Alex's POV

As I take the final few steps towards my father, I take a deep breath of the fresh air around us. I know what this is about. The only thing that worries me is the place he chose to talk about this.

A beautiful garden about a mile away from the castle. We've had a few talks here and it also had a reason. This is where I can't hit anything but him. This is the place where he takes my frustrating punches right in the face.

I take my place right next to him and there is a few seconds of silence between us.

"Before you give me the bad news." I breathe out as we both look over the garden my mother had worked so hard on.

"I want to thank you for stopping me yesterday. I'm sorry I lost control. I'm sorry I let my rage take over. " I say in a low voice and bow my head in shame. "I've learnt my lesson."

He stays silent for a few seconds and usually that means he isn't satisfied with my apology.

"Thank you for saving her....from me" I say in a breathless voice and right then he turns to me.

"Alex for the first time in your life you lost control for the right reasons. You were angry for the right reasons." He says in a calm tone as I look up at him.

"But the decision you made with that emotion wasn't the right one."

"I know dad, I'm sorry." I whisper and once again I look anywhere but at him. I don't want to see the dissapointment in his eyes.

"Is she okay?"

I take a deep breath and nod my head. "Yeah she is doing okay. She's just a little scared about not knowing what happened."

"Did she say you can look into her memories?"

I look at him and immediately shake my head. "No, she doesn't want me to do that. She doesn't want to remember it."

He let's out a sigh and takes a few anticipating seconds before he answers. "Then we have a problem."

"What's the problem?" I frown and look him dead in the eyes.

"The girl doesn't want to talk."

"Okay but I can compel her to talk." I shrug.

"It doesn't work like that Alex. She has the right to refuse. We can't make her talk. There is no witnesses except for Maya." he sighs.

"What about Lilly? She was there" I quickly say.

"She obviously wasn't there when the incident happened, otherwise she would've told us."

"Ok what about the timeline? Was it around her birthday?" I question with a shaky breath.

"We can't go on that Alex. It's not to say the incident happened around the time they spent at the library. It could've been before that or even after that. We don't know."

"What the fuck does that mean? Nothing will happen?" I say with a raised voice and by now I can feel my anger starting to build up. It's starting to sound like we won't get any answers.

"We can't hold her for trail if we don't know what she did."

"Well she's obviously hiding something because she doesn't want to talk. " I say and start pacing up and down the lawn. "Can't we set her up for trail for disobeying the king's orders?"

I knew there is a reason he brought me way out here. He knew I would be angry and he was right.

"It's not just my involvement in this Alex, you know that." he sighs once again and I can see the dissapointment in his eyes. I know he also wants to know what happened because he cares a lot about Maya.

"No fuck that!" I yell and clench my jaw for a few seconds. "What about me? She is my mate. She wiped her memory for a reason. "

"Alex-"

"No dad. This is bullshit!" I cut him off. "I want to fucking know what she did to her." I grit through my teeth.

"You can't go near her."

I freeze in my steps and look at him in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"It wasn't my decision but according to her rights and your reputation you cannot go anywhere near her."

"Oh so she is hiding something because she's scared of me." I chuckle. "She should be fucking scared of me. I will fucking kill her."

"That's exactly why you can't go near her."

"Dad" I say in a desperate voice and crouch down to the ground.

I feel his hand on my shoulder and then his presence close to me. "I'm sorry Alex. Maya is the only one who can make this case go further. If she doesn't want us to see what happened, then there is nothing we can do about it."

"She is too scared and I would never expect her to do it." I sigh and sit down on the grass. My dad sits down next to me and we both just stare out into the garden

I can't believe this is happening. Some asshole did something to my mate, my sweet Maya and now we will never know.

I'm not mad at Maya, I'm just dissapointed that it didn't turn out the way I hoped it would.

I was ready to pull that girl's head from her body, that's for sure but I also wanted Maya to have piece of mind about it. But, Maya doesn't want to know and I respect her decision.

"So you haven't told her everything about your mate bond yet."

I look at my father with a small smile. "No I haven't but it's ok."

"The truth will come out eventually. You know that right." he smiles.

