Chapter 68

Ophelia asked for the room to be cleared. Her guards picked up Tabitha and Marco and moved them out of the room. All who were left were Ophelia, Tristan, Hudson, and Amanda.

Hudson still refused to look up and take a look at Amanda. He knew his heart would break even more than it already had if he saw her going to pieces over what he had done. If only he could talk to her and explain his reasoning. Artemis continued to whine in his head, but he forced his wolf down. He needed to stay in control and keep a clear head. He knew the pack would be coming soon, he just needed to be patient to execute his plan. He needed Amanda to hang on just a little bit longer.

“Well now that it’s just the four of us, we can get on with the festivities,” Ophelia exclaimed.

She walked over to Hudson and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I know you’ve been through a lot, Hudson. Just know that I’m here for you and we can forget that all this ever happened and move on. Just as soon as I kill Lil' Mandi over there, you’ll never have to worry again.” She moved around him and now was facing him, blocking his view of Amanda.

Hudson raised his head slowly, narrowing his eyes at Ophelia as he spoke with a certain amount of disdain in his voice. “Ophelia, I will never love you. After today, I swear that I will hunt you down and torture you until you are pleading for mercy and begging me to kill you. I will keep you locked up for years making you go insane and never giving you the satisfaction that you won today. If I were you, I would run. Run as far as you can as fast as you can. Cause when I find you, you will then understand what pain and torture feels like.”

Ophelia stood there staring at Hudson with her eyes wide and her lip slowly quivering. He smirked as he smelled her fear.

Ophelia was starting to panic, she began to think quickly about how she could fix this.

And then a thought came to her. “Tristan, I need a love potion.”

Tristan had just been sitting back and enjoying the show. He wasn’t going to allow Ophelia to kill Amanda until he drained her of her magic just like the Lycan King had wanted to do before. He saw the potential of raw power that he could obtain from her. It would be stupid to let all that power go to waste. And Ophelia asking for another favor might give him the perfect opportunity to let him get it.

“Sure, I can make something for you. But it’s going to cost you,” he told her.

“I don’t care what the cost is, I want Hudson to love me and only me. If he won’t do it on his own, then I need you to make it happen with magic.”

“Fine, give me Amanda and I’ll make you the potion.”

Ophelia looked at him with crazed eyes. “What? No, she’s not for sale. I’m going to kill her and then the world will be rid of her and I’ll never have to worry about her ever again!”

Tristan stood up from the wall that he was leaning on. “Then there’s no deal. You shouldn’t be concerned about the hybrid if you have him. Isn’t that what you really wanted?”

Ophelia bit down on her lower lip. She looked from Hudson to Amanda, to back to Hudson. “Fine, you have a deal.”

Tristan smiled and said, “Come with me and I’ll have it ready for you shortly.”

Ophelia jumped up in down in her spot. She leaned over and lifted Hudson’s face with a claw. “I’ll be back soon. Once you have taken the potion, I’ll let you make it up to me for the horrible things you just said to me.”

Tristan rolled his eyes as he walked out of the room with Ophelia walking happily behind him. The guard closed the door, leaving Hudson and Amanda alone.

****

Persephone paced the main room of the dungeon they had been keeping Amanda in. She was almost impressed with the girl. Amanda had endured a hell of a lot of pain from both her and Tristan. They tried everything they could to find out what she knew about her power. But she refused to give them anything. When Tristan had told her the kind of power that she was able to handle, Persephone knew they needed to obtain it. This was why the Lycan King wanted her so much.

She understood now that whoever wielded the power this girl had could gain control of all the factions. It would put the witches in a higher place on the faction scale instead of always being used, threatened, and undermined for their power. The girl was strong, she could tell that she had endured a lot growing up. Persephone bet that her wolf was pretty powerful too. Persephone had even offered the girl to make her life easier and take the burden of the magic away from her so she could live as a shifter wolf and never have to worry about magic ever again.

But she refused.

Persephone was running out of options. She didn’t want to have to kill the girl. She didn’t want blood on her hands, especially the blood of a witch from a once powerful coven. It would only be a matter of time before they came after her.

Samuel walked into the room, pulling Persephone out of her current thoughts and forcing herself not to think about him and what could have been.

“Where are we at with the Alpha and hybrid?” he asked.

“He rejected her, to get the bracelet off. Your daughter should be happy now,” Persephone answered.

Samuel sucked in a breath. He had known from experience how hard it was to be with another wolf and not your mate. That boy was not going to be happy for a long time.

Before he could say anything, Samuel was getting a mind link from one of his warriors at the southern border.

Warrior: Alpha?

Alpha: What is it?

Warrior: Alpha Benjamin is here asking to speak with you. He says it is regarding his son, future daughter-in-law, and two other pack members that you are holding hostage.

Samuel sighed.

Alpha: I’ll be there shortly.

Warrior: You might want to hurry.

He looked at Persephone and said, “It looks like we have some company” before he turned and headed toward the southern border.

****

Hudson continued to try to get Amanda to look up at him. Now that they were alone, he needed to explain himself. Amanda refused to listen. Hudson closed his eyes as he tapped into the strength of his wolf and broke the bindings on his wrist. He quickly ran up to Amanda, grabbed her face, and said, “Amanda, I love you. The rejection wasn’t real.”

And kissed her.