Chapter 73

Alpha Jaxon.

You could hear a pin drop at that moment. I felt Scarlett’s anger gnawing and banging incessantly inside her, forcing her to be let out. Her face was contorted in a scowl, her thick dark brows furrowed, and a visible sheen of sweat coated her creased forehead. Her lips were chapped, and I couldn’t help but boil inside with the thought of her having gone for hours without food.

"Wh-y?" she muttered, hanging her head. I could hear the strain in her voice even as it dipped.

Her mother, the person responsible for the murder of my own, cackled. I wanted nothing but to tear her limb by limb, have Astra heal her, then repeat the process again and again. She looked smug, wearing a long red robe that swept the foliage. My ankles were burning as the ringlets coiled, tightening around me.

"Why did you allow Silas to mistreat me, abuse me, when you had all this power?" Scar’s broken voice penetrated my ears, snapping me out of my thoughts. I could only see Astra’s back as she looked at her supposed sister, traipsing in front of her without a care in the world. On the other hand, Thiery seemed awed, standing beside Silas as they let the woman talk.

"It was your punishment for what you monster of a father did to me." The warlock’s voice ascended, making my claws itch to tear her apart.

"I don’t even know him!" My mate’s eyes filled again real quick. I watched as the salty liquid spilled over her cheeks without even blinking. It killed me; it gnawed on the insides to feel that powerless against our enemies. It was my duty to protect her, to keep her safe, and yet I couldn’t even break myself free.

“Sshh, I’ll tell you a story." The woman rubbed her hands together and turned to look at her sister.

"Or perhaps you would like to tell it instead?" I could see Astra’s shoulders were visibly tense, even though she remained quiet. The woman resumed walking in the middle, hands clasped behind her back.

"I was madly in love with the former alpha of the Yellow Moon Pack." My eyebrows furrowed when she looked at me, eyes ice cold and dark with evil. My insides shivered, and my wolf recoiled when our eyes met. She was without doubt a powerful warlock with an almost palpable evil.

"My father?" Bile rose up my throat as Scarlett gasped.

"Mmh, after the war between werewolves was over and we helped your grandfather expand his territory, we settled down among you,” she explained, and my curiosity rose to a new level. I knew about the war, but I didn’t know how Astra ended up being the only warlock in our midst if there had been many.

"I’m sorry,” Astra muttered, turning while still on her knees. Her eyes were glossy, and her hands were trembling as she hung her head.

"Oh dear sister, you’ll have a moment for this before I kill him. Now shut up and let me narrate the story you never told." I snapped my eyes to Scarlett. She shifted under the chains, wincing when her back scratched against the tree bark. I wished I could set her free and cradle her in the safety of my arms.

“So when we relocated to your land, I was attracted to your father; I mean, who wouldn’t have been?" She bit her lip and let out a sigh, tilting her head to look past me as if she were reminiscing about it at that moment.

"I was far younger than him, but I still wanted him. We fooled a couple of times, and in the process, I fell in love with him. At the time I didn’t know that to him it was just a fling that would soon end when he met your mother, his mate." As she explained the last part, the woman’s voice rose higher as her eyes began to turn red.

"He chose a fucking given mate over me!" she screamed, the ringlets around me tightening further. I could barely breathe without pain cutting across my stomach and chest where the ringlets pressed my skin.

“So I told my father one night when he noticed that I had lost weight. The rejection broke my heart; it shook my love for your father to the very core." She paused, walking closer to Astra.

"Do you remember what father and the rest of the warlocks said when I told them about the love I felt for the alpha to be?" She bent, her face almost touching Astra’s. When Astra remained silent, her own sister kicked her in the stomach, making her bend forward.

“You all told me to allow the stupid bond to grow and to respect it. As my elder sister, I confided in you about how fucking much I loved him, and I asked you to help me break the bond in secret...but what did you do?"

She paused, grasping Astra’s silver hair. “You betrayed me!" she screamed, her voice bouncing off my ears.

“So I faked my own death by burning the cabin and left, vowing to return one day to avenge."

Scarlett’s loud laugh had our attention shifting from Astra and her sister towards her. “You think this is funny?" Her mother stalked her, hands clenched into fists.

"It is funny." She laughed again, shaking her head.

"You ungrateful imbecile!" The sound of her mother’s hand as it came into contact with her cheek made my wolf let out a very loud growl. No one was allowed to touch my mate and live to tell the story. I attempted to break free, but the tendrils only tightened, making me struggle for breath. I couldn’t feel my feet as more of the red ringlets sprouted from the ground and wrapped around them.

I could see horror spreading through Scar’s head when she realized what was happening. Even from a distance, I could see her flaring nose as she turned slowly to look at her mother. Then, in what seemed like slow motion, she spat at the older woman.

"You were sick to think that Jaxon’s father would have wanted you if you had succeeded in breaking the bond." Her cheeks had turned pink even though they had been pale.

"Baby, please, she will hurt you more." I could hear Silas and Thiery snort when I begged, further maddening me. I didn’t care about masculinity or being an alpha at that moment. All I wanted was for my mate to be safe, and if that required me to beg, I would beg.

"Isn’t that cute?" The woman wiped the spit off her face and turned again to me. As her lips stretched in a malicious smile, a shiver ran down my spine. Whatever she was planning had my wolf literally whimpering. Growls had died in my throat, replaced by a lump I couldn’t get rid of.

"Because you think that my love is funny, I will show you just how wrong you are. You got everything that I never did—a mate and a pack as their Luna. Even with your brand as an outcast, you still got mated to an alpha!"

"You folded your hands and let Silas hurt me! You, a powerful warlock, allowed—"

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up." She turned so fast that her hair slapped on Scarlett’s face as she walked to me.

"Because you think it’s funny to love someone and see them with someone else. To want to break the bond and have them to yourself, I will make it a reality for you."

“Thiery, bring me the bowl and the candles." Shit! I swore on the inside when she craned her neck to look at me.

"Let’s see how you handle a broken bond. I can never allow you to have what I never had." My heart leapt as she whispered to Scar, her eyes looking at mine with a promise of torture.

"I will not allow you to do that,” my mate growled.

"And what will you do?" her mother chuckled in mockery.

"You are no warlock like me. You possess nothing; what a waste. To give birth to a stupid child only to end up as a werewolf instead of a warlock like me! We were supposed to conquer the world together, but you chose to become like your father, a werewolf." As she spat the vile words, I could see a smile stretching across Scar’s face.

Her mother had no idea that not only was she a silver werewolf, she was also a powerful warlock. She had an element of surprise, and that in a battle field worked wonders. The problem was that she was outnumbered; if she could somehow bypass her mother’s magic, Astra couldn’t.

“Thank you, Thiery; you will make a perfect beta." She faked a smile as she beckoned Silas over.

"You know what to do. Once the bond is broken, you will mark Scarlett, and I’ll kill this son of a bitch. Will see how his father handles that. I will take everything dear to him; I will relish in his pain over his rejection. Then, I will take his with my own hands as I stare into his eyes."