Chapter 110
Drake's POV
My shoulder was on fire. Blood soaked through my shirt, warm and sticky against my skin. I pressed my hand against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. The glass had cut deep. Fucking Casper.
"Drake!"
Jessica's voice slammed into my head like a hammer. I winced.
"Save me! You can't just watch them kill us both! We're partners!"
Partners? I almost laughed. The sound came out as a wet cough.
"Ten minutes ago you were thinking about letting that demon Raven kill me, old woman," I shot back through the mind link.
"I was joking!" Her voice was weaker now. "My tooth just fell out! At least you only got your shoulder hurt!"
I looked at her across the hallway. She was still on the floor where Ronan had hit her. Blood dripped from her mouth. But I felt no sympathy.
"You should stay down there," I said. "Maybe what fell out wasn't just a tooth. And fuck you—my shoulder is still bleeding! What do you mean 'only'?"
I glanced down at my arm. The blood kept coming. Why wasn't Ragnar healing me? My wolf should've fixed this by now. The wound wasn't that bad. But my body felt... wrong. Empty.
"Ragnar?" I called to my wolf.
Silence.
"Ragnar!"
Nothing.
Panic crawled up my throat. No. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening.
Fuck.
I looked at Jessica again. She was watching me with cold eyes. Like she knew. Like she'd planned this.
Had she?
My mind raced back through the past weeks. All those conversations. All those plans.
She'd asked me to welcome the visiting Alphas. To do the job Cassian and Casper should've done. Keep them busy, she'd said. Distract them.
And I did. I smiled and shook hands and poured drinks while Cassian and Casper spent time with Elowen.
I thought I was winning. Thought I was the smart one.
But I was just the fucking decoy. The backup plan. The one who'd take the fall if everything went to shit.
And now everything had gone to shit.
"You played me," I said through the link. My mental voice was flat. Dead.
Jessica didn't respond.
"You always planned to throw me under the bus," I continued. "All that talk about working together. About getting Elowen back for me. You didn't give a fuck about any of it."
"Drake—"
"You should've been an actress!" I snarled. "Really. You had me completely fooled. Pretending to care. Pretending we were on the same side."
She was silent for a moment. Then: "I did what I had to do."
"Yeah. You did."
I thought about the drug. The one she'd given me to distribute. Her precious formula.
Before the ball, I'd tested it. On women I'd slept with. Watched their wolves disappear. Watched their mates discover it. Watched relationships shatter.
All of them had suffered. Except Sarah. That bitch had already left me. No—I left her. After she exposed my Omega status in front of everyone. I should've tested it on her.
Jessica had promised this new version was better. Improved. More subtle.
The human side wouldn't notice anything wrong. The mate bond would still feel intact. They'd only discover the problem if they tried to shift.
And I'd believed her. Like an idiot.
I'd even drunk it myself. Not on purpose—Cassian had forced it down my throat. The champagne I'd prepared for him. Double strength.
But I still felt normal. Until Casper cut me. Until I tried to heal and... nothing.
My wolf was still there. I could feel Ragnar in the back of my mind. But he couldn't help me. Couldn't heal me. Couldn't do anything.
What the fuck had Jessica really put in that drug?
Footsteps approached. Heavy boots on marble floors. I looked up.
Ronan stood in the doorway. His amber eyes swept over me and Jessica. Cold. Calculating.
"What do we do with him?" he asked.
Not to me. To someone behind him.
I kept my face blank. Pressed harder on my shoulder wound. Didn't let them see the pain.
But inside, I was burning. Not from the cut. From the rage. From the humiliation.
I was here. Bleeding. Broken. About to be dragged in front of everyone like a criminal.
This was supposed to be my moment. The night I proved Casper was dangerous. The night Elowen would see she needed me to protect her.
Instead, I was the one who looked like trash.
I glanced toward where Elowen stood. She wouldn't even look at me. Her eyes were fixed on the floor. On the wall. Anywhere but at me.