"Yeah I know" I chuckle and pick at a piece of grass around my feet. "But she is scared and I don't want her to be. One day when she's ready I'll tell her."

"Don't worry Alex." He stands up and holds his hand out to me. "She'll come around and I promise you if you tell her, she'll do it because she loves you."

I stand up and take a deep breath. "I know she will but I don't want her to do it just for me."

"Awww. Look at you." He laughs and I just roll my eyes. "Already incorporating the lesson you learnt. I am the best father in the world."

I knew he would say something like that. He wouldn't miss an opportunity to say he was right. We both know he was right but he doesn't need to rub it in my face.

But he is the best father in the world.

"You can should say it out loud once in a while." he laughs as we start walking back to the castle.

"That will never happen"

......

As I walk up the steps I smile when I hear my favourite heartbeat. She is also humming some song like she usually does when she's by herself. I'll admit that I've stood behind the door a few times just to listen. She always sounds relaxed and happy.

That will probably change in a few minutes because once again I'll be the bearer of bad news.

I walk into our room and follow her scent to the balcony.

"Hey" she smiles and I take a seat across from her.

"Hi beautiful. How was your breakfast?" I smile and look down to the empty plate in front of her.

"It was good like always, thank you. " She smiles. "What did your father say?"

Of course she'll jump right into the questions. I'm not even surprised.

"He wanted to know what you want for your birthday." I say with a cheap smile.

"Alex" she says with a straight face. Of course she doesn't believe me.

"Ok fine he just wanted to make sure I'm still happy. You know, if you're treating me right." I say with a slight chuckle and even though she has a small smile on her face she's still frustrated.

So she picks up her knife and throws it right at me. She doesn't want to hurt me even though it wouldn't have but she also couldn't find anything else, she just wanted to throw something.

It was a very poor attempt and I'm a little embarrassed. The knife only fell in my lap.

"Now see, something like that wouldn't sit well with the King of vampires." I gasp. "You can't throw his daughter with a silver knife."

"Baby" she says with a slight chuckle but I can see the plead in her eyes. She is also apart of this and she deserves to know but I was hoping I could distract her for a little longer.

I sit back in my chair and slowly tap my finger on the table. I take a deep breath and stay quiet for a few seconds.

"Alex?" She calls on me and I look up at her.

"There's not going to be a trial today. " I say in a low voice. "She doesn't want to talk."

"Why not?" She sits up with a frown on her face.

"She has rights Maya. She doesn't have to talk." I say as I also sit up closer to her.

She stays quiet and I can see her mind working overtime. My girl is smart but I'm not going to say anything unless she asks me.

"What are you not telling me?"

"It's complicated baby"

"I know. It always is" she laughs and I smile because she's right. It's always complicated when I have to tell her something. It always ends up being ok but in every situation I'm scared that it won't be ok. I'll always be afraid that the next thing I tell her will be the last draw.

"We don't have any witnesses." I sigh. "We can't do anything because we don't know what happened. She won't tell us and-"

"I don't remember" she says in a soft voice of realisation.

"And it's ok. Maybe it's better that we don't know." I say with a reassuring smile hoping that I'll change her confused and overwhelmed emotion. I can hear her heart racing a bit and she has her eyes locked on the edge of the table.

"That's not fair" she says in a whisper and look up at me.

"Baby you don't have to do anything" I say in a serious tone and stand up from my chair. "You don't have to remember." I bend down next to her for comfort.

"It's not fair to you." She says with a bit of tears in her eyes and I sit back in suprise.

"Maya-"

"No baby." She cuts me off again and turns her body to me. "This will always hang over our heads. We will always wonder what happened and that's not fair to you."

"Maya it's fine. I promise." I stand up and cup her face.

"No it's not" she stands up and grabs my hand. "Let's go" she says and starts pulling me towards the door.

"Where are we going?" I ask with the same frown of confusion I got about two minutes ago.

"We are going to bring back my memory."

......

Maya's POV

Within a few minutes we are downstairs, waiting for her father. I've never been on this side of the castle before. They have this huge room which kinda looks like a courtroom but there is a throne in the front. I've been in a courtroom and they don't have thrones like this one.

