17. Oria

17

ORIA

I screamed for my mates when I realized I wasn't in the room with them. My heart beat fast as I realized I was back in the tower that had held me captive for so long. This had to be a dream, this couldn't be real. I got up from the floor when she walked in.

My entire body screamed for me to run, but for some reason I knew there was no way we were actually together. She had pulled my mind somewhere. I didn't know how she did it, but she had managed to steal my mind or come into my consciousness

We stood staring at each other for what felt like forever.

"After all that I have done for you, this is how you repay me?" Her voice held no emotion.

"Done for me? You tricked me, you stole me, you led me to believe you were my mother who was taking care of me," I said, swallowing down the tears. "You used me for your production, for your own gain, so you can cut the mother bullshit."

My heart pounded loudly in my ears as I felt nauseated. I had never spoken to her like that and even though this was just in my mind, she still intimidated me.

"I wondered if he would be able to shift after so long," she said, walking close to me as I backed away from her. "We should have killed him, but Taylin couldn't go through with it. He was too soft. He still is."

"It's his brother, his blood," I snapped.

"He knew the risks before we started this journey together," she said calmly. "It was all part of the plan."

Her face was devoid of any emotion, and I wondered how I had never noticed she was so robotic, so emotionless.

"To start—" I stopped myself from saying too much.

She raised a perfectly arched brow at me. "To start what?'

"To start producing Oria. Was it just for the money?" I asked, trying to come up with something believable so she would try and see what I knew.

"Money and Oria have always been my goal," she shrugged. "I couldn't figure out a way to pull the power from you, so the next best thing was to use you. Taylin was foolish enough to give you the flower of the gods to save you, but I supposed it was for the best."

"The best? To treat me like your slave? To imprison me for most of my life, to take me away from my family?" I yelled.

"Watch your tone." Her eyes flashed with magic.

"I'll speak to you how I wish to speak to you, like a thief," I spat.

She laughed, making me feel self-conscious. "Like your mates?"

"They are nothing like you," I growled. "You keep them out of this."

"Oh, Oria, you don't even know who they are," she said with a gleam in her eyes. "They do everything for their own gain, they have no morals, they take any job if it's the right price. Even stealing a lonely woman in a tower."

My blood ran cold. "Excuse me?"

"I spoke to Ryder about taking you," she said walking around me. "How do you think they knew you were there? Or how they passed through the barrier?"

"No, no, that's not what happened," I said, stepping away from her, remembering the necklace they had and how it felt like Mother's magic.

"I hired them to take you, rough you up a little because you were getting restless again." She smiled. "I need you to be scared again and the only way to do that was to have you taken. They don't love you Oria, you were a job."

"That… That's not true," I said, but the doubt began to creep in.

"I hid you well enough that no one should have found you, ever," she said, stepping closer. "They are using you, they want you for their own gain."

Tay's suspicion was right, he knew this because he helped Mother to keep me there. He knew there was no way for anyone to find me, much less come through the barrier.

"No," I whispered. "Our bond."

She took a deep breath. "An unfortunate coincidence. I didn't think you had more mates, I wasn't counting on that because we already had Max."

"They wouldn't hurt me," I said, but I knew there was no conviction behind it.

"That's what they want you to believe," she said, stepping closer to me. "They are professional thieves. They love to make money and you, my darling, are just a job to them. You being their mate makes things easier for them."

This couldn't be happening, she was lying, they loved me, I was their mate. They would never hurt me. Right?

"This is what they do," she said, getting closer to me. "Now before this gets out of hand, tell me where you are at, and we can forget that this ever happened."

I stayed quiet as I ran through all the facts again and I kept coming back to the necklace, I knew it felt like her magic. Why would they have it? They got in when no one else had.

"Let Mother help you," she said, taking the last few steps closer to me.

"You mean let Mother help me get locked away again, so she can use me for her gain," I snapped, stepping away from her. "Even if you exposed the truth about them, there is no way I'd go back to you."

"I have protected you, you have lived a comfortable life," she said, as her carefully stoic mask slipped into a sneer. "You think your family would have known what to do with you? I have kept you alive?—"

"I don't know what my family would have done because you never gave them that chance," I said, raising my voice. "Don't make me think you did all this for me when we know this was all for your gain. I might be na?ve, but I'm not stupid."

