-:Ashton's PoV:-

"I'm a witch."

"Don't," I warned Hayden using my Alpha command when I saw him lunge forward from my peripheral vision. He froze and looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

Maybe I had.

"I wouldn't," the witch agreed.

"What's your name?" I asked stiffly.

"You can call me Ariadne."

"Why are you here?" I demanded from her.

I didn't know why I was so calm. Maybe I was too desperate to hold my mate again. But since Xavier didn't lunge forward to rip her throat out immediately, I decided to give her a chance. If she would've wanted to do something, she would have already gone ahead with it.

"Didn't you Beta tell you? Or did you suffer from short-term memory loss?" She rolled her eyes.

"Just because I didn't kill you a minute ago does not mean I can not," I growled in warning at the disrespect.

"And risk losing your mate?" She scoffed, "I think not."

"Losing?" I questioned, my fists clenching.

"If you're too late," she confirmed.

"How is she?" I asked.

"Alive . . . as of now."

"I know that. I can feel the mate bond."

"Not for long, you won't." She said.

"What?" I paled and Hayden growled, his instinct to protect his Luna coming forward.

"They plan to remove her mark," she said nonchalantly.

"Remove her mark?" I blanched. "They can't do that!"

"Do you really want to find out?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not!" I snapped. "How do we stop them?"

We had to. Otherwise . . . no. No. I couldn't let myself think like that. Cecelia needed me and we would get her back. In time. And as unharmed as possible.

"The ceremony is tonight." She revealed.

How long was I asleep?

"How do you know all that?" I asked her. I was curious.

"That's none of your business," she replied.

"Why are you helping us?" I pressed. "Witches have been thought to be extinct for a while. Why would you blow your cover and reveal yourself?"

"After the stunt Andromeda pulled off, there was no 'cover' left in the first place," she said through gritted teeth.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I have my reasons," she said airily.

"I can imagine. I'm interested in exactly what they might be."

"You are annoying. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Multiple times. And has anyone ever told you that you are quite evasive?"

"More times than you'd believe," she grinned.

"Now that we've cleared that, answer my question."

She scowled.

"Did you know that magic doesn't work on you?" She asked, obviously not very pleased about it. Suddenly it clicked how she got into the Pack lands without raising questions.

"Thanks to you, now I do. Now answer me." Xavier was growing increasingly agitated. He hated her disrespect. She probably saw that, because her scowl deepened.

"Andromeda is my sister." She said, her voice bitter. This time when Hayden lunged, I was too stunned to stop him. I found out a second later that I never needed to. Ariadne flicked her wrist once and he went flying back into the wall with a loud 'oof!'

"I never wanted it to happen. You forced my hand," she glared at him without remorse. "I'm sitting here peacefully talking to your Alpha and you attack me? Y-"

"Ariadne," I interrupted, not in the mood to lose my Beta as well. "Can you focus?"

"Hun?" She turned to me, "Yeah. So. Hmm. That."

Amusing.

"So you're here against your sister?" I questioned.

"I'm here for my sister," she clarified. She saw the question on my face and elaborated, "Vincent is manipulating her."

"How so?" I frowned.

"Do you want your mate back or not?" She barked. "We don't have much time. We need to make a move soon."

The way she reacted made me concede to her demand. It was obviously a touchy subject.

"How do I know you won't double-cross us?" I queried.

"You are going to have to trust me," she said.

"Right," I scoffed, "After you used magic to talk our people into letting you inside the pack, you want me to trust you."

"So, you caught on," she smirked faintly.

"If this is going to work," I ignored her remark, "You need to give me your word. The binding oath so we can be sure. You need to promise you will not use magic on our packs without my permission and knowledge."

"Okay," she agreed easily. "Fair enough."

"Great. Let's get this show on the road."

*************************

-:Cecelia's POV:-

"The wolfsbane seems to be wearing off," Vincent commented, sniffing my neck. "Perfect."

I think I threw up a little in my mouth. I leaned as far away from him as I could with all my binds. He didn't seem to mind and just came closer.

"Dude, does the phrase 'personal space' mean nothing to you?!" I snapped.

"You're bound to a chair in the basement. You're at my mercy. I think personal space is the least of your problems." He sassed.

"What do you even want from me?" I whined purposefully. "I'm useless to you now that I'm mated. Face it, your fetish with me has proven to be useless."

"We'll see," his eyes glowing with rage. I tended to elicit such reactions from people I did not like. I was proud. But at the same time, I was wary of that look in his eyes. The crazy maniac look. He always had it but it just seemed more pronounced in his eyes right then.

"What are you planning, exactly?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Oh, Cecelia. You'll find out soon."

"I thought you might want to torture me and ultimately kill me but that doesn't seem to be happening," I thought out loud. "I'm already mated, so that's out. You can't benefit from me because I will never work for you."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," he smirked.

"What are you talking about?" I asked warily.

"We are going to remove your mark!" He exclaimed delightedly.

"You what?!" I screamed.

"Geez, lower your voice or I'll gag you." He scowled.

"Is this a joke?!" I yelled.

"Of course not." He said as if I was stupid to even ask.

"You can't do that," I said hating how my voice shook slightly.

"I can't," he agreed, "But Andromeda can."

"No," my voice lacked conviction. My brain shut down. Fear crept up in my veins with more force than ever. I found myself losing a battle with myself. I found myself losing hope. I knew exactly what might happen if they did manage to remove my mark.

He will . . .

No.

