Arthur just stepped out of his room to discuss with Alpha Coast and how to get back his mate when he saw her running towards him.
"Arthur" she ran to him and jumped on him, Arthur wasted no time in holding her, he was so shocked to see her and yet so glad that she was back.
"How did you escape?" He asked with her still in his arms.
"Bella saved me" she answered happy to be in the comfort of her mate, she missed him so much even if though she was taken for just a short time.
"Where is she, Is she with the Alpha" He asked thinking Bella must have done something rash to get her out of the grasp of Denise and he hoped that the Alpha was there to protect her.
"Yes" she nodded her head and got jumped down.
"Are you okay?" He touched her face relieved, he scanned her body for any scratchy or bruise and found her wrist were red.
"Does this hurt?" he asked worried that she might be in pain.
The bruises looked like she had been bound with silver chains because that would be only thing to keep her still.
"Yes" she replied.
"I thought I wasn't going to make it back alive, she had promised not to set me free claiming that she would kill me before anyone could save me but then she later said the Alpha exchanged his life for me" she said and instantly hugged him.
"It's okay, you are safe now" Arthur felt grateful to the Alpha for saving his mate but he also wished he could save Denise who was Lucian's mate.
"I don't think they are safe back there" she answered concerned mostly for Bella, Alpha Coast may be able to protect her but she also thought about what could happen if he couldn't.
"Just stay here and I will be back in a minute" he said but before he could walk a few paces, he found Alpha Coast walking in with a sad face, he wondered what must have happened to him and figured out that things with Denise didn't end well.
"Did you see anything before you left?" he turned back to ask Elaine maybe she might have a clue why Alpha Coast looked like he had taken a punch to his face.
"No" she shaked her head and he sighed, he waited if he would see Bella walk in but she never came and he was more bothered.
"Elaine, go wash up and I would be right with you.
I need to have a word with the Alpha" he said and she obliged walking into the room.
Arthur didn't bother to knock when he barged into Alpha Coast's office.
"What Is it?" Alpha Coast grumpily asked, he didn't want any disturbance because he was trying to cope with the fact that Bella knew all about his secret.
"What happened to you?" Arthur asked sitting down, he didn't know what other way to ask him that wouldn't make him more angry than he already was.
"Lucian took Denise" he blurted out to him, Arthur was confused.
"Took her to where, I thought she was possessed by the sirens, does he want to get hurt or something" he asked back trying to understand what was really going on.
"She is his mate and he can handle her.
I need to think Arthur, we can talk about this later" Alpha Coast dismissed him and he walked away slowly.
Something seemed off about him and Arthur could notice it, was it because Lucian took Denise or it was something else, he noticed that Bella was not with him and he thought about what could have happened to her.
Alpha Coast laid back on his chair holding a pen so tightly in his hand that he broke it,
"You are a monster"
he thought about the words Bella had said to him and it hurt like the times when they were at conflict, she was always harsh to him in the past.
It suddenly felt like old times and he regretted ever allowing her to follow him, he should have sent her back, he should have made sure that she never found out the truth.
He was now ten steps behind in getting close to her, the truth had created a wall between that he never believed he could walk right through ever again. He looked out the window and the door was still shut, it looked more like she had shut the door to her heart from him.
The disdain and contempt in her eyes when she looked at him earlier were still clear in his mind, he had wished so much to be closer to her, for her to accept him, to acknowledge that he was her mate but he was pulled back to square one.
He didn't have the guts to face her again because he knew the words that would come out of her mouth, words that would sting him like a bee and also piercing his chest with a billion arrows.
She had never been soft on him before and he doubted if she would now that his crime was greater than the one of before.
***
The morning sun rose, Arthur woke Elaine up with a kiss,
"Good morning" he said,
"Good morning" she answered him smiling, Elaine stared at him and he looked like he hadn't slept at all so she opted to ask.
"Did you sleep last night?"
"No"
"Why?"
"I was trying to figure out what happened to the Alpha, he hasn't stepped out of his office since I left him.
I believe something is wrong" he said, he listened carefully to hear any footsteps but there was none.
"Why would you think anything is wrong with him?" She asked.
