My Alpha's Wolfless Daughter
My Alpha’s Wolfless Daughter – Chapter 54

Nate

I’m glad the truck was quiet the entire way. My heart was slowly breaking and I felt helpless to do anything about it. How could Ayla even think for one second I would hurt her? I’m willing to give up everything I know for her. I’d give up anything and everything for her.

“We won’t know anything until we can talk to her.” Duke whimpered. I’ve never seen my wolf so sad before. His go-to feeling was anger, but he was as desperate as I was to get to Ayla.

I directed Mitch on how to get to the house Ayla and I share. When we pulled up, King Kaden was standing with the warriors. My warriors. This was my home and he wasn’t just going to walk in there and take over. Before Mitch had parked the truck, I jumped out and tackled the king to the ground.

All hell broke loose as I fought to land as many blows as possible. All I saw was red as we rolled on the ground, both trying to get the upper hand. Duke was growling and snarling in my mind. Anger replaced the sadness he felt just moments ago. I, on the other hand, have been raging since before I left the pack. And King Kaden’s face was going to be my outlet.

When we were finally pulled apart, my guys were holding me back while Alpha Matt stepped in between us. He wasn’t my alpha and he couldn’t command me, but I respect him as Ayla’s uncle and my alpha’s brother.

“Nate, calm down.” I heard Prince Chase say.

“I will not! This is my home with Ayla and he will not just step in here and make demands of her.” I growled. And Prince Chase sighed.

“I was rooting for you Nate, why the f**k did you have to prove me wrong,” Prince Silas said, shaking his head. I didn’t even notice the two of them were even here.

“Whatever you all were told is a mistake. I would never hurt her, ever! Now, instead of blaming me for something I didn’t even do, how about we replace Ayla and figure this out?”

“It could be magic?” Prince Chase said, and I stopped fighting to get free and looked at him.

“Witches?” I questioned and he nodded.

“If Ayla’s mother was able to break the bond with her father, then there is probably a way to treat the bond.” He answered.

“What!” Alpha Matt exclaimed and I cursed. We hadn’t told them that Ayla’s mother was still alive.

“Oops,” Prince Silas cringed.

“Melody broke the bond?” Alpha Matt turned his attention to me.

“Melody is alive and yes, she broke the bond with Alpha Atlas to run away with her lover. Please don’t say anything to your brother. I know Ayla wanted to tell him.” I sighed and he was stunned.

“Well, f**k!” He mumbled, running a hand down his face.

I looked over at King Kaden and was surprised to replace him deep in thought. I managed to get a few good blows in. His l*p was split in two places and his jaw was forming a nice black bruise. I didn’t even feel any of his blows, and I still don’t feel any pain, even though I’m sure he hit me.

I was thankful when Ryan came rushing over to us. I knew I could trust him.

“Nate, are you alright?” He asked me. I nodded.

“Did Xander leave you in charge?” I asked him, and his eyebrows furrowed.

“Well, technically, you would be in charge. As the black pearl’s mate, all the warriors fall under your rule,” he answered, and King Kaden scoffed.

“I’m in charge. I out rack all of you. And I don’t trust he will have Ayla’s best interest anymore.” He retorted and all I wanted to do was hit him again.

“King Kaden, with all due respect, Ayla officially joined the Western Kingdom this morning. So everyone in our kingdom is under her rule. And with Nate being her mate, he is the one we will be answering to.” Ryan confirmed and I couldn’t help but smirk. I knew I liked this guy.

“We can deal with who is in charge later. Ryan, what did you replace?” Prince Chase interrupted.

“I didn’t replace anything. They should be back by now. Xander texted me before he left. I’ve been calling but there’s been no answer.” He answered and my heart sank.

“Nate, can you track Ayla’s phone?” Mitch asked me. The thought never would have crossed my mind. If her phone was on, I could use the replace my phone app.

I whipped my phone out and found the app. Ayla, Xander, and my phone were all listed in the app. Thank the goddess, Xander thought about setting this up. I clicked on Ayla’s phone, which had a green dot beside it, meaning it was on. It showed it was in the middle of the ocean.

“Can I see?” Ryan asked and I handed him my phone. He looked at it and his face showed confusion and my heart sank lower. Something was wrong, it had to be.

