Alpha Ch. 10

"You're back?" She asked finally.

"Yes."

"But not for long?"

"No." He kept his responses short.

Ealasaid pushed herself to her feet and turned to stare up into his face. Her eyes were clear; he had expected there to be tears but instead there was just a coldness he had never seen before. He couldn't help but look over her curved body, it came as a surprise that he was disappointed he would probably never touch her again.

"You're not going to help?" She asked.

"No."

"You're breaking your promises?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you here?" Her voice was steady. She didn't shout, it didn't waver, she didn't sound like herself.

"To say goodbye." He said and she didn't even flinch. Her mouth twitched and he thought that she would cry but instead she smirked.

"You came all this way just to tell me that you're leaving?" She said, amusement lifting her words.

"You deserve so much more but this is all I can offer."

She nodded and drank again from the bottle. Her hair was tied in a ponytail on top of her head but strands had escaped and fell into her face, pushing them away impatiently she fixed him with her bright eyes.

"Did you ever love me?" She asked suddenly and Drago was taken aback by the question.

"Of course I did."

"But not anymore?" She still stared into his eyes and he found himself unable to look away. He debated lying to her but he knew that she would see through it. She could always tell when he was lying.

"No."

Again he expected to see some emotion on her face but there was nothing. The silence was deafening, dragging out between them like a toxic web, linking them together even as they broke apart. Inside Ealasaid felt herself begin to crack, her whole body hurt but she refused to let it show on her face. She had lost people before and lived through it, this was no different.

"So after everything that's all you want to say, that's it?" She asked and still her voice was level. It was even worse than if she had screamed at him, it was like she was empty.

"Is there anything else?" He asked.

She laughed nastily. Once again she drank deeply from the bottle before letting her arm drop back at her side.

"I will speak with my Pack." He offered.

"I already have. Most left, some stayed. Who knows what will happen after tomorrow. Maybe you could start your own family, it might be nice to have some children."

"Eala," he felt himself reach for her. Even at this point he wanted nothing more than to feel her silken skin one last time.

"Is there anything else?" She threw his question back at him freezing his arm and stopping him from touching her.

"In an hour his children will be mine, he will be alone. He's weak, without his children he won't be able to stop you. This is as much as I can do to help you." He said making her laugh again.

"So you are starting a family?" She asked. "Gonna make them call you Daddy too?"

He sighed. "It's to help you." He tried.

"You waiting for a thank you?" Her accent was growing stronger, the only sign she was giving of the emotions screaming inside her. "I don't need your help. I've never needed your help."

"Eala." He started but she cut him off.

"You should go, unless you have anything else you want to tell me, or any more help to offer?" Her voice was icy and he felt a weight drop into his stomach.

"Just be careful." He said.

She didn't answer. Turning her back on him she looked out over the city laid out below the building, the lights winked back at her and she felt an eerie calm fill her entire body.

"I want you to go." She said without turning. Her voice was emotionless.

"I'll go Ma Petite but I want you to know I am sorry things happened this way, I never wanted to hurt you." He waited for her to answer but none came. With a sigh he turned and began to leave.

"Drago?" He looked back at her. She still didn't look at him, she kept her back to him so he couldn't see her face. Her eyes filled with tears but she wouldn't let them fall. "This is the last time you leave us when we need you. If you ever come back, hurt any of us again, hurt your family again; I'll fucking kill you."

Drago nodded sombrely. Once again the black mist swirled and he stepped into it and out of their lives. Ealasaid didn't move. She stayed perfectly still, staring out over the city watching as the sky changed. The sun was hidden behind grey clouds and a cold wind beat against the glass wall.

The apartment was silent. She kept expecting to hear the Council arrive but nothing came. She didn't know what to do, her head was filled with doubt and pain and she couldn't work through it to get to her thoughts.

"Baal?" Ealasaid asked the empty apartment. She didn't know why she called for him but she craved his comforting presence. He had been there at every painful point in her life and now she needed him to take the pain away again.

