Cynthia met Dorian when she ran away from that cold shithole they shipped her off to.
He wasn’t her mate like she had made Ava believe but then again not everyone was lucky enough to find their mate like Ava. But he was different.
They’d met at a fine dining restaurant. One so expensive and exclusive that you reserved six months in advance and a meal could easily cost an average human’s yearly wage.
She’d been waiting tables to keep food on the table. It was good pay and free food. Plus a place to sleep.
Dorian had come in with a stunning werewolf and by scent alone, she had identified them as part of her race. While she served them, Dorian had caught her gaze and less than an hour later they were fucking in his car.
She wasn’t such an easy lay usually but there was something about him. His raw sexual appeal, his gaze that always made her feel special that he had chosen her. And of course, there was his money.
Afterwards, he had given her some cash and his driver had driven him away. She’d felt used and almost left the money behind before remembering her situation.
The next time he’d come over, she had refused to get into his car. He had seemed amused for all of two seconds before leaving again. She lost her job that night.
The next time she saw him, it was almost a month later and the cash he had given her was on its last legs. She was coming out of a convenience store and there he was leaning against a different car again.
“Hello.”
He had slept with her and paid her like she was a whore, gotten offended that she’d turned him down before getting her fired from her job and all he could say was hello?
Before she’d known what she was doing, she had crossed the distance between them and hit him across the face. He had looked at her as though pleasantly surprised before smiling.
“Come home with me.”
It was so unexpected that for some time all she did was gawk at him thinking about how crazy he must be to have thrown the offer court there like that expecting her to say yes. She must have been even crazier because she followed him.
They were together again in the car and that was how they got together.
It wasn’t until much later she would discover that he’d singled her out initially because he’d wanted to use her as he had various people from different packs in the US.
In time, he revealed bits and pieces of his plan to her. Initially, she would ask him what he had to gain by doing all those things and he would smile at her condescendingly.
“To be king and you could be my queen if you are good.”
“But werewolves don’t have royalty.”
He smiled. “Right.”
Some days he was an angel, others he was so obsessive, oppressive and physically abusive that she had trouble believing it was the same person.
And because she had nothing and nowhere to go, she stayed with him hoping for him to change. Then she got pregnant and the beatings stopped altogether until he had assigned her to go and do her duty, the main reason he had gone for her.
Go back?
She should go back to all that leaving behind the one man who loved her and give Cole a monster like Dorian as a father? No.
“No.”
“No?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do this anymore.”
There was a pause.
“I see. Your time away from me has made you forget a lot. You are mine, Cynthia and I won’t let you and my child go so easily. No one can stop me.
The line went dead and she nearly slipped to the floor.
She hoped that she had not just pushed Dorian to anger in vain.
*****
“Tell me what you want. I can get you out of this cell. You just need to keep your mouth shut.”
Rhea laughed and Ivy fought the urge to cross the distance between them and strangle the life out of her.
“There is nothing you can give me. You ruined everything for me. It’s your fault that I’m in here and you want to use my freedom as w bargaining chip? You are even dumber than you look.”
Rhea was going to see all of Ivy’s carefully laid plans ablaze and all she would be able to do would be to watch.
Adrian was planning to release the bitch any day now and if he found out the truth about that night then his life would be forfeit. Forget about her dreams of being the head of the pack, by the next morning she would have lost her own head.
She tried again motivated by the thought of her headless corpse.
“You can’t really think that Adrian will let you live after your confession. Once he has gotten what he wants from you, he’ll hand you over to the Werewolf council. Those guys won’t even blink twice before executing you. They won’t care whether or not you are really innocent. This might be the only chance you have.”
Rhea paused in consideration and Ivy felt hope flare.
“I’m only asking for curiosity sake and how much will you give me?”
Ivy smiled.
******
Rhea stood in front of the Mountain Coast pack members and Elders. Adrian told her that he had chosen this questioning centre in order to show her the ingenuity of his intention. He would keep his promise to let her go in front of all his people.
Rhea looked around feeling more than a little amused. She had not forgotten what Adrian had done to her parents in his error. His apologies would not release her parents from the dungeons of the council. But most of all as she saw Ivy seated next to Adrian with Ava nowhere to be seen, she remembered how that bitch had screwed her over.
And now, she expected her to cover her ass. Fat chance. Not that she had told her, she wasn’t stupid, she didn’t want her to conveniently arrange for her death before her testimony so she had kept mute.
“Good day everyone, we will have the testimony of Rhea, heir of the Silverwolf pack on the sudden emergence of a new threat to our community…”
The elder speaking was Ivy’s father, perhaps because of her father’s power she felt safe. Rhea almost smiled. Let him keep her safe now.
The Elder looked at her imperiously.
“We will have your statement now.”
Rhea smiled and stepped forward.
“I wish to ask for your word that I shall be allowed to return to my pack unharmed and unmolested after my testimony.”
“You have it, Rhea.” Adrian said magnanimously.
“The day before my arrest, I was in charge of the meals for the pack members.”
She saw Ivy pale.
“How is any of this relevant?” Ivy interjected immediately.
Adrian shifted to look at her with a look of puzzlement on his face.
“Let her speak, Ivy. I’m sure she has somewhere she intends to go with all this.” He said finally with a dismissive air about him.
Ivy looked like she wanted to keep arguing but Rhea pushed through.
“I drugged Alpha Adrian with the aim of getting into his bed and during a child that I would use to get supremacy over my pack again.”
Shocked gasps and angry murmurs filled the gathering but Rhea didn’t care, she would pull Ivy down with her.
“However, my plan was thwarted when Ivy knocked me out and took my place.”
She watched Adrian jolt as if shocked and Ivy scrambled to get out of his path. She couldn’t move fast enough though, Adrian caught her easily and began to strangle the life out of her.
Rhea smiled, restraining a laugh. This was going to be entertaining.