Years. I'd spent years building a life with her. Making her need me. And what did I get?
Nothing.
She'd thrown it all away for two spoiled Alpha brats who'd probably get bored of her in a month.
My jaw clenched. Fine. If she wanted to play that game, I had cards to play too.
I caught her eye. Held it. She tried to look away, but I didn't let her.
I moved closer. Close enough that only she could hear.
"I know I didn't give you the same treatment," I whispered. "When Casper showed up, I was cold. I admit it. But you'll need me eventually, cutie."
Her eyes blazed. Pure hatred. It should've hurt. But all I felt was satisfaction.
She'd need me. When Casper was gone—because he would be gone, arrested for his father's murder—she'd have no one else. And I'd be there.
Alpha Austin was dead. Cassian would be too busy taking over to care about some girl. Elowen would be alone. Scared.
And I'd swoop in. The hero. The one who never gave up on her.
I smiled.
"You don't scare me, Drake," Elowen said. Her voice was low. Steady. "You're not worth the Alphas' time."
Before I could respond, something slammed into my chest. I crashed into the wall, the impact knocking the breath from my lungs.
Alaric stood over me. His eyes were cold fire.
"Don't fucking talk to her," he said.
I glared up at him. "I'll remember this," I thought. Made sure he saw it in my eyes. "I'll make you pay."
"That was the one who welcomed us so warmly, wasn't it?" Ronan's voice was laced with sarcasm. He walked closer, hands in his pockets.
Kade pushed me against the wall. His hand was like iron on my chest. He studied me the way you'd study an insect before crushing it.
"Watch the shoulder," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm injured."
Kade didn't move his hand. Didn't ease the pressure.
Ronan pulled something from his jacket. Silver handcuffs. But not normal ones. They had strange markings etched into the metal.
He walked toward Jessica.
"One pair of cuffs won't hold her," I told them. Let them know what they were dealing with. "She's stronger than she looks."
From the hallway, I heard gasps. Whispers. The whole pack was out there. Watching. Waiting.
Fucking cowards. All of them.
"Shut up, Drake."
Jessica's voice in my head was sharp. Commanding.
I looked at her. She'd pulled herself into a sitting position. Blood still dripped from her mouth, but her eyes were alert. Dangerous.
"If you don't cooperate," I said slowly, "I'll tell them everything. That you ordered all of this. That you forced me to drug them."
"No one will believe you," she shot back. "Look at yourself. Your reputation is destroyed. You're nothing."
"I have proof."
That made her pause.
"You texted me," I continued. A cold smile spread across my face. "Asked if I'd be willing to help kill the Alpha. Remember? I saved that message, Jessica. Every. Single. Word."
Her face went blank. Then her eyes widened just a fraction.
She'd forgotten. In all her careful planning, she'd forgotten about that one stupid text.
"We say nothing!" Her mental voice was a command. Desperate. "Do you hear me, Drake? We. Say. Nothing!"
The silver cuffs clicked around her wrists.
The effect was immediate. I felt her presence in my mind... flicker. Then fade. The connection severed like a cut wire.
"Drake—" Her voice was barely a whisper now. Then: "We say nothing!"
And then she was gone. Silent.
Kade turned to Elowen. His voice was calm. Educational.
"These cuffs are made of silver and a special alloy," he explained. "They block the connection between human and wolf. Strip away the gifts the Goddess gave us."
He looked at Jessica. Then at me. His eyes were knowing.
"She's just a human now," Kade said. "And humans... break easily."
The weight of his gaze pinned me in place. He knew. Somehow, he knew I was next.
My shoulder throbbed. Blood seeped through my fingers. And Ragnar remained silent in the back of my mind.
Trapped. We were both trapped.
I looked at Jessica. At the silver cuffs on her wrists. At the fear finally showing in her eyes.
For the first time tonight, we were on the same side.
Both of us were fucked.