Capítulo 51: Chapter 51: Estranged Mate Number Two
Ravyn POV
Jude looked so handsome, his hair loose around his shoulders, wearing a clean robe. He was so strong, commanding, and bold.
Ravyn reached out her hands to her mate, her love. "How did you get away?"
Energized and hopeful, with a huge smile on his face, Dane rattled his chains. "Can you get us loose?"
Lilia smiled with joy. "I should have known you'd escape! Where is Daxius?"
"He's no longer your concern."
At first, she thought she must have imagined what Jude said. A glance at Dane and Lilia, whose mouths hung open, told the ghastly tale.
Jude stalked to where Dane sat shackled and loomed over him. "My master has plans for him. And for all of you."
Dane glared up at him. "Jude, I'm in no mood for jokes."
Lilia offered hopefully, "Maybe he's just pretending so he can help us escape."
Jude laughed without humor. "Why would I want to do that? You're all far too valuable. And if you're wise, you'll join Master Bracknell, as I have."
A sick feeling filled Ravyn. "Jude … I'm your mate."
First Daxius, now Jude? What horror was this? She reached through the mate bond …
Maybe she was too weak, because she couldn't feel anything from him. Oh, she could smell his fresh scent, but the mate bond was different.
He stared down at her with his deep brown eyes as hard as polished wood. "That's why I'll offer the chance to serve the master first. She approved."
Ravyn spoke from the heart. "Jude, please, let us go. If you love me, you must know that I can NEVER serve Melisande. She's betrayed everything I believe in. Everything I hold dear."
Cyan had to pretend to serve Hades, and it nearly destroyed him. Although Ravyn admired his courage, she couldn't make herself call Melisande "Master."
"And me, too." Lilia stared at him with vivid violet eyes. "Jude, you have to fight! You can't let her enslave you. Dig deep and take back your mind!"
Dane roared and bit his chains, scorching his mouth. "JUDE! Remember, pack and family forever. FREE US!"
With a growl that made Ravyn's heart sink, Jude marched over and grabbed Dane's chin, yanking his head upward … then smacked him across the face.
The heartbreak threatened to split Ravyn in two. She felt the blow as if Jude had struck her.
Dane cried out in pain and slumped over.
Jude was merciless. "Never. Do. That. Again."
Ravyn cried out from the heart. "Jude, NO! Goddess, no. This isn't you."
Rotating, he might as well have been an orc machine for all the emotion he displayed. "I don't want to strike a woman–but I will."
A woman?
"That's all I am to you? Just a woman?"
His eyes bored into her. "You agreed to be my mate. You are mine."
"This isn't what I agreed to!" Anger surged through her. "How can you hurt Dane? Your best friend and your son-in-law?"
She had to get through to him. To make him remember who he was. She sent a flood of fear and love through the bond …
It was GONE.
No!
It couldn't be. It just couldn't. It was impossible.
The hole in her heart felt even worse than when Daxius had vanished.
* * * * *
Lilia POV
Jude. Strong, tough, but never needlessly cruel Jude. Secretly tender to his loved ones, and a compassionate leader.
Melisande had bewitched him. How?
Lilia knew better than most that high-level witches could do magic that made everything else look like parlor tricks. However, moral and responsible witches never used those powers–they knew what kind of damage they could do.
How could Jude hurt Dane and treat Ravyn as a possession?
How could he put that look on her mother's face? Eyes bright with tears, face twisted with pain, trembling lips. Her mother looked just as wretched and woebegone as when Daxius disappeared. Moon Goddess! She couldn't go through that again with her mother.
She yelled at the top of her lungs, "WAKE UP, JUDE!"
The stones in the wall would be more responsive. Jude just stared at her. "This would be so much simpler if you just cooperatde."
"Jude." Dane exposed his throat. "As a father-in-law, as a friend, as a fellow Alpha … I'm begging you to resist whatever control Melisande has over you. After everything we've overcome, don't become her puppet. Fighting in Sinsworth House, risking our lives in that cursed temple, fooling Hades in that mountain village …" He laughed heartily. "Do you remember how Lilia looked, on all fours, sniffing your tail and letting you sniff her behind? That was the first time you met. You loved her from that moment on."
