14. Devastation

Chapter 14

Devastation

AIDEN

I stood in the middle of the biggest room in the house and stared at the two thrones that sat upon the dais toward the back. When I first took over as Alpha, the space seemed so important, powerful, and full of promise. I remembered thinking about how I would one day sit there with my moon-blessed mate and together we would make our pack the envy of all others.

All I could think about as I stared at those two chairs after everything that had happened in the past six months, was that I had the audacity to bring a bunch of females to sit upon that dais with me, as if they belonged there. It didn't matter that I never allowed any of them to sit upon either throne. The whole place had been tainted by my actions. Despite the fact that I sent Nika away, so that I could continue to enjoy my harem, I no longer found joy or satisfaction with any of them. The only one who still approached me enthusiastically was Kyla.

The other harem women no longer seemed comfortable in their position after Nika was taken away. Her threats to never return to the pack didn't sit well with them. Neither did the fact that Nika pointed out how they weren't worthy to be with me. It was a cry that many of the pack had taken up. One of the women, Cassandra, finally had a dream of her mate last week. She told me that she could no longer be a part of my harem as she refused to dishonor Selene's gift of a mate to her.

I scrubbed my hands down my stubbled jaw as I remembered Cassandra in tears before me only hours later. She wanted me to proclaim that she had been forced to be a part of my harem, because without me admitting to that, her mate would no longer accept her. I had created the events that led to a fated pairing within my pack being destroyed. I wasn't sure if I could live with that consequence.

Then again, I had plenty of warning that it would happen. Nika had said as much when she was here. Not only would I ruin the matings for the women who took part in my ill-informed harem, but I would lose her as my mate too.

The only thing that might make a difference in Nika's eyes was that I had not been intimate with any of the women since I sent my mate away. It wasn't for lack of trying on Kyla's part, but she had become too pushy, and I refused to play into her power games.

Avery, my brother and second in command, came to me just a few days ago and told me how Kyla had been treating the other females. She lorded her close relationship with me over them as if she had already been named my Luna. Avery had warned me months ago that he thought Kyla had lined herself up to take that position. He felt it was why she had suggested the harem. It had been the easiest way to convince me that sex with her wouldn't really mean anything too personal - nothing that my future mate could complain about anyway.

I scoffed at that. What had I been thinking?

I mind linked with Avery before my judgement was clouded again.

Aiden: We need to go to Mirage Island. Get the betas who will travel with us ready. We leave at dawn.

My brother's response was immediate.

Avery: It's about damn time. You better have an immaculate apology ready for your mate after all this time.

Aiden: I haven't been sleeping with them since she was here.

I could sense Avery's mocking laughter through the mind link.

Avery: She won't believe you, and even if she can sense the truth in your words, you still left her on that island for nearly six months. Why leave her there if you weren't messing around with your harem anyway? Then she's going to know you left her there to teach her some lesson. We all know, even if you forbid the pack from saying anything, that you are the one who needed a lesson in humility and a few other things.

Aiden: Enough, Avery!

Those thoughts already ran rampant in my own mind. I didn't need my brother to point out what I already knew. There would be an uphill battle to convince my mate that I was still worthy of her.

Unfortunately, the image of a sobbing, devastated Cassandra invaded my mind every time I closed my eyes. What if I was dealt a similar fate because of the choices I'd made? Would my mate truly be that spiteful as to doom the pack and reject our mating?

The only reason I held out any hope was because I didn't think Nika would be able to leave our pack mates to the destiny that awaited them if I didn't have my Luna at my side. There was the possibility of me choosing another mate if Nika refused to come back, but in that scenario, I would not be strong enough to head-up the pack and the idea of another harem to help with the power boost that would be needed didn't sit well with me, so I doubted it would be accepted by my pack.

Our pack was too large and required both an Alpha and a moon-blessed Luna who hailed from an Alpha line. They were rare, a thought I'd never bothered to come to terms with when I stupidly decided that what Nika didn't know wouldn't hurt her while she was away at college.