My hand is tightly wrapped in Alex's and I know she can hear my heart racing a bit. I'm definitely a bit nervous but I'm not scared to do it. It's more the unknown part of it. But I know whatever happened, Alex will be with me.

Our attention goes to the door as it opens up. Mr Woods, Mr Reynolds and four other men walk in. I've never seen those people in my life. They're probably not human and I'm a bit intimidated by them. They are all very large, muscular men and their facial expressions aren't very friendly.

"Maya"

I turn my attention to Mr Woods as he touches my arm. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes sir" I say with a small smile.

"Okay." He smiles and walks past me along with the other four men.

I feel Alex pull me towards the one side and we take a seat at a table. Mr Reynolds comes to take a seat on my other side and gives me a small smile. "You'll be okay"

I take a relieving breath because having him here makes it a bit less uncomfortable. He has been apart of my life since I can remember. He has always taken care of me in the best way possible and just having him next to me makes me feel better.

We watch Mr Woods take his seat on his throne and the other four men take a seat on big wooden chairs, two on either side of him.

A few seconds later the back door opens up and we all turn our heads except for Alex. I watch two guards walking in and behind them is the woman who I assume is the guilty party. She has someone behind her who I assume is her lawyer? I'm not even sure if vampires have lawyers. But nevertheless there is another guy with her.

She has long dark hair and her skin a very pale. It still amazes me that I don't remember her. In this case it's not the best thing but my brain can't comprehend the fact that someone wiped my memory.

Halfway down the path this woman looks at me and her eyes dilate immediately. For a second I stop breathing and I feel Alex's hand grip a little harder. I look at her and her eyes are closed, she is breathing heavily but I can see she is trying to calm herself down.

I look at Mr Woods and he also has his eyes on Alex. They are probably communicating telepathically or she is under his compulsion again because Alex is acting a bit strange.

I don't think the guards are here to protect us from this woman. I think they are here to protect her from Alex.

"Maya"

I'm shaken from my thoughts when Mr Woods calls on me. "I have to ask you in front of everyone present here today. Do you give consent that we look into your memories for this case?"

I take a few short breaths and quickly glance at Alex before I look back at him. "Yes sir"

"Okay then. Alex you may proceed." He states in a serious tone and then all eyes are on us as we both stand up from our chairs.

We walk to the front of the table and Alex turns to me. Everyone in here can probably hear my heart beating fast and my hands are shaking a bit. Alex told me how all of this works but it's still kinda nerve wrecking.

"Hey" she smiles and cups my face. "I am so proud of you ok"

"Will it hurt?" I whisper in a nervous tone but Alex stays calm and the smile on her face makes me feel a little better.

"No baby. I'm right here ok. I'm not going to leave you." She whispers back and kisses my hand. "It will be over before you know it"

"Ok" I nod my head and clutch onto her jacket as she cups my face again.

"Are you ready?"

I only nod my head and keep my eyes on her. She softly grazes both my cheeks in a soothing way and then her eyes turn a little darker. I feel my eyes lock onto hers and with the last bit of control I grip her jacket as tight as I can.

Everything goes black but then I see a few flashing images of me. It goes so fast that I can barely make out where and what they are but I see my face a few times. I see my parents, my brothers, Lilly and her parents and also a few flashing images of my days in school.

After a few seconds everything slows down and I find myself in the public library, searching for a book on the shelf.

"Hey Maya"

I turn to my right and I see Carey there with a sweet smile on her face.

"Oh hey." I greet her back with a polite smile. "How was your day?"

"Same as usual" she slightly laughs and leans against the bookshelf. "How was your day? How was your test?"

"It was good." I smile as I grab the book I was looking for.

"I'm really glad. Where is Lily today?" she says with a curious look and glance around us.

"Oh she went home after school. They have a family thing. I just quickly came by for this book. " I say and start walking.

Just as I step beside her she puts her arm out to stop me. "Maya wait" she says in a low voice.

"Wha-"

She cuts me off by leaning closer to kiss me. The kiss was short as I quickly move back in shock. "What are you doing?"

She keeps her hand tight around my arm and she moves closer to me again. My heart starts racing when I see the colour of her eyes change. I stumble a bit as I move back but a few seconds later I feel my back hit a  bookshelf behind me.

