Stefan’s POV
I wake up naked, on a cold floor. The smell of blood permeates the air, and I wriggle my nose.
What happened? Where am I?
I press my hand to the ground to help me sit up, and that’s when I notice the person lying next to me.
My blood freezes in my veins as I see Mari, blood matted in her long dark hair, lying a few paces from me.
What did I do?
I crawl over to her on my knees. I see it instantly. The bite on the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
I press my fingers to her throat. She has a pulse, but it’s faint.
“Andreas!” I shout, gathering her into my arms.
A door bursts open and Andreas appears.
Where the fuck are we?
“You’re back!” He runs down the stairs. “Is she alright?”
“What happened? Who did this to her?”
“You. You…” He looks up the stairs. “Let’s get back to the mansion first.”
“Where are we? I don’t remember getting here.”
“Your mother’s basement. We need to get her to the healer quickly! I’ll explain the rest after we get to the house.”
My mind is still scrambled, and he’s right. Mari needs the healer, right away.
I don’t care that I’m stark naked as we go up the straits, emerge in my mother’s living room, and then leave the house.
We get to the mansion within a minute and I take her to her room, where the healer is already waiting.
Closing the door behind us, Andreas grabs my arm and pulls me to the side. “You lost it. Your mother wanted to hurt her. You bit her.”
“What?”
“Your wolf took over, Stefan. The best I could do was get everyone out when he was focused on Mari. I could only wait for you to regain consciousness.”
“Fuck.” I rub my face with my hand and then rush back to the bed to check on her. “Is she injured?”
The healer shakes her head. “Nothing more than the bite. It appears like her hands and legs were tied, and there are a few scratches around them, but nothing serious. If everything goes well, she’ll go through the change soon.”
Thank God he didn’t hurt her.
But he bit her.
She’ll go through the change.
I hadn’t even explained myself to her, and my stupid wolf bit her already.
He could have killed her!
“I’ll stand guard, why don’t you go take a shower and get dressed? You’ll need to be here for her while we wait.”
Andreas is right.
I go into my room, which is right opposite Mari’s, and head to the bathroom. While I shower, I try recollecting what happened before I lost consciousness.
I had just gotten back from dealing with the invaders at the edge of the forest when I ran into Andreas storming into my mother’s house. He explained that Mari was missing and that he suspected she was in the house.
So I went with him.
Now, I remember what I saw before my wolf took over.
My mother, wielding a sword. And Mari, tied to a chair.
Everything after that is a blank slate.
I grab a towel and dry my body as I step out of the shower, then rush to the closet. Grabbing a fresh pair of pants and a shirt, I dress quickly and shove my feet into a pair of loafers. Then I leave my room and go back to Mari’s.
The healer has just finished wiping her face, getting rid of any blood on her skin. It also looks like she has somehow cleaned her hair.
She stands and gives a slight bow when I appear. “She’s alright for now. When the change starts, I’ll come by to give her pills to control her temperature and heartbeat.”
“I want someone watching her throughout, and to report to me if anything changes. Do you understand?”
She nods. “I’ll be with her.”
With one final look at Mari, I turn to Andreas and beckon him to come with me.
“She had a guard outside her door, and I left her in your care, Andreas. How the fuck did my mother get to her?”
“I received a report about a disturbance on the eastern border. I thought other attackers were trying to invade from that direction. You were already dealing with others in the west, so I decided to go check it myself. But I ensured her room was guarded. But the people who took her managed to knock the guard out and leave with her.”
“I assume that everybody involved in this is already imprisoned, right?”
“The two women who came to abduct her, Martha, and one of her closest allies, Thomas.”
“Thomas,” I mutter, gritting my teeth. That guy has been by my mother’s side since forever, doing all her dirty work for her. I’ll make him rue the day he decided to become her lap dog. “Have you questioned them?”
“Your mother doesn’t want you to have a human Luna.”
“Yeah, I figured that at seven years old, I think.” When we get to the bottom of the stairs, I head for the front door. “I want to see her, right now.”
Andreas comes with me as we cross over to the security house. The security house is where most of the Pack’s warriors live, and it’s also where the dungeons are located.
“So, did you catch anyone at the eastern border?”
“That’s the thing, there was no disturbance. It was a fake alert. When I came back and Mari was missing, I figured they must have taken her. Naya had come earlier to request her to go see Martha, but I turned her away.”
“They are quite brave, thinking they can mess with me, with my mate, and get away with it.”
Guards stand alert as we get into the house. We head down the stairs leading into the dungeons.
I try not to travel back in time as the guard at the bottom of the stairs opens the gate and lets us through. But it’s so hard not to remember the time I spent in my father’s cold and damp dungeon. The ones here are better. The building is new, and so are the cells. The prisoners here don’t have to inhale mouldy air or try to sleep while rats run amok all night.
My mother must have sensed my arrival before I show up at her cell because she’s suddenly at the bars, trying to look down the hallway between the cells.
“How dare you lock me up because of a useless human wench? Have you no shame?”
I take in her anger-filled face but feel no remorse.
“Your father is turning in his grave right now! I’m your mother!”
“No, he is not,” I tell her. “First, because he has no grave. He was torn apart and eaten by his rivals, remember?” Her face twists in a scowl, but that doesn’t intimidate me. “Second, because he couldn’t care less what happened to you. He never did, remember?”
She grits her teeth. “How dare you talk to me like that after everything I’ve done for you?”
“Care to elaborate on what everything means?”
Her hateful glare intensifies.
I step closer to the bars, ensuring she can see me and hear my warning clearly. “Listen, mother. If you dare lay a hand on my mate again, I’ll send you to the afterworld. Do you understand?”
“You can never mate that girl, Stefan! She’ll ruin you. You’re now an Alpha! You’ll become king soon. If you don’t choose your Luna wisely–”
“Shut up!” I roar. Taking a deep breath, I nod. “You’re right. I’m the Alpha. I’ll be the first werewolf king to appear in ages. And that means I, and only I, have a say in who’s to be my Luna. Is that clear?”
She stares back defiantly, refusing to give in.
I narrow my eyes at her. “The only reason I allowed you to stay in my compound is that you’re my mother. You’re not here in any capacity that gives you the right to have an opinion about, let alone interfere, with my decisions. If you cross me again, I’ll disown you, the same way you disowned me back then.” I step back. “I hope your time here helps you remember your place.”
When I turn around to leave the dungeons, she yells my name, but I don’t look back.
“How long do you want to keep her down here?” Andreas asks as we take the stairs back up.
“As long as it takes Mari to recover,” I reply, “and then some more.”
“Good,” he mutters.
When we walk out of the security house, he says, “I got an update from Levi and Hanna while you were out. They managed to ambush the werewolves planning an attack and got rid of all of them. They’ll be back by morning.”
“Good.” That’s one less thing to worry about.
Right now, I want to focus on Mari, and Mari only. When she wakes up, it’ll be to a new world, a new reality.
I cannot be dealing with invaders every other day.
“He didn’t hurt her,” Andreas says as we get back into the mansion.
“What?”
“Your wolf. He came out to defend her, and he didn’t hurt her. That has to mean something, right?”
Yeah, it does.
One thing.
Even if she can’t remember me, she’s my destiny.
That’s the only reason my beast took over of his own accord to save her.
It’s a relief to know that if I ever lose control again, she’ll be safe.