Traces of Elijah: The Path of the King

Chapter 18

After arriving home with everyone, I look to my beaten up husband and just cup his cheeks, gently caressing his skin with my thumbs, just grazing over the cuts and bruises. "I swear I'll kill him for this..."

"You can't kill him..." Elijah says, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Why the hell not?" I ask with a frustrated expression.

"You kill him, it only proves that he was right....that you'll just kill to wipe your problems away and that is not true in the slightest...you are not a killer. You told me you wanted to be a fair and just king so, be that. Killing him is too easy of a sentence for him and an easy way out of this mess for us. We will all fight for you, for this family but we leave Liam alive and then we detain him. We'll lock him up for life. He deserves to live with the pain he's caused...even when we didn't think his nephew did."

"You...are right. Then what do we do for Rowan...? He's clearly been traumatized by whatever happened between them...almost like he had Stockholm syndrome or something...he must've really messed him up..."

"If you want to know...I'll tell you what happened between us..." Rowan approaches us, more than likely hearing our conversation.

"Only if you're ready..."I pat his shoulder. He nods.

"We should sit." He tells us, directing us to the living room. I snuggle up with Elijah, trying to be careful of his injuries as Rowan sits at the loveseat across from us. "After remembering everything fully...back when I was 18, I of course began to feel everything in full...discovering I was not an alpha... I had fight in me like one...fought like hell but...something in me was off...like I was lesser than the rest. I smelled too sweet...much like you Josilus. I couldn't stop any rogue alphas from having their way...in a way I grew numb to it...it became like a drug I couldn't escape from, despite hating it with everything in me...I craved pleasure no matter where it came from when I was in heat and it happened often when so many rogue Alphas were mating...Liam took notice of my insatiable need...one night most of the group had gone on a hunting venture...I was one of the few who stayed back. I was in rough shape, practically screaming because being unmated and untouched for days made me feel like I was burning from the inside out. I was writhing on the ground, tears just flooding my eyes and there he was...he picked me up, just his very touch soothed my cries...he held me...I never expected that from him, the man who murdered so many in front of us, including our parents...I wanted to hate him, so badly I wanted to take the opportunity to tear his throat out but when he looked at me in my eyes...I believed he cared...so I kissed him that night...he kissed me back...next thing I knew we were-"

"Okay, okay, I get the picture...you slept with him..." Elijah cut his brother off, clearly still a little pissed off about the whole thing.

"I did...and that same night, he claimed me...so that no one else could touch me again...I was his. I stayed by his side...there was a point where I believed we were in love, he treated me with kindness but then I heard news of you, Elijah...having babies, getting married to the prince, no less. I remembered who I was and I realized how insane the whole thing was. I was trapped with him for years. I let myself be content with that. I broke myself apart to be free of him and find you when I came to my senses. I needed to be with my baby brother, the strong Alpha and king consort. I wanted to meet my nieces...reality had finally set in. After being jumped out of whatever toxic relationship I had with him, I saw it so clearly. I hoped I wouldn't have to see him again...but now he won't leave...I'm scared he'll try to make me leave with him, force me back. I still have those feelings for him but they're not real...they're an illusion- a distraction from the truth of it all. I was still traumatized from the whole thing so I asked a witch to help me forget who he was but I guess the spell was a little faulty because I remember it all now."