Chapter 265 Chapter 265
Chapter 265 Chapter 265
ARIANA
“Bella is leaving the pack.” Brad suddenly says.
My hand freezes as I stroke Damien’s hair. Everything in my body that had loathed Bella for once being an obstacle has turned into a cold, pang of regret in my chest. I rise to my feet, holding on to Damien. I move to walk past him, but Brad suddenly steps in my way and glowers at me angrily.
“Sit down.” He says flatly and snaps his fingers.
Andrew walks out from under the pavilion he’d been standing under and steps forward to take Damien, but I pull him to me, desperately clutching him against my chest. I stare up at them with wide, bloodshot eyes, my claws springing out slightly.
“What do you want?!” I scream, “I can’t let go of my child! You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hold him in my hands. You can’t take him from me. I won’t let you hurt my child!”
They both exchange addled glances and Brad steps forward, “I am not a lunatic and I don’t hurt children,” he says flatly, “I want to speak to you alone and what I have to say isn’t for kids. Hand him over to Drew now.”
The lethal look in his eyes is a clear indication that he isn’t asking. My resolve falters and I slowly let go of Damien, “Nothing will happen to you, love. I promise.” I mumble to him, but he turns away without looking back.
My heart sinks immediately, it seems like he is only too relieved to walk away from me. Brad blocks the light from the pavilion completely. He stares down at me and a cold, sizzling feeling ripples through my heart. I suddenly feel more vulnerable than I ever had. My child is here and suddenly, there’s nothing that drives me. That cold, ruthlessness had simply melted the second I had set my eyes on Damien again.
“You’ve been in this pack for almost three years now,” he says, his cold eyes staring right above my head, “you were just about to be crowned as the Luna of this pack and not once had you mentioned that you had a child, Ariana…not once. Why is that?”
I swallow and take a deep breath through my mouth, “You…You don’t get it, Brad. No matter how much I explain—”
“Explain.” He cut in flatly.
I try to look past him, my eyes searching for Damien and Andrew but they are nowhere to be seen. I sigh and drop my head to my chin, “That child isn’t yours if that’s what you think, Brad.”
“Oh, I know that. There is no resemblance whatsoever, and that Bella had mentioned something of a father that isn’t me,” he replies in a cold voice I have never heard from him, “whose is it?”
There is no point lying now. This, as crazy as it sounds, is the safest place for Damien and I. If we are out of the walls of this pack, Dominic will find us and this time, he won’t hesitate to kill me on the spot.
“Alpha Dominic,” I mumble, “he’s the leader of—”
“A rebellion faction in the north who have stood against my family for decades and were thought to have been vanquished years ago," he snaps and my breath trembles. “Were you actually kidnapped five years ago, Ariana? Or is that just an act you made all of us believe? What else are you hiding from me?”
I sniffle, forcing my tears back, “A lot, Brad. A lot I am sure I have the stomach to tell you, but I know one thing and that is, you cannot let Bella leave,” I reply, my voice breaking as the hot tears in my eyes run down my cheeks freely, “I have taken everything from her and she decided to give me the only thing in the world that matters to me…please don’t let her go without me speaking to her.”
He stares at me in confusion, his eyes piercing into mine now. He shakes his head with a heart-wrenching mix of disgust and disdain, then asks, “What in the world have you done to Bella?”
I look away, my chest feels heavy and each second felt like a larger weight was pressing down on me. I struggle to breathe at that moment and everything else doesn’t matter until I see Bella.
Brad takes a step back and frowns at me, “I don’t know what you’ve done, but it sure has to be sickening for someone like you to break down so hard. I lost Bella once and I’ll be damned if I let her out of my sight again,” he walks away, but suddenly halts and looks at me, “if I find out that you had anything to do with all that happened to Bella, you’ll have me to contend with.”
He walks away and the tears come pouring down like a storm. I bury my face in my palms, sniffling and trying to get a hold of myself as a flood of emotions gather in my chest. I feel so sick of my own skin that I can just rip it off.
After what seems to be an eternity, I rise to my feet, cleaning my face with a handkerchief and taking in a deep breath. I walk around the mansion to the front, only to find a lot of guards mounted up at the frontyard. My grief gives way to a moment of confusion and I walk to the closest guard, tapping his shoulder lightly.
“What’s going on?” I mumble.
“Some of our scouts have reported unwelcomed riders in the area, Luna,” he replies, “they are heading right for the gates as we speak.”
A rush of cold panic floods through my veins as my eyes widen. I take a step backwards, turning to the front door, only to run into Brad, Andrew and Lucian. I gasp in a rapid moment of anxiety and ask, “Where’s Damien?!”
“He wanted to be with Bella.” Andrew replies flatly and looks past me with a frown, “they are messengers.” He growls.
I turn around sharply to see four men riding into the pack and each of them bearing a sigil on their armor. My heart turns cold in my chest.
It’s Dominic’s sigil!