Free Web NovelChapter 143: Chapter 143
Aria’s POV
It was Alpha Richard. He was standing outside the slightly open glass window.
For a moment, I genuinely wondered if he was an illusion, some cruel trick of my exhausted mind. How had he gotten past the guards?
My wolf bristled in warning.
I clutched Lana tighter and instinctively stepped back, baring my fangs slightly in reflex. My protective instincts roared through me.
Richard’s eyes dimmed at my reaction. But he tried to recover, forcing a smile I didn’t return.
“Aria,” he said softly, “I’ve come to save you.”
A harsh laugh slipped from me before I could stop it. “Save me? Oh, let me guess save me with Sophia? Save me and drag me to prison?”
Richard flinched. The hurt in his eyes was obvious... but so was the guilt.
“Aria,” he whispered, “why won’t you believe me?”
Because I can smell lies. Because my wolf snarls whenever you say my name. Because trusting you once burned me so deeply I still feel the scar.
He glanced around the luxurious room then looked back at me.
“It was Nathan who insisted on sending you to prison,” he said bitterly. “But you’d rather stay here in his villa than come with me?”
I met his gaze, cold and unblinking. “You’re all cut from the same cloth. Get out. I don’t want to see you again.”
He froze. The rejection hit him hard. I could scent the mix of anger and frustration pouring off him.
Richard swallowed, masking his expression with a slow, strained smile. “I told you before, my life is stable now. I can provide for you and the child. But you would rather rely on Nathan than even look at me.”
My grip on Lana tightened. I rely on myself. I rely on no one.
At my silence, his voice dropped into a cold sneer. “This is the Nathan you trust so much. Look at what he’s been doing behind your back.”
He raised his hand and a rain of photographs fluttered down around us, blowing into the room like dark snow.
One slid to a stop at my feet.
My breath stalled.
I slowly bent down to pick it up. It was a picture of Nathan and Sophia, standing together. They were too close.
Nathan’s hand was gently wiping the corner of Sophia’s lips in an intimate manner.Sophia blushing shyly under his touch. Nathan was smiling at her.
My wolf went silent. My throat closed.
Something sharp and cruel lodged itself deep inside me, making it impossible to breathe.
Richard didn’t even bother hiding the contempt laced with mockery rolling off him.
“He just brought you back,” he sneered, waving the photo like a trophy, “and now he’s already nestled in Sophia’s arms.”
I bit my lip hard enough that my wolf growled in irritation. Not because of Nathan... but because Richard thinks he can speak to me like this. Like I’m still the weak little Luna who never dared to lift her gaze. freewebnøvel.com
He had no idea.
Just as he leaned in, expecting me to crumble, anger flared within me. My head lifted, and my cold and lethal gaze locked onto his. My wolf surged forward, sharpening my eyes until they glowed faintly gold.
“And you?” I said, my voice low, edged with a warning growl. “Sneaking around... taking photos in secret? How are you any better than him?”
His pulse spiked. I could hear it. I saw a flicker of fear mixed with confusion flash in his eyes.
A bitter laugh sliped from me as I threw the photo to the floor, stomping it underfoot.
“Get out,” I snarled in anger.
Richard paled instantly. His eyes widened, more confusion swirling with fear.
Did he think the year I spent imprisoned would broke me?
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
It remade me.
I am no docile rabbit.
I am a feral wounded wolf who is no longer afraid to bare my teeth.
Before he could say another word, a loud bang echoes through the room as I yank the curtains closed, cutting off his pathetic attempt at spying through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The thought of him standing out there, breathing my air, watching me like prey, filled me with disgust. My wolf hissed.
I exhale sharply, the sound edged with resentment.
A moment later, his leather shoes clicked down the hallway, growing fainter until silence finally settled.
The moment he was gone, my strength drained out of me. I collapsed onto the bed, my breath hitching as the image haunted me again...Nathan and Sophia, smiling and intertwined.
My fists clenched until my claws pierce my palms.
It’s been a long time. A long time since the prison, the darkness, the chains. I no longer hate him... but the anger burns hotter now, sharper.
Why? Why drag me back to this pack? freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Why force a marriage he has refused to honor?
Why pull me into his world only to fold himself into Sophia’s arms?
“What am I to you, Nathan?” I whisper. “A Luna? A trophy? Or just a decoration you want locked inside your house?”
I ripped the photo apart piece by piece, shredding Sophia’s smile and Nathan’s arm around her. Then I shoved the remains into a metal bin, struck a match, and toss it inside.
The paper curls into ash as hungry flames flicker upward.
I watch it burn until nothing remains.
I can’t wait for all these to be over so that I can finally be done with him.
