Now that she was no longer under a cloaking spell, Siroos knew exactly where she was.
He opened the mind link with Faris to find out why they changed their location.
He informed him that they were at Aiko’s place. Siroos told him to ask Aiko to teleport them from their house to outside the city wall at a safe distance. He would take them away from there.
A place was arranged and Siroos flew over the chaotic city, casting a dark shadow over it as he glided away towards the designated place. On his way, he burnt the ballistae positioned on the city walls, too.
The people of Volsra watched, stunned, as the dragon flew away.
Just then, the Hawk Shifter, who had been sent by Lotus, came in range to be able to mind link Siroos. He was still miles away.
’Alpha! Were you able to locate and rescue Nissa?’ He inquired.
’Yes! What is it?’ Siroos asked.
’Princess Lotus has requested that you take Luna back to Dusartine. I think something grave has taken place,’ the Hawk Shifter informed him.
’Alright, head back. We are on our way.’ Siroos closed the mind link and wondered what could have gone wrong.
Cassandra, Faris, Aiko, Amond and their mother were waiting for Siroos when he arrived.
It was the edge of a pine forest located at the boundary of Volsra and the Kingdoms of the North. It gave them enough coverage to remain undetected.
Armond and Aiko’s mother took a step back as the dragon landed near them with a thud, surprised and shocked to witness such a mysteriously enigmatic creature again.
His desperate ruby eyes roamed towards his mate.
"What did you do, big boy?" Cassandra softly asked as she stepped closer. Placing her hand on his scaly skin, which always felt soft to her, she gently rubbed her face over his scales.
Closing her eyes while clutching the cloak to keep it shut Cassandra revelled in the feeling of being close to his mate.
The dragon rubbed his maw with her, showering his affection and love. Some of that anger and rage had disappeared now that she was back in his proximity.
Others had heard the chaos the dragon had caused in the heart of the city, and the burning stench had carried its way all the way from the posh area of the palace to the slums where Aiko lived.
"He is one of a kind," Armond exclaimed to his mother and she couldn’t help but agree. She had seen him outside the palace and knew he was the one who had set them free.
"We should leave, this place is not safe. Let’s go home," Faris suggested, glancing at his brother, who was too busy with his mate.
His own mate stood right before him but he couldn’t even bring himself to look at her.
Siroos felt Cassandra’s body going limp so he shifted at that moment and pulled Cassandra into himself. Her eyes remained closed from the fatigue. Her strength was draining; she had lost too much blood and was feeling dizzy. Siroos worriedly tightened his arms around her.
"Stay with me, Malakti. We are going home," he murmured, placing a tender kiss on her temple. She stirred but didn’t open her eyes.
He then turned to Aiko and asked.
"Can you lead us back? And would you like to come with us?" His eyes skimmed towards Aiko’s family, their eyes held this silent plea to not leave them behind.
"We have nowhere else to be. Royal soldiers know that I helped in escape because of the portal they saw in the forest. If you can accept us, we know how to pull our weight. We will contribute and won’t be a burden," she pleaded.
"I will be straightforward. I don’t trust you fully yet. But you helped us and since you are my brother’s mate and both of you have a lot to discuss. I will offer you sanctuary. No one will be able to harm you and your family under my protection."
Aiko threw an awkward glance at Faris, who stood with his lips flattened but with less hostility than she had experienced before.
"We will be obliged," Aiko answered as her mother pulled her brother closer to herself.
With a heavy heart, Aiko opened the portal. The life she had known, the life she had spent, was going to be left behind once she was going to step inside the portal, with a very slim chance of ever returning.
Siroos walked ahead with Cassandra in his arms and his eyes focused on her sleeping face. Her messy hair were studded with snowflakes, as it still fell from the murky sky.
All of her injuries were hidden from his eyes because of Faris’s cloak but he knew he would break once he would witness them.
Aiko’s mother and brother followed him; behind them was Aiko and finally, Faris followed. The portal closed after them.
It opened near the oasis right outside their dwelling. Siroos hurriedly walked out, mind linking his beta and Fownso. Others followed him but he knew that Faris and his mother would take care of accommodating them.
He rushed inside. Cassandra might have awakened her powers, but she was still in a mortal body, and it seemed she didn’t have a healing power or one which would replenish the blood lost.
"Alpha!" Ranon found him just inside the lit-up passageway. The smile seeing Cassandra in his arms was short-lived as he judged by Siroos’s expressions that she was not in a conscious state.
"Fetch Fownso, immediately." Siroos’s long legs carried him towards his chamber. The pack members bowed and made way for him, passing worried glances at the bundle in his arms, which was his mate.
They dared not interrupt him, seeing the expressions on his face.
Reaching his room, he kicked open the door and gently lay her down on his bedding. As soon as he removed his hands from around her, she groaned, trying to find his needed touch again.
"I am here," he heartily whispered, plucking the streaks of hair that had fallen over her face and gently putting them away.
Slowly he removed the cloak that covered her body, finally exposing her wounded skin to his angered eyes. The damage was worse than he had imagined.
Every spirit inside of him howled in the unimaginable pain they had been subjected to, seeing their mate in such a state.
Her neck had abrasions running horizontally as if someone had choked her and left the marks of their fingers. There were numerous puncture wounds, ranging from her neck down to her breasts, arms and then his eyes dipped to her legs.
There were ugly patches of blue, black and purple, staring back at him. The anger gurgled inside of him making the gold in his eyes turn into raging sanguine fire.
Slowly, he traced his fingertips on the wounds on her legs, and those creases on her forehead melted away; she relaxed under his touch.
Her mate’s touch.
A knock on the door had him adjusting the tiny piece of cloth that barely covered her body and he grabbed his sheet and covered her with it before allowing Fownso to enter alongside his mother.