I shook my head once again. I wasn't even sure how I thought I would get away with her not knowing what I'd been up to. Someone in the pack would have mentioned it to her. Selene knows, Kyla would have informed Nika immediately upon her return if she hadn't walked in and seen the evidence of what I'd been up to firsthand.

It took two days to get to Mirage Lake. The waters appeared deceptively calm, but we grew up with the understanding that the waters beneath the smooth surface were unnaturally turbulent, as if they had been cursed to keep their prisoners on the island at all cost.

"Ready the rafts," I shouted to the six men I'd brought with me. Avery and I would take one raft over and the other men would bring the other one. This was discussed ahead of time in case someone else found their mate hiding out on the island. It wasn't a probable scenario, but my father had told us stories about some shifter women being dumped on the island before they reached the age of knowing - which is what the elders called the time in a female's life when she received the message from the gods about who her mate was.

"Are you nervous?" Avery asked as we hopped into the raft and allowed the other men to shove us away from shore. We each picked up a paddle and started to make our way across to the eastern shores of the island.

"I don't know if I'd call it nervous. More like I'm anxious to see her again."

"Why did you let her go, man?" Avery shook his head. "I didn't stand against your decision then because you're Alpha, but I always wondered. How could you have your moon-blessed mate within arm's reach and not grab hold and refuse to ever let her go?"

"I don't know. It will sound weird if I tell you that I felt like I've been in a fog. More like I was in a fog for months on end before Nika showed up. After most of the girls distanced themselves from me, and I stopped allowing Kyla around, it was like the fog lifted a bit."

"You mean the overwhelming lust from pulling all that Alpha power finally wore off."

I glanced back at my brother who was seated just behind me and to my left. "Maybe, that's what it was." I shrugged. "Dad was already bonded to Mom when he took over as Alpha from his father, so he had no frame of reference to give me advice for being an unmated Alpha of a pack."

"I still don't understand why he passed the pack to you before you were ready. Before you had your mate even."

I splashed Avery with some of the water that flicked off my oar as I pulled it out of the water to row on the other side in an effort to stay on a straight course to the island. "He seemed so sure that Nika was my mate, and I guess he knew that she was meant to graduate earlier than I thought."

"That's because he paid attention to his pack, especially the members who may have been fated for his sons," Avery interjected. "It was something you should have checked into, instead of assuming."

"Yeah, well, I have a lot to learn. Dad didn't exactly give me a course in how to run a pack."

I could almost feel Avery roll his eyes behind my back. "You were supposed to learn most of that by observing him over the years." I could hear the note of disappointment in his tone. I was disappointed in myself too. If I could go back and change a few things, the first one would be the point when I agreed to take over the pack from my father early. When he offered, I thought it was because he believed in me. Instead, I think he was just looking for a quick way out for some reason. I wished I knew what the reason was, but he and our mom had taken off almost immediately after he handed over the pack officially. It didn't make sense, because normally, the previous Luna stuck around to help with the transition until the new Luna showed up.

The only exception to that was supposed to be if the previous Alpha and Luna passed away. "I still can't wrap my head around the way Dad handed everything over and then ran out of town like hell hounds were chasing him."

"Don't know what was up with that. Mom didn't even put up a fight to stay behind and work until your Luna showed up. It was weird," my brother agreed.

"I put out some feelers about our parents. We need answers one way or another. There's something going on with our parents, and now that I've pulled my head out of my ass, it's high time we find out what that is before it ends up being one more thing that comes back to bite us in the ass."

"I'm happy to hear that you're taking responsibility for what's happened. Hopefully, Nika will see the change, and maybe if you explain how Dad left you with no guidance for how to handle the power and the hormone shift it caused…"

I cut my brother off there. "Avery, I don't want to come at Nika with excuses. If she asks, I'll be honest with her, but she deserves more. She deserved more from me from the beginning and I fucking didn't give it to her. It's time to make up for my bullshit."

