From Here to Ecstasy
Chapter 96 - Plans & Illusions

Dedication time.

And, the dedications go to PenumbraMINE, oddball and N.Y.O.B. Again, you make it worth writing and I thank you.

Recap

It was hard watching him go through the pain of shifting into a wolf. I wanted to help in any way I could. I was trying to contain my tears, but they were akin to a trickling faucet falling down my face steadily. I would murmur in his ear, telling him to relax into his wolf. He was going to be a beautiful wolf and we would find a pond for him to see his reflection in it. It only took thirty minutes but it felt more like three hours - three hours of howls and whining, not sure if we both howled or whined, but I didn’t care. He was a beautiful black wolf with green eyes, the eyes of his human form, too.

He jumped at me and Darla screamed out a warning...

Windy’s POV

My wolf and I snickered at Darla and held up a hand to stop Darla. My mate hit me gently and rolled over on top of me, Star and my mate’s wolves talking excitedly. I knew what I needed to do to help my wolf reunite with her mate. I shifted into my white wolf with him on top of me, not an easy feat to accomplish but I had always watched my family practice this move over and over again, plus I knew my wolf knew what I wanted to do.

We rolled to our feet and barked at our mate as I spelled him from harm per my wolf’s instructions. We didn’t want to see our mate hurt ever again. We couldn’t see him hurt again. Once was enough for us and we couldn’t wait for Dean to be put to death. We hoped Sonny would let the wolves and my mate do the same thing that was done to them, a whipping with silver barbs.

My wolf and I barked again and watched as my mate licked Darla’s hand. We took off in the woods as I gave my wolf full control, my mate and warrior following. I made sure to let Darla know to leave us some space to talk. I let her know she could talk to him a little later. I knew she had missed her cousin and wanted to find out what happened, but I didn’t want him to relive the horror he had been through. He was going to need to relive it again at the trial. I closed my eyes at the thought of him reliving his pain. I whimpered, shaking my head at the thought of what he had been through.

We felt our mate when he moved, knowing he was going to jump at me but he was going to learn he would need to get better to catch me unawares. I ducked down as I slowed my gait. My mate went sailing over my head as my wolf sniggered at our mate.

We raced through the forest until we were too tired to move. I knew we couldn’t stay out here, there were too many people who would love nothing more to cripple my family. And, it would cripple my whole family if I were to go missing. I couldn’t get too comfortable or I would fall asleep, so I nudged my nose at my mate and got him up. We ran comfortably beside each other until we came to the training circles.

I looked at him and huffed, shifting back to my skin side, only I shifted with clothes on - a perk of being a Royal. “You need to shift back.” He shook his big head no. “You will shift back into clothes since we are a Royal Beta couple.” He titled his head at me, making me laugh at how cute he was. I heard him talking to himself about how he could tell me to turn around. I rolled my eyes and turned around.

I heard snapping behind me. “Well, I’ll be damned, I have clothes on!” My mate exclaimed as I turned around and nodded. “How did you know I wanted you to turn around in case I was naked?”

“Well, uh, I read your mind.” His eyes rounded. “Not on purpose. I’m sorry, I don’t usually read minds,” I rushed out, holding my breath to see whether he would be mad at me or not.

“Okay. Is there a way to block my mind a little?” My mate asked.

“Uh…” I trailed off as I held a finger to my mouth, teleporting us to a place we could stay hidden. I looked at him and shook my head quickly.

He finally heard what I did. He was holding his head, trying to be quiet. I could tell something was wrong but I couldn’t tell what was going on. His mind was all over the place and I didn’t want to dig deeper. I put my arm around him to see if it would help. After a few more seconds he shook his head a few times but stayed quiet. I heard the people I had earlier and put a veil of invisibility over both of us. I made sure to hide our scent, too. I wanted to see what was going on. I had a feeling they talking about us, but I could be wrong.

The two men and a woman had stopped a few steps away from us. When I heard what they were saying I was about to explode. I pulled back my temper, my mate kissed me on my temple helping me to calm a little. I smiled at him and listened to the dead people talking about their plans for my family. I couldn’t believe half of the things they were saying. What did they think they were going to fool my family with kindergarten ideas? Seriously? They must not know my family and how we work. They would be dead before they walked on our property.

