Chapter 64 Dignity… and Wealth - Amelia’s POV
Kaela's growls were a constant now, the sound filling my head even as I tried to think clearly through the fog of drugs still muddling my thoughts. "And you decided I'm too dangerous to this plan. That's why you left the photos, the threats. You tried to scare me away."
"We tried to give you an opportunity to leave with dignity—and substantial wealth." He sounded almost offended that I hadn't taken the bribe. "Five million dollars is more than most wolves see in a lifetime. Ten million would have set you up as royalty in any territory you chose."
I barked a laugh, the sound harsh in the damp cell. "You really don't understand me at all."
"No," he agreed, studying me with renewed interest. "I don't think we did. Of course, if you were more... reputable, things might be different." His gaze swept over me, dismissive and cold. "But you're an unwanted servant girl from a backwater pack. No family connections, no political value, no shifted wolf to speak of. You understand why the council can't accept you as a potential queen."
Each word was like a knife, cutting into old wounds I thought had begun to heal. The same contempt I'd faced at Frozen Mountain, the same dismissal of my worth based on circumstances beyond my control. But I wasn't that terrified girl anymore, cowering in a basement room and grateful for scraps of kindness.
"And you understand," I said, my voice low and steady despite the rage boiling inside me, "that I don't give a damn what the council accepts. Aleksandr chose me. Skoll chose Kaela. We chose them back."
"Noble sentiments," Blackthorn said with a patronizing smile. "But ultimately meaningless. The Alpha King now believes you've left him voluntarily."
My heart stuttered in my chest. "What?"
"Oh yes." He looked genuinely pleased with himself. "A rather elaborate deception, but effective. Security footage shows you packing a bag and walking out of the castle gates. Photos of his punishment of Marcus scattered across your floor, suggesting you discovered his 'true nature' and fled in fear. He won't try to follow you, won't try to find you. He believes you've rejected him."
The cruelty of it stole my breath. Not just taking me from him, but making him believe I'd abandoned him, rejected him when he needed me most. Making him believe the curse was unbreakable, that he was unlovable.
"He'll never give up on me," I hissed, straining against my bonds until the rope bit into my wrists. "On us. He's not the kind of man who abandons what's his."
Something flickered across Blackthorn's face—annoyance, perhaps, or concern that I might be right. "The Alpha King is practical above all else. He'll focus on the kingdom's needs, not a runaway mate who couldn't bear the sight of his darker nature."
"You don't know him at all," I said, conviction burning through the drugged haze. "Not if you think he'll just accept this."
'We need to reach him,' Kaela urged. 'Like before, when you called out during the attack. Try again, Amelia. Reach for him.'
I closed my eyes, gathering what strength I had left, focusing on that tenuous connection I'd felt forming between Aleksandr and me. I pictured his face, the warmth in his eyes when he looked at me, the gentle way he held my hand. I pushed with all my might, hurling my consciousness toward that bond. 'Aleksandr! We're here! We didn't leave you!'
But the effort was like screaming into a void. Whether it was the drugs or the distance or my own weakness, I couldn't tell if my call reached him.
"A valiant effort," Blackthorn observed, rising from his chair with fluid grace that belied his apparent age. From his pocket, he withdrew a syringe filled with cloudy green liquid. "But ultimately futile. The basement levels of this facility are warded specifically to block pack bonds and mate calls. No one can hear you, Miss Lovelace."
"What is that?" I asked, eyeing the syringe, though I already knew the answer.
"A special blend of wolfsbane and other compounds," he said, approaching with measured steps. "Designed to keep your wolf subdued without causing permanent harm. We don't want to kill you, after all. Just contain you until the Centennial has passed."
"Eight weeks?" I backed against the wall as far as I could, which wasn't far at all. "You plan to keep me drugged and imprisoned for eight weeks?"
"If necessary." He knelt beside me, the syringe poised above my arm. "Though I suspect events will resolve themselves much sooner. The curse has accelerated dramatically in recent days. I doubt Aleksandr will last more than two weeks before the madness takes him completely."
"No!" I thrashed wildly, but my bound limbs and drugged body were no match for even an aging werewolf's strength. Blackthorn's hand closed around my upper arm like a vice, holding me still as the needle pierced my skin.
Fire spread through my veins, a burning agony that seemed to target Kaela directly. I heard her howl of pain and rage as the wolfsbane hit her, felt her fighting against the poison with everything she had.
'No!' she snarled, her mental voice already growing fainter. 'Fight it, Amelia! Stay awake!'
But the darkness was rising again, swallowing the edges of my vision. Blackthorn's face swam before me, his mild expression the last thing I saw as consciousness began to slip away.
"Don't worry," he said, patting my cheek with grandfatherly gentleness that made my skin crawl. "Kane will be a just king. And once this is all over, perhaps we can find a suitable place for you in the new order. A pretty thing like you needn't go to waste."
I wanted to spit in his face, to tell him exactly what I thought of his "new order" and his condescending pity. But my tongue had turned to lead in my mouth, my thoughts scattering like leaves in a gale.
As the darkness claimed me again, one thought burned bright: Aleksandr would know. Whatever evidence they'd fabricated, whatever lies they'd told, he would sense the truth. He would find me. He had to.
Because if he didn't, if he truly believed I'd abandoned him... then Blackthorn and Kane had already won.