Chapter 141 Marrying Another Alpha

Chapter 141 Marrying Another Alpha

I just sit there, staring at him in complete, frozen shock. I replay his words in my head over and over, trying to force them to make sense, but the whole thing is so insane it barely registers.

I snap out of my daze and jump to my feet, my hands curling into tight fists at my sides. "You've completely lost your mind! You can't just force me to have a baby—"

"I gave you years to live your own life with Cassian!" Zion interrupts, his voice sharp and dismissive.

"I could have dragged you back here a long time ago, but I held off. Sure, it took me a little while to track down where your mother hid you, but I always had the legal right to bring you home."

I shake my head, a harsh, disbelieving laugh slipping out.

"You only came looking for me because you ran out of options," I hiss, stepping closer to the table. "You didn't care if I was dead or alive until you realized you needed me."

"You honestly thought I'd ever let you marry Cassian?" Zion snaps back, his eyes narrowing into cold slits.

"His father brought unspeakable ruin onto our people. His bloodline is an absolute disgrace, and I will never let his family take what's ours."

I press the palms of my hands against my head, squeezing my eyes shut. This has to be a nightmare. I must still be asleep in bed next to Cassian, trapped in some twisted fever dream meant to punish me.

But when I open my eyes, Zion is still sitting right there, staring at me with those pitch-black, lifeless eyes.

"I'm marrying Cassian," I growl, my chest heaving as I turn toward the doorway. "And I'm walking out of this house right now."

"Do you want to know what happens the second you cross that threshold?"

His quiet, deadly tone freezes me in my tracks.

I turn back around slowly, eyeing him with pure disgust. "What?"

"I'll execute every single person you've ever given a damn about," he says plainly, without a single trace of hesitation. "If you rob me of my only chance at an heir, I won't have a damn thing left to lose."

The threat hits me like a bucket of ice water, draining every drop of fight from my limbs. I sink heavily back onto the stiff cushion of the couch.

The dark, murderous promise in his eyes tells me everything I need to know—he wouldn't hesitate for a second to burn Cassian's whole pack to the ground just to spite me.

"You can't keep me locked up like a prisoner," I whisper, my voice shaking uncontrollably.

Zion just shrugs, taking another slow sip of his tea. "I prefer not to use that word."

I stare down at my trembling hands as a cold realization suddenly clicks into place.

"It was you, wasn't it?" I whisper, looking up at him. "You're the one who was sending those threatening notes?"

Zion's brow furrows, giving me a bewildered look like I've just spoken in another language. "Notes? What are you talking about?"

"The warnings left for me," I say, my eyes locking onto his with heavy accusation. "The messages telling me to expose my identity to Cassian. You slaughtered those innocent pack girls just to sabotage what we had, and then you tried to have me murdered at the Alpha Assembly."

He sits in dead silence for a long beat, his genuine confusion practically filling the room.

"I did no such thing. Don't be ridiculous," he snaps.

"You've already got me trapped here," I remind him, keeping my voice hard. "There's zero reason for you to lie to me now."

"I had nothing to do with any of that," he insists, shaking his head. "Whoever has been stalking you has no ties to me whatsoever. You're safe from them here under my roof."

He actually sounds completely honest. And logically, now that he holds all the cards and Cassian already knows the truth, he really has no motive to keep up a front...

"If it wasn't you... then who the hell is doing this?" I ask quietly, asking myself more than him.

"You look exhausted. I think it's time you retired to your quarters," Zion says, putting on a layer of fake concern. "You have a big day tomorrow, you'll be meeting your future husband."

I don't bother arguing. I turn and head toward the staircase without waiting for an escort, my feet dragging like lead with every step I take.

Walking down those long, familiar hallways, my mind races through every possibility. Who has been tormenting me all this time? Who wanted me dead at the summit?

Whoever it is, they got what they wanted. Cassian knows the secret now... and he probably despises me for keeping it from him.

I finally reach the wooden door to my old bedroom. A knot tightens in my chest as I stand before it, my last memory of this space being the night my mother pulled me out of bed in the dark to run for our lives.

And now she's gone...

I reach out, turn the knob, and push the door open.

Standing right in the center of the room is a man.

"Ah!" I gasp, flinching backward toward the hallway.

He turns around, and my heart drops into my stomach as recognition hits me like a blow. It's Alpha Alston, the same man from the meeting of the Alpha's—watching me with that same sharp smirk and heavy, calculating eyes.

"Relax, Miss Dramatic," he says, his mouth curling into a lazy grin. "It's just me."