AMELIA’S P.O.V

I couldn’t fall asleep the entire time that Blake was behind me. I wasn’t sure if it was the unfamiliarity of the room, the fact that I missed Kaden, the fear or the boner that pressed into my back. Whatever it was, I couldn’t bring myself to actually fall asleep.


Blake fell asleep and woke up, the entire time, I was just staring at the wall opposite me. As soon as he was awake, he tucked my hair behind my ear and placed a soft kiss on my neck. Bile crawled up my throat and I could feel my wolf fighting to push him off but I managed to keep her at bay. I wasn’t going to risk upsetting the person that held me captive in case he injected me again.

“How long have you been awake?” he asked and I shrugged. “It still feels surreal to see you here with me, Amelia. I had lost hope that this would ever happen again. Kaden kept you well hidden. Tell me about everything that happened while you were there.”

I opened my mouth but no words would come out. I wasn’t sure what exactly he was expecting from me and the last thing I wanted to do was say the wrong thing. My freedom and maybe life depended on it. Instead, I faked a shiver and sighed.


“I don’t think I can talk about it. Why don’t you tell me about what happened with you? You have come a long way. You are now Alpha.”

His chest swelled with pride. It was a good distraction, every man loved to brag about himself and how far they had brought themselves. With one hand still stroking my hair, he spoke.


“I had to meet up with some rebels. Not everyone loved your father, Amelia. We all saw how cruel he was. He lived in luxury while the pack suffered. We planned together and I enlisted the help of Sam- his whore- and she poisoned him slowly until he was nearly incapacitated. I had him make me Alpha in his stead. I had to mate with Brittany to not arouse suspicion but it was you on my mind the entire time. All I did, I did for us, I am sure you know that.”

I forced a smile on my face and nodded. “Of course I do.”

I knew my father and Brittany weren’t the best people in the world but I couldn’t help but feel bad for them. The pack was all they had and Blake had taken it from them. He had stripped them of everything that made them… them.

“I don’t care what you had to do with Kaden to survive,” Blake dropped his voice to a whisper. “I will find a witch to break both our bonds and we can be together finally.”

He dropped a kiss to my lips and I stilled against him. It felt many shades of wrong and I couldn’t bring myself to kiss him back. He must have realized that I hadn’t kissed him back because he pulled away and his eyes were bright with anger that I had never seen before. It made fear crawl down my spine as the hair at the back of my neck stood on edge.

“Don’t tell me you like the bastard,” he spat. “Is that why you won’t kiss me?”

He grabbed my arm in a bruising grip. He was practically leaning over me and I had never felt so small before. I knew I could easily get out of his grip but how far could I run? Everywhere was locked. He was expecting a woman in love with him and I was in love with Kaden.

I did love Blake at some point in my life but I couldn’t bring myself to reconcile the girl I was now to the woman that had fallen in love with him at some point. So much had changed, I wasn’t that girl anymore and I could never be her but if I wanted to survive, I needed to pretend.

“You’re hurting me,” I kept my voice deliberately soft and even though he loosened his hold, he didn’t let go of me. “I’m scared, Blake, you’re acting like him.”

I left the last part up to interpretation but he took it just as I assumed he would and released me quickly. His eyes were wide with self loathing and disgust.

“I am so sorry, Amelia,” he whispered as I sat up. I didn’t want to lie down anymore. I rubbed the skin on my wrist trying to get rid of the ache there as I kept my eyes on him. “I didn’t even realize what I was doing. Please, forgive me.”

I imagined it was Kaden I was looking at and placed my hand on his cheek. He felt so different from the man I had come to love and I prayed that Kaden would forgive me for what I was about to do.

“It’s not your fault,” I whispered. “You didn’t know. That’s why I didn’t want to talk about him. I just don’t know how. You have no idea what I went through over there.”

I made sure to milk all the emotions I had, even adding a small crack in my voice. If he had only looked deeper, Blake would have noticed that I was lying but he saw what he wanted to see. I could spend ages telling him that Kaden was good to me and I knew he wouldn’t see it, so I played into what he wanted. I gave him what he wanted. It was only for some time, until I found my way out.

“You are the one I want,” the lie tasted like ash on my tongue. “I just need you to be patient with me, please. I still see him everywhere and I’m scared he will find us.”

“He never will,” Blake assured me. He was still looking down at my lips.

I muttered a small prayer to the goddess as I leaned forward and kissed him.