“Asher, wake up son.” Zander gently whispered to his son, who was currently asleep in the chair holding Alisha’s hand and holding her sleeping sister in his arms.
Asher blinked open his eyes and instantly looked at Alisha, to see if she had awoken when he had dozed off. With a sigh of disappointment, he turned to his father, wondering why he had woken him.
“Sorry to wake you, but we have an issue,” Zander gently told him.
“What is it?” Asher asked.
“Alpha Owen called earlier regarding his daughter. He would like a meeting with us. You need to be there and prepared,” Zander whispered, so not to wake Iesha.
“What time is it?” Asher asked.
“5 am, he is at the gates now, requesting the meeting,” Zander informed him.
Zander knew he could deal with the issue himself, but Asher was a king in training, and no matter what was happening with his mate, he had to learn to navigate ruling, even when in extreme stress, and still come up with a fair judgement. Plus, it was Asher who found the girls.
“Owen Harrison is a good man, Asher, he is not his daughter. Remember we do not punish children for the crimes of their parents, and nor should we punish the parents for the crimes of their children,” Zander reminded his son.
Asher looked down at the peacefully sleeping Iesha in his arms, then over to Alisha. He carefully stood, then gently laid Iesha in bed with his mate, tucked under the arm that did not have the drip attached to it for comfort.
“Stay with them Dad,” Asher said to his father, who simply nodded, and sat in the seat beside the sisters, keeping a careful eye on them.
Rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck to rid himself of the aches he had from napping sitting up, Asher moved out of the hospital. It was time to put his game face on, go from heartbroken mate to future king. Schooling his features into a stoic mask, he walked up to the pack house.
As he passed the whipping pole, he noted that his parents must have moved Honey, the delta, and beta, and he hoped they were now in the royal dungeons along with the former Alpha and Luna. James approached him, as he entered the back door of the pack house.
“He is in the Alpha Office,” James informed him.
Asher nodded his head, running his hand through his hair as he made his way to the Alpha office. Pausing outside the door to gather himself, he took a deep breath, then entered.
“Alpha Owen,” Asher said, nodding his head.
“Your Highness. I am sorry to arrive so early, but as soon as word reached me that my daughter and her mate had been arrested for crimes of abuse, I had to come and find out what was happening. I would have hoped you would have contacted me yourself regarding this matter,” Owen stated.
Asher felt the older man’s attempt at a rebuke, and although technically he was correct, Asher should have at least made a call, he was not going to admit that at the moment.
“I would have, later today. But as you can imagine finding the two Alpha girls in such a bad state, one of them being my mate, I was more than a little preoccupied to care,” Asher answered, then rounded the Alpha’s desk, and took a seat.
“Your mate?” Alpha Owen asked. This news was a shock and made the whole situation for his daughter a lot harder to navigate.
Asher nodded his head, then letting out a long breath he looked at Owen, making eye contact and not blinking, a trick he had learned a long time ago, to exert authority, without being a dick about it.
Alpha Owen blinked and looked away first, letting out his own sigh.
“What happened?” He asked the prince.
“That is what we are trying to find out. Six years ago, the girls were well cared for, then around three years ago something changed. Clearly, they were starved, due to the emaciated state we found them in. They were so malnourished, Alpha Alishia was unable to shift. On top of that, Alishia was whipped every single day. From what we have found out, they made up different excuses to punish her. The pack called her Alishia the ungrateful, but when my warrior questioned them, nobody seemed to know why.” Asher informed Owen.
“Holy shit, I knew my daughter and Jabez did not like the girls. She claimed they caused trouble all the time, but I honestly did not know this was going on. It explains something though,” Owen sighed.
Asher looked at Owen, waiting for him to continue.
“When the royal visits were announced, my daughter came to me, and requested, or should I say demanded, that I house the girls at my pack for a time, so that they could not cause any trouble, or interfear with her plans to have you for Honey's mate."
Max let out a loud growl. Even before meeting Alisha, there was no way that girl would ever have become his mate.
"I said no. My son is ready to take over the pack. I have meetings with the King regarding being an Elder for him. I am going to refuse, not because of this, but because I want to travel, see the world with my mate, and enjoy my retirement,” Owen explained.
