CHAPTER NINETY FIVE
Viki’s POV
For a moment, I thought Nolan was going to kiss me. His face was so close that I could feel his hot breath. My pulse hammered in my ears. I lifted my chin, ready for the moment.
Instead, his mouth moved close to my ear, and he said, “You are delusional.”
“What?”
Nolan quickly slapped me across the face, causing me to stumble back and clutch my cheek in shock. “You… you hit me!” I stammered. “I am trying to help you!”
“I do not need you to take the throne. I can take it on my own,” Nolan said. “Your very presence disgusts me. Do you think I am a fool like Jason? There are some men that can see through your bullshit, Viki.”
I gaped at him, trying to think of something to say. Before I could respond, he reached down and snatched the syringe from my hand. He walked back over to Talia.
“I’ve got you. This is going to help. Just hold on a little longer,” I heard him whisper to her.
Why did everything turn out in Talia’s favor? Why did everyone care so much about her? She was nothing but a lowly, filthy slut of an omega.
“Snap out of it!” my wolf snarled. “If he gives her the counteragent, our lives will be forfeited. We need to get out of here. RUN!”
I turned to flee. The door to the corridor was only a few steps away. But his voice froze me in place.
“You take one step out of here,” he said without even turning his head, “and you are dead.”
I stood still. My wolf paced restlessly inside me, demanding that I run. I wanted to listen to her. It was not as if he could focus on Talia and chase me at the same time. But the mangled bodies of the rogues on the ground and the certainty in Nolan’s tone destroyed any courage I had left.
I watched Nolan work at the locks around Talia’s wrists. The chains rattled and fell away. He caught her before she collapsed onto the stone floor. Talia drifted in and out of consciousness, muttering incoherently.
“Shh, don’t speak. Preserve your strength,” Nolan hushed her as he lowered her to the ground. He lifted her carefully, as if she were something precious, then laid her across his lap and pressed the syringe into her shoulder.
Talia’s body trembled. The shallow rise of her chest grew steadier. Her lips parted as she began to breathe more evenly.
Jealousy coiled through me. It intensified with every second I watched. Rage soon replaced it. I had offered him power and a future no one else could give, least of all Talia. Yet even he, cold and detached, could not resist her.
What did she have that I did not? She was barren, weak, and marked by failure. Yet even Nolan, whose heart seemed made of stone, chose her over me. The sight made me sick.
Nolan stood with her in his arms. Talia sagged against his chest. He looked down at her with an expression that made me gasp. It was something Jason had never even shown me: love.
Hearing me gasp, Nolan looked at me. The loving expression vanished, replaced by cold hatred, as if he were seconds away from dropping Talia and mauling me. I swallowed, waiting for his decision.
Nolan finally looked at me fully. His eyes were sharp, filled with warning. He stepped closer, his voice low but
1/2
CHAPTER NINETY FIVE
+25 Bonus
edged with authority. “You will disappear. If I see you again, I will not hesitate to kill you.”
“Listen, I meant what I said. You can keep Talia as your plaything. I won’t mind. But I can help you. I…”
“You do not get to bargain with me again,” Nolan snapped, cutting me off. “You will leave Silverfang territory and never return.”
I forced a sneer onto my face, though fear pulsed in my veins. “And if I refuse?” I asked.
His silence stretched long enough that I could hear Talia’s faint breaths. Then he said, “Refusal would be foolish.”
“Do not threaten me,” I snapped, my voice shaking with fury. “I was born to be Queen!”
He raised an eyebrow at my outburst. I could not tell if he thought I was brave or simply pathetic.
“All I see is a grown woman throwing a tantrum because she could not get her way,” Nolan growled. “Obey or not obey. I could care less.”
Nolan began walking past me. I let out a sigh of relief, but it was short lived. Before I could react, Nolan’s claws slashed across my cheek. The hit snapped my head back. I screamed in pain as I clutched my face.
“You told me you wouldn’t kill me!” I screamed.
“Did you think I would let you walk away without punishment? You are lucky that I don’t have much time to deal with you,” Nolan sneered.
“You clawed my face! What is wrong with you?” I exclaimed.
“This is your punishment,” Nolan continued. “You will spend the rest of your miserable life with the reminder of your poor decisions and a warning to others to never trust a traitor like you.”
My vision blurred with tears. My breath came in sharp bursts, half sobs and half rage. Nolan sneered and said mockingly, “A Queen doesn’t sob like a spoiled child.” Nolan left the dungeon with Talia.
“You can heal this, can’t you?” I asked my wolf.
She did not immediately respond. I expected to feel relief, but the wound still throbbed painfully.
“Can’t you?” I demanded.
“I am sorry, Viki. I cannot. He used some of his Alpha aura to deliver the wound,” my wolf explained.
I screamed in frustration. Why was this happening to me? I should be the Alpha Queen! How could I live with this disgusted scar on my face?
I would never forgive Talia or Nolan for what they had done to me.
They would regret this! I swear it!
P
Comments
Support