"Bella never came back too" he answered and she frowned thinking about it.
"Could you do me a Favour?" He asked and she raised her brow,
"Sure anything"
"Could check up on Bella" he requested.
"No problem" she replied claiming to do that after she had her breakfast.
Elaine walked towards Bella's house with some breakfast she had made just for her,
"Bella, it's me" she said knocking the door.
Bella opened the door after hearing her voice and Elaine was shocked to see her in such a troubled state.
She also looked like she hadn't slept at all and there were books all over the place.
"What are you doing?,
Is everyone having some kind of vigil that you all can't sleep" She asked placing her food on the table and picking up some books.
"Reading" she said, she had never given up on finding a solution for Denise to bring her back to her normal self, she had made a promise to Lucian and would keep it even now that he was with her endangering his life.
"Did you read all these books throughout the night" Elaine questioned though she knew the answer to that.
From the dark bag under Bella's eyes and how she struggled to keep herself up despite staggering and the fact that she couldn't stop blinking she knew she hadn't taken her eyes off a book until now.
"I had promised to help Denise" Bella answered picking up another book to read again,
"No fucking way you are going to read another one" she snatched the book from her, Elaine was positive that her body wouldn't be able to take it and might collapse so she tried to stop that.
"I have to, it is the only way to find some more information about the sirens" Bella objected struggling to take the book back from her.
"You need rest Bella and I will not let you read another book until you have had your rest" Elaine stated firmly keeping to her decision, she snatched any book Bella tried to read no matter how angry she reacted to her.
"Elaine you don't understand, Lucian's life is on the line risking it all to be with the Sirens" she answered.
Her guts told her that Lucian wasn't safe and he might be attacked, after all the Sirens were amazingly powerful.
"How about you go to rest and I will continue reading in your place" she suggested and Bella smiled.
"You would do that for me?" she asked touched.
"You saved my life, Ofcourse I will do that for you" Elaine answered.
"Thank you so much" Bella said thanking her, she staggered towards her room and crashed on the bed immediately dozing off.
Six hours later Bella woke feeling relaxed and all, she found Elaine still reading and she was glad that she actually meant it when she said she would help her.
"What did you make?" Bella referred to the food she brought.
"Porridge, it's still warm" she answered.
Bella sat down close to her and began eating,
"Did you find anything?" She asked her.
"No, all I see are extreme measures used to kill the Sirens, most especially fire.
Denise wouldn't be able to survive that, she is just human" Elaine explained all that she had red.
"Exactly my point, none of the books I have read hasn't really said anything about a human host, they all say it is most preferable but no solution out of it" she answered feeling frustrated by not having an answer till now.
She could bet that Lucian was counting on her to help him find a way but she was failing at that.
"And Supernaturals are unstable that why they can't stay in the host forever.
I think the sirens needs a more vulnerable host, someone they could be in full control of and would never be able to fight back or overpower them.
I just wished they hadn't choosed Denise" Elaine answered.
She didn't like the fact that it had to be the mate of the Gamma who was taken, she was glad to have one more sister added to the family and be able to bond with her too like she is doing with Bella but she got taken away before she even had the chance.
"Could you pass me a book,
I just can't sit idle when I know I can do something too" Bella requested.
"No, I have read them all" she replied surprising her, there were about a dozens books she had read and they were quite big to finish in a couple of hours, how was she able to read them all in such a short period of time.
"How?"
"I have always loved reading books but was never given access to them, I read faster than anyone, you can call me a bookworm" Elaine winked at her.
"Wow, okay.
But you haven't read the book underneath your elbow, can I have that?" She requested.
"No" Elaine refused.
"Why?"
"Because you need to rest again, your eyes are still puffy which means you haven't had enough sleep, I will read it all before I sleep and then notify you if I find anything important other than fire" Elaine stood up holding both books in her hand.
"But I"
"Make sure you rest again or I will be angry if I find out that you didn't.
Is that underneath Luna?" Elaine said.
"Fine, I will rest" Bella grumpily leaned on a pillow relaxing herself.
"Not here, in your room" Elaine said again.
Bella lazily stood up retreating to rest in her room.