65: I WILL LET YOU GO

I WILL LET YOU GO

"I don't want to pledge my loyalty to anyone from the Howling Wolf pack, I just want to pledge my loyalty to someone from the Blue Moon pack." Redmond lifted his chin. "My loyalty is still with my pack. I will not pledge my loyalty to you, an alpha from the Howling Wolf pack."

"Mason will never be an alpha," Cane cut straight to the point. "If you want to pledge your loyalty to him, go ahead. You can accompany him in the dungeon along with your minions."

For someone like Redmond, it would be better to go to labor than to be locked inside that damned place.

Redmond hissed when he heard the way Cane called his comrades as minions, but he couldn't really retaliate right now.

"I don't mean Mason," Redmond said slowly. "You didn't merge the packs, which means the most eminent person in the Blue Moon pack right now is your mate. Miss Iris. I want her."

The way he said 'I want her' was really ambiguous and sounded inappropriate, as he wanted to get back at Cane for calling his fellow warriors minions.

But, to his disappointment, Cane didn't look upset at all.

"She is not in the condition to receive your loyalty. I will let her know whether she wants it or not when she wakes up." Cane then turned around and walked away. He didn't really give Redmond a conclusion at all.

Everyone must have known about Iris and what happened to her ten days ago by now.

====================

Another day passed. It had been ten days since that incident in the front yard and from that day, Cane didn't allow her to come closer to his living quarters. It meant Aria couldn't go to his bedroom, nor could she go near Iris' bedroom, since their rooms were right next to each other's.

"Damn it! That bitch!" Aria was exasperated because she really needed to talk to Cane. She wanted him to hear her side of the story, because she knew someone would have already let him know that she was the one who had instigated the people to begin with then.

But, she didn't even hurl a single rock in her direction. She didn't harm her, yet why was she the one being punished? This was not fair.

Aria paced back and forth inside her bedroom, while Dalia was staring at her, standing next to Bian. They didn't know what to do to calm the mistress down.

Her mood was getting worse by the day, while her being forbidden from going to the alpha's living quarters only added fuel to her current problematic emotional state.

"This will not do… this will not do…" Aria bit her nails, her habit whenever she was anxious. "It has been ten days. It is even longer than the last time we were intimate."

Usually, it wouldn't take this long for Cane to call her over. To be honest, he had never called her. It was always Aria who would go and take care of his needs. She was the one who always took the initiative, because she knew Cane's situation, where once aroused, he must go through with the deed.

That was only one among a dozen deranged things that were included in their arrangement after those abusive ten years.

It was not easy for Aria to seduce him, but then, usually he would give in to her and before this, he had never banned her presence. He never got angry when she barged into his room without announcing it first either.

"What should I do now?" Aria muttered to herself, as she walked back and forth inside her bedroom. "What should I do now…"

In the end, Aria decided to go to the training grounds the next morning. Since she knew he would be there, she decided to talk to him no matter what. She would beg and not move from her place if she had to go to such lengths just to make Cane listen to her.

And that was what she did.

On the eleventh day since Iris fell unconscious, Aria went to the training grounds, where the sound of vicious growls and roars shook the ground.

The training ground in this Blue Moon pack was built like a huge stadium, with grandstand seats circling the center, where the spectators could have a good view from their seats.

Aria easily spotted the alpha, since he was in his black beast and stood out from the rest. She sat down and waited for him to finish with the training, but Will came to her first.

"You can't be here," Will said before he sat down next to her, watching the alpha teach the young warriors how to fight in their beast form. It was great that the youngsters were willing to train to become warriors, since they really needed them now.

"Why can't I be here?" Aria asked him back. Her mood immediately plummeted for being told the same thing over and over again. It seemed, once she lost the alpha's affection, nobody would respect her anymore.

"The alpha is busy."

"I will not disturb him, I will wait until he is done with the training," Aria said irritably. "I have been with him for three years now, I know how he is." With Will questioning her, she felt a little bit annoyed. "And I have known him for more than fifteen years, ever since I came to the Howling Wolf pack. I am his former mate's personal servant after all."

Aria knew Leane longer than Cane, because she originally followed her missy around and was taken to the pack house to accompany Leane when she found out that her mate was the son of the alpha.

Meanwhile, Will couldn't refute that. However, Aria missed the whole point here.

"It is not that you can't see him forever, the alpha only needs some time for himself." Will tried to explain the situation gently. "There are a lot of things that he had to deal with now that we know there is a spy that the king had sent to trouble us."

He was used to talking about things like this with Aria, because despite everything that happened recently, they had gone through so much together. She used to be so close to the alpha and his gamma and beta than any other pack member.

"I know, I heard about that from Ethan," Aria replied. Her eyes were fixed on the black beast and for a brief second she felt like their eyes met, but probably it was only in her desperate mind. "Is she still unconscious?"

Will knew who she was talking about. "Yes. Her condition doesn't get worse, but it doesn't get any better either."

