Aleena’s POV
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Where was I?
I woke up and saw myself surrounded by nothing darkness. I got myself on my feet and started to walk the light seemed to be coming from.
‘Princess,’ I gasped, knowing that voice. I looked around, searching for my dad.
‘Dad?’
‘Princess’
‘Dad. Where are you?’ I screamed.
‘Look hard, My dear.’ I heard that voice again. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and found dad standing in front of me, in the same cloth which he had worn when he came to my room to talk with me.
‘Dad,’ I cried happily and quickly hugged him. ‘Thank god, that was nothing but a nightmare.’, I said, crying badly. Now that I had him, I wouldn’t let him go and wouldn’t miss a chance to let him know that I loved him more than anything.
‘Don’t cry, Princess.’
‘I thought I lost you.’, I said, breaking the hug.
‘Well, that will never happen, baby girl, because I will always live in you.’, he said, cupping my face.
‘What …. What do you mean?’, I stammered.
‘My time has come, Princess. I will have to leave.’
‘No! No! No! No!’ I shook my head, grabbing his hand tightly. ‘I won’t let you go. Everyone needs you, dad. Mom, Eva, me, and not to forget our pack. They need their Alpha. You can’t leave us, abandoning your duties and responsibilities.’, I reminded him. ‘You will have to stay. And that’s FINAL.’
He chuckled softly before replying, ‘Now, I’m free of all the duties and responsibilities, Princess. It’s time for me to rest in peace. And just like the new leaves, they take the place of old leaves when they fall down from the tree. It’s time for the pack to accept a new Alpha. And I can see the future Alpha of the pack in front of me.’
‘No, dad. I would be lying to myself and the others if I would say that I’m capable of handling this position. I hate to agree, but Eva …. Eva is the right choice.’
‘You’re more than what you’ve become, Aleena.’
‘You’re mistaken, dad.’, I muttered, shaking my head. ‘I wanted to be the Luna of the back, dad, not an Alpha. I would end up ruining everything that you have created. In fact, earlier, I wanted to be the Luna of the pack because of my selfish reasons, but now I don’t even want that position. I’m not your that daughter on which you used to be proud when I used to score good marks in the class anymore.’
He didn’t say anything on that part again. Instead, he said something that broke my heart a little more than before. ‘I love you, Princess. I have always loved you as much as I have loved Eva.’, Saying this, he started leaving.
‘Remember who you are, Aleena! Time has changed, Aleena. Now you will have to make your dad proud by doing something else. You’re my daughter, an alpha female! Remember that!’
‘Dad…. dad ….. Please don’t leave me, dad. Dad’, I grabbed his hand tightly. I cried because this time, no matter how hard I was trying to hold his hand, I couldn’t because he had started disappearing. And in no time, he totally disappeared, and the only source of light in the room was still open, but I didn’t go in that direction; instead, I dropped to my knee and started crying bitterly.
I stopped crying all of a sudden when someone licked my face. I lifted my face and found Leia.
‘Leia,’ Holding her face, I started crying again. She didn’t push me away or say anything but just stayed there with me.
‘Come on, Aleena! We should leave this place now.’, She suggested, still comforting me. ‘Our mate is worried for us. We will have to return to them.’, She added.
‘They will also kick us out of their life when they will know our truth.’, I reminded her.
‘I’m sure that they will forgive you if you will apologize for your mistake whole heartily or say in the same way in which you made them apologies. And in case they will not forgive us, then what can be worst than rejection? We both can handle that.’, She cheered me up and licked my face again.
‘I’m sorry, Leia.’, I sobbed.
‘Right now, I’m happy as well as I feel so lucky.’
‘Huh?’ I looked at her in confusion. Happy and lucky because I’m apologizing to you?’
‘Of course not. I’m happy because I didn’t take revenge on you and just sat back and waited. Because those who hurt you will eventually screw up themselves, and if I’m lucky, that Moon Goddess let me watch this. It’s not that I’m happy to see you in this state, Aleena, but I always told you that Karma is like a rubber band; it can only stretch so far because it comes back and smacks you in the face.’
‘Thank you. Your words are not making me feel good.’, I mumbled.
‘You never liked anything that I said, so I can understand. Because I always showed you the mirror. Anyways, just get up and move ahead. Remember that, whatever our future had hold for us, I promise not to abandon you. Never ever in my life.’
‘That’s …. That’s the sweetest words you have ever said to me, though your choice of words was no less than the taste of Neem.’, I confessed, rubbing her fur and kissing her head. ‘Thank you, Leia.’
‘Now come on, stop making them more worried than they already are.’, Leia said, helping me to stand up on my feet. We both looked toward the place from where the light was still coming inside this dark part. We started walking toward it together.
To be honest, I was scared a bit. It was because I had no idea what else was waiting for me on the other side of the world. I doubt that it was the only bad thing which was happened in my life. I had done a lot of wrong deeds, and I was scared of what would be the result of all those things.
