“Asher, please let me take her.” Dr. Andrew Keto gently asked as Asher stood growling at the door of the hospital unable to let go of his mate as she lay unconscious in his arms.
Jabez and Qamar paled, then suddenly turned to try and run out of the hospital, seeing Alisha in the arms of the Prince, and him looking almost feral with rage.
“MINE!” Asher bellowed.
Cheryl picked up her mobile phone and sent a quick text to Chloe and then one to Phoenix, to ask for Liane, so they could get some help containing Max, allowing Andrew to treat Alishia. She then turned to a wide-eyed Iesha, who stood beside the prince, tears streaming down her face.
Turning, Cheryl went to the little girl and bent down to her level.
“Hi, I am Cheryl, what is your name?” She smiled at the little girl.
“I…I…Iesha.”
“My mate is the royal doctor, and we are going to take extra special care of your sister Iesha. I promise you.” Cheryl smiled.
“Would you please come with me, so that we can take extra special care of you as well?” Cheryl asked, noting the little girl was skin and bone.
Iesha looked at Cheryl, shaking her head slightly, not letting go of the hem of Asher’s sweater, terrified not just for her sister, but of the Alpha and Luna who were trying to run out of the hospital, giving her looks of disgust.
“NOT SO FAST!” The powerful voice of the King echoed, as he and the Queen appeared as if from nowhere, Liane, a transporter wolf by their side.
Alpha Jabez and Luna Qamar froze, shaking in pure terror, their worst nightmare coming true before their eyes.
“Liane, get these two to the dungeons at Crescent moon ready for interrogation, please. Rebecca and Hamish are waiting for you,” King Zander ordered.
Chloe felt like her heart would break looking at her son’s fraught emotional state as he clung to his mate. Her ankles were so thin, she probably could fit her thumb and index finger around them. The little girl was clinging to Asher, refusing to let go of him, as he refused point blank to allow Andrew anywhere near his mate.
“ASHER, GIVE YOUR MATE TO THE DOCTOR!” Chloe commanded, the room slightly shaking due to the power of her royal tone.
Asher turned and growled at his mother, something he never thought he would do, but Max was in full control now, and he did not have the power, or the will to stop his wolf from holding his beautiful mate.
“Asher, please listen to your mam, Andrew needs to examine her, we need to help save her,” Cheryl softly spoke.
“Asher son, you trust me, give her to me, I will make sure Andrew keeps her safe,” Zander intervened, holding his arms out to his son.
Asher stubbornly refused, as Iesha looked on, still not letting go of the prince.
“Iesha, please come with me, just to the side of the room sweety, so that we can help Alisha,” Cheryl tried again with the distraught little girl.
Iesha looked around her, the Alpha and Luna were gone, disappeared from sight, and she relaxed slightly. Blinking her big hazel eyes, she slowly nodded, then stepped towards Cheryl.
Instantly, Chloe and Zander stepped behind Asher, and nodded to Andrew, as they each took an arm to restrain their son from hurting the doctor. Andrew quickly took Alisha as Asher let out a primal roar that sounded like heartbreak and rage all rolled together in one, making Chloe weep slightly for the pain her son was enduring at seeing his mate in such a deplorable condition.
Pulling Asher back out of the room, so that they could calm him, and let Andrew work without fear of Max attempting to stop him from touching his mate.
“Asher, calm down son. Max, we need to treat your mate, to make her well again,” Zander told him as he and his mate manhandled him into the corridor, closing the door behind them, and hoping it was reinforced like the ones at the royal pack hospital for occasions just like this, and to keep mates out during childbirth.
Cheryl scooped Iesha up into her arms and quickly shouted to one of the pack nurses to fetch another bed and place it beside Alisha’s.
Eve, an Edensor member and nurse, ran and grabbed the bed, wheeling it beside her true Alpha, then looked at Cheryl.
“Thank all that is holy that you are here. They have endured so much, and we were helpless to stop Alpha Jabez and the Delta.” Eve sighed, her own tears freely falling.
Cheryl gently placed Iesha on the bed, as she looked over at her sister.
“It is okay, Iesha. Andrew is just putting a tube into her nose that goes straight to her tummy so that we can get her lots of food that she needs to recover. Then he is putting a drip into her hand so that she has enough fluids in her and some special medicine so that she doesn’t have any pain.” Cheryl explained what her mate was doing.
“Her wolf spoke, it wants chicken. Please give her chicken.” Iesha declared, never taking her eyes off Alisha.
“Yes, her wolf wanted the protein from chicken. What we are going to give her is lots of protein, through her feeding tube.” Cheryl explained, smiling at the little girl.
“Now, you are such a brave girl, will you let this nurse take some blood so that we can work out how to make you all better as well?” Cheryl asked.
“Eve is from my pack,” Iesha nodded, then turned and smiled at the nurse.
“So can I take the blood Alpha Iesha?” Eva gently asked.
“Yes. We had a bath today. I am so sorry. I was playing with Honey’s nail polish and spilled it. She went to hit me, and Alisha tried to shift. It is all my fault!” Iesha sobbed.
“Hey, no, it is not your fault, Iesha. I promise you, none of this is your fault,” Cheryl said, instantly taking the little girl in her arms and holding her close, letting her cry out her emotions.
