You Rejected Me. Remember?

Ava’s grandma took the girls inside the pack where they were safer so that they could speak in peace. She knew that Amelia was most probably kept in the dark and that they must have lied to her.

“What is happening?” Amelia gasped when she felt her feet land safely on the firm ground. She realised that she was outside, yet, away from the mayhem of the war. She looked at the disgruntled face of her instructor. She knew she had done something improper for her trainer to be disappointed with her, and she was going to find out.

“They aren’t the ones who were wronged. They are the bullies….they are tyrants and they must be reprimanded,” Ava explained, yet it increased Amelia’s confusion.

She knitted her eyebrows and faced Ava. Amelia didn’t know how to react. She trusted her teacher enough to believe what Ava had said. However, she was extremely bewildered.

“What do you mean? Elijah told me that they needed my help to get revenge on those who had wronged them,” She spoke softly, studying Ava’s face.

Her statement made Ava’s grandmother click her tongue in frustration. Scowling, she shook her head.

“Young girl. You are so naive. The bad guys will not tell you that they are the villains on their own, would they? You must not trust anyone. Did you forget that?” She grimaced.

“Watch. I’ll show you something I have learnt from a girl from that pack. These are snippets from her past,” Ava mumbled and waved her hand in the air and some events of the past started to play in front of her like a movie. Amelia stared in disbelief. She saw how a young, dark haired young girl was mistreated by Baron and Elijah. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, she gaped at the events that unfolded in front of her. Aghast, she remained frozen on her spot, until Ava waved her hands again.

Soon, the scenery she witnessed was no longer visible, yet the nasty images were embedded in her mind. She gulped.

“Elijah….”

Her voice was breathy.

“Baron’s young beta had helped him carry out the horrendous activities. They want to get the girl back, but we aren’t going to give her up. She is our pack member now.” Ava told her.

Amelia felt miserable when she realised that she had aided the bad guys. Her breathing laboured as she stepped to one side.

“What have I done?” She gasped. “What in the world have I done!” She cried, clutching a fistful of hair.

“I have supported them! The tyrants! I shouldn’t have! I should have known they were bad news when they abducted me from the forest! I have ruined it! I have ruined everything! Now I’ll be on the bad side! No…no, no…this….” She started to panic as she paced in front of Ava and her grandmother.

Ava’s grandma frowned as she grabbed the young witch forcefully.

“Amelia! Stop it!” She ordered, shaking her slightly.

“It is still not too late. Relax…. We are all here to help each other, aren’t we?” Ava’s Grandma spoke when Amelia looked into her face.

The young witch held back a sniffle. Her throat tightened as she tried to form words.

“I have disappointed you, Ms Wilma,” she whispered, teary eyed.

She chuckled. “Silly lady. I’ll be disappointed in you if you don’t amend it.”

“Amend it….” Amelia whispered. “I will amend the damage I have caused. But first, I need to teach one wolf a lesson,” she said.

“I’ll be back. I promise….but let me go back to their pack. I need to put my so-called ‘mate’ in place,” she added, as she gritted her teeth.

“Wait….what?” Ava gaped at Amelia with her forehead creased.

Rolling her eyes, “unfortunately, I am Elijah’s mate. I have agreed to give him a chance to prove himself, but it looks like he doesn’t deserve it,” Amelia told them. Her eyes darted from Ava to the older sorceress.

“May I?” She asked.

Ava glanced at her grandma who nodded.

“Yes. I hope you choose to do the right thing, Amelia. I am counting on you,” she said.

Amelia nodded. “I won’t disappoint you, ma’am,” she promised and snapped her fingers, teleporting herself to the pack.

***

Baron paced in the grand room of the packhouse. He was agitated. Only a handful of his warriors managed to escape safely and there was no news from the vampires.

“Draven went into the pack. I saw him step aside from the battlefield. I had let him escape safely so that he could go and get her while everyone was distracted with the battle.” He mumbled as he paced around. Elijah sat on one of the seats in front of Baron. He has been trying to stay calm. However, he couldn’t help worrying about his mate. Since he had not marked her, there was no way that he could trace her and it was putting him into distress.

“Mate where are you?” His whisper was barely audible, yet didn’t go unheard by his alpha.

“And my beta is more concerned about his witch,” Baron sneered at him.

Covering his face, he sighed. “Well, she is my mate,” he muttered.

Baron sat down beside Elijah and leaned towards him.