"Let's hope you can."

"I believe she'll come back home with me. She's had time to think about things, the same way I have."

"Okay, now you're back to delusional land, Aiden. She's had time to think about how pissed she is that she has been trapped on this island for six damn months. The woman graduated from a major university with honors and her welcome home was to find her mate fucking a harem of women and then imprisoning her on an island for rejected mates. Something tells me that her thoughts have gone to a much darker place where you're concerned. You better be prepared to fight for your mate."

I didn't bother to respond because we had finally paddled close enough to the island that any of the women on its shores might hear us, and that wasn't ideal. "Where is everyone?" I asked as my eyes tracked the shoreline as far as I could see. "I would think the women of the island would be here to greet anyone who came along."

"I think maybe the problem here is that anyone can come along. Maybe they've had bad experiences with shifters trying to force women off the island with them."

"Hello, Alpha," a woman called from the tree line as our raft finally ran aground. She made her way toward us until she met my brother and me on the beach.

"Tania?" I called, thankful that she was still there to look out for her future Luna.

She bowed her head only slightly. Avery and I hopped out of the raft and tied it up to the dock that had seen better days. It looked charred in spots as if someone attempted to burn it. Other spots seemed to be hacked into by something sharp. When I turned my eyes back to the shoreline, Tania was still the only one present.

"Where is everyone?"

"Hiding, in case you turned out to be rogues." Tania rolled her eyes. "I told everyone that I didn't think they would come again so soon, but they didn't believe me."

"Where is Nika?" I glanced around again as if she would pop out from behind a tree. When she didn't I turned my attention back to Tania in time to notice the pitying glance she gave me.

"From what the others have said, Nika left the island a few weeks ago."

"What the others said? Where were you? Why did you let her go?"

"First of all, even if I had been here, I wouldn't have the option to let her go or stay. She was Luna to the women here while she remained on the island, and I think she is still Luna to the women of the island who chose to follow her when she left."

"Where is she and why weren't you there when she left?"

"I wasn't able to get to the island until recently."

"I sent you here to look out for Nika months ago." The words came out as a growl on the verge of turning angry. "What the hell have you been doing all this time?"

"I've been watching, waiting, and trying to figure out a way to cross the lake, since you didn't think to send me on my guard/spy mission with a raft to get to this cursed place."

"I didn't even think of it."

"Yet, you came prepared for yourselves."

"That's different," I started to argue.

"How so?" She asked. My former Beta warrior swallowed down a petulant sigh as she stared me right in the eye. "Did you think the rejected women got sucked into a portal on one side of the lake and then somehow ended up on the island?"

"I don't know what I thought. Since you never checked in, I assumed you were with Nika the whole time. If for some reason she left, I also assumed and you would have, at the very least, gone with her when she left."

"Then how would you get this update about her?"

"Just tell us what you know," Avery commanded as he cut in to keep us from bickering any further.

Tania turned to my brother and gave a respectful nod before her attention returned to me. Her eyes cast down toward the ground and then back up to mine again. "Since she's been on the island, there have been several raids."

"Raids?" The other men who had come with us all glanced at one another, immediately on edge. They did not tie their raft to the rickety dock and instead pulled it further up the shoreline and left it to sit there on dry land.

"Raids. You think respectable male shifters from packs come to get their second chance mate here and otherwise the abandoned women on the island are left alone?"

"What do you mean by second chance mates?"

Tania rolled her eyes at me. "You know as well as I do, once a shifter is rejected by their moon-blessed mate, they are able to have a second chance, chosen mate. In your case, that shouldn't have been possible for your mate until she was a year beyond your rejection."

"Shouldn't have been?"

"If you stop asking a question for every fucking sentence, Tania might be able to convey what's happened to Nika," My brother warned.

