Deprived (Daughter of an Alpha Book 2)

by Kaitlyn Taylor

  My attention was drawn back to Kota and Nathan, the robed man began chanting something and I recognized it to be a spell. I was not sure what spell he was doing but I assumed it had something to do with the ceremony. As he came to the end of his chant he reached for both Kota and Nathan’s hands and forced them together, unable to tie the rope around it because he was forced backwards towards the arched flower filled altar. Kota and Nathan’s hands began to glow a bright yellow color once their blood touched the others. We all felt the strength and power coming off of them and I was not surprised that the man conducting this whole thing was flown back the way that he was. I was not aware of this kind of thing happening at Binding Ceremonies. Our brothers looked just as confused and when Kory tried to get Nathan and Kota to let go of each other, they refused, their eyes turning completely white as they continued to hold on to one another. They were not doing anything threatening but something was happening between them. They were growing stronger the longer they held each other’s hands, the entire room could feel the heat coming off of them. We knew they were compatible, but we had no idea what this meant or if it had anything to do with being a match.

  Kota’s head whipped back, looking up towards the ceiling. Shortly afterwards, Nathan’s head did the same thing before they both dropped to the ground, finally releasing one another from their grasp. They were still breathing but they were unconscious and the part that was even stranger was that their sliced hands were healed. It was almost like they healed each other but I have no idea how they did it. Sorcerers did not have healing powers like that. They were capable of healing but not by touching. The Alphas were trying to make sense of what just happened as they all landed on their knees next to Kota and Nathan. The Council were still seated, their wives and children looking concerned, but their faces were expressionless. Even Nathan’s father seemed to be completely unaware that his son was lying unconscious on the ballroom floor. There was something seriously wrong with him.

  My heart raced quickly while we waited for the Alphas to address us. I knew I was not alone in my worry for the two of them. This was supposed to be a happy day for them, rushed or not, and now it was ending with them lying on the ground with no indication that they would wake up any time soon. Gavin crossed over to me and wrapped me into his chest, knowing there was no way to make me feel better, but he could try to comfort me the only way that he knew how. I appreciated the gesture even if it did not work. Kory was holding Kota in his arms as Dion looked over her, checking her body for injuries. Levi and Juno checked on Nathan, trying to sense if there was anything out of the ordinary but they both concluded that only Dion would be able to tell if there was any internal injury.

  “They seem to be fine,” Dion announced to the other Alphas but the rest of us heard them just fine. “Their heart rates are normal, and I can’t find any wounds or detect anything wrong with them.”

  “They’re not fine, Dion,” Kory argued as he continued to cradle Kota in his arms. I could see the guilt dripping off of his face. He felt like this was his fault somehow. There was no doubt in my mind that he felt like he pushed Kota into doing this and now she was unconscious in his arms.

  “I don’t know what to tell you, Kory,” Dion snapped. “Everything about them says there’s nothing wrong. If there is, it’s hiding from me.”

  “We should get them to the hospital wing,” Nico suggested as he hovered over the rest of the Alphas, doing his best to keep the Council from seeing anything. He was big and could cover up just about anything, but he was not big enough to hide this. “Nero, give me hand with Nathan.”

  I watched as the werewolf boys picked Nathan’s body up, Nico had his hands underneath Nathan’s armpits while Nero carried his feet. Kory picked Kota up off the ground without putting any effort into it. It was like she was a feather instead of average sized body. Kody followed Kory while Levi, Juno, and Dion led the rest of us to Nico’s study away from the Council. Obviously, the members of the Council did not like this and tried to get some answers out of the three Alphas that were still in their presence, but our brothers gave them nothing. They tried to get information out of the second in commands, but they did not budge and stayed silent just like the Alphas.

  When we were all in the study, Dion shut the door and locked it, so no one could barge in on us. We were all wondering the same thing: What the hell happened out there? No one had the answer but that did not stop us all from mentally asking ourselves. The three Alphas immediately started brainstorming any kind of explanations for what we all witnessed but they came up with nothing.

  “No one has ever seen or heard anything like it,” I heard Levi say. “If something like this has happened before I think we would know about it. No one would be able to keep that to themselves.”

  “We don’t even know what it did to them,” Juno pointed out. “Is it good or bad?”

  “You guys are overlooking the most important part of all of this,” Luna interrupted. She was due for an interruption and no one seemed shocked that she chose now to use it. “When the late Alphas did the blood rituals to determine compatibility do you remember what they said about the results?”

  “Where are you going with this, Luna?” Liam sighed as he slouched on the couch in the middle of Nico’s body.

  “Let me finish,” she growled at him before she turned around to face the rest of us. “They said the matches between us and our partners was more than perfect. No one had ever seen anything like it before. What if this is the result of a perfect match? I wasn’t the only one that felt the connection between the two them, right? The power that was surrounding them?”

  “She has a point,” Dion mumbled as he thought about Luna’s explanation. “There is nothing else that explains it. Everything about the girls is different like nothing anyone has ever seen before. Why should this be any different?”