"Please, you are making me ner-"

"Just keep quiet" she cuts me off, pins me against the bookshelf and kisses me again.

I try to turn my head away from her but she holds me  in one place.

"Please stop" I cry out as the tears start rolling down my face.

She pulls back, puts her hand over my mouth. I feel my eyes lock onto hers and even though I try, I can't look away. My whole body goes numb in fear and I can't find the strength to push her away.

"Don't say another word"

She takes her hand away and smirks at me. Her hand then lands on my hip and sneaks underneath my shirt, touching my stomach. She pushes her body flush against mine and I try to push her away but she is really strong. I don't have any strength in my arms but I can feel she is abnormally strong.

I immediately open my mouth and take the opportunity to call for help but I can't. There is nothing coming out. Why can't I scream?

"Now we can have some fun" she whispers with the same smirk on her face and leans closer to me.

She tilts my head to the side and start kissing my neck. My heart is racing and I'm crying but nobody can hear me. Nobody can see us because we are on the quiet side of the library.

Please stop! Please stop! Please!

She keeps kissing my neck and rubbing up against me. She softly groans in my ear and I feel her hands fiddling with the button of my pants.

No,no,no,no,no.

I scream inside my head but my expression of emotions and my cry for help only come out as a teardrop.

I feel her pull my pants down a bit but before she could do anything else I hear a voice behind the bookshelf next to us. She immediately stops and pulls my pants back up. She grabs my face and my eyes lock with hers again.

"Nothing happened here and you never met me."

I feel my eyes roll to the back of my head and suddenly I see black for a few seconds before I open my eyes to see Alex standing in front of me.

I feel a bit dizzy and stumble back but Alex holds me steady. I blink a few times and I feel a few tears running down my cheeks. I look at Alex and her thumbs gently wipe the tears away.

"Are you ok?" She whispers with a gentle but also concerning tone.

I just look down at the ground and take a breath. I am definitely not okay. I can't believe she did that to me.

"Maya I'm so sorry" she whispers and tilts my head up to look at her.

"I-" I stutter as I try to catch my breath. "I told her to stop" I breathe out and start to feel dizzy again.

I step away from Alex and try to breathe but I struggle as the tears run down my cheeks. I can't believe that happened to me. She was my friend, I remember her now. We spent a lot of time together. We ate icecream and talked about books in the library. She was so nice to me. Why would she do this to me? I told her to stop.

"Baby"

A gentle voice from Alex shakes me from my thoughts and I look up at her. My eyes glance to Carey sitting at her table and when we make eye contact she smirks at me.

"I told you to stop?" I say in a broken voice.

"I-"

"No,no,no,no" Alex cuts her off with a slight chuckle. She holds my hand and for the first time she turns around and look at her. "You don't get to talk to her. I will rip your fucking throat out if you say another word."

"Your Majesty, she can't-"

"And the same goes for you" she cuts off the man right next to her as well. "Don't test me asshole"

Everything goes quiet, and the only thing you can hear is my crying.

Alex turns back to me and she gives me a comforting smile. She still holds my hand and the other one cups the one side of my face. "Maya I need you to breathe and look at me."

I listen to her voice and look into her eyes. I feel them lock mine in but I don't feel nervous or scared about it. Her eyes are their normal beautiful blue colour but I see a small line of gold around her pupil. She is still smiling and her thumb slowly grazes over my cheek.

Within a few seconds I feel this calmness wash over me. Every ounce of fear is gone. I'm not crying anymore and I don't feel angry anymore. My whole body relaxes and my only focus is on the three contact points with Alex. Her hand on my face, her other hand holding mine and then her eyes. I don't think about anything else, just her.

I feel a sense of relief and I finally take a deep breath. I smile back at Alex when I realise that this was all her doing. She wanted to take care of me first and had to make sure I was ok.

"You'll be ok for a few hours ok." She whispers with a loving smile on her face and I slowly nod my head.

I don't know what will happen now but I know this isn't over yet.

"Baby, this is now the time where I'll ask you to please leave the room."

......

A/N

Thank you for reading and voting. Thank you for all the people who comments. I read everything and I really appreciate it.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Much Love 💜