She felt rather than saw him. The warmth of his body at her back broke down all of her defences and the tears poured down her face but she was still silent. He reached and gently took the now empty whisky bottle from her hand. Placing it on the floor he followed her gaze out of the window to the grey sky.

"He has the others doesn't he, Elyas?" Ealasaid finally asked and felt a sick pride that her voice was steady.

"Yes and the Vampyre and the Senior Agents. The Were, the Lycan and all his other children have gone. I think we have Drago to thank for that." Baal said. The second he had crossed over the threshold of Hell he had felt his brothers distress and Ealasaid's heartbreak. The spirits he had ordered to guard the Ancestral Castle had filled him in on the rest and he felt the excitement of violence welling in his chest.

"Then I guess it's my job to go and get them back." Ealasaid straightened up and thrust her shoulders back.

Baal's eyes drifted down her body, over the curve of her back to her round ass in the lace panties that did almost nothing to hide her skin from his gaze. With a pain breath he picked her jeans up off the floor and handing them to her.

"You should put these back on otherwise my focus might not be where it needs to be."

Ealasaid took the jeans and pulled them on. Turning to face him she looked up with eyes that were filled with sadness and Baal felt blistering fury fill him that Drago had made her feel this way. His teeth gritted and his jaw clenched, he wasn't here to be angry he was here to help her. Quelling the trembles that wracked his hands, he stroked her cheek with his knuckle. The heat of her skin burned him and he yanked his hand back before his need took over and he did something stupid.

"You don't have to come with me." Ealasaid said making him smile fondly.

"Stupid little girl, I'm not going to leave you." He looked her over again. "I won't let you face him like that though, you should change."

Ealasaid nodded. Releasing the tight control, she had on her Fae side she allowed it to fill her. She felt the prickling over her skin, the tingling of her scalp and the shifting of bones and muscles in her back as the grey wings burst through her skin.

Baal watched as her hair turned white and her eyes changed, darkening into two black pools in her face. Her face was different, more angular and sharp. Her expressionless eyes were trained on him but he couldn't tell where she was looking. The blackness pulled him in, intrigued him, it covered up everything she was thinking. Her wings fluttered at her back before folding against her shoulder blades and Baal felt a tingling along his spine at the thought of his own wings bursting through his skin. Swallowing hard, he focussed his mind back on the task at hand.

"Where are you meeting your Pack?" He asked.

"There's no time to wait for them. I'm getting my family back now, who knows what he might be doing to them." Ealasaid said but there was still no emotion in her husky voice.

"Saidy they want to help you. Let them."

She shook her head. "No. I'm tired of people getting hurt because they want to help me. Anton, Elena, all of them are in trouble having God knows what done to them, because they wanted to help me. I'm so tired of being responsible for everyone else and their pain. I don't want to do it anymore."

Baal watched her expression looking for any sign that she was lying. There were none. She didn't look like the girl he had watched grow up, there was none of the warmth that radiated from her, instead she looked cold and distant.

"Can we please not do this now?" Ealasaid asked and finally there was a hitch in her voice as her façade started to slip.

"Come here." Baal said and she complied, moving closer and watched as he took a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket. Moving his hand round her waist and down over her hips he slipped the paper into her back pocket. She raised an eyebrow, her question forming on her lips but he shushed her.

"Tonight, when all of this is over, I want you to read that. Before you forget what you mean to people, you promise me that you'll read it."

Ealasaid was surprised by the intensity in his voice. His skin burned her through her jeans and she shifted closer. She craved his heat.

"I promise." She said.

"Good." He said with a finality and she felt her skin erupt in goosebumps as a cool breeze whipped around them.

A red light rose from the ground, enveloping them and she squinted her eyes as the wind picked up and beat against her skin. Baal was perfectly still, his loose grip the only thing that kept her grounded and she stared up into his stoic face. He didn't look at her his gaze was fixed on a point over her head and she dropped her gaze back to his chest. Her stomach was rolling even though she wasn't moving and the wind turned so cold that it was close to unbearable. Her chest felt tight, just as it had when Anton had taken her and Drago to Limbo, her throat felt as though it was closing but she forced herself to breath normally.