“What about the punishments? Do you know about them?” Asher asked, never taking his eyes off Owen.
“Yes and no.”
Asher let out a low growl.
“The answer is either yes OR no,” His voice roared, he would rip this Alpha limb from limb, no matter how much of a ‘good man’ his father thought he was if he knew what was happening and turned a blind eye.
“I knew that Qamar said the girls needed to show respect and be punished for their behaviour, but I did not know it included whipping or starvation. I just thought it was for them to take on light duties and learn to respect others,” Owen quickly added.
“Did she give any examples of their supposed bad behaviour and ungratefulness?”
“I believe there were issues with Honey. To be honest, I tuned most of my daughters whining out, and kind of avoided her. I know, I know, I should have done better bringing her up, but she was and still is the apple of my mate’s eye, and I kind of left the discipline to Louise, who spoilt her rotten being the only girl. I am not blaming my mate, don’t get me wrong, the fault is with me, and my indifference to my daughter. If I had disciplined her better growing up, and not just given in to her to get her out of my space, then this would never have happened. But I believe the biggest crime was the eldest girl was about to access her wolf, and they would lose the royal funding from the pack once they returned to Edensor. Plus that land is quite strategically placed, and Jabez wanted to keep it for himself or, have it go to someone with a strong alliance with his pack,” Owen explained, his heart heavy, if the girls were in such a bad state there would be no hope that his daughter would not be convicted, and either turned rogue or face the death penalty for her abuse of children.
“Your highness, I hate to ask, but I feel I must. Are the girls as bad as you say they are? I know how strong a mate bond is, and I am wondering if that is maybe making the situation worse than it actually is?” Owen added, clinging to hope that maybe there was a slight overreaction from the prince.
Asher stood up, his muscles coiled like a spring that was about to snap. He took a breath, to avoid grabbing Owen by the throat and ripping his head off for suggesting such a thing, as Max growled in his head.
“Come see for yourself!” Asher declared, then walked around the desk, noticing Owen had bared his neck in instant submission, a reaction to the pure royal power he was displaying in his anger.
Asher led Alpha Owen to the hospital, then quietly opened the door, as his father sat watching over his mate and her sister.
“Quiet, Iesha is sleeping. Alisha is unconscious, due to being so malnourished she got stuck mid-shift when your granddaughter attacked her little sister,” Asher hissed his warning.
Owen nodded, then stepped into the room. As he did, he felt every drain of blood leave him, as he looked in horror at the two girls. They were both so thin they looked like they would snap, their faces pale grey, and the level of abuse they had suffered was as clear as day.
“Oh good God, no!” Owen whispered, shaking his head. There was no saving his daughter and her pathetic mate from this, and if he was completely honest, seeing the girls in this state, he had no inclination to even try to save them. His heart broke, not for his daughter, but for his mate, who would be totally devastated.
“Now do you think I am overreacting?” Asher growled.
Owen shook his head, tears stinging his eyes, and turned to Asher.
“Your highness, I am so very sorry. I shoulder some of the blame for not disciplining my daughter enough. I will take any punishment you offer for this transgression. I also say to you now, in all humility, I support whatever course of action you decide on for the punishment of Alpha Jabez and Luna Qamar, for the crimes they have committed against these poor children. However, I ask about my granddaughter. She has obviously not been given any morals. Might there be a way to save her life, pass her to my care and that of my mate, I promise you, I will not fail her as I failed her mother.” Owen declared, a single tear escaping and rolling down his cheek.
“Right at this moment, my wolf wants to rip the heads off all of them, and to be honest, I want to let him have his way. But I will compromise. No decision will be taken on your granddaughter at this time. She is being held and will continue to be so, until we decide on her future, with the approval of the Elders. That is as far as my mercy goes at this present time. Now, I want to be with my mate, so see yourself off the pack lands and give the sad news to your own mate,” Asher sighed, as Zander turned and smiled at his son nodding his head, proud that he had controlled his basic need for revenge in order to do things in the correct way. Zander then stood up, allowing Asher to sit down and continue his bedside vigil over the girls.
“Owen, I will see you out,” Zander said to the Alpha and led him out the door. Chapter Seventeen – The Forgotten Mate and the Alpha Prince.