Free Web NovelChapter 75: Just Another Collared Dog I
"You heard about it?"
"Everyone heard about it, Harper," Lydia said. "The news spread so fast, I bet even newborn pups knew. I just didn’t believe that it would actually happen! I wasn’t allowed to watch the match, but I heard what happened. You got beaten so badly! How could he want to do more to you..."
"He did." I nodded grimly, and Lydia looked even more aghast. Her mouth moved wordlessly for a few seconds before she finally composed herself enough to speak.
"I can’t believe Alpha Damon actually claimed the terms... I thought he might have been satisfied with simply beating you up," Lydia burst out. "Beta Blaise is his own blood brother! He was going to cuck― He was stealing― Oh my god!"
Lydia, at a loss for words, shrieked into her hands. "Harper, why is your fated mate such a shithead?"
"I honestly have no clue," I said simply. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"I bet it’s because his father didn’t hug him enough as a child," Lydia said, nodding to herself as she continued to speculate on the reasons for Damon’s asshole behavior.
Her theories ranged from the probable, such as parental neglect, to the ludicrous, such as Damon’s conscience being surgically removed by a stork in the middle of the night because he kicked kittens on purpose.
I laughed so hard I felt an ache in my belly. Oh, I missed Lydia so much. Even in Stormclaw, life wasn’t as bad when I had her by my side. I listened as she continued to rant, feeling myself calm down the more she complained.
It was easier to feel calmer about things when there was someone ready to get angry with them on your behalf. With Lydia here cursing out the Valentine brothers, I felt almost charitable towards them.
But I still had an unanswered question.
"Lydia, if you knew that I was alive, why didn’t you come and find me?" I asked. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Lydia paused, her face falling. "I... I wanted to, and I tried many times but all my attempts ended up in vain."
She wiped her tears away, her voice clogging up with unshed tears.
"I thought you might not want to meet me, since you already have your mates."
I shook my head frantically, gripping Lydia’s hand to squeeze. A fated mate was important, but so was my best friend. I would never pick someone like Damon over Lydia.
Lydia smiled weakly at my show of affection and squeezed back, taking a deep breath before she continued.
"Damon... he found out what I was doing... and gave me one final warning."
I reached out another hand to rub Lydia’s back as she tried to choke out the words. Meanwhile, I was practically vibrating with anger. Damon knew all along Lydia was alive, and he most likely stopped her from contacting me.
Lydia’s next words confirmed my point.
"He told me to... get out of House Sirius, but he didn’t say where else I could go." Lydia continued miserably, "And what’s more, he said if I ever managed to let you know I was here, he would make sure... I stayed dead for good."
The howl of outrage that tore itself out of my throat was less than human, even Lydia gave me a shocked look.
"Harper! When did you get a wolf?"
"I don’t have one," I growled out.
Finally, the pieces were coming together to form an utterly damning picture. No wonder Lydia was frantically running away from me; she always had better senses than me, she must have caught me following her trial and desperately tried to lose me so as to not die at Damon’s hand.
Damon Valentine was a cheat and a liar. I couldn’t believe I even thought he was bearable. Blaise was not off the hook― he clearly knew Lydia was alive but he didn’t tell me, but I found it easier to forgive him.
After all, if Damon didn’t want news of Lydia’s survival to get out, there was nothing Blaise could do. Case in point, right now. Blaise wasn’t sitting nicely in the packhouses; he was out in the god-forsaken borders in some far-flung land risking his life for Damon’s sake while Damon lied and schemed and stole me from him.
"I know you’re angry, but you can’t tell Damon you saw me, please, Harper," Lydia begged, frantically shaking her head as she tugged at my arm.
I could feel her fingers trembling with fear as her lip wobbled anxiously.
"He’ll kill me... It doesn’t matter what you do, he’ll track me with this collar and..." Now Lydia’s whole body trembled in fear.
I wanted nothing more than to banish her fears, but I knew how futile it was to fight Damon Valentine. My face twisted into a pained scowl as rage filled my body, but with no outlet to escape.
"What is it?" Lydia asked, stopping as she caught the change in my facial expressions. "Don’t tell me you’re still going to confront him! You can’t, Harper! Please don’t be rash!"
"Of course not, it’s too risky for you," I said. "I’m just upset when I think about you being collared like you’re some dog! And that bastard Damon still had the nerve to claim that there would no longer be others in his damned harem! Did he not consider you a person?!"
Enraged, my hands instinctively reached out and I tugged at Lydia’s collar. This proved to be a terrible mistake as immediately, a sharp jolt of electricity shot through my fingers. I gasped and quickly let go, but there was no helping Lydia, who convulsed and screamed in pain, writhing on the floor while the current flowed through her body.
"Lydia, I’m so sorry, are you alright?" I asked anxiously, not daring to touch her, but I needed to know if she was alright. Eventually, her body stopped twitching.
"I’m fine," Lydia said weakly as she panted on the floor, the last currents of electricity coursing through her. "But I can’t believe he would lie to you like that to sleep with you! What an asshole! Oh, if only I had more strength and I wasn’t collared, I’d beat him up!"
