3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Nyx
Somehow, my body betrays me, and I fall asleep from exhaustion. I had planned to stay awake as long as possible, to keep trying to reach out to Lex, Maverick, or Alpha Daxton, but somewhere along the way, my body gave out.
As I start to stir, I have a strange feeling I'm being watched, accompanied by an unfamiliar, but intriguing, scent.
My eyes quickly shoot open when I remember where I am, a gasp spilling out of my mouth as I immediately spot someone standing on the other side of the bars, watching me closely with a curious expression.
Fucking creep.
"Who are you?" I ask, mentally scolding myself for sounding tired instead of angry psycho—the vibe I was aiming for.
He doesn't reply, but his electric blue eyes slowly scan my body, pausing briefly on the chains. I'm not sure if he's surprised to see them, but I wait for his eyes to come back to my face while I compose myself.
"I said, who are you ?" I repeat, firmer.
Ha. That sounded better.
Through the bars, I observe his tall frame, feeling oddly uncomfortable by the amount of muscle under his fitted shirt. I thought Lex was huge, but this guy gives him a run for his money. And it doesn't help that his arms are crossed, pushing his large biceps up. If I wasn't terrified, I'd actually admit that he's quite good looking… for a psycho.
His obsidian hair almost falls into his eyes, and when he finally speaks, his voice is deep and gravelly.
"I'll be asking the questions here."
My eyebrow shoots up as my expression hardens. "Well, good luck getting an answer. I'll tell you exactly what I told your friends— fuck off ."
I wait for an angry reaction, much like how James was, but his lips twitch before pulling up into a smirk.
"I believe it was 'go fuck yourself' and 'fuck you' ."
His response is like a slap in the face. I feel embarrassment creeping up my cheeks, but I ignore that, focusing on the anger instead.
Well, at least they are obviously talking about me. Glad I can give them something entertaining to do before I'm decimated and violated.
"Same thing," I grumble. "The intention is there."
"Right."
Once again, I really loathe how real this all seems. It would be easier to accept if they were rogues and lawless savages. But there's clearly a hierarchy here, signaling pack structure. And this banter—horribly, I might add—reminds me of Maverick. The back and forth pull between two dominating personalities.
It would all be better if I could resist humanizing them .
I guess that's the difference between us. While I struggle to understand how they could be so vile, they can so easily overlook the fact that I am a person—a living, breathing, spoken for, young female.
"Are you going to bother to ask these so-called questions? Or are you just going to stare at me like a creep?" I snap, annoyed when he continues to stand there in complete silence.
Unlike his younger counterpart, nothing I say seems to affect him. James was easy to get a rise out of. Even the others, Ezra and the man at the table, they gave some kind of reply. In all my years of carrying this wonderful personality trait which has landed me in trouble countless times, the only people who have been unfazed or unamused were…
The Alphas.
Not just Lex and Maverick, but Alpha Daxton too. Sure, they give it back twice as hard, reminding me of their authority—even if I feign caring at times—but they have a level of control well beyond normal range. Their snide remarks and witty banter are always calculated, coming from a place of thought and control. It is never an irrational reaction. Except the few times I managed to make Maverick crack, but I assume that has a little something to do with our mate problem .
I decide to test my theory, lifting my head with confidence. "I'm going to guess that you're Cade ?"
I deliberately withhold the supreme title, waiting to gauge his reaction. His blue eyes lock with mine, but his expression is blank, unreadable. And that's when I get my answer.
While some alphas will most definitely snap at the disrespect , every single person underneath them, particularly in their own pack, will without a doubt try to correct you. We can't help it—it's our natural submission and connection. All the years I complained about Alpha Daxton—that he was an asshole, brutal, likely to kill me for my attitude problem—I would have defended his honor without question. At the end of the day, he's my leader. Being Luna to another pack— uh, packs?— still doesn't remove that tie. I'll always refer to him as Alpha, even being mated to other ones. Loyalty doesn't die, and it certainly doesn't change, even when the Moon Goddess decides to stress you out by twisting fate.
The fact that this man standing in front of me has made no effort to correct me, whether he's their alpha or not, says everything I need to know.
And now, I'm furious all over again.
Knowing that they are responsible for the hunters, there's no way this man is a random Alpha. No—he's the Alpha.
Alpha Fucking Cade.
And he's the one who instigated all of this pack's wrongdoings.
"Asshole," I mutter, voicing my thoughts.
"At least you are smarter than you look. I'll give you credit for that," he replies, taking a step back. "They warned me that you were a handful."
I snort. "Oh, I'm sorry that you have to deal with me being a handful. Perhaps I'm not acting appropriately. Tell me—what's the correct behavior to exhibit when someone smashes a rock over your head, kidnaps you with the intention of severing your mated bonds, and trying to kill other alphas? I must have missed that lesson in school."
My blood boils when the asshole has the audacity to actually laugh this time, shaking his head to himself as he turns around and heads for the stairs.
