41 Chapter 41: Whom to believe

Zack's POV

Zack watched as Aileen fussed around his mate. Her usually arrogant appearance was replaced by a more tired one. The woman who was always seen with power and elegance radiating off of her, looked devoid of life at the moment. She was like a shell without a soul, moving around mechanically around the room, randomly picking things from one place and depositing it in another. He himself felt exhausted beyond comprehension. But seeing the old woman look so distraught was making it hard for him to control his emotions.

"But it's impossible. How can it? He must be lying…" Aileen went on blabbering to herself absentmindedly.

"I feel fine Aileen. Please stop worrying." Elize pleaded, struggling to turn towards the old woman.

Zack could see that even this slight movement was difficult for her. He quickly bent down and slid his hands underneath her torso. Exerting the slightest amount of pressure, he gently turned her towards him. Elize looked at him thankfully. He tried his best to smile back, but he simply couldn't. His heart was aching, seeing her frail condition.

Everything happened too quick. When Elize first said that she was not able to perform any spell, he simply believed her explanation that it was because of her exhaustion. But with each passing hour, he could see that she was starting to grow paler. The change was so minute, and Elize's attitude towards her own health so dismissive, that if Zack hadn't insisted on checking with the head witch, they wouldn't have known what was happening to her. By the time Aileen had reached the pack house, Elize was not even able to stand up on her own. Zack was panicking, but he tried his best not to let it show.

"Zack please tell Aileen to stop fussing around. She's making my head hurt." Elize complained, putting a hand over her eyes.

Zack sighed. "I'm sorry baby. Do you want to take rest?" He asked, gently stroking her hair.

"No. I want you guys to stop worrying. I'm fi-"

"You! You stupid girl! How could you be so careless?!" Aileen shouted, coming to stand near the bed.

Zack flinched. The woman looked terrifying when she was annoyed. And right now, she seemed extremely annoyed. He felt sorry for Elize. But he couldn't blame her. Even he was annoyed at his mate for her rash decision. Somehow she always managed to attract trouble to herself. The only reason that he held back from scolding her was because of her depleting health. He just couldn't bring himself to even give her a stern glance at this moment, especially when he failed to protect her.

"I swear I didn't know. How am I to know what kind of effects a harmless looking sparkly rock could have?" Elize retorted.

"Exactly! This is why you are supposed to stay away from all things magical! Because you know nothing about them!" Aileen said, pointing an angry finger at Elize.

Elize huffed. This made the older witch angrier. She turned to Zack, looking at him with accusing eyes.

"Where were you when this stupid girl made all these plans? And why was I not aware of the resurfacing of the Tohar Sehlah?"

Zack looked down in guilt. If he knew that Elize would be able to sneak out of the Beta's mansion, he would have kept her with him. He would have made sure that she wouldn't be able to escape. He was confused at how she managed to convince Alex about the same.

As far as the stone was concerned, he didn't know anything about the resurfacing of this mysterious stone. Although he had heard various legends concerning it, he had never believed in its existence. It seems that his grandfather hid too many things from him. An image of the old man's face against Elize's flashed before his eyes. Zack grunted in annoyance. Why did he fail to see it before?

"I'm sorry."He replied. "I didn't know anything about its existence. No one in the pack did."

"Why am I not surprised?" Aileen said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Zack asked, confused.

"Several years back, Alpha Li appeared on the Island out of nowhere. No one knew who he was and how he was able to break through the barrier of the Island. Within a week, he had the wolves in the palm of his hand. Every one of them believed in him when he claimed to have the power to bring out the lost Tohar Sehlah. Our kind knew better than to trust him." She paused and sat down on the chair next to the bed. With a sigh, she continued, "He somehow convinced the wolves that all young witches on the Island,below the age of eleven had to be sacrificed in order for the stone to resurface. Obviously, we had to protect our young ones from those people with evil intentions. After all, we witches don't marry, all we had was our kids. They were our only family. Hence, war broke out between the two factions. Your father, a smart man I'd say, saw through your grandfather's plot. He and his mate convinced some among the wolves to turn against your grandfather."

The load of information that was suddenly pushed against him, made his heartbeat quicker. Everything that he ever believed about his family was being destroyed with each word that the older witch uttered. At that moment, the only thing that came out of his mouth was, "My father didn't have a mate."

"Is that what your mother told you now?" Aileen asked with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Zack asked, his voice breaking.

"Your father had a mate, the current Beta's sister. She was only seventeen years old when the war broke out. Sadly, she was caught and tortured to death by Alpha Li. Poor thing. In that grief, your father fought so hard, that the old man was almost killed. To everyone's dismay, more wolves suddenly appeared from somewhere and rescued the man. The war hence went on for more than three years. Both sides grew weary of the war. Finally, Alpha Li proposed a truce on the condition that your father got married his daughter." The head witch said, leaning back against the chair.

"I don't believe this." He said, unable to process it all.

The old woman's confidence was getting to him. How was he supposed to deal with all this on his own? His hands started shaking slightly from being nervous. All of a sudden, cold hands wrapped itself around his own. Zack looked at Elize. She had a weak smile on her face.

'You're not alone. I'm with you.' Elize said through her mind link.

Zack nodded. 'Thank you.' He replied.

Aileen's voice brought him back to the conversation. She continued, "You will have to. If you are not convinced, you may ask your mother. She'd know of it since what happened ten years ago should be a fresh memory in her mind as well. Your grandfather tricked your father into marrying his daughter only for his personal gains. When the man resurfaced again on the Island ten years ago, he tried to instigate the wolves once more for finding the stone. Your mother betrayed your father and locked him in a cellar so that he would stay out of her father's way. The entire pack rallied behind their Luna, ignorant of their Alpha's fate to fight against the witches. But this time, we were prepared. By the time your father broke out of the cellar and came to the war zone, half the wolves were already dead. He fell on my feet and pleaded for the lives of his pack mates. I agreed, hence the Island was divided into two."

"No! This can't be true! You lie! My mother would never do that to father!" Zack shouted, unable to control himself. If what the witch said was true, then that would make his mother a traitor. She would have been exiled along with Alpha Li. But as far as he knew, no such thing happened. His mother loved his father dearly, even though they were not mates. Or did everyone lie to him? Who should he believe? Zack thought desperately.

"I don't think she had a choice. She was a good Luna, I'd give her that much. She just trusted her father way too much." Aileen replied, with a shrug.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Zack got up from the bed and walked towards the entrance of the room. His highly sensitive nose picked up a familiar scent. He knew who it was even before he opened the door.

"Zack!" A high pitched voice exclaimed seeing him.

A bunch of emotions tugged at his heart on seeing the beautiful woman standing outside the room. For once in his life, he wished that she would go back to where she came from.

"Mother." Zack acknowledged, with a tight smile.