the distance, the sun peeping from behind the clouds shyly. It would soon be dawn and the guards would be awake. Strangely, I was wide-eyed and unable to sleep because of all the things running through my mind. I was hungry though and the insects of the night were having a field day on my flesh. I slapped at various areas of my body blindly, hoping to incapacitate some of them in the process. A yawn sneaked out of my lips, catching me unawares and I held my palm over my mouth to avoid swallowing a bug by mistake. When I decided to give my eyes a rest, a foreign hand clasped over my lips all of a sudden and my fight or flight instincts came alert. I kicked wildly and dug my nails into the hand in self-defense. My attacker was strong; I could feel it in his arms and he was way taller than I was though I couldn't see his face. He dug two fingers into the dip in my collarbone forcibly and I began to lose my breath slowly. My eyes closed, my body suddenly numb from what his technique was doing to me. The last thought on my mind was: Save me, Lucas.