“Look. If she wants to be with you, she will come and honestly, she wouldn’t have left you alone in the first place.” Baron said, studying Elijah’s demeanour.

Elijah breathed out heavily and glanced at his alpha. He knew that there was no use in discussing further on this topic.

“So what about the vamps?” He said, diverting the topic. “Do you think that they got her?”

Baron’s lips twitched at the mention of the problem he was troubled about. Scowling, he leaned back in the seat.

“I’m damn sure he did.” He grumbled tilting his head against the seat.

“Why don’t you call Draven. I think we have waited long enough. And remember, how the vampires slowly left the war. I have a hunch that they went back on their words.” Elijah pointed out.

“Damn those b***d suckers,” baron hissed and fished his phone out of the pocket of his pants to call the vampire prince.

The phone rang for a long time until it disconnected. The creases on Baron’s forehead deepened as he dialled again, but this time, Draven’s number was unreachable.

“He…. Did he block me?” Baron stared at the screen of his phone. “How could he? Did he sever our alliance?”

“Serves you right,” a familiar female voice startled both of them, making them turn towards the entrance.

A huge grin spread across Elijah’s face when his eyes landed on the young woman dressed in all black. Her long wavy hair fluttered with the breeze that blew into the grand room from the open window, filling the whole room with the fragrance that Elijah adored.

He inhaled and filled his lungs.

“Mate! You’re back!” He was thrilled to see her. There was one thing that bothered him – her ever-smiling face was now scowling at him. He was delighted to see her nonetheless. It was good to see her safe and sound.

“Don’t call me mate!” She snapped.

Elija’s grin instantly vanished and he felt as though his heart plummeted.

“For how long will you keep me in the dark? Huh? Is this how you plan to treat me as your life partner?” She glared at Elijah.

He frowned. His heart pounded and his throat tightened as he wondered if she had learnt the truth. But how…..

“I don’t want my relationship to be built on lies.” She hissed, clutching her fists.

“What…..what are you talking about…” Elijah stammered as he glanced nervously at Baron.

Amelia scoffed. “You know what I’m talking about. You…. both of you are tyrants. You are heartless abusers who didn’t hesitate to take advantage of a helpless orphan. I regret helping you. You and your helpers deserve what is happening to you!” She screamed.

Baron suddenly started to growl. It started as a low, menacing growl which gradually got louder. Before Elijah could react, Baron extended his claws and advanced at Amelia.

“Alpha! No!” He screamed, however, Baron was already sprinting towards his mate.

Sneering in anger, Amelia waved her hand screaming, “Ganduass!” And Baron froze like a statue.

Elijah stared in disbelief. He scurried towards the frozen alpha and looked into his widened eyes. Although Baron’s movements were restrained, he could blink, indicating that he was still aware of what was going on.

Open mouthed, Elijah shifted his gaze at Amelia, who was without a doubt enraged. Her hands were outstretched and her angry eyes were focused on him.

He had heard about the dangers of agitating a witch. What made it worse for him was that this witch was his mate.

“Did you forget that we witches have our own powers? You may be physically stronger than us, but we aren’t anything less.”

Her voice sounded different. It was as though the walls of the room were speaking with her. Fear gripped his heart.

He tried to gulp down the lump in his throat, however, it didn’t bring any comfort to him.

“You have made a huge mistake!” Amelia levitated and started to float towards them, her eyes now wide and red. She started to swirl her hand in the air, causing a whirlwind in the room.

“I curse you! Once the sun rises, both of you will turn into toads! And during the day you will not be able to contact your wolves in that state. And the only way to break the curse is to gain the girl’s forgiveness within three months from now. If you don’t, you are doomed to remain as toads for the rest of your lives!” She uttered clear enough for Elijah and Baron to understand.

The wind swirled around them and all Elijah could do was stare. He was motionless when Amelia raised her hands upwards and started at the ceiling.

He knew she mumbled something, yet he wasn’t able to hear what she muttered over the commotion caused by the whirlwind. To his shock, she disappeared into the thin air right before his eyes. Soon the commotion died down and Baron was able to move. Elijah looked around in confusion. Everything that occurred a few minutes back seemed like an illusion.

“What happened?” He heard Baron ask. However, he was stunned to his core. The silence that followed was deafening.

“We…we are doomed…” Elijah managed to force himself to whisper, despite the storm that put his soul to unrest.