“It shows they are only an hour out but the dot isn’t moving,” Ryan said, and I looked over his shoulder.

“Go back and click on Xander’s phone. I have both of them listed in mine,” I told him. He did what I said but the dot wasn’t moving.

“If Xander is that close, you should be able to mind link him, Ryan,” I said and he shook his head.

“I haven’t been able to reach him. I know I should be able to but I can’t.” He said, and I really started to panic.

“Ryan, go out there with a few warriors and check out the area and also see if you can replace the phones,” I commanded.

“I’ll go with them,” Prince Chase volunteered. Out of all the mermaids here, Prince Chase and Ryan are whom I trust the most.

“Don’t worry, Nate, we’ll bring back the princess and you can clear up whatever happened. I know you wouldn’t hurt her.” Ryan told me, clasping me on the shoulder.

“I’m trusting you both to bring them back safely,” I said, and they both nodded.

“There could be a pod of something there. You know how much Princess Ayla enjoys swimming with the animals.” Prince Chase said, trying to reassure me. I pray to the goddess he was right.

“I hope that is all this is,” I told them.

“What do we do now?” David asked me.

“Now we wait,” I said before the first wave of pain ripped through my chest.

My mark started to burn with fury as the pain brought me to my knees. I don’t remember anything that was happening around me as the pain intensified. I knew something was wrong with Ayla as black dots covered my vision. If I screamed out, I couldn’t hear anything but the pounding of my own heart. My world spun until there was only darkness.

I awoke with a start, sitting right up. My body felt like I had been hit by a truck and I g*****d with every movement.

“Nate, thank the goddess, we thought you died,” Mitch exclaimed. He was sitting beside the bed I was lying on.

Looking around, I was no longer outside, now I was in a hospital room. I had an IV in my arm and electrodes attached to my now bare chest. David and Max were also in the room with me.

The heart monitor started going crazy as I started to remember what happened. Ayla was missing and they went to replace her and Xander.

“Ayla?” I asked, ripping the electrodes off my chest. The beeping was giving me a headache. I also ripped the IV out before trying to stand up from the bed.

“They didn’t replace her or Xander. They did replace the bag with the phones and a few broken scales. We don’t know where she is,” Mitch explained. I stood up only to fall back onto the bed.

“Nate, you’ve been out for hours. You died. Your heart actually stopped beating. Take it easy.” Max said, and I shook my head.

“I need to get to Ayla.” I breathed out, my body was covered in sweat. I’ve never felt this terrible in my entire life.

I rubbed my chest and felt something fall into my hand. I thought it was an electrode I had missed until I looked into my hand. I let out a gasp. This can’t be possible.

The scale Ayla had given me crumbled into my palm. I looked up and the others were looking at me in horror. I stumbled into the bathroom and choked on my breath. Her bit mark had faded and the wolves were almost gone. The moon was in my hand.

“Duke, what the hell is happening?” He didn’t give me an answer. He was just whimpering and whining. My chest twisted painfully. Could she have died? Did I just feel her death? How can that be?

“Nate,” I heard Mitch call out. All of them were looking at me through the door.

“Could she have died?” I choked out. I shook my head, not wanting to believe it.

“Nate, don’t think like that. We will replace her.” David said.

“What else can break a bond?” I screamed, before slamming the door. I didn’t want them to see me break down.

“f**k!” I bellowed, punching my fist through the wall.

“Duke, is that what we felt?” I cried, sliding my back down the door. I rested my elbows on my knees as I broke down into sobs.

“I don’t know,” Duke whined, before leaving me to suffer alone.

What the hell was I going to do now?

Ayla

After Xander forced me to eat some breakfast since I didn’t feel like eating anything. I found my old phone and my mother’s necklace, which I had left here. I stuffed both, along with my new phone, into a waterproof bag before heading down to see my grandmother. I needed to join the pod so I could use the mind link with the others. I wonder if I could join each kingdom so I could mind link with all of them.

Then we were heading home. The thought brought tears to my eyes as it was supposed to be my home with Nate. Everything was supposed to be us against the world and now it was just me, again. I should have expected things to end this way but I was hoping my luck would have changed. I was hoping the bond would make him love me, but I was just fooling myself.