‘You won’t be alone. I will be there with you.’, Leia assured me, sensing my thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, I finally walked inside the light, and with that, I opened my eyes. I saw Stephen sleeping beside me, and I had held his hand. I could see that it was my grip over his hand. I looked around and found myself in my room.
I turned my head and looked at the door.
(‘I hope I didn’t disturb you.’, Dad said, seeing me opening the door.
‘No. Come in.’)
I left the bed slowly, leaving Stephen’s hand carefully so that I wouldn’t end up waking him up. I looked at myself first. I was completely fine. I couldn’t help but wonder HOW?
Then I looked at the edge of the bed then and recalled patting there so that dad could sit there. Tears started brimming my eyes, and at the same time, I heard someone knocking on the door, I opened it, but no one was there.
**This night is cold in the kingdom
I can feel you fade away
From the kitchen to the bathroom sink and
Your steps keep me awake
Don't cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste
I once was a man with dignity and grace
Now I'm slippin' through the cracks of your cold embrace
So please, please!!**
*
I reached near dad’s room. I turned the knob, and thankfully it was open. I walked in and didn’t find Mom there. I sensed her presence in the washroom. I didn’t bother to check what she was doing inside because it was early morning already. I opened the wardrobe of the dad and looked at his clothes. I pulled out that tracksuit from there which he had worn in the morning when we reached here. I smelt his smell from it. It was still there. It was not similar to his real scent, but as for now, even his slight amount of scent was giving me relief. I held her tracksuit close to me and started crying again.
*
**Could you find a way to let me down slowly?
A little sympathy, I hope you can show me
If you wanna go, then I'll be so lonely
If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly
Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down
Let me down, down, let me down, down, let me down
If you wanna go, then I'll be so lonely
If you're leavin', baby, let me down slowly**
*
Immediately I stopped crying when I heard something falling on the ground. I ran inside the washroom, and surprisingly, the door of the washroom was open. I saw her injured, and the same silver dagger that was used to kill dad and the same used on me were stabbed in her heart.
“Aleenaaa,” She whimpered, trying hard to speak.
I quickly ran toward her.
Shit!
I quickly held her before she would have fallen to the ground. I smelt no one else scent in the washroom, then who the hell stabbed her. I looked around. The one-sided window of her washroom was open.
Could anyone enter the washroom through it, and after killing her, he or she run away? In that case, he or she would have masked her or his scent.
I tried to mindlink Noah, the beta of this pack, but then I couldn’t mind link about it.
‘Aleena, quickly leave from here!’ Leia warned me.
‘How can I leave mom in this state, Leia?’ I asked her and realized that Mom was breathing her last breath, I pulled the dagger out of her heart, and a lot of blood started oozing out of her body. I pressed my hand tightly to her wound to stop the bleeding.
‘Didn’t I say to LEAVE? This is a bloody trap.’, She yelled at me, and the next moment I heard a lot of footsteps coming toward the room. My eyes widened when I realized the pattern and design of this dagger were similar to the one which I had in my bag.
Was this dagger mine?
“Mom? Mom?” I shook Mom’s body, but she was already dead by that time. I gasped in horror and couldn’t understand what I should do next? Before Leia could answer me, the door of the room was slammed loudly, and a lot of pack warriors stormed in, and few of them even entered the washroom.
“Aleena!! Surrender yourself, or we will shoot you.”, Noah, the beta, growled.
What the hell!
My own pack members were standing in front of me, pointing guns loaded with silver bullets and wolfbane.
Soon, the familiar scent hit my nose, and I tried to look for him. Damned, I should not have left his side in the first place.
‘Stephen,’ I mind linked him, seeing him and others standing at the corner of the room.
‘Corporate with them, Lina. Don’t do anything or speak anything that can be used against you, okay?’ he explained. I doubt that even the toddler doesn’t disconnect the call this soon while watching youtube, the way my life was changing with every moment.
“Raise your hand in the air.”, Noah ordered, being a beta. The situation was familiar when a son ordered his father. I would have started to fight with him but recalling Stephen’s word, I just cooperate with Noah and raise my hand, and in no time, two of the warrior grabbed me up, pushing me against the wall, and cuffed my hand with silver handcuffs. Leia whimpered in pain in contact with the silver. Once they handcuffed me, they turned me around, and the dagger which I had pulled out of Mom’s heart, they carefully picked up wearing gloves, which they would surely send for the forensic.
“Aleena Williams, I hereby under arrest you for the murder of Luna Penelope Williams, of Silver Moon pack, and also asking your vampire friend, Julia, to kill Alpha Francis Williams.”
‘Not a word.’ Stephen’s words rang in my voice in my mind when he felt that I was going to open my mouth.
“Take her to the dungeon.”, Noah ordered to the other warriors, and just like the previous time, no one interfered again when those warriors started dragging me from thereto dungeon.
So, this was my second time in the dungeon.
‘Stephen, I didn’t do anything.’ I mind linked him. I didn’t have much time left with me because the moment I had already entered the cell, I won’t be able to talk to him.