I listened closely to the man’s plans regarding Sonny and me. I wanted to remember his face. I wanted to remember his voice. I wanted to kill him. I knew I had to hold off until he made a move. But, I can guarantee he won’t make it out alive no matter what. I would make sure to be invisible behind this man.

The group moved off towards the castle as we waited for them to get further away from us. “How in the hell did they not see us?” My mate asked, his eyes as big as saucers.

I needed to talk to him, but not here. “Help me out, Star.” I watched my mates face as he received the information from Star. I could have talked to him telepathically or through my Alpha link but I was afraid he had had one too many shocks today.

“Okay, then.” He chuckled and stuck out his hand. “Pleased to meet you, my name is Ares.” He shook my hand and let go as he waited for me to introduce myself.

I caught myself staring at him and shook myself. “My name is Windy,” I answered as I shook his hand. “What’s your wolf’s name?”

“Hold on a minute.” I could see him concentrating on his conversation with his wolf. It was cute. He would bite his lip and then chew on it. I wasn’t sure what was going on but he finally shook himself out of his conversation. “His name is Antares. He was making sure I would spell it right. What’s your wolf’s name?”

“Star. Hey, your name means red star and it’s the brightest star. Cool.” I brought out of the veil of invisibility. “Come on. I need to find out where our room is. I want to explain everything to you and introduce you to my brother, the Royal King.”

“What?” My mate exclaimed, stopping in his tracks.

“You have nothing to be worried about, well, he might want to spar with you. Uh, he mentioned something about making sure you could protect me,” I told him, laughing lightly at his expression. I thought he was going to pass out.

“Okay, then. There was a reason I trained the warrior’s without having a wolf,” my mate, Ares, said cryptically as we walked toward the castle.

We almost got to the door and Darla came running up to us. “I’ve been looking for you for about an hour. It was as if you disappeared.” Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the FindNøvᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

I held in a laugh. “Sorry. I was with my mate. Are you following us in?”

“But, of course,” Darla replied as she straightened her shoulders. I nodded towards Darla and clasped my hand with Ares, enjoying the tingles all over my body. I moved towards the door and noticed guards posted.

“Royal Beta’s,” the guards said as they bowed. One of the other guards opened the door for us and gestured for us to enter.

We walked in to see Sonny talking to several people. I noticed a woman hanging around them in the background but skipped over her until my mate gasped. “Hide us quickly, Windy,” Ares whispered.

I veiled Ares, Dala and myself quickly, moving us to the side of the hall. “What’s going on Ares? Oh, talk to me as if you were thinking, okay?”

“The woman. The one with the long brown hair and blue dress on is the one who spelled everyone here. But, I see her with curly red hair, green eyes, and in a black dress for some reason.”

“Okay. Hold on a minute. That’s supposed to be our spy but evidently, she’s not. Give me a second to break her illusion,” I explained.

I saw Sonny look around without being conspicuous. “What’s wrong, Windy?”

“I need you to help me break an illusion spell. It seems our little spy is actually Ruby. Can you order everyone to stop and don’t move?”

I watched him give me a short nod, not once questioning how I knew this. “Everyone, stop what you’re doing and don’t move!” He ordered as everyone stood completely still.

I dropped the veil of invisibility and walked towards Sonny still holding my mates hand. We broke the spell and stepped towards her. “Well, hello, Ruby, fancy meeting you here. Now, what have you been up to? Spelling people to your will, hmm?”

“Well, yeah, you idiot. How did you know it was me?” Ruby asked hatefully.

“My mate actually caught you. Maybe you should have made sure you weren’t seen when you spelled everyone, well, except for ones who fought your spell,” I answered calmly, pissing her off even more.

I stepped back and looked her up and down. I caught movement from behind her. But, before I could move...

A/N: I know, I'm sorry. Really I am but this chapter was already 1,850+ and I had to stop it somewhere, so why not here. Don't worry the action is about to start full time and some of the chapters won't be cliffhangers.

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