My temper flared and I wanted to punch him, but had to admit that my second was right. We needed to get to the bottom of what happened.

"She survived all the raids and a few legitimate pack ventures because some of the women who lived on the island over the years have created hiding spots underground. The men still know they are there, but they have no way to get to them because the ones strong enough to force the issue will never fit into those spaces without machinery to get them into it." There was a look in her eyes that told of something we most likely didn't want to acknowledge.

"Are there enough spaces for all the women to hide on the island?" Tania shook her head before I could finish getting it out. "So, what happened when the women didn't want to go?"

Tania shook her head and wouldn't meet my eyes. "There was nothing I could do against bands of rogues coming together to raid the island. They are how I eventually got onto the island though. One of them left a leaking raft, and I hoped it held long enough for me to get to the other side. Thankfully, it did." She shuddered and gooseflesh appeared on her arms. "There are things in those waters. The surface is so deceptive. When the raft started to run out of air at the end, I didn't think I'd make it. As it started to sink, it felt as though something was beneath me, pulling at the raft. The souls of those who have perished here are starved for company."

"That's not ominous at all," one of my men commented as he helped the others pull our other raft free of the water. They inspected the rafts for any possible leaks, but we had sturdier vessels with hard, ribbed bottoms. Hopefully, they continued to hold until we had all the information we needed.

"What happened to my mate?" I asked again.

"She wasn't taken." Tania shook her head and smiled. "Actually, Nika went willingly with a pack from the west. There were eighteen men who showed up to seek out potential mates in this place. When many of the women hid out of fear because of the last raid from rogues, the men waited them out. Nika finally came forward and introduced herself."

"And?" I asked after Tania paused too long.

"Nika mentioned something about how Selene had given her a choice between two moon-blessed mates."

"No one gets a choice," Avery shot back at her.

"Exceptions are always possible." Tania sounded like a teacher scolding her student. "She agreed to go with the Alpha, but told him that it would only happen if she was allowed to bring the other women who wished to leave the island."

"How many did she take with her?"

"Eight, plus Nika. Nine women in total left with that pack."

"Why aren't you with them?"

Tania smiled at me in a way that held a tad bit of cruelty, as if she relished telling me that my mate was gone. "I fulfilled my obligation the minute an Alpha came to collect my Luna from this island. I didn't want to go with that pack because I am going to head north to the pack where my mother originated. Now that I have passed the information along to you, I hope you will allow me safe transport to the mainland, so I can be on my way, having served my purpose here as my last duty to your pack."

"I wish you would reconsider."

"Your moon-blessed mate, the woman who should have been the pack's Luna, left with another Alpha. Your pack won't be there much longer anyway. It won't be long before the madness sets in and ruins what remains. The pack is too large for you to hold on your own, with an imposter Luna, or even a ridiculous harem."

"See Tania safely to the other side and then come back, in case we need to transport any other women off this island." Avery called out the directions to the men because I was too lost in my thoughts about which Alpha had swooped in to steal my mate.

"Did he mark her?" I asked Tania as she loaded up on the raft.

"No. They're doing a trial basis of getting to know one another first. I believe that Nika is a bit anxious to see what this Alpha has in store before she commits to becoming Luna of another pack."

"Thanks, Tania." The words were almost lost on the breeze that kicked up. I didn't think the Alpha could mark her, as it hadn't been a year since I sent her to Mirage Island. It had been six months, but that wasn't long enough to be able to take a Luna. Everyone knew that much. Something about that niggled at the back of my mind, though. What if what Tania said was true? What if Nika had a choice between moon-blessed mates? She had mentioned having a choice before, hadn't she? What if her situation was different than other Lunas somehow?

"We have to find them!" I turned to my brother in a panic. He wasn't paying attention to me, though. His eyes were glued to a shifter woman who stood just by the tree line. Her hands were clamped together, and she appeared nervous.