A flicker of emotion passed over Jude's face, but then the stony stare returned. "The only reason you're chained up here in this room and not dead is because the master knows you're special to me, and useful to her. Unlike all the others."
A shiver running through her body made Lilia's teeth chatter. "The others?"
Ravyn moaned, crushed. "Jude … why can't I feel you? Where is the bond?"
NO!
Melisande had somehow severed the bond! That could kill Ravyn and Jude. But it was impossible! From what Lilia knew, only death could break the bond.
But Melisande could possibly mask the bond with magic. Just as Hades had seized control of Cyran's wolf, Naomi's wolf, and every wolf of every shifter who fell under Hades' spell.
Shifters themselves could mask the bond if they needed to. A senior witch like Melisande would be able to do it, too–especially if the Dark Goddess was feeding her poisoned power.
Blocking the bond was bad news.
* * * * *
Dane POV
Of all the rotten things Melisande had done, blocking the bond between Ravyn and Jude topped the list. She would pay for that.
Duffy would get help. And Dane would slice his own arm off to get free. Only one problem. He was so weak he was going to pass out any minute.
"Jude," he growled. "Whatever she's done to you, snap out of it."
Jude's smack stung his face and his heart. Next, Jude rained blows on Dane's arms and chest, savagely pummeling him. "BE QUIET."
Dane's mouth smacked shut and Jude ceased his punishment immediately.
Why? Why be merciful? Maybe Jude just did this for show, in case Melisande was watching?
Dane's wolf, Brodie, nagged him not to give up.
Ravyn agreed. "This isn't who you are, Jude. You're stronger than this."
Suspicion shot through the bond. Lilia wasn't buying Jude's enslaved act. Jude was one of the toughest Alphas and one of the most stubborn people that Dane knew. Maybe this could be a ruse to help them escape.
If so, Jude was playing his part a little too well!
Ravyn began to sing,
"Our mines contain the glories of so much more than gold,
We are pouring out of mountains deep where our helms and arms are stored,
But the power in our hearts is greater than our broadswords,
Dwarf strength is marching on…"
Dane blinked. Why in the world would Ravyn sing a dwarf war song at a time like this?
Oh.
Jude and Ravyn were both crazy about dwarf opera, and music had magic that could move hearts and minds in a way that all the talking and fighting in the world couldn't do.
He hummed along and glanced meaningfully at Lilia. "That's a beautiful song, Ravyn. Why don't we all sing?"
Ravyn belted out the next verse despite her exhaustion and pain, and Lilia and Ravyn sang along even though they didn't know any of the words.
"Glory, glory, hail to our kingdom,
Glory, glory, hail to our kingdom,
Glory, glory, hail to our kingdom,
Dwarf strength is marching on
In the beauty of the mountains Berin was born in the dark
With a glory in his breastplate that strengthens you and me
He forged all our broadswords, let us use them to fight free,
Dwarf strength is marching on!"
If you changed a few words, it could easily be a shifter war song. "LOUDER," he said. "Lilia, I can't hear you! Jude, sing with us."
Ravyn opened her mouth to sing the next verse … and Jude's growl silenced her.
"ENOUGH."
He sounded and smelled like ice.
Jude marched over to Lilia and fastened a silver collar on her even though she tried to jerk her head away. He unlocked her chains. "The master wants to see you."
"NO," Dane growled, kicking the stone so hard he'd probably feel it tomorrow. "NO. Take me, Jude. Leave her alone. Take me."
"Or me," Ravyn cried, tears staining her robe. "Don't do this, Jude. Don't hurt her."
Jude's cold eyes made his heart shatter. "One more word out of either of you and I'll muzzle you. If you want her to live, be quiet."
Dane could only watch helplessly as his friend and father-in-law dragged Lilia out of their prison. Ravyn's sobs were the only sound after the door slammed shut.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
AmandaMadden
AmandaMadden In writing the dwarf battle song, I did do a takeoff on "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" by Julia Ward Howe.
Jude, enslaved by magic? Cyran was bewitched by Hades, so it's possible to put an Alpha under a spell. Will Ravyn's love and Jude's Alpha strength be enough to break the enchantment?
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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