We met my grandmother by the waterfall and she let out a gasp when she saw me. I knew I looked like a mess. Red puffy eyes from crying and tear-stained cheeks. Nothing was going to help make me look normal today, or maybe ever.

“Ayla, sweetheart, what happened? Is everything okay?” She exclaimed, rushing over to me.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I stammered. I didn’t want to break down again and I could feel the lump forming in my throat.

“Okay. It’s okay, sweetie. I’m here whenever you want to talk. Let’s get this over with so you both can head home.” She said, running her hands up and down my arms.

“Grandmother, are you sure you’ll be safe here?” I asked her, concerned for her safety. I pissed off some powerful people yesterday.

“Ayla, I have my own personal guard who watches over me. I trust them with my life.” She reassured me.

“She’s right. I wouldn’t leave if I thought her life was in danger.” Xander said, and I nodded.

“Okay, now what do I need to do?” She grabbed my hand and turned it palmed up. She pricked my ring finger with her ring before doing it to herself. As soon as her b***d touched mine, I could feel the connection. I let out a g***n as everything came rushing all at once.

I built up the wall for the mind link but my head was now pounding even harder than it was before. I felt like I was going to be sick as I stumbled on my feet and my grandmother and Xander steadied me. My grandmother let go, but Xander still had an arm wrapped around my waist.

“I’m sorry, Ayla. I know it can be a lot. I’m so glad you decided to be a part of the kingdom.” She told me with a smile on her face.

“Thank you, grandmother, for everything,” I said before wrapping my arms around her. I was really going to miss her and I made a mental note to keep in touch more often.

“Now, you both should get going. You have a few hour trips ahead of you.” She said before kissing my cheek. I nodded before Xander led me over to the stairs that led down to the beach.

My heart was pounding in my chest as we walked closer to the ocean. I don’t think I’ll be able to do this. I love Nate. And even without the bond, I would have loved him. Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up with the notion of having a mate bond. Nate was everything I wanted in a partner. So I thought.

As soon as my feet touched the water, I stopped. Taking a few deep breaths, I pulled out my mother’s necklace. The one I worked so hard to keep safe because it was all I had left of her. I cared more about this stupid necklace than she ever cared about me.

I held it between my fingers for a few moments before I threw it as far as I could into the open ocean in front of me. I hate it. And I hated her. All of this could have been avoided if she had been just honest with me in the first place.

I didn’t realize I was crying until Xander brushed away a tear on my cheek. I looked at him and he gave me a small smile.

“I know this has to be difficult, and I’m here for you. Whatever you need.” I took his hand as we waded into the tide. As soon as we were far enough out, I let go of his hand and dived in.

I made sure to fight the shift, so I could learn how to control it longer. You never know when you’ll be in the water and be unable to shift.

The shift was painful and it did nothing to help with the pain in my chest. Usually, seawater helps heal us, but I think I’m beyond help. I wonder if you could die from a broken heart?

“Ayla?” Xander asked through the mind link, nudging me with his shoulder. I didn’t know how long we had been swimming, as my mind was racing with everything and nothing. I don’t even remember when we got this far away from the kingdom.

“Xander?” I said back through the link. It took me a second to figure out how to replace him.

“Everything will work out. It may not be what you are hoping for, but in the end, everything will be how it was supposed to be,” he said. I just nodded. I don’t think I’ll even last that long. I physically felt like I was dying. Maybe it’s the lack of sleep and food, but if I had to live the rest of my life with this feeling, I wouldn’t want to live.

I jumped when Xander grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stop. He looked around in a panic, but I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t feel anything, but then again my body was numb. Before he could say a word, a net surrounded us.

I let out a scream as the net sent a shock through my body. My body trembled as the electric current forced its way through my body. Xander grabbed me before whipping me around. He let out a scream before pink b***d diluted the water around him. All I could taste was metallic b***d around me.

“Xander,” I screamed as he slumped against me. I was sinking as I tried to swim against the net and hold onto Xander.

“Xander, wake up!” I pleaded as I swam harder, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t even see the wound or wounds on him, all I could see was the pink b***d around us.

All I remembered was sinking before something hit my head so hard, my vision went black and all I saw was darkness.