The Beast's Possession

**Aife pov**

Leaving them both behind, I felt at ease. No matter how their conversation ended, at least they would talk.

Zion and Kala had some insane chemistry, as if they both were surrounded by magnetic fields that pulled them to each other.

I had never really witnessed a true mate bond and if it was anything closely to theirs, I wanted that too. Not to be taken as someone salty or bitter, because I was truly happy for them, but I too wanted the same thing. Maybe one day.

Sadly, I had to live with the fact that Bane couldn't be it. I had fallen for him, hard, but he wasn't blessed even with the idea of ever meeting his mate, so I had to get down from the cloud of dreams and face reality. But honestly, even if we weren't meant to be in the Goddess's plans, I believed that we were meant to be with each other anyway. If not her, it was the fate that brought us together.

"Luna Aife!" Someone shouted, catching me off guard.

I looked in the direction of the voice and smiled at the guard who was already approaching me. "Good day to you too, Mike. How are you doing?"

For some reason, I managed to memorize the names of most guards and I was so happy that I did.. Whenever I addressed those men by their names, their faces broke out in bright smiles and a twinkle appeared in their eyes.

I wasn't sure why it meant so much to them that I knew the names, but I assumed it had to be connected to something that had happened in the pack long before my arrival.

Anyway, I was glad my attitude could brighten their day.

"I'm good, thank you for asking, my Luna." He spoke once he stopped right in front of me.

One thing I learned about these guards was that they didn't approach anyone for no reason or to simply have a chat. They were busy men with a lot of responsibilities so they valued every minute of the day they had.

So, Mike didn't have to tell me anything for me to know that something was off.

I raised my eyebrow and waited until he would get to the point. Since he still attempted to create some small talk, I instantly realized that something was terribly wrong.

"When we had that football match, you won't believe it, the whole thing was so wild, we couldn't stop laughing and then-” I raised my hand to stop him from rambling even more.

"Mike, as much as I appreciate your funny stories about some random occasions, I would prefer it if you got straight to the point. What happened? And don't lie. Oh, and for the love of the moon Goddess, don't try to sugar coat your words again. Give me information as it is, I promise I can handle it."

His eyes darted everywhere but at me when he muttered something under his breath, clearly not too keen to come clean.

Why he approached me if he wasn't ready to share the information was beyond me. However, since we had gotten this far and I knew something was off, I didn't want to back off until I learned the truth he was trying to hide. "Mike, please. I can't hear you when you mumble like that. You came here to find me for a reason, am I correct?"

He shifted his weight from one leg to another in a nervous manner and whispered a weak, barely audible, "yes, you are my Luna."

Since when was it fair that highly trained men, well-known warriors and guards, acted like this? Wasn't it easier to just spit it all out and be done with it?

"Okay, now that we established it, I think you are ready to tell me everything. We are alone, nobody's close enough to hear our conversation so just spit it out."

Mike stole a quick glance at me and instantly looked away. "I know I need to tell you, but I also don't want to. Honestly, I have no idea why I came to find you in the first place. I should have tried to reach the Alpha first and discuss this with him before I tell you anything. Damn it, I screwed up again!"

I took a step closer and placed my hand on his shoulder to calm Mike a little. "I appreciate the worry you clearly have for me, but Mike, there's no need to try to reach Bane right now. He is busy with whatever he has to do and while he's gone, I'm the one who's in charge. And Zion, of course. However, whatever can be said to Zion should be told to me too. Let's stop wasting time, okay?"

Still avoiding eye contact, Mike sucked in a sharp breath and slowly exhaled before he spoke up. "The witch in the cells, she requested to speak to you. She wants her arms back, but we, ehem, have an issue with that part."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What do you mean when you say she wants her arms back? Are you implying we have a witch in the cells and she doesn't have her actual arms or is this a bad joke?"

"Oooh," Mike dragged, finally looking at me. "Beta Zion didn't tell you anything about that detail?"

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms in front of my chest, "not that I can recall anything about missing limbs, honestly."

Mike's eyes widened a fraction and he quickly cleared his throat, hiding his initial surprise. "She attacked Beta Zion, but his mate took the blow. After she did, Beta thought she died, so as a punishment, Beta took that woman's arms. We can't give them back because Beta Zion might have ordered us to burn them."

Poor Mike's cheeks burned bright red as he looked all sorts out of place. Zion could have told me, so at least I wouldn't look so stupid hearing everything from a guard's mouth.

"Okay," I blew out a breath. "What's done, it's done. Not that we can build new arms from ashes, right." I brought my hand to my face and quickly pinched the bridge of my nose. "I guess I need to head to the cells and talk to the star of the show in person, since she so formally requested to see me."

"Well, that's exactly why I came here to look for you, Luna. You see, I did bring the information, doing what I promised her, but I also told the witch that it's not likely she would meet you after everything she has done."

Mike had a point, but no matter how smart he sounded, I still wanted to go. That woman could tell me why she and her darn Coven targeted me, as well as maybe share some information about Kala.

Now that Kala was a part of our pack, regardless of her future decisions, I truly cared for her and wanted to get to know her better too.

"I'll go,” I announced, leaving no room for unnecessary discussions.

Mike didn't have a chance to protest as I headed towards the main building and quickly slid inside.

Then, I headed straight to the cells and made my way down, greeting every man I met in my way.

Once I reached the bottom step, the guards in the cells greeted me and asked why I arrived, playing dumb.

They were awful liars and even worse actors. The surprised looks on their faces when I mentioned the witch wanting to see me were worse than facial expressions in bad comedies from twenty years ago.

But alas, while they didn't want to see me anywhere near that woman, I didn't give them the power to decide for me and asked the guards to show me where she was being held.

It felt like the men were dragging time on purpose, but eventually, I stood in front of a cell and the guards backed away to give us some privacy.

I tried to notice the witch inside the cell, but she had hidden herself from curious gazes, so I waited for her to acknowledge my presence. And when she did, a few words were enough to leave me speechless, "well, well, well, isn't that the lost child herself? How does it feel to live a lie?"