There was not one word Asher could use to express how he was feeling, his emotions were a mix-up of elation that his mate had woken for a few seconds, even if it was to tell him off. Heartbroken that no sooner had she spoken, before she fell straight back into unconsciousness. Desperation, to hear her sweet yet strong voice again. Rage, that he could not go rip off the head of someone, anyone at this point would suffice. Annoyed, that it was his father who had made the choice to visit the Derby pack, only because he wanted to be the one to go. Frustration that it was his brother and sister who were interrogating Jabez and Qamar, and confusion over why the hell he could not leave this place for four nights. Not that he wanted to leave his mate, but he really needed to get her and little Iesha home, to Crescent Moon, where they had the best medical facilities, and Ethan, the head healer of the pack.
“Well she never said not to get into bed with her, Asher, so we can get under the covers, and be even closer to her!” Max purred in his head, wagging his tail at the thought.
“Calm down Max, she was awake mere seconds, she didn’t have time!” Asher reminded his wolf.
Asher sighed, his wolf was technically right, and the ache in his arms to hold her was almost all-consuming. With a sigh, he moved back onto the bed, wrapping his arm around her slight body, and snuggled up with her.
Clearly, although she was out of it, Alisha could hear him, so Asher decided to talk to her. He wondered if she would be pissed because his dad had gone to Derby. After all, she had said she wanted to deal with the situation when she was healthy. However, if Edward had been trying to solicit an underage mate, then that was a royal issue. That law was one that they could not wait to punish if it was broken. The protection of young she-wolves from dirty old Alphas was not something they could hesitate about dealing with.
“Hey Alisha, I am so sorry but my Dad, or King Zander as you know him, has gone to Derby. Not sure if you heard the conversation or not. We thought it best to send him rather than my Mam, as her wolf has a penchant for ripping heads off and using them for a football and we needed answers. I know you wanted to deal with it yourself. However, if he is trying to solicit young underage girls as his mate, then it is something dad needs to deal with immediately, to protect other girls from him. However, I promise you, any punishment will be postponed once we have him secure, so that you can make your own choices on how to deal with him,” Asher began to explain, holding her closer to him.
“I am sorry if Max hurt you when he first heard about the deal Jabez tried to make. He is very protective of you, and Iesha. I hope he didn’t though. Iesha is doing well. Mam is getting her a tiara, as she now has some pretty princess dresses she loves, and wants one. She is being well looked after, although we have had to put her on a drip, to give her tummy a rest. Hopefully, we can try her with solid foods again tomorrow, and build up her intake slowly, as it should have been done in the first place.” Asher continued, hoping she could hear him.
His length automatically grew whenever she was in his arms, and he wondered if she noticed, even in her unconscious state, or how she felt about that. Yes, it was natural, but they were in a far from natural situation right now, and the thought bothered him.
“Sorry if you can feel my…well, you know, but it has a mind of its own when I am near you. I am not a perv.” Asher continued.
Cheryl stood at the door, and supressed a chuckle as she looked at Asher on the bed with his mate, talking away to her, and apologising for his body’s reaction to her presence. Iesha spent the morning colouring and drawing. The pictures were quite a revelation as to what the girls had gone through. She would save them, and not bring anything to Asher’s attention just yet, for fear he would snap completely if he saw the images Iesha had drawn. One thing was clear though, and that is how close the girls were to each other, and that made Cheryl smile. She was grateful that at least they both knew how to have a loving relationship, even if it was just with each other. Sometimes, when they found the omega slaves, after the great freedom war, if they did not have someone with them, they would struggle to learn how to trust or develop any meaningful relationship.
“Asher, Andrew is going to remove Iesha’s drip, and try her with some milk, then keep an eye on her. She needs some fresh air, so once he has done that, are you happy for me to take her out for a little walk?” Cheryl asked.
“Yeah, but not far, Cheryl, I need her close to Alisha,” Asher nodded.
“Alisha, Cheryl, my nana, for all intents and purposes, is going to take Iesha for a little walk soon. Just so she can get some fresh air. I hope that is okay with you,” Asher continued to narrate what was happening around his mate, to give her a sense of having some control over what was going on.
“Max, have you tried reaching out to her wolf again? See if you can make contact?” Asher asked, hoping that her wolf was beginning to grow in strength. Once she did, she would help Alishia heal.
“Yes, I can feel her presence, but she is still weak, and is not responding to me. But she is still there, deep in the recesses of Alisha’s mind,” Max assured him.
“I wish Ethan was here, to lay his hands on her and help with her healing,” Asher sighed.
“At the moment it wouldn’t really do much, he cannot heal malnutrition, only food can do that, but he will be on hand when we get the pair of them home, to heal any physical injuries, but she is still too weak to move just yet,” Cheryl smiled down at him.
Chloe walked through the door, a tiara in her hand.
“Where is Iesha? I want to crown her a Princess. Officially as well as playfully,” Chloe declared.
“Can we wait for the official part after Alisha wakes up? I don’t want her to miss it, plus she will become a Princess as well,” Asher said to his mother.
“Yeah of course, however, where is Iesha?” Chloe asked again, wanting to spend time with the little girl.
“Andrew had her in his office, he is removing the drip, and she will be out soon. I am taking her for a little walk to get some fresh air if you want to join us, Chloe?” Cheryl said to the queen.
“Yes, that would be nice,” Chloe nodded, then sat down on one of the chairs.
“Mam, how the hell did we miss this? I know we were busy at the time it all took place, but honestly, that is no excuse, they were just forgotten,” Asher sighed, then snuggled even closer to Alisha on the bed.
“Fuck knows, I cannot wrap my head around it. I am sorry, Asher, that we missed this, and I promise we will find a way to make it up to Alisha and Iesha. I feel so terrible this happened. Why didn’t I pick it up with my gift?” Chloe sighed, shaking her head.