‘I know. Only if your mother would have been alive, then I would have told that it was done by her.’, he responded. ‘But now that I too have no idea about it.’, he added.
‘Why do you think that Mom will plan something this nasty like this?’ I asked, not able to understand his reason for his doubt, but before he would have explained himself, I was pushed into the cell, which caused a disconnection of mind link.
Shit!
One of the warriors opened my handcuffs before locking the door of the cell.
‘I’m sorry, Leia, for not listening to you.’ I apologized to her, knowing that she had warned me about it.
‘It’s okay. I can understand that it was your mother, so leaving her at the last stage of her life was something you couldn’t do.’, She answered in an understanding tone.
‘Do you have any idea that why Stephen was doubting Mom behind all this?’
‘I’m totally clueless about it. Right now, I can’t point out our NEW enemy, who plotted all this against us.’
‘Same here. And if I start counting the number of enemies in my life, then the list of people who hate would not be less than ten to twelve pages.’, For the first time, I realized that I had made enemies more than friends. In fact, I hadn’t made a single true friend.
I was thinking all these things when one of the guards of the dungeon opened the door of the cell.
Why was he opening the door?
Was my trial going to be held today?
No. That was impossible. They would try to collect more and more evidence against me before deciding anything. In normal cases, I wouldn’t have been worried about this part, but now that I knew that I was being trapped by someone, I had no idea what other things were waiting for me.
Soon a familiar scent hit my nose again, and a smile broke on my lips, knowing that Stephen was here. After a moment, he walked inside the cell, and the guard left from there.
Well, that was strange!
He should have been here and made sure to hear everything that we would be going to the discussion. I meant that it was the rule for anyone to come to visit the prisoner.
“You okay?” Stephen softly caressed my cheek. Seeing him here, in front of me, and for me, was really acting like a booster. I knew I would blame mate bond for that.
“Yeah! As for now”, I mumbled. I had no idea how long I had to stay here.
“Don’t worry! You won’t be OKAY for long.”, he said, on which I furrowed my eyebrow, not able to understand the meaning of his words.
“Sorry?”
“You should be SORRY, Aleena.”, Stephen said in his previous cold tone, withdrawing his hand from my cheek. “But just SORRY is just a small word for the things you did to me.”, he added coldly. Trust me, at that broken, hell broke on me, seeing his old behavior, the same rude and cold. “I’m sure that you won't be able to escape from this trap, and in case you smartly manage to escape from it, then I’m not going to leave you for using witch potion on me first and second for planning to use this on my Alpha.”, Once he finished, I was sure, I would be looking no less than a person who had seen a ghost.
“You know?”, All I manage to speak only those two words, wondering how was that possible? Mom was dead, and I was here then; how did he figure out the truth?
“Yes! Apparently. And all thanks to your Mom! I was looking for something to collect evidence to save you from all this mess, and I found your Mom’s diary where she had written each and every crime of yours in detail.”
Mom had a habit of writing a diary?
Since when?
And instead of writing her daily routine thing or her secrets, why the hell did she pen down my secrets?
“I promise myself that you will regret twice or thrice times greater than anything if I figured out that you did something nasty, just like I was thinking. And there you go! It’s my time, NOW. Unlike last time, I have evidence now for all the crimes you committed till now. All I have to verify your mother’s handwriting and you …. You are doomed, Aleena.”
I was now lost for words hearing him.
That was it.
Now, no one could save me from death.
I would soon be receiving the punishment for both the deeds I did and which I didn’t.
“Don't stress your mind is overthinking, Beta female. Because whatever is going to happen next is the outcome of your crime. I hope you would have remembered my words, ‘What goes around always, always, comes back around.’ You didn’t take this fact seriously, did you? Hmm”, he said with venom laced with his voice. When he realized that I was not going to speak anything, he walked out of the cell. I followed him and watched him lock the door of the cell. He turned around to leave when I grabbed one of the silver rods of the cell in guilt.
“I’m sorry.” I apologized this time, unlike last time when I had warned him. He gave me a side glance over his shoulder, and without saying anything, he left there. I left the silver rod and looked at my palm, it had been burnt because of it, and it was important.
This would remind me of the punishment that had just begun. I deserved it and much more than this.
The universe was in the mood to teach me a good lesson by making me the killer of my own parents. Now I had to just wait and watch my end.
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Five days later!!
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I couldn't believe that I had stayed here in this hell for five days. With no proper bed, no facilities except the tiny dirty toilet. I ate those foods which I had never dreamt of eating, and even the water served was not mineral water. The warrior who used to guard my cell had informed me today that today was my trial and the final decision would be taken by the werewolf king.
Yes, even he was here because right now, this pack had neither Alpha nor Luna at this moment. I was positive that all the required evidence against me would have been stacked till now. In case Noah would have missed anything, Stephen would help him in finding a little more evidence against me. I had no hope left inside me that I would be left alive after the final decision because if Mom really had penned down every crime of mine, then there was no chance anyone would help me, not even my stupid sister, whom I tried to kill to have his mate.
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#TBC
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