"Then you know, I will find you," she sneered. "You are mine and this isn't the end."

She lunged for me as I stepped back, hitting the window. I expected to get hit with her magic, but nothing happened. If this was a dream or I was in her mind, how did I get out? She ran after me when I threw open the window to the small ledge that was there. I didn't know if this was going to work, but I jumped off. The feeling of free-falling never came, but when I gasped, I was back in the room with my mates.

They all looked at me with varying degrees of concern.

"Blondie."

"Sunshine."

"Heaven."

Ryder was next to me. Soren and Gray were coming towards me, but I flinched and backed away from them. They stopped immediately as I noticed Max in the room too. He tilted his head to the side, like he was trying to get a read on me. He was the only one I could trust, he had also suffered at the hands of Mother and Taylin.

"Heaven," Ryder said, bringing my attention back to him. "What happened? Are you ok?"

I looked at the three culprits and I didn't know what to do, but I knew I couldn't do it while they were staring at me. The need to confront them was on the tip of my tongue, but if I did that, then I wouldn't be able to leave.

"I need space," I quickly said, throwing some clothes on.

My mouth felt dry, but a weird taste was on my tongue.

"Blondie, what's going on? What happened?" Soren's voice was laced with worry.

"Nothing, I… I just need some space, please," I said, as my emotions were all over the place. I didn't want to break in front of them, I couldn't, because if I decided to leave, I had to do it alone.

"Are you ok?" Gray gently grabbed me by the elbow to steady me when I slipped on my shoe.

"Fine," I gritted out, the hurt and panic bubbling to the surface.

"Oria," Soren said, standing on the other side of me.

The twins weren't blocking my way out, but I knew they would. Their need to protect me was starting to look like a different kind of prison. I couldn't look at their faces, afraid my fear and doubts would show on my face.

"Oria," Ryder said, his voice stern.

Was this the beginning of them trying to control me?

"I said I need space," I snapped, feeling the tears gather in my eyes.

Please don't cry.

"Ok, you have to give us something else because your?—"

I pushed Gray away, hurrying to the door as I pleaded with Max to keep them away.

"Blondie!"

"She asked for space, just give it to her," Max said, holding them back and I was grateful for him being there.

They started to argue as I made my way down the stairs. Someone called out my name and I almost turned around from the pain in their voice. I clenched my jaw, keeping my emotions under control, so no one would feel it through the bond.

Please don't go too far, but if you need space I understand. We don't know what happened and we are just worried. Gray's voice was calm, but I could feel their emotions and they were anything but calm.

I made it out of the house, walking away, but stayed within the perimeter. It was dark and I didn't need to be out here, but I couldn't stay in the house. The forest was eerie enough that it almost made me turn around. My mind raced with everything my mother had said. Was Taylin right? Even though they were my mates, would they still use me like she did? If it was true, what was my next step? I knew I couldn't leave on my own. Taylin or Mother would find me in a heartbeat. My mates could find me too.

Tears fell down my face as I thought about my mates and how I wished everything Mother had said was wrong. There was only one way to find out, but would they even tell me the truth? All the uncertainty was awful. What if this is what she wanted? She planted seeds of doubt so I would come back to her.

You have no reason to believe me, but believe in our bond. Close your eyes and feel me through our bond.

Soren had already told me to believe in our bond and I did exactly what he told me before. It wasn't hard to look for our bond. It was bright and strong, sitting in my chest full of worry and love. Tears formed in my eyes because I was too confused.

Why was I like this?

In every lifetime it will always be us.

Their words hit me square in the chest. Each of my mates had said those exact words to me. My anger, hurt and worry dissipated with every breath I took. I needed answers because everything made it look like they were working for her, but everything felt like they were devoted to me.

I looked back at the house feeling their worry and anger, but I assumed the latter was toward Max for not letting them come after me. Time to get some answers and get to the bottom of this mess.

Taking a deep breath, I walked to the front door hoping for the best.

"Ria?"

My blood turned cold as I recognized that voice. How the hell did he make it through the barrier? I slowly turned around ready to lash out because I knew one thing for sure; There was no way in hell I would be a prisoner anymore.