Enslaved To The Alphas-Chapter 285: Prison

Emira turned back and sat against the wall, her shoulders resting against the cold stone as she watched Shiqi walk out of the place without looking back even once. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The sound of her footsteps faded slowly, until there was nothing left but silence. Emira did not call after her or try to talk her into letting her out. There was no point in wasting her breath...

Her eyes glittered as she watched her go away. She would have forgiven Shiqi, for everything she did to her. But she would never forgive her for what she did to her mother.

As for whether Shiqi believed the truth about the Aron loving her, it was upto her...Shiqi might be able to fool anyone else with her laughter and denial, but she would never be able to fool herself.

Emira knew it. And deep down, so did Shiqi. To Shiqi, all that mattered was Aron’s love.

Emira’s lips lifted in a bitter smile. She didn’t know what would bring more suffering for Shiqi, knowing that Aron had loved her and had done everything for her sake only to be destroyed at her hand or to confirm that he had never loved her. Even better, knowing that he had loved her but her actions had changed it into hatred.

She sighed.... But his love for Shiqi was indeed the truth. Aron had always loved Shiqi. That was why he had been careful around her. Why he had always kept things proper when it came to her. He had never crossed any line, never allowed even a hint of scandal to touch her name. He had protected her reputation as if it were something fragile and precious.

Of course, Shiqi had never known this and neither had Emira... All this, she had just realized.

And perhaps Emira would have continued to remain unaware as well, if Emira had not seen the brooch on her just now.

Her gaze lowered slightly as she let out a quiet sigh.

It was strange, how knowledge carried over from a previous lifetime could suddenly become so clear.

Back then, she had seen the same design in Aron’s drawings by chance when they had been designing the home...

Even then, she had not understood what it meant. She had assumed the brooch was just another gift, no different from the ring Aron had given her.

This time, however, the stone set into the brooch had answered everything. Why Aron had lost to Shiqi and instead been captured when he could have just as easily killed her. He’d accepted his death and hers and countless others, because that man could not bear to kill his precious love.

When it came to the use of precious stones in the dark arts, nothing was ever meaningless. Every stone carried its own meaning and purpose. Some were meant for protection. Some for binding and some for love that could not be spoken aloud.

The filigree beneath the stone, at the very center of the brooch, had been shaped like a heart, each delicate line carefully intertwined with the next. The design by itself was not striking. It was simple. Almost easy to overlook. But that was exactly why it mattered. Because Aron had chosen to inlay it with black obsidian.

Obsidian meant love.

Not a light or fleeting kind of love, but one born deep within the heart. A love that did not cool easily. A love that stayed hidden beneath the surface, waiting. Just like obsidian itself, formed from the lava of a volcano, shaped by heat and pressure until it became something dark, sharp, and enduring.

Emira gave a bitter smile. He had given her the black onyx.. which meant a promise. And her, he had given her his love... And in the end he had broken the promise for his love. He had let her die at the hands of his love...

And he had let many others die too.. Emira’s eyes narrowed. Both Aron and Shiqi... were not good. They deserved each other and as much pain as they could give each other.

Just as she was thinking about how to handle the future, her thoughts were broken by Ryn’s voice as the girl asked, "You are the Dark Master’s bride? And the Great Witch loved the Dark Master, and he loved her back?"

Emira turned her head to look at her friend. She saw the mix of excitement and horror flickering in Ryn’s eyes, as if she did not know whether to be thrilled or terrified.

"We’ve been kidnapped and imprisoned," Emira said flatly, "and all you can think of is gossip the moment you wake up?"

Ryn grinned. "Actually," she said, "I woke up a little earlier. I heard you talking about the Dark Master loving her. I just didn’t dare let you know I was awake." She paused, then leaned closer. "So? Are you really the Dark Master’s bride? Did you really bring that man back? And is the Grand Witch really the one he loved?"

Emira looked at her friend then, her expression unreadable for a few moments while she wondered what to tell her. But then, another part of the sentence suddenly echoed in her head... The Dark Master loved the Grand Witch?

"That was the Grand Witch?" Emira asked sharply. So, all this while Shiqi had been hiding in plain sight? She had been honored as the Grand Witch by the wolves, the most respected and revered figure among the wolf clans was Shiqi?

Emira laughed bitterly then. The woman who had caused all the destruction really had re written the entire story so that she was the hero and the rest of them were all villains. Shiqi really had been much more poweful than they could have imagined...

When Emira remained silent, Ryn had already started looking around the place where they had been kept. And after a few minutes, exclaimed," They’ve brought us to the pack’s prison?"

Emira raised an eyebrow, "This is the pack prison? Nobody uses it these days of course, so we have been thinking of changing. No wonder Councilman Aldren brought us here. No one comes here..."