65

65
Alex

The back of my head hurts.

I open my eyes, wondering what happened. Did Logan attack me?

But all I see is dirty cement before me. I try to touch the back of my head, but my hands won’t move. As awareness flickers within me, I begin to feel the burning sensation on my wrists.

Each movement hurts my head even more, but I force myself to look to the right and I realize that my hands are pinned against the wall in black manacles.

I can feel the iron. But unlike the manacles that the dark witches had used on me, these are different. They are pressing into my skin and I have no doubt that even if I try to shift into my wolf form and try to slip out of them, it won't work. However, I am not above trying. Closing my eyes, I summon my wolf.

My eyes fly open in shock.

Where is my wolf? Why can’t I feel him? And why can’t I feel Sophia?

“Oh, you’re awake.”

The voice that reaches my ears is so familiar that my head jerks up. I am in a cell, a small dingy place which smells of feces and damp water. There are iron bars in front of me, electricity cracking between them. And outside of the cell, a familiar face is smiling at me.

“It’s about time you woke up, Alex,” Karina says softly. “You certainly took your time. There was a time when I would lock you up, and you would cry for hours. It’s been a while since I saw you cry like that. But no worries. You’ll be here for a long time now. I’m sure I can break you.”

“Karina,” I breathe in anger. “What the hell is this?”

“What does it look like?” Karina mocks me. “You’re my prisoner.”

My jaw tenses. “And why am I here?”

She blinks, slowly. “Well, how do I put it? You and your mate humiliated me at my banquet. Did you think I was just going to let that go?”

“My mate is the Queen of the South Alliance and she is the granddaughter of the leader of the Central Alliance. Are you willing to incur their wrath?”

Karina beams at me. “The Central Alliance will not interfere in anything I do. They didn’t go after Robert Black when he tortured their leader’s daughter, killed her mate, and stole her child. Think I’m good.”

I study her for a long stretch of time before finally asking, “Where is Sophia?”

Karina chuckles. “I couldn’t kidnap the Silver Wolf. No, she’s going to come to me on her own two feet.” She looks at me for a few minutes before murmuring, “You know, I always wanted to kill you, but I’m glad I didn’t. Now you are going to be my trump card against your mate. All the prophecies that I received, they all alluded to one thing: I need to control the Silver Wolf. But I can’t force her. She has to be willing to help me. I wonder how willing she will be if she knows that her precious mate will pay the price for her disobedience?”

That means Sophia is not here. I recall the events that led up to this situation. We were at the campsite. The fog was rolling in. Sophia’s scream. The attack.

“I have to say,” Karina muses. “I am a little disappointed. I was sure she would come running after you. But instead, she went running home. I guess you weren’t as important to her as you thought. Women can be so selfish.”

Her eyes are mocking me, and I smile at her. “You should never underestimate my mate.”

“Oh.” Karina’s smile broadens. “I wouldn’t dare. In fact, I never underestimated you either. All your armies and your soldiers and your spies. Did you think I didn’t know about them?”

A stab of cold pierces my chest. “What are you talking about?”

“I know everything you have been planning. I know about your soldiers and how many there are. I also know that you are keeping an eye on me. It’s quite impressive, really. I left you with nothing and yet you managed to build yourself up. I have to admire that tenacity. And your drive. But it’s all useless in the end, Alex. I still win. I always win.”

“You haven’t won yet.” I narrow my eyes at her.

Karina’s lips curve. “Tell me, did you wonder why I hated you so much? Surely the thought must’ve crossed your mind.”

“I was a threat to you and your throne. You’ve always been greedy for power.”

She laughs now, a delicate sound. “You children. You think you know everything. I already had power when I walked into your pack well before I slaughtered your parents like cattle.”

I glare at her. “If you didn’t want power, why the hell did you do all of this?”

“Your father.”

I stare at her for a moment, confused. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Karina folds her hands behind her back, looking amused. “Did you think your mother was the only woman in your father’s life? No. Before she came along, I was his betrothed. Your father came to my pack once. My mother married the Alpha of the Cross River Wolf Pack when I was an infant. I was fifteen when he first laid his hands on me. He never stopped. A few years later, your father, who had just become the Alpha, was visiting, and he witnessed what my stepfather was doing to me. He promised to save me. He asked for an engagement.”

I didn’t know any of this, but now when I think back to the days before Karina’s visit, my father and mother had been having a lot of hushed discussions. There had been a lot of tension that I had not paid much attention to at that time. I had been a child, after all.

“Two years.” Karina bares her teeth at me. “He raised my hopes for two years. Everybody turned a blind eye to my suffering. My mother liked being the Alpha Female. She enjoyed the importance and power. I was a small sacrifice, a small price to pay for her happiness. She knew. She saw. And she turned her head.”