I'd rather die.

"Yes!" He disagreed gleefully.

I felt sick. The situation was sick. He was sick.

I was terrified.

Ashton, please hurry up.

"No one's going to save you in time, Cecelia." He grinned evilly.

Now, that's exactly what I'm afraid of.

***********************

"Tie her up there," Andromeda commanded. A pair of hefty rogues grabbed me roughly and did exactly that.

Tie me to a stupid structure. They bound my hands behind me, around the pole like thingy.

"You seem pretty quiet," she commented, eyeing me suspiciously. I just shrugged, wincing at the movement. My joints were sore and aching. My body was on fire. I had no words to describe the agony I was in.

I'd given up.

"What are you planning?" She asked me, not moving her eyes from me.

"Right, I'm the one planning something," I finally scoffed.

"Ah, there she is," she nodded to herself. "For a second there I thought I lost you."

"Rot in hell," I spat. "I know you'll want to die after this when Vincent dumps you."

"He won't," she said fiercely. Her voice told me everything I needed to know. She was still insecure. "He loves me."

"Honey," I said patronizingly, "You are not and never will be his mate. As soon as sh- Ah!"

I bent over coughing. The bitch kicked my stomach with what felt like the force of a whale. I tasted blood. I spat my saliva out and sure enough, it was red. It hurt, goddammit.

"Shut. Up." She hissed and walked away.

Delightful.

I sank to the ground completely. I sat leaning against the pole. The process of achieving the simple task was so painful, I cursed a hundred different words. I was sweating and panting by the time I had settled.

All the ten warriors Vincent had with him when he came and kidnapped me were situated close to me but at the perimeter of this place. A few more were also stationed on guard. The building I was being kept in looked like a warehouse of sorts. It looked old but clean as if it was maintained well.

The sun had set and the place was illuminated with blowtorches. Talk about medieval. I didn't know how long I was sitting there like a zombie, just staring at the clear night sky. The moon looked ethereal. I thought of Ashton and how we bonded in the same moonlight. Near the stream, in the quiet of the night. Xavier and I met for the first time. So many memories.

Voices drifted towards me, disrupting my momentary tranquility. I turned to see that Vince and Andy were walking towards me.

"The moon will peak in exactly seventeen minutes and that's when I'll start the ceremony. It'll take like ten minutes and her mark will come off. Do you have everything we'll need?" She was saying.

"Of course, baby," he kissed her in response, handing her a bag.

Cue my gag.

"Don't be jealous, little girl," he cooed at me sarcastically. I ignored him, turning my face away. There was no point in answering or arguing. My fate was apparently set. I'd accepted that.

"Why is she not answering?" I heard him demand. "She always has a retort."

"I don't know, but I'm glad," Andromeda muttered.

"What did you do to her?"

"Me?" She scoffed. "I did nothing just like you asked. Don't blame me."

"Then who?" He snapped.

"How would I know?!"

"What do you know?!"

"Vincent!"

"You know what? Never mind. Let's just get this ceremony over with."

"Fine!" She huffed, stomping towards me.

She is such a brainless idiot.

"I'm so glad to have the honor to do this," she hissed at me. She dumped her bag on the ground. Ruthlessly, she pulled out and settled a few things on a boulder near me while I impassively stared at her. She kept looking back and forth between the watch and the sky before declaring it was time. She opened a worn-out leather book and began chanting in a foreign language from it. Her spellbook, I presumed.

For a few moments, I felt nothing. That hope started creeping back on me.

Then, excruciating pain ripped through my body like a bolt of lightning, crushing it. I slumped down on the ground completely, my hands still bound. My neck burned and I screamed in anguish, thrashing around. Andromeda threw some powder-like thing at me and it inflamed my skin even more, making my cries sharper. My vision was blurred, my cheeks were wet and my brain felt like it was being electrocuted.

It was unlike anything I'd ever felt. My consciousness detached my body.

Loud growls resonated in the forest, interrupting Andromeda's chant. She paused for a second and I finally felt like I could breathe. Vincent cursed. Andromeda resumed, chanting faster than before and my torment resumed with a renewed intensity.

My voice died from all the shouting but the smarting did not. My eyes closed on their own accord.

"Hold them back!" Someone cried in panic.

"How did they find us?!" Vincent snarled as loud footsteps and shouts echoed in the front yard of the Warehouse. Andromeda stopped chanting and the pain stopped, leaving intense throbbing in its wake.

"It's done," I heard her say.

I was so out of it, couldn't decide whether I was happy that the pain had stopped or sad that she had just removed my mark, thereby terminating my mating.

The area was filled with loud shouts.

"They have more numbers than us!"

"Run!"

"Where is Cecelia?!"

"Get them!"

"He's getting away!"

"There she is!"

"Capture them alive!"

"Ce," his voice stood out. I forced my eyes open and they opened marginally. There were those hazel eyes that kept me going these past few days. My lips quirked up weakly. I tried to speak but my voice failed me.

He came.

I started coughing, blood coming up again. I grimaced at the discomfort. My head spun, feeling light and my eyes felt too heavy. They shut close.

"Someone get the damned doctor!" I heard him scream and then everything went black.

******************************

A/N:-

Probably not my best, but I couldn't think of anything else. I think this is where I laugh awkwardly and make a run for it.

Bye!

QOTD:- Tips to deal with writer's block?

Also, thank you guys so much for over 800 hundred reads and 250+ votes!!❤❤

Until next time, all my love,

xoxo.