Baal pulled her closer, the warmth of his body driving away the cold and taking the pressure off her chest so she could breathe again. Finally, the wind died down and the cold disappeared. Ealasaid glanced around at their surroundings.

They stood in a forest, the trees were quiet save for the rustling of the leaves and the scampering of feet as animals ran from the disturbance they had caused. Baal let out a breath and looked down at her.

"Normally I wouldn't have taken that long. There are some strong Wards on this place, it took a while to break them."

"They're broken, forever?" She asked.

"No, just for us. To anyone else this place doesn't exist." Baal surveyed the trees looking for the shadowy figures of his Souls he had commanded to watch the castle. From behind a tree he could see his silent sentinels keeping watch dutifully.

Ealasaid stepped away and turned to look up at the daunting structure. It reached up into the sky, the walls were made of grey stones each one a different size and shape yet still managing to look perfectly uniform. Crude windows were set into the wall, the glass was covered by something on the inside, Elyas was trying to stop anyone from seeing in. Round narrow towers loomed over them each linked to the other by a stone walkway that hung in the air as though one step would send them crumbling to the ground. The door sat intimidatingly at the stop of stone steps which lead to a path running down a steep incline towards them. Vegetation had crept its way over the walls and into the stones as though the forest had taken the castle as part of itself and grown into it.

Ealasaid had expected to feel scared. She stood on the threshold of the birthplace of the Order, hundreds of thousands of creatures like her had met their end inside those walls and she didn't know whether she would be one of them. She should have been scared but an eerie calm had taken over her body. She knew whatever she found there would change her life forever but at that moment she was numb to it.

"You stay out here." Ealasaid said, throwing her words over her shoulder to Baal.

He didn't argue, she had expected him to and seizing the silence she pushed forward.

"I don't want the Archangels to do anything to you because you wanted to help." She waited for his response and jumped at the soft laugh that came from behind her.

"If that's what you want Anima." He said and she frowned at the unfamiliar word.

"What does that mean?"

"When this is over I'll tell you." Baal said hiding his amusement.

Ealasaid nodded and started up the hill. She was barefoot, making no noise on the soft ground beneath her but she could hear the animals drawing closer. They flocked to her, the light of her pushing back the shadows that Elyas had brought.

Ealasaid climbed the stairs. She could still feel Baal's gaze on her back but when she turned to look he wasn't there. She didn't feel afraid, he was still close and that thought pushed her onwards. She reached the doors. They stood at over ten feet, dwarfing her with their size. She stared at them and now she was closer she could see that the stones around it were not stones but skulls. They looked as though they were carved into the wall but she knew if she touched one she would feel bone under her fingers.

Ealasaid was frozen. She had always thought Drago would be beside her and they would face Elyas together but now she stood there alone. In the back of her mind she felt Baal's familiar presence and that was enough to raise her hand and make her push one door open.

Inside the huge entryway, she heard the door slam closed behind her then a deafening silence. The stone doors shut out any sounds from the outside world and she stopped in the cavernous room. In front of her were two staircases that curved around and joined together in the middle of the room. From there, they split into two again leading to a walkway that ran around the walls. Doors were set into walls above and between the two staircases was another set of double doors.

She listened carefully. From above she could hear breathing, soft noises of pain. She followed the sound up the stairs and onto the walkway. The stone was cold beneath her feet and a chill wind caressed her skin but she ignored the feeling trepidation. This ended today, no matter what.

The walkway leads to a hallway. The walls were covered in intricate paintings, portraits of sombre looking men and women, their eyes followed her as she moved. Between the paintings were huge windows and outside she could see that she was suspended above the ground, beneath was a garden but nothing grew. It was cold and grey.

Ahead was another set of double doors. They, like everything else in this place, were huge and towered over her as she regarded the intricate carving on the surface. The noises of her family came from behind them. She pushed them open.

