Chapter 87

Chapter 87
Jesse

I've been sitting on this bedpost for almost an hour now. Maybe more. It’s hard to tell time when all I had been doing was staring at the same four walls and listening to nothing but my own breathing. 

My wrists were starting to throb from the iron cuffs, and the silence was honestly starting to drive me a little crazy.

Maddox had stormed out in a rage a while ago, and I was just left here to rot in his fancy room. I needed to get out. I couldn't just sit here and wait for him to come back and try to convince me I’m some dead guy's ghost again.

There had to be guards outside, right? I mean, Maddox would have to be the world's biggest idiot to leave me alone without someone watching the door, especially since I already escaped once today. 

I took a deep breath and decided to test my luck.

"Hey!" I shouted, my voice sounding a bit raspy. 

"Is anyone out there? Open this door!"

I waited. For a second, nothing happened. Then, I heard the heavy shuffle of boots on the other side.

"Quiet in there," a deep voice said through the wood. "The Alpha said you stay put."

"I don't want to be in here!" I yelled back, leaning as far toward the door as the chains would let me. 

"I want to go back to my own room. This place smells like... well, it smells like him. It’s gross. Just move me back to the guest wing."

"No!" the guard said. Short and sweet. Great.
I sighed and sat back. Okay, the direct approach was a failure. Time to try something else. I looked down at my red, chafed skin under the metal.

"My wrists!" I called out, trying to sound like I was in actual pain. 

"The cuffs are too tight! They’re cutting off my circulation. If my hands turn blue and fall off, Maddox is going to be furious with you. Do you really want to be the reason his 'precious gift' is lopsided?"

No answer. I could hear them whispering, but the door stayed shut. These guys were tougher than the last ones. Or maybe they were just more scared of Maddox than they were of me.

I needed to dig deeper. I had to use Maddox’s own insanity against them. If they believed his crazy stories, then maybe I could use that to my advantage. It felt slimy even thinking about it, but I was desperate.

"You guys know what he thinks, right?" I said, my voice dropping to a fake, serious tone. 

"He told me everything. He thinks I’m the reincarnation of Gale. He thinks the Moon Goddess sent me back to him. Now, ask yourself something... how is the Alpha going to react when he finds out you ignored Gale’s wishes? When he hears that you let me sit here in pain?"

I heard the whispering stop. I had their attention now.

"Think about it," I continued, pushing my luck. 

"If I really am who he says I am, then I’m basically the most important person in this pack. If I tell him you were mean to me, or that you refused to help me when I was hurting... what do you think he’ll do to you? He’s not exactly a 'forgive and forget' kind of Alpha, is he?"

I could practically hear the gears turning in their heads. I mean, if their Alpha was a lunatic who thinks he was mated a ghost, they would probably don't want to upset the ghost, right?

"I... I should check on him," one of the guards whispered.

"Are you crazy?" the other hissed back. 

"Alpha said don't open that door for anything!"

"But what if he’s right? What if the Alpha blames us?"

I was about to open my mouth to give them one last push when a sudden noise cut through the air. It wasn't coming from the hallway. It was coming from outside the house.

CRASH.

It sounded like stone breaking or a heavy gate being slammed open. Then came the shouting. A lot of it. It was faint because of the thick walls, but it was definitely there. 

It sounded like a commotion but I couldn't quite make it out.

"What's happening?" I asked. "Hey! What was that noise?"

The door to the room finally creaked open. One of the guards stepped inside.

I guessed my my act actually worked on him. 

He didn't say a word to me at first. H just walked over and started fumbling with the lock on my wrist to check the skin.

But as soon as that door was open, the muffled noises from outside became crystal clear. It was a struggle. Someone wa struggling.

I strained my neck in a bid to see past the guard into the hallway. 

"What is that?" I asked.

"Who is screaming?"

The guard ignored me. He was too busy looking at the red marks on my arm, probably terrified that Maddox would skin him alive if I had a bruise. 

But I wasn't looking at my arm. I was looking through the gap of the open door.

Down the long corridor, I saw a group of Maddox's heavy set guards. They were dragging two people toward the stairs. 

I froze when I recognized them. It was the nurse and Raya, the maid.

They weren't going quietly. Raya was kicking and screaming and the nurse was crying. They were both begging for someone to listen to her.

"Let me go!" Raya shrieked. "We didn't do anything wrong! Please!"

"Shut up!" one of the guards barked as he jerked her forward so hard she stumbled.

I felt a cold, sick feeling wash over me. I realized exactly what was happening. Maddox couldn't handle the fact that I rejected him. 

He couldn't handle me calling him crazy. He needed to hit something, or someone. He needed someone to blame for the fact that his "perfect fate" was falling apart.

And then it hit me, the key. I had used Raya’s key to get out. Even though she didn't know I took it, Maddox wouldn't care about the details. 

In his twisted head, she was a traitor. She was the reason I saw the portrait. She was the reason his fantasy was ruined.

They were in trouble because of me. They were going to pay for a mistake I made, and knowing Maddox, paying meant something permanent.

"Stop it!" I yelled at the guard in my room. He jumped, nearly dropping his keys. 

"What are they doing to them? Where are they taking Raya?"

"It's none of your business. The Alpha is just... dealing with a security breach."

"Dealing with it? He's going to kill them, isn't he?" I felt a surge of pure, hot anger. I wasn't scared anymore. I was disgusted. I looked at the guard, who was still trying to look at my wrist. 

"Look at me! You know who he thinks I am. You heard what he said. If I'm the one he’s doing all this for, then you better listen to me right now."

I stood up and I stared the guard down, using every bit of authority I could fake.

"Release me," I ordered. "Unlock these chains right now, or I swear to the goddess, I will make sure Maddox blames you for everything that happens next. Let me go!"

The guard’s hands shook as he looked from my face to the hallway where the screaming was getting louder. 

He was terrified. I could see the sweat on his forehead. 

Between the Alpha’s madness and my threats, he finally snapped. 

He shoved his key into the lock, clicked it open, and the heavy iron fell away from my wrists.

I didn't even say thank you, i just pushed past him and ran.

I followed the sound of the shouting all the way down to the courtyard and the scene waiting for me was like something out of a nightmare. 

There were two guards already tied to wooden posts, looking battered. 

But in the center of the square, Raya and the nurse were being forced onto their knees.

Maddox was pacing in front of them, his face dark and twisted. He looked like a man possessed. 

"One of you had to have done it," he growled.

"Which one of you let him out? Which one of you gave him the key to ruin everything?"

"It wasn't them!" I shouted as I stepped out into the light of the torches.

Everyone froze. Maddox turned to look at me as eyes widened with surprise. 

"Jesse? How did you—"

"I stole the key, Maddox!" I yelled, walking toward him. I didn't care about the guards or the weapons. I just saw Raya’s tear streaked face. 

"She was being kind to me, and I took it from her when she wasn't looking. I’m the one who escaped. I’m the one who went to the gallery. It’s on me, not her."

"It doesn't matter if you stole it, Jesse. She was careless. She allowed a prisoner to compromise the security of this pack. For her carelessness, she will be punished with death."

"Death? Are you serious? A death sentence because I’m better at picking pockets than she is at guarding them? That’s insane, Maddox! Even for you, this is too much."

I stepped right into his space, forcing him to look me in the eye. I could feel the heat coming off him, the pure, narcissistic rage.

"If you do this, you’re just proving everything I said about you. Only a monster kills innocent people to feel better about himself. If you want me to ever look at you without pure disgust, you have to stop this. Please, Maddox. Let them go. Just let them go."