Chapter 114

Zach’s POV

Fuck Harley. Fuck Damien. Fuck them all.

They had no idea what it was like having to sit there and listen to her breathy moans through my mind and not be the one who gave her that pleasure. I feel the pain of our half-bond ripping through me whenever she’s intimate with another man. The way she’s feeling for him… the way she wants him. The way she’s only thinking about him and barely thinking about us.

Then there was nothing. She had blocked me from her emotions and feelings.

This mate bond was destroying me… and I had nobody to turn to. My brother was in a coma, and he might die at any moment. Anila was off with another man… I was alone.

Our mate bond wasn’t fully completed, and yet she had no problems fully completing it with the Dragon King. She didn’t even know him and yet she sank her canines into his neck. The second their bond was completed; I felt it ripping away at my insides.

Xaden’s condition was worsening by the second and she was never going to return in time to save him. I doubted the Dragon King even cared about Xaden… he probably wanted him to die. It was his fault that Xaden was in this condition anyway. He was the reason our Alpha King was a dragon… this was his mess.

My wolf was upset with me for being this angry when we should be worried and supporting our mate. But I didn’t give a shit about him either. As soon as Harley and Damien disappeared inside, I swiped my cigarette box off the ground and started to trek through the forest grounds. I needed some space away from everyone. My throat was still aching from Harley grabbing me.

It wasn’t my proudest moment; bears were known to be stronger than wolves. I brushed the thought out of my head as I let the forest grounds engulf me. I rummaged through the box of cigs, hoping to find one that wasn’t broken from Harley’s foot. Once I found one that was intact, I pulled it out of the box and placed it between my lips.

I shoved the box into my pocket and pulled out a light.

I clicked the lighter with my thumb a few times before the small flame came to life. I brought it to the end of the cig and lit the motherfucker on fire. As soon as I felt the nicotine entering my lungs, I let out a breath of air. The smoke relaxed me and put my mind at ease. I knew it was bad for me and if Anila knew that I was smoking, she’d be disappointed. But I didn’t care right now; she didn’t care about me while she was with that Dragon King… so why should I care about her?

She fucking blocked me!

She made love to him and then blocked me.

I used to smoke a lot when I was younger, but I quit years ago. My mother would be pissed if she saw me right now. I let out a puff of smoke as I continued to walk through the forest.

I’m not sure how long I stayed in the forest. I had a couple more smokes and tried to desperately get my mind off Anila and what she was doing with Jaxon Develson. When I entered the forest, the sun was rising, and now it was mid-afternoon, and the sun was starting to fade behind the trees in the distance.

There were still a couple of hours before sunset, but it wouldn’t be long before the entire wolf territory was engulfed in darkness.

I desperately tried to get Anila out of my mind; I tried to shut off her feelings, but it grew impossible. It was torture feeling her but knowing she couldn’t feel me in the same way.

“Zach!” I heard my name coming from a distance and I let out a low growl as Harley and Damien ran through the forest grounds and in my direction. They were the last people I wanted to see right now, but something on their faces caused me to pause and take them both in.

They were panicked, something was wrong, and I had a feeling it either had to do with Anila… or my brother.

Damien had a large book in his hands, and they were coming from a direction opposite the pack. They must have gone back to the academy for something.

Harley narrowed his eyes when he saw the cig in between my lips, but he chose not to mention it as he stopped in front of me.

“We need your help,” Harley rushed out. “We have a problem.”

“Well, spit it out,” I muttered, not in the mood to play guessing games.

“Stop being an ass for a second, Zach,” Harley demanded. “This is important. Xaden doesn’t have much longer to live. He needs our help or else he’s going to die soon.”

They didn’t have to tell me this; I already knew my brother was a ticking time bomb. But the serious expressions on their faces made my stomach tighten.

“Okay, and how exactly can I help?” I asked, still not catching onto what they were saying.

