Chapter 78

A part of me hated Allison. She was infuriating to me. Here I was doubting myself, but in reality, I should be doubting her. She had no right to say those things to me. She had absolutely no right at all to even be talking to me. She had heard Rhys’ warning. She was risking her own neck, and it was not my problem... At least it wasn’t until she made it mine.

“You know what?!” I shouted back at her, “At least I don’t have to snoop around in hopes of the Alpha King’s attention!”

“What’s going on here?” Sawyer’s familiar voice called out as he exited Arlo’s house. “Are you alright, Grace?”

“I’m fine.” I bit out angrily, mad he interrupted whatever showdown we had been in the middle of.

“She’s not worth it, Grace.” Sawyer sighed, wrapping his arm around me casually. “Allison do not let me catch you anywhere near Grace ever again. My brother was not kidding earlier. He will not tolerate disrespect toward his mate. And he will not tolerate you challenging him about his mate. He made his choice. You should accept it and move on.”

“But Sawyer, you know how he is-”

Sawyer raised his hand, stopping her from whatever she was going to say next. “You do not know him, Allison. You do not get to pretend to know him. I do not care what you have to say. Now, if you have any self-respect left, you will leave.”

“Allison, what are you doing here?” Leon demanded as he also came out of the house.

“I was just-”

“You know what? I don’t care. You need to leave.” Leon snapped as he looked at me and Sawyer.

“But Leon-”

“I don’t want to hear it. Leave. Now.”

She pouted and stomped her foot, but Sawyer and Leon didn’t buy into whatever her little temper tantrum was trying to do. When she realized she wasn’t going to get her way, she flipped her hair over her shoulder, shot us a glare, and started to trek back down the driveway.

“Are you alright?” Sawyer asked again now that our audience was gone.

“I don’t know.” I answered honestly, but I was glad to have him as a friend in my life.

“Come on, let’s go back to the packhouse, maybe if we sit in the garden for a little while you’ll be able to sort your thoughts and feel better.”

I nodded and let him guide me back to the packhouse.

“You know, I hate Allison too,” He confessed when we were almost back to the house.

“You do?” I asked in surprise.

“Oh yea,” Sawyer laughed. “Of all the girls that my brother has dated or attempted to make his wife, I actually hated her the most. I’m honestly not quite sure why. I could never pick a specific incident. But there’s just something about her. How entitled she is. It’s like she knows how to say the right things, but not do the right things.”

“Like she’s just saying what she thinks you want to hear?” I tried to clarify.

“Yea, exactly,” Sawyer smiled as we plopped down in me and Sawyer’s favorite spot in the garden. “I didn’t necessarily mind her when she was actually with my brother, but her behavior over the years has become too much. She always showed up whenever Rhys brought home a new girl. I guess that was a blessing in disguise now because it led him you, but man she was always the first to point out that something was wrong with them. She ‘helped’ Rhys figure things out, but I always wondered if she didn’t set them up. I wish he would have just killed her like he did the others.”

That was a wild wish. I’m not sure that I wished her dead, but I definitely did not get good vibes from her.

“Well, I might be dead anyway soon, so I guess she’ll win this round without any effort,” I said bitterly.

“Hey, don’t lose hope now,” Leon comforted. “Rhys and Arlo are researching your situation, and I’m sure they will come up with something to at the very least try.”

I nodded and we sat in silence for a while until Sawyer got a mindlink saying they needed him at the clinic.

I was grateful that Leon stayed with me, but I also felt bad. I felt like I was wasting his time. But honestly, I didn’t care.

“I know you’re scared, Grace,” Leon said gently once it was just us. “But when I met you, you were in much worse shape than you are now. When we met, I was convinced that maybe you were going to die. But now? Now, you aren’t frail anymore and I’m not worried you’re going to break. You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. And it sucks because you were given a shit hand, but you have healed and recovered far more than I ever thought possible. I think maybe you’re suppressed abilities are stronger than the bonds, and that’s why you aren’t dead yet. We know nothing about the person who died, and maybe they were strong too, but you have a power that I haven’t seen in anyone else, and maybe it has helped you survive.”

I pondered over his words. I hadn’t thought about it in terms of strength like that. I didn’t think I was very strong, but people kept telling me that my powers were strong enough to break bonds, and blah blah blah. Maybe those words had some merit...

“Do you think Ethan would know anything about this?” I asked, remembering that there was someone that might have some answers about something.

“He hasn’t mentioned it before, but if anyone has some first-hand knowledge, it would be him.” Leon answered.

“Can I go see him?”

Leon immediately mindlinked Rhys and Rhys must have said okay because next thing I knew we were headed to the dungeons to see Ethan.

Ethan was reading a book in his cot when Leon opened the cell door, and moved my chair and his into the cell.

“Grace,” Ethan said in surprise and awe when he saw me. “I didn’t think you would ever come back. You look upset. What can I do for you?”

“I should be dead, right?” I blurted my question out.

Ethan frowned, and Leon immediately went on to explain what I was talking about, so I didn’t have to.

“So, you’re worried that you are going to die or that you should be dead?” Ethan asked for clarification.

“Both, I guess.” I confessed.

“Well,” Ethan said after a long moment. “Theoretically, when you were bound after the 1st time, yes, there was a potential you could die, and each time after that the potential grew. With multiple bindings the way you received and as young as you received them, you should have died. But miraculously, you didn’t.”

“Who else could have bound Grace, besides Sandra?” Leon wondered aloud, but I only half listened as Ethan said he didn’t have much interaction with witches. They tended to keep to themselves unless you were looking for them, which was pretty much the same information we already knew.

“I just don’t understand the purpose of repetitive bindings,” Leon said in frustration, bringing me back to the conversation. “Why wasn’t she just killed if she was that feared, or they wanted to punish her that bad?”

“Maybe they needed her to continue the Alpha bloodline... To use her to bear the next generations of Alphas.”

Rhys’ voice startled me, but his words scared me even more....