Chapter Forty-Five

F L O R E N C E

The repulsion that invades my body in waves is almost unbelievable in its intensity. I can feel my stomach twisting into knots as I stand there, trying to digest everything.

A bride. Me. For an Alpha who’s already mated to someone else, a father to a young clueless boy who looks up to him.

I never thought that Alpha Isaac could get worse, but he just did. I never expected him to be this way in reality, because in all those times I met him, he’s always been nice to me and my family. Always caring, always polite . . . but now I know that it’s because he has a hidden agenda.

I take slow deep breaths to try to steady myself, but I can feel myself slipping into a spiral of bad thoughts and horrible feelings. All the memories of Alpha Isaac that I had before are coming back, and now they're tainted by the things he has shown for the entire time I was here and the revelations I know now.

Meanwhile, Luna Vera is watching me with a strange triumphant expression that makes me insanely uncomfortable.

Is she lying to me? Is she toying with my mind? Or is her time here taking its toll and now ruining what's left of her sanity?

"He will not leave you alone," she whispers to me, smiling. Her eyes are flashing, giving off this insane vibe that sends chills down my spine. "He will not stop until you're his and your power belongs to him. I am warning you right now. Don't end up like me."

Seeing her now and remembering what she was before is jarring to me, especially now that I hear those words. Panic rises in my throat and I just lose it, pushing past her and looking out into the dark hallway that's visible from between the metal bars of the cell door.

I look at the lock and see that it could only be opened by an intricate key.

I turn back to Luna Vera. "I need to get out of here. And I need you to help me."

She just shakes her head slowly. "I can't do that. I have been here for weeks and I have no help to offer you. I'm sad to say that you are on your own."

"No," I mutter, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her in the hopes of getting some sense out of her. "You need to help me. We're going to get out of here. Both of us. Maybe if we both shift together we can bust out of here--"

"No." Luna Vera pushes my hands off her but I hold on tightly. "You can't shift in this place. I have tried many times. It just doesn't work that way. There's a heavy spell put on here and I don't know how it was done, but my husband has covered all bases."

"Maybe that's just what he wants you to think," I reason out. "I refuse to believe there's no way out."

She doesn't say anything. She doesn't move either. My chest constricts with frustration and I just find myself letting her go and breathing hard. I look around to see if there's anything that would help me at least pry the lock open, but there's none. The pipes overhead are way too far out of reach and I can't rip them off.

But there has to be a way . . . right?

My brain dives deeper into desperation and strange thoughts, but I keep touching the wall and the cell door, feeling and sensing, hoping there's something that would give way.

However, before I can get close to figuring something out, I hear some footsteps descending the stairs.

Luna Vera must have heard it too, because she immediately rushes to the corner and hugs herself, her whole body shaking in fright.

I know I've been forcing her to help me, but her state right now puts things into perspective. She must have gone through some serious abuse to behave like that.

So I grit my teeth and keep standing, facing the cell door in case someone comes in and tries to do anything.

But when the person looms in and steps under the dim light, my stance weakens.

It's Alpha Isaac.

My heart starts to beat fast. I press myself against the door, trying to slide my hand through the gaps and try to hurt him, but he just comfortably takes a step back.

"Let us out of here!" I scream at him. "You evil fucking--"

"No need to be crass now," he says in a soft tone one might use to appease a child who's throwing a tantrum. "I will not tolerate that language from you. I will let you out of here, but you have to do better and cooperate with me."

"Over my dead body. You're never going to take me and own me."

Alpha Isaac sighs as though this is a mere inconvenience. "I see you have talked to Luna Vera about me. I seriously don't know why you believe her. I threw her in here because she tried to hurt our son."

"That's a lie," I spit out.

He just shrugs. "I guess there's no going out for you either then."

I open my mouth to throw all the insults I know at him, but then another set of footsteps echo in the hall. Alpha Isaac looks shocked for a moment, but then his expression hardens into annoyance when the second person comes in.

It's Dad.

"Dad!" I yell in relief. "Dad, let me out of here!"

I expect Dad to get shocked by the fact that I'm here and I thought he would come swinging at Alpha Isaac, but then he just stands in front of the cell and keeps his head down.

"Well?" Alpha Isaac prompts, and when he sees that my face has gone slack with surprise, he smirks and looks at Dad again. "Have you made your decision?"

Dad doesn't say anything for a long while, then he sighs and says, "Yes."

"Good." Alpha Isaac is now grinning with pure glee. "Have you taken care of what I told you to do?"

My father just nods meekly.

My whole body begins to go numb. Don't tell me. . . .

"Atta man! I knew I could count on you." Alpha Isaac laughs and pats him on the back. His eyes flicker towards me, his expression full of malice. He keeps his dirty gaze on me as he speaks and continues to address my father. "Well, now that you are here, why don't you tell me what you have done tonight exactly? Don't miss any details."

Dad looks up finally, and when our eyes meet, I see the pure sorrow on his face. The shame, the apology, and the brokenness.

"Come on now," Alpha Isaac prods again, his voice high with glee.

"I . . . did what you said," Dad slowly says. "I went up to Alpha Niccolo as soon as he and my daughter split up to escape, and I told him that my daughter knows everything about him. I told him he needs to go and come back with an army."

My heart drops inside my chest. Tears brim my eyes as I feel my chest getting stabbed with pain and betrayal.

"I watched him leave," Dad continues, looking away from me as his cheeks shine with fresh tears. "I watched him get out of the pack borders, into the waiting arms of what you planned for him outside the gates."

“Wonderful,” Alpha Isaac cheers before turning to face me again. “And now we wait and see what happens to your dear Alpha Niccolo.”