"Come to me." My brother's voice rang out in a proud, strong tone that brokered no arguments from the woman. In fact, she smiled and did exactly as he asked.

"I dreamed of this," she insisted. "It's why I stayed and didn't go with the others. I don't think they believed that my mate would come for me here, but you did." Her tone was awed and dreamlike, almost as though she hadn't believed her own dreams.

"How are you on this island?" Avery asked her.

"My Alpha was angry with me because I refused to mate with his son. His son chose me, but I insisted that Selene had a moon-blessed mate picked out for me."

"What happened?"

"I was kept in the cells, beaten by the Beta a few times, and then when I still refused to become the Alpha's son's mate, he told me my punishment was to be banished from the pack. He sent me here, thinking that you would never check here for me, but I knew better. The goddess saw fit to show me this island, and that you would come for me here.

Avery's face turned slightly red. It was partly in anger over the way his mate had been treated by her pack, but also because that Alpha had been right. Neither of us would have come to the island of rejected mates to look for the ones who were supposed to belong to us. It was narrow-minded and short-sighted of us. Who knew how many of our male shifters had gone without their mates because we never thought to check Mirage Island during the mating tours that were done between packs.

"Do you know which Alpha came to collect my mate?" I asked her. My brother's mate narrowed her eyes on me before she answered in a much colder tone than she had used on my brother.

"Your mate?" The girl laughed. "You mean the one you so callously imprisoned on this island?" Fuck! I would never live that decision down. If I had thought about it, it would have been better to simply keep Nika prisoner in her own quarters. She might have been angry about it, but she would have gotten over it, and more importantly, she would have remained on pack lands where no other asshole could come claim her.

"Yes, Nika. Do you know who she went with or where?"

The woman smiled at me and shook her head. "Don't know and wouldn't tell you if I did."

Half of what she said to me was a lie. I could sniff it out, but then again, I was sure even the lowliest pack member could as it was so blatant.

"Get your mate in check," I ordered Avery.

"If you even think of using the mate bond to get me to tell him where a female shifter, who was discarded onto this island by him - no less, has gone, then you can kiss our bond goodbye before we ever make it. I won't be with someone who would treat their mate as a pawn in some fucked up game to own as many women as possible."

"I don't own women!" I shouted at her.

"Don't you? You are the idiot Alpha who chose a harem over his moon-blessed mate, aren't you? That is how you will go down in history."

"Avery!" I growled. The woman wasn't part of my pack, so I couldn't order her, but I could order my brother to get me the information I needed.

"No." My brother declared loudly. "I will not have you drive my moon-blessed mate away. You chose to rid yourself of the one the Goddess bestowed upon you, but I refuse to lose my mate because you made ill-advised decisions. We all know she's right. Some people call you worse than the idiot Alpha.

Everyone knows what will happen to our pack soon, if you can't convince your mate to forgive you. Since you now have competition, who came to this island to save her instead of imprisoning her here, you have a long uphill battle to make that happen. I won't force my mate to give you that information. You will have to prove to her that you are worthy of whatever information she may have."

I turned to my brother, absolutely flabbergasted by his stance. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly. If you make me choose, it won't be you. I will take my mate and leave this place with her."

"I am your Alpha and your brother."

"Something you should have known a long time ago, is that your moon-blessed mate trumps every relationship out there, including loyalty to my Alpha when made to choose between the two. My mate has done nothing wrong, as she doesn't owe you the truth."

"She does if she wants to be part of the pack."

Avery scoffed and it was the first time I'd seen him break from his loyalty to me and our pack. "No one WANTS to be a part of your pack at this point, Aiden. Everyone knows it is doomed under your rule. If I must leave to be with my mate, I will. There won't be much left to salvage a year from now, anyway."

"Fuck!" That hurt. It was the truth that had haunted me for the past few months, and hearing my brother finally admit it made it real. "I'm going to get her back."

My brother's mate laughed and shook her head. "Good luck with that. It sounds like a nice dream."