~Kade~
Danielle was telling me about her time with the Emberclaw pack. She spoke fondly about the first few moments she was there, and I could see in her eyes as she relived that time, but it took a dark turn, and her eyes sunk.
“The pups ran around freely, and the doors were always open. Everyone was welcome anywhere at any time, and they would invite you to family gatherings and dinners. I grew very close with some of them, and we would spend our days together. They had placed stone plates in the ground to resemble actual streets, and there were makeshift stores that sold basic things. They lived very sparsely, but it was nice. Then one day, I was introduced to the rules, such as the fact that it was forbidden to walk past the borders, and that training was mandatory, and to always respect the King. When I first met him, he was aloof and distant, but he opened up slowly. When practice started, it was him that I practiced with, and after three practices, everything changed.” Danielle’s eyes grew dark, and her lips parted as she drew a deep breath.
“It was clear to him, after just three practices, that I wasn’t the girl he thought I was. They had taken the wrong one. You wouldn’t know how everyone looked at me after that. There were no more smiles, no more laughter or playfulness, I was like a piranha, secluded and alone.” My throat tightened as I listened to her. All this time, I thought Danielle left me and went on to live happily ever after somewhere, but life had been just as much of a hell for her as it had for me. But then I found Layla, and now, for a second time, Danielle came second to her.
She looked up and wiped a tear. Her smile never failed her, even when shit went down.
Honestly, I couldn’t imagine how anybody could be mean to Danielle. Sure, my family and I had our reasons, but besides that, Danielle was a sweetheart who would never hurt a fly.
“Why did you come back?” That question sent her back.
Danielle shook her head, and her eyes went around the room.
“For you, I thought that maybe if I came back, that you and I could give it another go. Maybe we could start over and build that life that we always talked about, but I guess I was too late.”
“I guess you were.”
My brother and sister were at practice, and it would end soon, after which we would head down to Sebastian. Mason wanted to be there when Sebastian cracked, and today was going to be the day.
I didn’t have any more time to waste, so I’d use whatever means necessary to break the little shit. It honestly surprised me that he hadn’t broken already, considering all the beatings he had taken.
The sun was starting to set over the pack, and people were hanging out outside on the other side of the wall. They didn’t come in here much, but they knew that our lands were for everyone.
The warriors were training heavily; they had to be prepared when we went up against the Emberclaws.
The clock ran, and everyone grabbed their water and started heading home. Mason and Cara walked up to me, and I turned around. We went straight to the dungeons.
The door creaked, and the stench of gutter and blood hit us in the face. Sebastian’s wounds weren’t healing because of the wolfsbane that the weapons were laced with, and he was writhing in pain on the floor in his cell.
His face was glossy with sweat and the blood trickled down his open wounds. His legs were buckled in front of him, his foot looked dislocated, as did his left shoulder as it fell beside him. His fingers were shaking, and he was taking deep, shallow breaths.
I opened the cell door and stepped inside. Sebastian pressed himself further back against the wall, and spit flew from his mouth as he breathed.
“Fuck you,” he spat, simmering with resentment.
“This is taking to long, Sebastian. I didn’t give you enough credit before. You see, I didn’t think you were going to survive with your secrets for more than a day, but I was wrong because look at you.” “He looks kind of dead, brother,” Mason chuckled darkly behind me.
“Get up.” I grabbed his collar and lifted the wincing weasel up on his feet.
He stumbled on the floor and fell just outside of his fathers cell.
“I’m going to tell you all how this will go now. You have five minutes to tell me everything I want to know about Layla and the Emberclaws, or else I will gather my warriors. I don’t think I need more than ten, and I will head to your pack and overrun you. You people will bow for me, your wife—“ I said and looked at Aldo.
“—will be banished as a rogue, along with your daughter. And if you ever get out of here, you will have nowhere to go. Centuries of a bloodline erased, the title of Alpha stopping with you.” Sebastian’s jaw dropped to the floor, and his father stared in fear as well.
“Kade,” Aldo breathed. Dimitri was standing with his fingers circled around the bars, his cheeks turning red, and his eyes black.
The obsidian tiles on which we stood didn’t display any blood, but as I stepped forward into a puddle, my shoes were stained red.
“Three minutes left.”
“You wouldn’t,” Dimitri growled.
I slowly turned my head, my eyes met his. I didn’t need to utter a single word because he saw the truth right there. He staggered back and looked frantically at Aldo.
“Okay, fine, fine!” Sebastian shouted, and his father slammed at the bars.
“Don’t you dare! Kade won’t attack the pack!”
“I’m the Alpha!” Sebastian roared.
“We knew about the Emberclaws. My father and Dimitri knew about them much longer than I did. They’re strong, physically and mentally,” he panted. “They have powers beyond what we know. They can see memories, but they can also plant them. They can take out an entire pack with their strength or manipulate them by getting into the head of the Alpha. Layla was mine. I had her right there in my grasp, and she and I would’ve taken over every fucking pack together. I want her back.” “You don’t want her, you want her powers!” Mason held Cara back.
“Yes, I do! I deserve it! She was mine first!”
“And when she said no, what was the plan then?” I asked calmly.
“Oh, of course, she was going to say fucking no, but I wasn’t going to give her a choice. We have her family and her friends, I would keep her, lock her in if I needed to, and use her whenever I wanted because I’m the Alpha, and she’s my mate! I would’ve been the strongest Alpha there was, and all the pathetic words about you would be nothing!” He shouted, and saliva flew left and right with each word. His nostrils were flaring, and he was smiling through the pain.
“Thank you for that,” I said, and my calm demeanor seemed to confuse him.
“Mason,”
“Yes, Alpha?” I looked at Sebastian, making sure I had his full attention.
“Gather the warriors; we’re leaving for the Red Moon Pack tonight.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
