Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
Rowena was placed in one of the cells deepest within the prison, several layers beneath the ground.
The moment we entered the observation room, which was identical to all the others with it’s metal table and chairs, I spotted her a mere ten feet away in her cell.
The chair she sat in was bolted to the ground, impossible to move. There were thick leather straps around her wrists and ankles, holding her in place. While she looked a wreck, still covered in blood with her auburn hair tangled around her shoulders, there was a cocky smile in place that I wanted to carve away.
As soon as the thick, metal door of
Rowena’s cell swung open and Nolan and I stepped inside, she started talking. For moral support, and another familiar face to keep me from plummeting off the deep end, I motioned for Breyona to follow.
Rowena wrinkled her pert nose at the three of us. “I’ve never been a fan of blood -well, my own blood, anyway. Aske your damned questions and if I feel inclined to answer them, I will.”
“How did you get Nolan to kill three werewolves?” I asked straight off the bat, no hesitation.
Breyona gasped softly, looking at the two of us in shock. “It…it was Nolan all along?”
“Not consciously.” I said, immediately coming to my mate’s defense. Nolan stiffened, but that didn’t stop me from lacing our fingers together. “He’d never knowingly harm his own people.”
“No, of course not. I didn’t mean…” She blinked at Nolan, shaking her head. “We all know he’d never.”
Rowena smirked at the three of us, clearly enjoying the after affects of the damage she caused. The longer I stared at her, looking into eyes that once held such kindness-kindness I compared to my grandma of all peoplethe more I wanted to lash out and tear the secrets from her mind.
Her eyes drifted down to my hands just as my fingers twitched.
“Like I said, I wasn’t the one who made him do anything.” She attempted to shrug, but I imagined it was hard to do so when your arms were strapped down.
“The other witch then.” I snapped, clenching my hands into fists that I hid behind my back. “How did she do it? How did she curse him?”
Rowena made a sound that resembled a hum, resting her head against the back of the chair.
“You should really be careful who you let close. Curses are pesky things, really. All you need is a drop of blood, perhaps a hair or two, and something to bind the curse to the victim.” She said before leaning in, the hint of a sultry smile toying at her lips. Jutting her chin at Breyona, she purred, “…maybe it’s that one over there.”
A snarl tore through my chest and if it weren’t for Nolan’s hand on my lower back, his warmth pouring into my icy skin, I would’ve dug my fingers into her eye sockets.
Instead of having the wits to be afraid, Rowena laughed.
“No, you’re right. She’s too close to all of this. It would be much too obvious. Mm, perhaps it’s someone in the background, someone you never would’ve noticed lurking about. What about that half- breed sister of yours, Holly? She and I did spend quite a lot of time together.” She teased, flashing blood-
stained teeth when Tristan let out a snarl of his own.
There wasn’t a chance in hell I’d actually believe her, not with how enthusiastically she’s pointing fingers. She could cry witch all she wanted, but I trusted the people closest to me, my half-sister included.
Rowena began to laugh harder, and the sound of it gradually shifted from confident and poised, to a cackle that bordered on unhinged.
“Oh, there’s so many possibilities, but let’s not limit the suspects to only women. My sister in crime is powerful enough to take on the form of either gender, though not for too long.”
Nolan’s hand tensed along my back, as did the rest of his body. It was my turn to reign him in, even though the sickly song in my veins told me to do the opposite.
He towered over her and snarled, “Her name. Tell us her fucking name.”
Rowena yawned, making a show of opening her mouth and fluttering her eyes like we were the ones boring her.
“No, I don’t think I will.” She mused. “
Ask me something else. You’re oozing testosterone and it’s making me sleepy.”
“Why Sean? Why him of all people?”
At first, I didn’t recognize the voice that spoke. I didn’t feel the words as they left my lips, but that was most likely because they were encased in layers of ice- dropping the temperature of the room by a few degrees.
Breyona shuddered, her warm breath coming out as a puff of white smoke.
Rowena’s grin fell as she lifted a single sculpted eyebrow at me. Goosebumps prickled along her bare arms, filling me with the smallest hint of pleasure.
“You don’t think Carson and that other boy were our first choices, do you? Please, who even are they?
Where is the poetry in that? No, darling. If it wasn’t for your mate’s commendable willpower, your friend over there,” Her eyes flickered over to Breyona. “…and the other one, would be dead.”
At that, my stomach dropped. The siren song was louder now, so tempting that I inched closer to
Nolan, all but curling into him to keep the urge to kill her at bay.
“Mason and I were your first choices?”
Breyona asked, her voice pitched low.
Rowena’s cell seemed to darken, the shadows along the walls climbing higher. For once, it wasn’t me controlling them, but Breyona. The shadow creeping behind her took on the shape of a wolf.
“Well, of course. You must admit, there’s a beautiful symmetry to it. Daisy’s closest friends, followed by her brother, sacrificed in the name of ultimate power.” Rowena sighed heavily, like a teenage girl speaking about the boy she loved. Quickly, her expression soured, and blood-crusted lips twisted into a sneer. Her eyes, which now looked like sewage rather than fragmented emeralds, latched onto my face. “You had to go and ruin that by turning Breyona here into some shadow monster. Freya wasn’t happy about that, not one bit. She’s nothing if not inventive, though. Now she’s quite keen on the idea of having a guard dog that’s a mixture of werewolf and shadow.” 2
“I’ll never follow that bitch.” Breyona snarled, eyes flashing dangerously.
Rowena huffed out a laugh, “You won’t have a choice in the matter. Besides, I think you’ll be quite flattered to be one of the last werewolves in existence. I know I would if I were in your shoes.”
A satisfied smile twitched onto her face when Breyona began to shake, her entire form rippling as pure shadow seemed to seep from her pores. If one of us didn’t act soon, Breyona would surely shift and kill
Rowena for us.
“Go take a breather.” I turned to Breyona, urging her with my eyes to listen.
Rowena hummed, “That’s right. Go on, now.”
Breyona’s deep, smoky snarl was overshadowed by the cell door swinging open and Giovanni stepping inside. She reacted to his touch immediately, her eyes fading back to their normal color and losing the shadowy tinge they were taking on. Once Breyona was out of the room and the cell door shut, I turned to hear Nolan ask the next question.
“Where are the other witches hiding out at? You have to have a base somewhere.” 1
Rowena graced us with a smirk. The smug light in her eyes was enough proof to tell us she knew exactly where the witches were hiding.
“Did you know there’s a subcategory of magic known as Illusion magic? It’s typically present in sigil, natural, and sometimes protection magics. Freya has a few witches with this affinity, though there’s one in particular that’s very skilled. She can make you see anything, believe you’re somewhere a thousand miles away when really, you’re standing in your own back yard.” A slow, sinister smile creeped across her face. “Look all you want, Alpha Nolan, but you’ll never find them.”
A pulse of earth-shattering rage vibrated down the bond, warning me that Nolan was seconds away from imploding and beginning the torture. It wasn’t that I wanted to keep him from hurting
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?