“We need you to get a hold of Anila and tell her the news,” Harley explained. “If she knew that his time was almost up, she would hurry and get that Dragon’s Scale. I’m sure Jaxon would help her if he knew it was an urgent matter. He’s her mate. He wants her to be happy…”

I narrowed my eyes at him, desperate to keep my wolf under control.

“And what makes you think I can get a hold of her?” I asked through my teeth.

“Because you marked her,” Damien was the one who answered. “You are more connected to her than the rest of us. You should be able to connect with her while she’s awake.”

“No, I can’t,” I muttered. “She didn’t mark me in return so she can’t feel me like I can with her.”

“With a proper spell she can,” Damien said with a grin, surprising me. “I can make it so she can feel you and hear you temporarily. It won’t be for long because I don’t have a lot of practice with this spell, but it’ll be long enough that you can get the message to her.”

I kept my expression stoic as I glared at him.

“And what do you think we will accomplish by doing this?” I asked. “Do you really think she’s going to come running back here to save him?”

“Yes,” Damien and Harley said at the same time.

“She would do anything for us,” Harley said. “We are her mates too and she’s only doing this for Xaden.”

“You don’t get it,” I said, narrowing my eyes at them. “She’s happy living in the underground city. She has no plans to return to us.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Harley said, shaking his head.

“Oh, but don’t I?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. “I felt them together the other night. I felt her marking him and him marking her. I felt her falling in love with him and then she blocked me so I couldn’t feel her anymore.” Harley’s eyes grew wide at my confession, and I hated how pathetic I sounded. “Face it, she’s going to be his queen, and they are going to get married and have children. We are a thing of the past. She isn’t coming back.“

He’s her mate. I’m sure she’s just a little confused and wrapped up in the moment. But she wouldn’t forget about us,” Harley said, denying everything I just said.

“Believe what you want,” I muttered as I turned my back on them. “But she already has.”

I started to walk away, not caring if they followed me or not. After I gained some distance, I let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding. I rested my body against a tree and lowered my head. The cig between my fingers felt like lead now and I suddenly had no desire to continue smoking it. I let it fall to the ground, and I stepped on it before I could change my mind.

I was feeling sick to my stomach. As much as I wanted to reach out to Anila, I knew she wouldn’t care. She has a new life now and we weren’t part of it.

“Zach?” a voice appeared in my head; a soft and feminine voice that made my wolf perk up immiedalty.

I lifted my gaze, expecting to see Anila standing in front of me. But I didn’t. She wasn’t there… it had to be my imagination. I was stupid to think she had come back. There was something seriously wrong with me if I thought for a second that Anila cared remotely about any of us the way she cared about Jaxon Develson.

“Zach, what are you talking about??” I heard that voice again in my head, this time it was louder and sounded almost hurt.

I lifted my gaze once again, peeking around the area but I didn’t see Anila anywhere. But I could hear her. This time, I wasn’t so sure if it was my imagination or not.

“What’s going on?” She asked, her voice sounding even more alert. “How am I hearing you in my head and why are you saying these terrible things?” She choked on her last set of words, and I could hear the pain in her voice more clearly now; it made my heart twist in response.

I wasn’t sure what was going on, or how this was possible. I spun around again, only to nearly smack into Damien who was standing directly behind me, his palms outstretched and facing me. They were glowing pink, and I narrowed my eyes at them.

“It’s a spell,” he told me, his eyes fixed on my face. “You need to talk to her and make it fast. I can only hold this for so long.”

“How is this possible?” I asked, not believing it was happening.

“It’s a simple spell that I got from my spell book… you have an open connection with Anila despite the fact that she hasn’t marked you yet. The partial bond is what makes this spell easy to do on you. She should be able to hear your thoughts and feel your emotions. But it’s difficult to keep this spell going for a long period of time. So, make it quick.”

He looked strained as he kept his hands upright and his palms facing me.

“Damien is doing this?” I heard Anila ask. “Zach… what’s going on? Why are you saying these awful things? How can I hear you in my head?”