Inside, Aria cheered up a bit to hear such information. She didn't want Iris to wake up. If it was possible, she wanted her to stay like that forever. It would be great if she suffered brain death from the rocks that were hurled at her.

"Does the alpha go to visit her often?" Will was slightly uncomfortable to answer that and Aria turned to look at him. "You can tell me anything, you know? I am not an outsider."

"Yes, the alpha visits her almost every day."

Aria started seething when she heard that.

"For what?" Her words came out harsher than she intended them to be, but she didn't care. She was extremely hurt now.

Will sighed. "None of us know that Iris had been helping us out in the past, with food, water and especially with medicine." The latest was not something that a slave like them would be able to get their hands on, since alpha Gerald wouldn't be so generous to give them even a single herbal leaf. "Even though he didn't show it, he is very grateful for what Iris had done, because of that, there are many people who survived the slavery."

"So, what if she did that?" Aria was irritated, she couldn't think rationally right now. People's hearts started to soften when they heard the name Iris now. "They are too weak to change their hearts so easily. Have they forgotten how their family members and their mates were killed during that time? The suffering and the abuse that we have to go through. Why did they easily forget about all of that?" Aria was furious. She balled her fists until her nails stabbed her palms.

"Calm down, Aria." Will was surprised to witness how Aria had changed a lot. When did she start to change? Or was she always like this?

"They forget so easily," she said through gritted teeth. "How could they forget that so many people had died?"

"You are right that many people had died during the slavery." Will then looked Aria straight in her eyes, his eyes were filled with warmth and sadness when he spoke again. "But, you forgot those people who survived because of her help. A small act of kindness meant a lot to us, even a drop of water or a piece of hard bread when we were starving was something that we used to be grateful for."

Will realized that Hanna was right when she said their hatred had blinded them.

On the other hand, Aria didn't share the same sentiment, she didn't like to hear that narrative.

"I still won't forgive her." Aria was adamant with her decision and Will couldn't make her think otherwise. Probably, she just needed a little bit of time.

From afar, they could see the alpha shifting into his human form and giving instructions about the fighting stance to those young men for a few minutes before he wrapped it up and walked toward the rest room at the other end of the stadium.

Seeing that, Aria immediately stood up and was about to follow Cane when Will stopped her, grabbing her wrist.

"No, Aria, the alpha said he didn't want you near him for a while." Will still remembered the order that was given to him and because this was a direct order from the alpha, he was obliged to follow.

But, Aria was not happy to hear that. She tried to swat his hand away, but his grip was too tight. "Let me go!" She hissed viciously. She looked like she would fight off Will if he didn't let her go to see the alpha.

Yet, Will didn't budge. He looked at her apologetically, but an order was an order.

However, right at that time a young boy came up to them. He was around thirteen or fourteen years old. "Miss Aria, the alpha is waiting for you in the restroom," he said. He was one of the newly recruited warriors.

Aria smiled so brightly when she heard that and immediately pointed at Will's hand that was still clutching her wrist. "Let me go now."

Since the alpha was the one who asked for her presence, Will didn't have any other reason to tell her otherwise.

Once he let go of her hand, Aria immediately bolted toward the restroom to meet with Cane. She was excited, but also nervous because the alpha was very unpredictable.

"Cane?" Aria entered the restroom and found Cane pouring down water on his head to get rid of his sweat. He was only wearing his pants, so his naked broad back was facing her.

It had been so long since the last time Aria saw him up close like this and she yearned for him so much. She had this urge to run her fingers on his shoulder blades, but she had to curb it for now, since she knew Cane wouldn't like to be touched that way. Especially when he was upset with her like this, he wouldn't appreciate such advances.

"Cane. I really miss you," Aria said, her voice cracked. She truly missed him. She didn't know when she saw him as a man rather than a master or someone that she had to respect and follow. She had blind faith in him and now she was overwhelmed by her feelings for him. She wanted him just for herself, despite knowing she couldn't be the luna for him.

Cane turned around and put down the empty jar on the table.1

This room was not small, the walls were made of rough stones that supported the tribunal above them while the ground was not tiled.

"Cane?" Aria took a step closer toward him.

"You got your feelings mixed up." That was not a question, but a statement.

Aria stopped approaching him when she saw how cold his eyes were. "What is so wrong with loving you?" The question came as a whisper.

Cane looked at her with eyes that almost looked sad. "I don't need love, Aria. Your feelings only complicate things. I want you to get rid of them." This was not what they agreed on before.

"Cane, I have known you for a long time. I don't believe that you don't have any feelings for me." Aria was almost crying to hear the rejection outright, but then what else did she expect from him when Cane had made it very clear for her from the very beginning?

"Aria, you are important to me, just like Jace, Ethan and Amee." Those were the people that he cherished the most, as they would give up their lives for him and they had proven it over and over again, so did Aria. "But, this is not something that I wish for us. This is not something that will benefit the pack and I have to let you go if you act out again."

Aria staggered. "Wh- what do you mean you will let me go?"

pqdm.com