As Cheryl held the little girl, she saw the tell-tale movement of head lice in her hair and sighed. Not one ounce of care had been given to this little one or her sister, and she blinked back her own tears. She had not seen neglect like it since the great freedom war, which halted the abuse of omegas.
“HOW MAM? HOW DID THEY SLIP THROUGH THE NET!” Asher bellowed in distress, not understanding how his own mate could have been treated so badly, and nobody knew.
“I don’t know, son. I am sorry, we have let them down, we have let you down,” Chloe sighed. Now was not the time to justify how the Alpha sisters had been missed, or what had happened. Right now Chloe understood her son just needed to rage about it, to blame someone, to grieve for what she had gone through.
With that said, Chloe was determined to find out exactly what went wrong and when. She had seen these girls herself six years ago. They were happy and well taken care of, so much so that Alisha had decided to stay at Matlock pack with her sister, rather than attend the academy. She had specifically asked her if everything was okay, and Alisha had said it was great, and she did not discern any lie in her answers.
“The abuse must have begun after we did our checks,” Zander sighed, running his hand through his hair, much like his son was doing as he paced the floor outside the hospital room.
“Why were they not flagged? Both girls should have been at the academy two years ago!” Asher accused, needing someone to blame.
“When we called to request they come, Luna Qamar stated that the girls wanted to stay within the pack and learn from her mate. They did not like to be separated from their own pack members,” Chloe informed her son.
“And you fucking well believed her! You should have discerned the lie, mam!” Asher raged.
“We didn’t speak with her, she spoke with Cheryl. Do not give her a hard time about it, she is human and does not have the gifts we possess. I had no reason to doubt the message, and we were just back from fighting the C.U.N.T.S at Montseny. But that is no excuse, I should have checked. I should have come here and spoken with the girls directly.” Chloe sighed, feeling guilty that this had been happening practically under her nose.
“How could they get away with it?” Asher sighed, shaking his head, tears streaming down his face.
“Because the law states no OMEGA is to be abused. They utilised a loophole in the law, something that will be amended immediately,” Zander growled.
“Asher, we do not know all the answers, but we will find out when this started and why. We have the culprits in the royal dungeons, and I am sure your sister will be happily taking out some of her own anger issues on them right now,” Chloe added.
“I have two of the fuckers tied to the whipping pole they used to whip my mate,” Asher stated.
“Vengeance is a bitch!” He declared, then stormed out of the hospital, shifting into Max, and running towards the pack house.
As Asher approached, the rage was pulsing through his veins like hot lava, and he was the volcano waiting to explode. He shifted as he got to the pack house, not caring that his clothes had shredded mid-shift, or that he was as naked as the day he was born, his anger was too consuming to care.
“Your Highness, I have Honey locked in her room. The Matlock warriors at the dungeons would not let me put her in there,” The warrior he had encountered who stood between his mate and that little spoilt bitch, Honey stated.
“Name,” Asher asked, not even bothering to have any manners with him, even though he was truly thankful he had stopped the attack on his mate.
“Eamon your highness. I am a warrior, originally from Edensor, and loyal to my true Alpha,” Eamon informed him.
Asher nodded his head, then looked at him.
“Bring the girl down, and tie her to the fucking pole they whipped my mate on, alongside the delta and beta,” Asher ordered.
Asher stood watching, as Eamon dragged a screaming Honey to the whipping pole.
“My grandparents will have something to say about this, and my mummy and daddy,” She screamed in defiance.
“Your Mummy and daddy will be lucky if they see another full moon, you little bitch. As for your grandparents, LET THEM TRY!” Asher bellowed in sheer rage.
As Honey was tied up onto the pole alongside the Matlock Delta and Beta, Daphne shook her head. The prince was so consumed with anger and rage, she feared, not for them, but for him. He was not like that, he was a good kind prince, and she really did not want him to lose sight of who he was as a person because of their misdeeds.
“Asher, your highness. Please remember, two wrongs never ever make a right,” Daphne’s voice echoed around the courtyard.
Asher spun on his heel and looked at Daphne, as his father the king ran across the courtyard.
“Son, Daphne is correct. Your mate needs you back at the hospital. Come, son, we will deal with these in the correct way.” Zander softly spoke to his distraught son.
“Is she awake?” Asher asked, torn between revenge and wanting to hold his mate in his arms once more.
“No son, she is still unconscious, and may well be for some days, but Andrew has finished what he was doing. He said her wolf will heal quicker with Max nearby. Alisha needs you, more than you need to whip these bastards.” Zander softly said.
Asher looked at the whipping pole, guilt filled him for what he was about to do. He was going to treat these people as bad, if not worse than they had treated his mate and her sister. Turning around, he looked at Daphne and offered a sad smile.
“Thank you, Daphne, you stopped me from making a mistake.” He sighed, then looked at Eamon.
“Thank you, Eamon, for saving your Alpha, my mate. I am forever in your debt,” Asher sighed, then looked at his father.
“I am okay, dad. Take me back to my mate, please. You deal with these guys, maybe find out why the girls were treated so badly.” Asher sighed, then walked back towards the hospital.Chapter Fifteen – The Forgotten Mate of the Alpha Prince.