  “I don’t think anyone disagrees,” Deni added. “It’s just strange. Surely, there have been other perfect matches before. Wouldn’t their Binding Ceremonies have the same results?”

  “We were there when your fathers did the rituals,” Gavin stood up from where he leaned on the wall. “My blood mixed with Deja’s was bright red, but it was more than that. You couldn’t even tell the difference between the two different bloods. It was like they were the same. Your fathers couldn’t explain it and Alex looked through every spell book containing information on the Compatibility Blood Ritual and there was nothing explaining what we saw. It was an anomaly.”

  “We won’t know anything until Kota and Nathan wake up,” Dion decided, completely ignoring what Gavin had said. It was odd that he brushed Gavin off like that. Deni seemed to be interested in what he had to say but Dion did not seem to pay attention to any of it. I could tell he was thinking about something but what could he possibly be thinking about that was more important than this?

  Something ran into the door before I could question Dion and we assumed it was one of the Council members until we heard a voice come from the other side.

  “Are you serious?” the voice questioned loudly. “Open up, it’s Nico and Nero.”

  Levi rushed to unlock the door and let them in. It was kind of awkward locking Nico out of his own study but as soon as Levi explained why they did what they did he understood.

  “How are they?” I asked hoping he had good news to share.

  “They’re still unconscious but we’re pretty sure they’ll be fine,” Nico said. “We did find a marking on them though. In between their shoulder blades they both have a brand with two different symbols overlapping each other. We have no idea where it came from.”

  “What were the symbols?” Juno questioned.

  “One had two swords crossing each other and the other was a crown,” Nico described.

  “The crown is the symbol for the alpha,” Levi remembered “But what does the other symbol mean?”

  “Don’t you remember anything the tutors taught us?” Luna rolled her eyes. “Those are two symbols of the fou
r original families. Each species has them.”

  “What?” we all asked in unison.

  “Back when Medova was first founded there were only three Council members and the Alpha,” she started to tell us although I sensed a slight annoyance in her tone. “They each had a symbol, the Alpha had the crown, his second in command had the crossed swords, and the other two Council members had a shield and a battle helmet. Kota is from the Alpha line and Nathan is from the second in command line and they merged together when their blood intertwined during the ceremony.”

  “I didn’t realize you actually paid attention during your tutoring,” Levi smiled as Luna finished.

  “Really?” her eyes glared. “That’s what you got out what I just said?”

  “Wouldn’t you be surprised if you were in our position?” I inquired although that was only supposed to be in my head. I did not mean to say it out loud.

  “The point is,” she spoke loudly forcing the rest of us to stop laughing. “The point is the symbols indicate that they’re both from the original four families of the Sorcerer species, but we already knew that.”

  “Well, we didn’t know that Nathan was from that bloodline,” Nico added. “We knew he was from one of the original four but that was the extent of it. Kory picked him as the second in command because Uncle Alex trusted him and because he, out of all the Council member’s kids, grew up with you guys. No one knew that he was destined for the job.”

  “Wouldn’t his father also be destined for it?” Juda questioned.

  “Sure, if he wasn’t such an asshole and untrustworthy,” Juno answered. “Just because your ancestor was the original second in command does not mean you are going to be picked for the job as well.”

  “Is it similar to the Alpha spirits?” I asked looking around to see if any of them were familiar with what I was talking about. “Do the strongest get picked for the job?”

  “No, that only happens with the Alphas,” Levi said. “Second in command is picked by the Alpha and the other two are advisors. Throughout the years, more members were added to the Council, although, I’m starting to think that was a mistake.”

  “Who are the other two Council members from the original four?” I spoke again, my curiosity growing as the conversation continued. I found it all fascinating but at the same time I could not help but feel like there was more to it that we were not putting together.

  “Depends on which species you’re talking about,” Levi answered again. “For the vampires, it’s Declan, Tiana, and Amelia’s bloodline.”

  “Wait,” Luna stopped him from continuing. “You’re saying that the three that we matched with in the Compatibility Blood Ritual are from the original Council member bloodlines? Doesn’t that seem strange to anyone?”

  “It needs to be looked into further,” Nico said facing the other Alphas as he spoke. It was clearly not meant for us, but he had to know that the rest of us would find a way to get the information. Luna seemed to be upset that she was ignored but when I glanced over at her our eyes locked and I mentally told her to calm down, which she did. That was one of my favorite tricks that I had up my sleeve, but it never worked on myself. I may seem calm on the outside but on the inside my heart was racing at an uncomfortable rate.

  “Obviously, the search is cancelled for today,” Dion said as the Alphas continued to speak as if the rest of us were not there. “We can’t do anything until we know they’re okay. We can send the guards out to search but we need to stay here.”

  “Agreed,” Levi muttered. “The Council is outside wanting to be let in on what’s going on and it’s going to take all day to please them. Nico, can you give the order to send the guards out?”

  “It’s already been done,” Roman answered from behind Nova.

