Aleigha waited at a safe distance from her sister and Jada's homes. She knew that both dwellings would be watched. She couldn't go there. She didn't want to get either one of them into trouble.

From a distance, she could see Council Leader Vorik's anger at her escaping. She decided to see if she could figure out what was going on. Keeping the cloak firmly in place, she turned and headed for the east gate, where her mate was known to be.

As Aleigha was weaving around dwellings, she could see the team of guards searching each home for her. It was mainly her friend's homes, but they included all the surrounding dwellings. She noticed that they didn't bother searching Medic Kaul's or Vorik's home. Not that they would search Vorik's, but still. Their main focus was on her sister, Jada, Mia, and Hope. They were the ones who were her friends.

Aleigha knew that none of the others would know about her escape. The search for her alone would tell them she escaped. None of them would have known beforehand.

As she approached the east gate, she saw Merrick, Keirn, and Rask huddled in a circle, speaking quietly. She didn't think that Merrick and Rask were friends with Keirn. Keirn was Seeran's friend, not theirs.

Standing at a distance, Aleigha listened to their conversation as best as she could.

"She escaped the cells," Keirn whispered. "That bitch somehow escaped the cells." He was in disbelief; a thin layer of anger seeped with every word.

Aleigha's brow lifted. That was a new word for Ramesians. They didn't use that word. She didn't even think it was in their vocabulary. She wondered who the influencer was to teach Keirn the word 'bitch.'

Moving her gaze to Merrick, Aleigha noticed he didn't care that Keirn was talking about her with such hostility. Nor was Rask. Both seemed to agree with Keirn's outburst.

"She would have been executed at the end of the moon cycle if she hadn't. We need to find her. She needs to be executed!" Rask hissed. She watched as Merrick and Keirn nodded in agreement.

Aleigha gritted her teeth. They wanted her dead. Orik was right. Rask was part of it.

With great effort not to allow her tears to fall, she strained to listen, trying to figure out why.

"She may come home. If she does, I'll call the guards and have her executed immediately. There will be no chance of her getting away that way." Merrick growled.

Aleigha flinched at his words. She didn't understand why he hated her so much. It had to be more than her leaving for the camp. She was missing something. She needed to know what it was.

"She may come to see Niki. If she does, I'll call the guards. You're the only one of the three of us that can order an immediate execution. I'll call them first, then call you so you can give the order." Rask assured him.

Keirn smiled in satisfaction. "I told you, Vorik won't do it. He may act like she means nothing to him, but I know that's not true. She protected him in the tunnels. She even gave the oath to take a bullet or blaster for him. They have to be inappropriate. Even your mate bond is gone. Inappropriate relations with a non-mate cancels out the mate bond."

"Alice's mate bond is still intact. Maybe it's one-sided?" Rask asked. His demeanor changed instantly before he shot out, "It doesn't matter. She will die for disrespecting the bond. It's against the law. The penalty is death."

Their words hit her like a ton of bricks. She realized that it was Keirn that started this. The way he watched her when Vorik showed up. He's the one that went to Merrick. Rask being one of Merrick's best friends, was told. Rask is helping her own mate kill her, all because Keirn assumed the wrong reason for her behavior that night. All three will die. She couldn't take their heads; it would be obvious who did it. She needed to use a way that she was not known for using.

Rushing back to Jada's home, she went up the steps and pressed the call button. She waited for Orik to open the door to their small dwelling. Seeing no one, they knew Aleigha was there. He and Jada exited the dwelling and sat on the porch drinking something that resembled sweet tea. She silently walked around them and into their open door, whispering to Jada as she passed her.

"I'm going inside. We need to talk. I know why I was arrested," Aleigha whispered as silently as she could.

Orik downed his tea, then took Jada's cup from her. He put his arm around his mate. "Let's go inside," he told her gently.

Jada got up and went slowly to the door, giving Aleigha time to enter if she hadn't already. They stepped inside, the door sliding smoothly closed behind them.

"Let's go to the bedroom," Aleigha suggested in a whisper. "Less chance of them eavesdropping. I'm going to stay cloaked, just in case."

Orik guided Jada into the bedroom. The door closed behind them. Orik quickly closed the windows, making sure there was privacy.

Picking Jada up, he set her on the bed and lay next to her, cuddling her. To anyone seeing, that's what he was doing. He was, in fact, leaning toward the chair that was next to the bed so he could hear what Jada was saying.

Aleigha, sitting in the chair, leaned toward them and quietly started to explain. "I went to the east gate. I found Merrick, Rask, and Keirn whispering in a circle. I listened to what they were saying. It was Keirn who turned me in. When I came back from the camp, I had to wake Keirn up to watch the tunnels in case I was followed. I was worried that the guys from the camp would follow me in and hurt someone. He had me call Vorik on his comm link. After Vorik arrived, we ended up going into the tunnels without guards. I tried to get them to get some, but Vorik said there was no time. Without guards to protect him, I had to protect him with a palm shield. I even gave an oath that I would take a bullet or blaster for him, but I couldn't protect him and fight these guys at the same time. Keirn saw everything that was said as inappropriate to the mate bond. I wasn't being inappropriate. I was protecting the leader of the people. I also thought he was my friend. I protect my friends. Keirn went to Merrick. I'm not sure who convinced Rask, but he wants me dead too. If I'm seen, any of them will call the guard and then Merrick. So it's Merrick, Rask, and Keirn that want me to be executed. They have decided that as soon as I'm caught, Merrick is going to order an immediate execution."

"If that happens, then no one can stop it. Not even Council Leader Vorik," Orik whispered. "What about the mate bond?"

"It's gone. I watched it fade when he came to the isolation dorm. I saw hatred in his eyes. The spark of the bond faded as I watched. I know it's not from being inappropriate. It has to be because of the time I was away from him. It was too long."

Orik thought about it for a moment. "Or his heart rejected you because of what Keirn told him. If he even believes you were inappropriate, then it could sever the bond. Even if you never did anything wrong. Keirn rejected Jada. The bond was severed because of the rejection."

"I saw the bond fade, too," she whispered. Then looked up at Orik. "I should thank him for that," she said, kissing him gently. "I wouldn't have you if he hadn't rejected me."

"How can I make it where he can't have me executed?" Aleigha asked, not sure what to do.

"There are technically two ways. One is to kill him, but you would be executed for murder. The only way to avoid all of it is to find your second chance, mate. Finding your second chance mate will cancel out his ability to have you killed for going against the mate bond." Orik explained. "Unless, of course, you can prove publicly that he is the one who disrespected the mate bond. Since they can't use the serum on you, you would have to have hard proof."

"I don't know if he disrespected it. All I know is that I never went against it," she grumbled, frowning. Of course, they couldn't see her frown, but it was what she did on reflex.

"It doesn't matter if you did or not. If he believes it, he can have you executed for it. Most don't understand that the breaking of a mate bond would affect both sets of mates. Alice's bond is still firmly in place. This tells me your relationship with him has not passed into inappropriate." He explained. "It would be easy to say that it was only one-sided. Although it doesn't work that way, he can make people believe it."

Aleigha could feel her face paling. She swallowed hard before speaking. "That's what Keirn said. He said Alice's bond was still there, so it was one-sided. He said it didn't matter that her bond hadn't been broken; I still needed to die. That's what he said about me. He said I needed to die."

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