She stood at the top of a sweeping marble staircase. The cavernous room was dark, heavy blue curtains covering all the windows and soft candlelight tried to fight off the shadows. At the other end of the room a huge throne sat upon a raised platform. The floor was made of the same polished grey marble of the staircase and huge pillars filled in the gaps between the windows. Behind the throne two more staircases lead to the balcony that ran around the entire room, on the wall was another door leading to the rest of the castle. Ealasaid couldn't help but whistle.

"Fucking hell, this place is ridiculous."

"You're too kind." Elyas' voice reached her ears and she spun around looking for the source.

The room was empty but she could hear rattling breaths and soft whimpers of pain. Backing down the stairs she scanned the entire room looking for Elyas. Her eyes darted over the balcony, the high painted ceiling and every curtain looking for a twitch that might indicate where he was.

"It could do with some modern touches but I see the appeal of the medieval look. Makes me feel a little underdressed though." Ealasaid quipped as she reached the bottom of the stairs and looked back at the throne. It looked to be made of stone, the back was high and the seat was piled high with grey fur. As she concentrated she could make out a shimmering in the air in front of the stairs leading to the raised floor where it sat.

"This castle was built by my grandfather. It may have fallen behind the times but I like to think of it as a step back through time." Elyas spoke softly, his voice dancing inside her head but she still couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

As she made her way across the room to the throne she felt a strange electricity in the air. When she stood in front of it she relaxed her posture so as not to show her fear and spoke loudly.

"You have my family Elyas and I'm not leaving here until they're safe. Now are you gonna keep hiding like a bitch or come out and let me kick your ass?"

Elyas laughed at her confidence and the shimmering air disappeared revealing him sat in the high back throne. Now she was closer she could see it wasn't made of stone but bones. Behind him Lucius, Oana, Nix, Corban and Anton were knelt on the cold floor. With a sick surprise she looked around for Jaylon but he was nowhere to be seen. All of them were chained in silver and Ealasaid could see the cuts and bruises on their skin. Behind them stood four hooded figures, they wore long black coats and their heads were bowed preventing her from seeing their faces.

Beside the throne there was a wolf. Its fur was a warm russet brown and she recognised it as Elena. She hid her dismay at the sight of her Second and focussed on Elyas.

"Where is Jaylon?"

"Oh yes, he would have made a wonderful addition but unfortunately I needed to make an example and he was perfect for that task." Elyas said.

"What do you mean?" Ealasaid pushed forward. A part of her knew what the answer was but she needed to hear it from the monster in front of her.

"My little cub was becoming a difficulty so I needed to show her what happens to those who fight me. the easiest way to do that was to get rid of her little protector."

Ealasaid's stomach plummeted but she didn't let her emotions show. "Stop with the fucking foreplay. Where is Jaylon?" She asked, her words spitting like venom through her teeth.

"He is dead. His body will rot and sweet Elena will have to live with the fact that he is dead because of her."

Ealasaid was silent. Her breath ripped through her chest, her whole body was shaking in a mixture of grief and fury as she struggled to come to terms with the news that Jaylon was dead. She would never see his easy, boyish smile. Never hear his mischievous laugh. Never run with him again or hear his voice.

A stuttered sob fell from her lips and for a second she felt all her strength leave her. Her body went weak and she had to catch herself before she fell to the floor. Her chest ached and her hands were shaking but she held herself tall and let no emotion show.

"So what now?" She asked spreading her arms as though presenting herself.

Elyas stood and walked slowly down the stairs. Ealasaid felt herself recoil in horror. His skin was covered in black veins, they crept up his face towards his bloodshot eyes that stared wildly at her. His gait was erratic as he came towards her but she remained motionless.

"Now you'll be mine and once you are I will decide whether I will let your little family live." He waved his arm behind him at the chained Council. "Quite an interesting family you have gathered for yourself. The Demon is a nice touch." Elyas let his gaze fall to Anton who practically hissed in rage.

Elyas laughed. Turning his attention back to Ealasaid he fixed her with a soft gaze and his voice took on a conversational tone.

"Oana is very interesting. Have I ever told you the story of why I kept her alive?" He asked and Ealasaid shook her head just barely keeping her anger in check.