131- A Cage of Lies and Chains
POV Lunara Grimwald:
“If I’d known that wolf meant so much to you, I would’ve made his death quicker.” He clicked his tongue. “You know… less suffering.”
I was speechless, just staring at him.
All the disgust, hatred, and resentment I felt slammed into me in waves. I had thought I hated him—until I was forced into his presence again after months. I hadn’t known the true magnitude of it until now.
I leaned toward him, baring my fangs.
“I’ve said this to you countless times, and I’ll say it again: I would rather die than marry you.”
He shot to his feet and stepped toward me, trying to intimidate me. He was much taller than I was. I lifted my face to meet his, clenching my teeth so hard my jaw throbbed.
“And I’ve told you a thousand times, my love, I will train you. You’ll become the old Lunara again—obedient and submissive. I’ll be your husband, whether you want it or not. You’ll spread those bitch legs for me and satisfy me whenever I want. You’ll give me heirs. Male ones, preferably. And you’ll accept the life you’ll live by my side.”
My vision blurred with rage and unshed tears.
“Edric will never allow that,” I whispered, certain. Alessio burst into loud laughter.
“Oh, he will. Do you know why?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Because I’m going to remove the mark from you, and that’s all that matters to him—the bond between your lives. Without the mark, he has no reason to come to your rescue. He has Thalira—the bitch who’s been by his side for years, manipulating and controlling him without him noticing.”
“No,” I gasped.
“Yes, my love. The sooner you accept your reality, the better it will be for you. Go back to loving me. Go back to being that polite, submissive little wolf you once were. I’ll have a few lovers, but you will remain my wife, the mother of my pups, and that is what matters.”
I took an unsteady step back.
“He’s coming,” I insisted, blinking to fight the tears.
Alessio pouted and looked at me with feigned sympathy.
“Oh, sweetheart. You…” He narrowed his eyes. “You fell in love with the wolf?”
His dull laughter made my bones tremble.
“Always so naïve. Right now, your Eldoria alpha must be enjoying his old mistress, while she convinces him you came with me of your own free will, because you were always in love with me. He must be irritated about the mark, but he’ll feel it disappear once it’s removed. When the bond breaks, nothing about you will matter to him anymore.”
I shrank, gripping the edge of the table to keep myself upright.
All the water I’d just drunk threatened to come back up as my stomach twisted violently.
“You… lied to him?” I murmured.
“Of course! Thalira was supposed to convince him that you came with me out of love, because I wanted you back.”
Edric couldn’t believe that. He knew how much I hated Alessio—how much he’d made me suffer. But even if his relationship with Thalira was strained, he still trusted the damned she-wolf. And Anton was dead.
Gods.
If Edric believed the story they crafted, he must hate me. His best friend was dead, and I had fled with his greatest enemy. He would blame me for Anton’s death.
I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling a crushing tightness.
I couldn’t breathe, as though the air had thinned too much to reach my lungs.
Would he believe Thalira’s lies? Would he believe I could be responsible for Anton’s death—that I would have the courage to run off with Alessio after everything he’d done to me?
For months, Edric and I fought over the ritual. I had shown him more than once how much I wanted it, but things had changed between us—shifted—grown.
And… I had fucking fallen in love.
My throat burned. I wanted to cry, scream, tear the world apart. My life had a talent for collapsing into chaos. Everything was finally going well until Alessio appeared and destroyed everything I had gained.
Of course Edric would believe Thalira. He had known her for decades. I was just an omega in heat who wandered into his territory and mated with him. Wasn’t I?
Without the mark, he would have no reason to worry. Thalira and Alessio knew that—they planned everything.
“Don’t be like that, my love. Fall in love with me again.”
“Fall in love with you?” I screamed, losing control. “After everything you’ve done? You sold me to your males like I was some worthless object!”
He raised an index finger.
“Not exactly! At the time, I thought you weren’t worth anything—you’d given yourself to another male and you weren’t exclusive to me anymore. They didn’t want to go after you—they were afraid of Edric. Everyone who tried died. So I thought… I could auction you off as a prize to motivate them to keep hunting.” He shrugged casually. “Just once. A consolation for the risks they were taking.”
Hatred flooded me so violently I shook.
I grabbed the pot of green soup he had brought me and threw it in his face. He shouted, stumbling backward as the hot liquid burned his skin.
“You bitch!” he roared.
I shoved the table toward him and sprinted for the door. If Edric wasn’t coming to save me, then I would save myself. But I would not spend another moment chained to Alessio.
My hand had barely touched the doorknob when he grabbed me, hooking an arm around my waist and hurling me toward the bed.
“You’ll regret that, Lunara!” he shouted, furious, flooding the room with his pheromones. “Your alpha won’t come for you. He doesn’t like you. He has Thalira—who is gorgeous, smarter than you, and has been by his side for years. Accept me. That’s all you’ll ever have. Stop acting like a spoiled, ill-mannered bitch.”
I curled against the mattress, pulling my knees to my chest as I hugged myself.
“Fuck all of you!”
He smiled, his face smeared with soup and his skin red from the burn.
“You’ll only eat again once we’re home—now you’ll learn obedience.” He grabbed a filthy napkin from near the sink and wiped the soup from his arms and face. “Even if I have to starve you to the bone. I will tear you apart piece by piece until nothing is left whole.”
“Good luck with that,” I spat.
“I don’t need luck, my love. Broken people settle for crumbs—and that’s exactly what I’ll give you.” He growled, fixing his brown eyes on me. “You’ll live with almost nothing, so that when I give you something—anything—it will feel like the peak of your miserable existence.”
I swallowed with difficulty.
“I despise you.”
He walked toward the couch, opened a backpack, and pulled out a syringe. Holding it up, he smiled coldly.
“Every breath you take will be a reminder of your place at my side—where you belong and have always belonged. There is no escape, my love.”
He advanced on me with the sedative. I pressed my back to the wall, desperate to get away with nowhere to run.
“I will shape you to my will until nothing remains but what I desire you to be.”