"Where are you going?" I yell with a growl. "Could you at least remove these stupid chains?!"
Cade pauses at the foot of the stairs, giving me an amused look over his shoulder. "I think I'll leave them on a little longer. They seem to piss you off."
"Of course they piss me off!" I shout at his retreating form. "Come back and face me like an alpha."
I'm well aware that I'm playing a dangerous game. A smarter person would shut their mouth and do what they say to avoid getting hurt. Unfortunately, I've never been good at pretending assholes don't annoy me, and if they are going to ruin my life—and my mates'—I'm going to make their lives a nightmare for as long as possible. Maybe then they will get sick of me, dump me back on Shadow Pack land with a return to sender sticker on my forehead. Or option B—they just kill me to shut me up.
Either way, my unusual strategy may, just may , protect Lex and Maverick's packs. It's probably an even more insane idea than flinging myself down the stairs, but I have to improvise here. I don't have much to work with but if I'm good at one thing, it's pissing alphas off.
I still distinctly remember Maverick making a jeer at Lex, telling him that if he wanted to deal with me then that's up to him, but he had no desire to do so. If I can't kill these wolves, then having them kill me is the next best thing. Let the Moon Goddess redraw a new mate for Lex and Maverick—they will find happiness after the pain. It tears me apart thinking of them hurting, but I know they are strong enough to survive it. But I'm not letting these mega assholes find solace in my suffering. And I'm certainly not just going to let them destroy me for their own personal agenda.
After all, if Lydiana was correct and this is just the universe's way of balancing the good and evil, then nothing these packs do will stop that. If anything, it will speed up their demise. Eventually, they will suffer the consequences, tipping the scale of evil and disappearing into thin air. And if I'm a member of the pack—even by force—then I'll cease to exist too.
I'm going to die either way.
I try not to dwell on that thought too much, focusing on doing everything I can to preserve the survival of my packs. My end may be in sight, but as long as I stop anything bad happening to them, I'll accept it.
The only problem is… how much time do I have?
Time goes horribly slow and being underground doesn't help.
I have no idea if it's still daytime or whether the moon is overhead. Regardless, I use the opportunity of being alone to try to free myself from the chains.
If I was just able to shift, I'd break them in a heartbeat. But Mira is still missing in action, the only company being my thoughts.
I've decided to be a glorified pain in the ass, ready to torment Cade whenever he appears again. Heck—I'll settle for any of the others too. James seems to really dislike me. I'd easily be able to trigger him. But I know in my gut that the alpha will be back—I could tell from the look on his face when he left.
What is with all these alphas having a superiority complex?
Stupid question when you think about it, but gone are the days when alphas were pure barbarians—like that Alpha Kingston. He has isolated his entire pack, forbidding outsiders from even getting near them. I still remember his cranky voice on the phone in Alpha Daxton's office, refusing to cooperate in the slightest. That is what I expect Alphas to be like, based on history. This new generation are all sarcastic assholes—even my assholes.
I miss my assholes.
As I try to apply pressure on the chains by contracting my muscles, my mind wanders to them. Are they looking for me? Are they close by?
Lex would be losing his shit—always so protective. He was ready to go to war with Maverick over me.
And Maverick… I can't believe this is where our story ends. It was just getting… well, somewhere . It felt like we had finally hit a turning point in our relationship, recognizing our feelings for each other. Even when he told me he was going to leave Shadow Creek, putting distance between us, I could tell it pained him. He refused to reject me, and a part of me wants to believe it's because he likes me, not so he can avoid finding another potential mate.
I thought the worst problem to have was my complicated situation with him. My body still aches at the prospect of not being with my mate, but in hindsight, being apart is better than not being together at all. Knowing he exists, out there somewhere, I don't know how well I would have coped, even with Lex. But now I'll never know.
Before everything went down in the woods, I could sense something between us. I wanted to talk to him about it again, but then we were attacked.
I was taken.
And his voice… he was so afraid for me. But also, I think he was afraid for himself too—almost like the fear of losing me was becoming a real thing.
Tears fall down my face as my body starts heaving with silent sobs. I refuse to make a sound and let those assholes win, but I can't stop the pain.
Thinking of them both, it hits me—really hits me—that I'll never see them again.
Or my parents… their only child, gone.
I'll never see Lena and Beau, or their future offspring when she decides that she's ready to let the heat take over. Or Reese, who finally found his mate.
I'll never get to go to work again and watch the children grow up, knowing I had a hand in helping them become functioning pack members.
I'll never get to bear my own with my mates… to know the love and joy that my parents felt when they had me.
Even though I didn't want to do it—couldn't understand why it happened—I'll never officially be Luna. I was finally ready… as nervous as I was. My ceremony was meant to be this full moon.
I was going to fulfil my destiny.
My eyes squeeze shut as I try to block the tears from falling, calling out for them again in my mind. But suddenly, there's a light, somehow making its way through the darkness.
As my eyes shoot open, I realize… it's coming from me.