“I promise you, we will do everything we can to make this right, both personally to your mate, and in law, so this shit can never happen again.” Chloe continued, her voice laced with anger at just what had happened under her nose.
“I need to apologise to your mate, Asher, and you. If I had not just taken the word of the Luna when I rang about enrolling Alisha and Iesha into the academy, this would never have happened. If anyone is to blame it is me,” Cheryl bowed her head, kicking herself for not asking more questions at the time, but because the girls had already said personally to Zander that they were not ready to attend, she had no reason to doubt Qamar.
“I wonder how dad is doing? If he has any answers? I should have gone myself, and ripped that fuckers head off,” Asher growled slightly.
“No Asher, you are exactly where you need to be. You must stay here for at least one more night,” Chloe said with determination.
“Do you know why?” Asher asked his mother.
“No, not yet, but I know that you need to stay,” Chloe shrugged.
Iesha walked back into the room, heading over to the bed her sister and Asher were laid on and climbed in beside Alisha, turning towards her sister, and placing her small arm around her.
“She was a brave girl again,” Andrew smiled, as he entered the room, walking over to Alisha and double-checking the monitors, noting something down, and nodding his head.
“I was,” Iesha nodded in agreement, making Cheryl and Chloe giggle a little at her.
“I have something for you. I believe you wanted a tiara to go with your princess dress,” Chloe smiled at the little one.
Iesha’s face lit up with excitement, as Chloe walked over to her, and placed the diamond and amethyst, small tiara on her head.
“There we go, that is now yours to keep,” Chloe smiled.
“WOW, Thank you. It is so pretty!” Iesha exclaimed excitedly.
“Not as pretty as you Iesha,” Chloe smiled at the little one, before sitting back in her seat and wondering how her mate was doing at Derby pack.
~ ~ ~
Zander walked up the steps towards the awaiting Alpha Edward.
“We need to talk,” Zander stated, omitting the usual pleasantry when visiting a pack.
“I agree, I have just found out,” Edward nodded his head, then turned to lead Zander into his office.
As they entered the office, Zander stood, looking directly at Edward. The Alpha looked older each time he saw him, and he knew it would not be long before he would need to appoint a new alpha of this pack, irrespective of the outcome of this meeting.
“My Beta is just going to the vault to get you the documents and recordings of the meeting I had with Jabez, plus the report, so you can see the proof of what I am about to tell you,” Edwards sighed.
“So from the beginning,” Zander said, controlling the growl that was threatening to escape.
“Some time ago, I decided to search around the local packs for a chosen mate, so that I might produce an heir for Derby. As you can see, that search has not been successful yet, but I live in hope,” Edward began.
“Well, that is what you get for rejecting your fated mate because she was an Omega!” Zander stated, not fully controlling the disgust in his voice.
“It was a long time ago, things were different then. Plus, it was my father who insisted on the rejection. In those days you did not question, you just followed the order.” Edward defended himself.
“You could have claimed her after he passed and you took over!” Zander exclaimed.
“I could have, and trust me I tried, but she would not hear of it. Her words still sting to this day. ‘If I wasn’t good enough for you before, you are not good enough for me now’,” Edward sighed, an unusual flash of emotion on his face.
“However, we digress. Jabez approached me with a letter, indicating he wanted to discuss a deal with us, giving me a chosen mate, an Alpha female, in exchange for a peace treaty, promises that I would defend him against any pack or attack, and some monetary incentives when dealing with my company. Harold was in charge of looking through all the offers we got from around the packs, and when he did some research he realised that Alisha Wilson was the girl Jabez was referring to, and that the pup was just 15 years old,” Edward sighed out, shaking his head.
“I am a lot of things King Zander, but I am not that!” Edward stated.
“We drafted a letter of refusal, however, Jabez arrived before we sent it. To be honest, I cannot stand the man, and he was grovelling at my feet and apologising, as the girl had refused to accept becoming my chosen mate. It was too much fun watching him shit himself, to not let the two-hour-long apology play out, and I enjoyed winding the pathetic man, about how weak he was, and could not control a little girl. I had no clue he would go back and do this to her,” Edward sighed, shaking his head.
“That was the last we heard about the girl. I did not accept the proposal, and would never have of done so. It is wrong, sick, and wrong,” Edward emphatically said to Zander.
“Okay, I need the proof, because my son wants to rip you and this pack apart. But before that, I want to know exactly why you did not inform us of the offer when you found out Jabez was trying to peddle a 15-year-old girl for his own advantage?” Zander growled.
“I should have, but didn’t, at the time you were in Spain a lot, dealing with all that other stuff. It is no excuse, and I take full responsibility for not informing you. Please, punish me as you see fit,” Edward said, holding Zander's gaze.
Harold walked into the office, holding the files and handing them to Zander, bowing his head in reverence at the king.
“That is all the proof, plus the tape recording of the meeting with Jabez your majesty,”
Zander took the files and nodded his head.
“I will look these over, but for now, do not get comfortable, Edward, it will be Alicia’s choice regarding what she wants to happen to you, for not informing us. However, the time has come, you will retire as Alpha from your pack. You are too old to run it now. I know your reputation has everyone fearful of you, which has helped protect Derby from attacks, but that will not last for much longer. The pack needs new leadership, I will be in touch about that, and Princess Alpha Alisha’s decision when she is fit to make it,” Zander growled, then before he lost control of Caesar his wolf, and attacked the man for not informing him about the incident, he turned on his heel and walked out of the pack his arms filled with the files and recordings to head back to Matlock. Chapter Twenty-Two – The Forgotten Mate and The Alpha Prince.