Chapter 41
In the northern mountains….
…. Eliphas was shocked at the sight of the battered Ashton. Barely a few days had passed since he sent them back and yet here, he was on the verge of dying? The vibrant Ashton was lying on the floor unconscious and blood was dripping from his mouth and nose.
“What happened?” Eliphas asked Maya in a shocked voice. He could not believe what his eyes were seeing.
“Uncle Eliphas please save him. I don’t know how long he can stay alive. Please do something and we will talk about what happened once you take a look at him. It is a long story.” Maya said, her voice choked from all the sobbing. Her only thoughts at the moment were to save Ashton no matter the cost. She had promised that she will save him, and that was the only thing running through her mind at the moment.
Eliphas restrained from asking questions and immediately carried Ashton to one of his private chambers. Maya followed behind with a worried look on her face. Although the portal took them seconds to reach this place, she still felt that Ashton’s condition had deteriorated quite a bit.
Before there was only a little amount of blood coming from his mouth but now even his nose was bleeding.
Eliphas checked his pulse and after seeing that his pulse rate was faint and he was barely breathing, he immediately performed a spell to restore his breathing to normal.
Just that alone made him sweat buckets. He had never experienced something like that in his entire life. Ashton’s condition was worse than he had expected.
Maya stood beside him and refused to leave. She did not dare to blink with the fear that once she did, Ashton will no longer be with her. Her eyes were filled with tears and although her vision was blurry, she refused to wipe away the tears. She thought that the moment she closed her eyes, Ashton will disappear from her world.
It was only after seeing that the blood that was coming out of his mouth and nose had stopped and his breathing had stabilized that she breathed a sigh of relief. Eliphas too gave out a deep sigh of relief after seeing that Ashton’s condition had somehow stabilized.
He turned to Maya who had panic and worry all over her face and smiled kindly. This little girl seemed to have given her whole to this young man. It was indeed a good feeling to have someone worry over you.
“I need to prepare a few portions and give them to him. You don’t have to worry; he will be fine.” Eliphas assured her. His face had an assuring smile that made Maya calm down her nervous heart.
“Thank you, uncle Eliphas. I wouldn’t know who else to turn to if you were not here.” Maya said as she bowed in gratitude.
If she had to watch Ashton die in her arms, Maya had no idea what she would have done. She did not know if she would have the heart to continue living.
“Ashton is like a son to me. Don’t worry I will use everything that I got to make sure that he is cured.” Eliphas promised.
“Come on and help me get some herbs. Although I have never dealt with something like this, I am confident that I will be able to help him recover.” Eliphas and Maya left the private chamber. Maya went to the garden to get the herbs while Eliphas went to get his spellbook.
When Maya came back, she was shocked to see someone sitting beside Ashton with his head lowered. Looking at him up close, Maya realized that she knew the person.
“Theo?” Maya called out with a trembling voice. ‘How did Ashton’s beta reach this place?’ Maya was puzzled in her mind as she hurried over.
“Miss Maya?” Theo called out. He did not seem surprised to see Maya in this place.
“How comes you are here?” Maya asked.
“I was badly injured but I was determined to find my alpha. I followed his scent and it led me to this place but by the time I arrived, you guys had already left. It was uncle Eliphas who helped me recover.” Theo said.
“I was hurrying over because I wanted to tell Ashton that there was no need of going back to the ash band pack as his brother had already poisoned the minds of every. But I was too late. The day that I arrived was the day that you guys left. I could only pray and hope that Ashton would not fall into his brother’s trap. But looking at his condition now, it seemed that everything played out according to my expectations.” Theo said with self-blame.
If he had been a little faster, his alpha could not have dived into danger and his condition would not have been this dangerous.
“don’t blame yourself. We never expected something like this to happen. It was also my fault. I was supposed to protect him but instead, I put him in more grave danger.” Maya said. If her teleportation had not failed, they would not have landed in that damned place and Ashton would not have been attacked by his brother. He would not have been framed for the murder of his grandfather and he would not have been placed in that shitty cell with those darned handcuffs on.
“What happened?” Theo asked. Depending on how strong his alpha was, there was no way he would be in such a sorry state if he used his whole strength.
“When we left this place, we were directly teleported to Ashton’s study room. The house was empty and there was the smell of blood everywhere as if there had been a massacre. Ashton immediately went to the safe and saw your message but before he could come up with any ideas, Kelly came with his men and they were looking for some pack secrets. They did not manage to find anything and then they left.”
“But after they left, they somehow managed to spray the whole house with wolfbane and by the time we realized, Ashton had inhaled too much that he could not even wolf out. He fell unconscious.” Maya explained.
She wasn’t sure how Theo will react to the fact that she was a half-warlock and half-wolf. She knew that the relationship between wolves and warlocks wasn’t good and maybe he might despise her after learning the truth.
Nut seeing that he was in this place that was filled with magic and spells, Maya felt that he was not so ignorant as to judge her.
“I opened a portal and planned to send Ashton to this place but since it was my first time doing something like that, I failed and we landed at the pack’s ancestral house. They called the pack healers who immediately tended to Ashton but by the time he came back from his unconscious state, his grandfather had already announced Kelly as the new alpha.” Maya said.
“If he was treated by the pack healers, why is he on the verge of dying?” Theo asked in a doubtful voice.
“After waking up, Ashton wanted to find his grandfather and have a talk with him. But as they were still talking, Kelly came over and started attacking everyone like a mad dog. He even killed the old master and framed Ashton for it.”
“Fuck that ludicrous fool of a human being!” Theo immediately punched the wall behind him and almost shattered it.
“He made Ashton wear some handcuffs and put him in some kind of cell he said it was specifically made of Ashton. I was taken away and by the time I found him, he was on the verge of dying.” Maya said.
“Uncle Eliphas, I brought the cuffs with me, you can look at them when you are free. Ashton said that the cuffs were draining the life out of him.” Maya said as she handed the handcuffs over to Eliphas who had already returned to the private chamber.
“How did you arrive here? Did you, you know…. Are you?” Theo asked. He did not know how to put I because he did not want Maya to feel awkward.
“Yes. I found out the day we left. When Kelly was entering Ashton’s study room, we had nowhere to hide and somehow, I managed to create this barrier that prevented Kelly and his people from seeing us.” Maya explained.
Eliphas looked at her with shining eyes. He could not believe that Maya was a warlock. He had given up hope on finding his successor. He never knew that he will find one the moment he gave up.
With the herbs that Maya had brought, Eliphas concocted the medicine. They held Ashton and made him drink while others were applied to his body.
After that, they could only pray that the moon goddess watches over him and make him recover.