Kahis ordered his men to take my mother away.
As I watched her being
ng led from the room, something shattered inside me. I turned to Kalus like he was my last hope. I fell to my knees before Kalos, dignity forgotten as desperation consumed me.
“Kaius, please don’t do this; I can’t live without her. Don’t take her away from me; please do something.” I begged, my voice breaking with each word.
His face remained i
Limpassive, amber eyes watching me with that infuriating control I’d once found fascinating but now despised,
“Get up. There is no such thing as mercy, not in this pack. She did wing, and she had already accepted her fate; you should ton,” he said, his voice like steel wrapped in velvet.
“I will do anything: I will be anything you want me to be, and I will not complain once, if only you will spare her life,” I pleaded, tears streaming freely down my face. 1 no longer cared how pathetic looked. Pride meant nothing when my mother’s life hung in the balance.
No, you can’t do this… please, for me. The words tasted like ash on my tongue. For me. As if my love, my body, my submission were currency enough to buy a life
Kalus shook his head, a flicker of something like regret crossing his features before his Alpha mask settled back into place. “have to do this for the pack; no one goes against me or the Alpha King and stays alive.”
“Alpha Alaric deserved what he got.” The words burst from me, raw and honest. After what he’d done to my mother, after years torture and humiliation, hadn’t she earned the right to seek justice?
“And I am not the one to judge that.”
of
“So you would do what? Let him have my mother? I rose to my feet, anger replacing desperation. “If you do this… if you hurt my mother, I would hate you for the rest of my life, and I would never stop lighting you every single day.”
He studied me, his expression unchanged by my threat. “Do you think that threatens mo? I derive no joy from doing this, but this is what being an Alpha means.”
“Then change the rules,” I shot back.
“This is the only way.”
“And who set the standards? Your father?” I moved closer, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. “You had changed The protocol once. You can do that again; I know you can.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Do you know how this pack has remained on top? Because we do not show mercy. This is what we are known for, and I hate the fact that you had to learn the hard way.”
y making my voice shake. “I am worth more than this.”
So, is this what this is about? A show of power!” I spot, fury n
“And that’s why I am going to spare your life. The fact that you know about this and kept it a secret is reason enough, but I won’t let anything happen to you. The gentleness in his voice only enraged me further.
Without thinking. I lunged at him, my fists connecting with his chest “You fucking bastard! I hate you!”
He caught my wrists easily, his grip firm n but not painful as I struggle against him.
1/3
Chapter 89
I’d rather die than live in hert with you; I’ll take my own lile over and over again if that means I won’t have to see your face ever again!” The threat wasn’t empty in that moment, I meant every wo
Something flickered in his eyes–fear, perhaps. “No, you
I will ma
make sure of it. I need you, Ekwen
“I promise you, kalus, if she dies by your hand, then you will die by mine. The cold certainty in my voice surprised even me. Le never threatened anyone’s life belme, never felt capable of taking a Bo. But for my mother, I would became the monster they thought me incapable of being.
He released my wrists, stepping back with a smile that didn‘
ach his eyes. “I’d love to see you try.”
Silence stretched between us, filled with all the things we couldn’t–wouldn’t say. The love I’d confessed to him just days ago seemed to belong to another lifetime, another person. Hove could I have been so blind?
Lysandra’s words echoed in my mind: Could you leave behind the people your love to be with him? I had my answer now. I couldn’t. I
wouldn’t.
“You do not have to witness this, Kaius said finally, his voice devoid of emotion
“No, I want to be there.” If this was to be my mother’s end, I would not abandon her. And perhaps, in those final moments, I might find a way to save her, or at least ensure her sacrifice was not in vain.
“Then get ready, Elowen; you’ll stand by my side; you will not protest no matter what you see; I do not want to hurt you?! promised never to do that again. Please don’t push me.”
Chad
woman
who had I turned away, unable to look at him any longer. He spoke of not wanting to hurt me while preparing to execute the given me life, who had suffered slavery for my sake. The woman who, despite her flaws, loved me enough to risk everything for vengeance against the man who had destroyed her.
As I walked toward the door, a plan began to form in my mind. I would be there, yes. But not as the obedient Luna he expected. I would find a way–any way–to save my mother, or ensure that her attempt on Alaric’s life was not her last act in this world.
I couldn’t sleep.
The darkness pressed in around me as I curled into the corner of the sofa, as far from Kalus as possible. The bed where we’d shared so many intimate moments now felt like a battlefield I refused to enter.
Hours ticked by, each one bringing us closer to dawn–to the moment my mother would be led to her death. My mind raced through desperate scenarios, each more impossible than the last. Could I overpower the guards? Create a distraction? Perhaps I could still appeal to whatever humanity remained in Kalus…
“Elowen, please don’t punish yourself; return back to the bed. His voice cut through the darkness, startling me. I’d thought he was asleep.
“No, I ag fine here. My voice was hat, devoid of the emotion churning inside me
The sheets rustled as he shifted. “You are not; I sleep elsewhere if that is what you want.”
“My mother is being held captive; the place I’m going to sleep is the past of my worries right now,” I replied, turning toward the window where the first hint of pre–dawn gray was beginning to lighten the sky.
ing my face
