Page 51 of Owned By Four Alphas

It was a slow, agonizing effort. Sweat beaded on her forehead. But it was working.

After a few minutes, Ronan blinked a few times, shaking his head. Then, he got up, pacing in a circle. But soon, he lay down again, his eyelids growing heavy.

Selena’s hand twitched, her magic pulsing through her.

Just a bit more…

Eventually, after what seemed like an entire lifetime, Ronan’s eyes fell shut, and his gentle snores filled the clearing. Kaelen too, his heavy breathing indicating his slumber.

Selena got up, wrapping her magic around herself, concealing her scent and essence. She had learned all these tricks from Elian. It was fortunate that he had left; she was confident she would have been able to enchant him, but if any of her mates were to sense her creeping magic, it would be him.

On ginger feet, she gathered some of the remaining meat, tucking it into a small satchel and stringing it over her shoulder. Then, she turned to the tree line, towards where she knew her village to be.

And she began walking.

Chapter 20 - Elian

The sun hadn’t even begun peeking over the distant mountains by the time Elian decided to circle back and rejoin his pack. Truthfully, he hadn’t had anywhere to really go in the first place. No covert meetings set up, no leads to chase. Unlike the past few times he had left, where he’d meticulously organized his schedule to get in as much research as was possible while his pack was on the run.

It was a good thing he was so adept at memory charms. Failing that, good old intimidation tended to do the trick. Dusty old Fae scholars were far too concerned with their books and their scrolls to bother with what they deemed the petty politics of an ever-changing realm.

The dragons, though, they were harder. He’d had to utilize a whole host of disguises, spells, and threats to break into even the most outer rim of the dragons’ archives. From there, he had relied on a few covert members of the Order of Theldir to sneak him further inside. The cult had always been strongest amongst the dragons, and it was easy enough to trick them into thinking he was looking to use Theldir as a weapon against the humans.

And for the most part, his research had been productive. Most recently he’d learned a good deal about the specific abilities of such gods.

It was worth it, though. He had nearly untangled the web. One or two more trips and Elian reckoned he’d be able to figure it out.

A shame he didn’t have any contacts lined up ready to help him on that particular night. Although perhaps it was ablessing, as he doubted he would have been able to get any work done at all in his state.

For hours, he had circled through the woods, drifting through the trees, with no particular destination in mind. All he could think about, the only thing he could focus on, was that he had hurt his mate.

Elian had done a great many terrible things in his lifetime. Assassination, torture, murder in cold blood. Whether it was in his nature as a Fae, or it was justhim, he had never batted an eye. No amount of screaming, pleading, or begging had ever had any effect on him whatsoever.

But one bolt of magic, not even deadly, that had only caused a few surface level wounds, was enough to shake his whole world, his whole sense of self.

At first, he had ascribed the dizzying, swirling guilt and confusion to nothing more than an alpha’s response to hurting an omega. But that wasn’t correct, as many alphas took great pleasure in hurting omegas in a myriad of despicable ways.

Perhaps it was that he had hurt his mate, then? But that also seemed improbable. Again, being mated didn’t always save omegas from the wrath of their alphas.

Elian therefore could find no way to ascribe his self-disgust to merely his biology. It was something else. Something darker, something far more alarming.

It was because of his conscience.

He had seen Selena hurt before, but that was always the fault of someone else. Someone he could point all the devastating force of his retribution and anger towards. Someone he could blame, and punish accordingly.

But this time, there was no enemy. Nobody to take the blame. Nobody he could punish except for himself.

It was not a feeling he was familiar with at all. And not one he liked in the slightest.

He’d considered flying down into the forest, finding a rogue pack of Nightwalkers or something similar and allowing them to savage him beyond the point of retribution. Perhaps turning himself over to the wolves. Maybe even aiming his own shadows at himself, and seeing what damage he could inflict.

Something,anythingto assuage the howling pit of guilt and despair within him.

It seemed like the easy way out. Selena would gain no satisfaction at all seeing him maimed or tortured, so he would really only be doing it for himself. But he couldn’t expect her to just forgive him, either. He needed to take action, to prove how sorry he was, how swamped in regret.

His sharp eyes caught a rustle of movement in the undergrowth. A rabbit, just waking up and emerging from its den.

It didn’t even realize what was coming before his talons were embedded in its neck.

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