  “Good,” Juno spoke softly. “No one leaves the Castle until we know what happened in the ballroom. With Malachi being spotted and now this, we can’t rule out that they may be connected.”

  “They’re not connected,” Juda argued with her brother. “I get what you’re saying but I felt that energy in there and it had nothing to do with Malachi.”

  “Until we know for sure, no one leaves,” Juno repeated himself, speaking more sternly this time in Juda’s direction. Hudson was behind her and dropped his hand onto her shoulder almost like he was trying to protect her. Juno would never hurt her but Hudson had that same protective instinct that all the men in our lives have and so it was no surprise that he was trying to come to her rescue.

  Juda did not seem concerned with how Juno spoke to her. None of us were. We left Nico’s study and were met by the five Councils just like Levi had told us. They had nothing better to do but wait outside the Alpha’s door? Their lives were pathetic. The girls and I began our walk to the second floor of the Castle. The guys stayed behind until the Alphas told them they were not needed for the conversation with the Councils and then they followed us. Deni, Liam, Nero, and Jona looked like they were going to follow us but then they changed direction. It looked like they were heading for the hospital wing.

  I caught Nova at the top of the staircase looking down the hallway where her mother had locked herself in her chambers. I could tell that she wanted to go check on the woman who brought her into this world, but she stopped herself and turned back towards the rest of us. Roman wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her down the hallway towards her own chambers. Normally, we would have followed her into the room but we all needed some space. Gavin had told me that he was going to be in his chambers if I needed anything, but I quickly stopped him before he could move away from me. I motioned for him to follow me into my room because I did not want to be alone right now. I did not want to be with the girls because there would be too much talking going on, but I wanted Gavin’s company. Even if we did not say a word, his presence was enough.

  I walked over to the bed and sat down, creating an indent in the mattress. Gavin stood in the middle of the room in between the fire place and one of the couches waiting for me to tell him what to do. Our normal activities were preferable, but my mind was in the wrong place for that. I was too worried about Kota and Nathan to do anything but lie my head down on the pillow and close my eyes. I sensed Gavin understood this and gave me a look that told me to lie down and rest. He walked over to the other side of the bed and lied down next to me, expecting nothing more than to fall asleep. He did move closer to me but only so he could wrap his arm around my waist and pull me into his body. It did not take long for me to get comfortable when he was this close to me.

  “Are you okay?” he whispered into my ear as he adjusted his head on the pillow.

  “Do you think that will happen to us if we go through with the Binding Ceremony?” I asked not even realizing that that was the reason why I felt so strange. I think deep down I knew it bothered me, but I did not pay that much attention to it. My mind was playing games with me.

  “I mean, there’s only one way to find out,” he replied hesitantly.

  “It’s not funny, Gavin,” I scolded.

  “I know it’s not, but no one has the answer to your question,” he said barely moving as he spoke, unlike me, who moved even when I was sure that I was staying still.

  “We don’t have time for this to be happening,” I rambled. “We should be focusing on Malachi.”

  “We will once they wake up,” he assured me. “You’ll see. They’re going to be fine.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel better,” I rolled my eyes and I am pretty sure he knew exactly what I was doing by the way my body moved.

  “I know it doesn’t,” he laughed. “But nothing is going to make you feel better right now so I’m not going to try too hard.”

  I appreciated his honesty. It was hard to come by these days. My mind had a million thoughts run through it before I finally shut my eyes and dozed off. I hope when I wake up, this hell that we have found ourselves in will be over.

  Chapter Five

  Juda

  The hours passed by sl
owly as we waited for news about Kota and Nathan. Several times, I snuck down to the hospital wing and paced back and forth outside the double doors waiting for someone to come out and tell me how they were doing. I would have welcomed anything they could tell me, even if it was bad. I just needed to see Kota. I have grown to be just as concerned about Nathan. He was family now but even I had to admit that he had been family for a while now and not because Uncle Alex chose him for Kota. He grew up with the late Alpha’s children the same way Hudson grew up with my brothers and I. I had known Nathan my whole life and even though it was not until recently that I realized he played a much bigger part in our inner circle, I cared deeply about him. Kota was my sister, though, and it was her that I needed to see.

  “Standing out here isn’t going to do anything except frustrate you,” Juno said as he walked closer to me. I had seen him coming from the distance, Hudson and Jona at both of his sides. I chose to ignore them, hoping they would just keep walking as if I was not there. It was wishful thinking.

  “I want to be the first to know what’s going on in there when they open the door,” I told them, my eyes on the handles of the doors, waiting for them to turn.

  “Why don’t you step away for a little bit?” Jona suggested in a soothing tone.

  “Did you not hear what I just said?” I barked, my head whipping around to face him, my dark eyes piercing into his.

  “This is your third time sneaking down here and nothing has changed, Juda,” Juno reminded me of my failed attempts to get answers. “Physically, they’re fine.”

  “What about mentally?” I asked, crossing my arms against my chest and raising my left eyebrow in his direction waiting for his explanation.