Alethea
My brain feels like it has been drained dry like someone sucked the thoughts right out of my head.
My eyes are foggy as if smoke is clouding my vision. A relentless headache pounds against my skull and my entire body feels weak, but the sensation that I’ve been run over by a truck makes me wince in pain.
I try to pry my eyes open, desperate to catch a glimpse of where I am and what’s happening around me, but it feels impossible. My eyelids are so heavy as if they’re weighed down by lead.
I lift my hand-at least, I try to. But it’s too damn heavy. It takes everything in me just to move my fingers.
Try harder.
Summoning every bit of willpower I have left, I force my hand up to my face. The moment my fingers brush against my skin, something shifts. With one final push, I wipe my eyes, and-boom.
My eyelids suddenly give way, peeling open with effort.
Blinding light greets me, and I blink rapidly as my surroundings come into focus. Confusion tightens around my chest.
Where… where am I?
I don’t recognize this place. My heart pounds as my mind scrambles to make sense of my surroundings, to piece together how I got here. But my head is blank.
Why can’t I remember?
Panic grips me. My breathing quickens. My heart races, faster than I thought possible. I run a shaky hand through my hair, desperate, aching to remember just one thing.
Take a deep breath.
I force myself to inhale slowly, filling my lungs, willing the panic to subside. Think.
What do I know? What can I remember?
I squeeze my eyes shut and search my mind, pushing past the fog, past the fear. And then-a name.
Alethea.
Yes. Alethea Weaver. That’s my name.
I sigh in relief, but it’s short-lived. Because as I glance around the room again, something shifts-and suddenly, everything starts to fall into place.
I remember going to Gaita. Seeing Liam. And-oh, Goddess.
A terrifying bulky man with a white handkerchief pressed against my face. The sharp scent of chemicals. And then nothing.
Unconscious.
My heart races as I scan my surroundings. The room… the way it’s arranged… it’s exactly like the one I had back in Northville.
My breath catches in my throat. I’ve been followed.
For how long?
A shiver runs down my spine. I never even noticed.
Gathering every ounce of strength I have left, I run to the door and start banging on it.
“Let me out! LET ME OUT!”
I scream like a banshee, as my fists slam against the door over and over again. My voice echoes in the silence, but there’s no answer.
Dead silence.
Oh, Goddess. This can’t be good.
My eyes darted to the window. I rush to it, my heartbeat pounding in my ears.
I don’t know where I am, but I can’t just sit here and wait for someone to walk in and end my life.
Declan needs me.
Asher. Selena.
The thought sends pure adrenaline surging through my veins.
I look down.
Shit.
I’m on the topmost floor. My stomach twists. If I try to jump-I won’t survive it.
This is suicide.
I whirl around, searching for another way out. My eyes land on a set of adjoining doors. I run to them, yank one open-
A bathroom.
My pulse hammers as I step inside, frantically looking for anything I can use.
Then a sound.
A knock at the door.
I freeze.
My breath catches.
Whoever is out there… They could be here to kill me.
No.
I won’t go down without a fight.
My eyes dart around. There! A new toothbrush is still in its packaging. I tear it open, breaking the plastic apart until I have a sharp edge.
I hide it inside my trousers, pressing my back against the wall as the door creaks open.
A figure steps inside.
My breath hitches.
I take in her features.
And for a second, I forget how to breathe.
Because the woman standing before me…
She looks like me.
“Hi,” she says softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
I open my mouth to respond, but-nothing comes out.
Why is she greeting me like this? Like we know each other?
She glances around the room, scanning it for something-I don’t know what. My brows knit together in confusion.
Then, suddenly, she pulls out a pen and a notebook.
She scribbles something quickly, then turns the paper toward me.
“Hi, my name is Alice. I’m here to help you.”
My eyes snap up to hers.
Why isn’t she speaking? Why is she writing instead?
I snatch the notebook from her hands, flipping to a blank page. My hands shake as I press the pen down hard.
“Who brought me here?”
I shove the notebook back at her.
Alice hesitates for a moment, then slowly writes down two words.
“Our uncle.”
My pulse stops.
I stare at the page, the words blurring before my eyes.
Our uncle?
What the fuck does that mean?
I don’t have an uncle. At least… not one I know of. My mother never spoke about her family. Selena wanted nothing to do with them.
A sense of dread washes over me.
I snatch the pen again, my knuckles turning white as I write:
“What does he want?”
Alice exhales sharply, her hands trembling as she scribbles her response.
“He wants to mate you off to an Alpha. So he can mark you on the Blue Moon.”
She whispers the words so softly, I almost don’t hear her.
But I do.
And suddenly, it feels like the ground has been ripped from beneath me.
My chest tightens. My vision blurs. Tears spill down my cheeks before I can stop them.
No.
No, no, no.
I was right.
I felt this coming. I knew something was wrong. That’s why I wanted Asher to mark me first.
But now-this?
I would be forced into this. Stripped of my will. Bound to someone who isn’t Asher.
My breath shudders.
I barely notice when Alice steps closer. Her touch is gentle as she wipes a tear from my cheek.
I flinch, taken aback by her kindness.
She doesn’t even know me.
So why… Why does she care?
Two possibilities flash through my mind.
She’s either my friend. Or my enemy.
And until I know for sure…
I need to be careful.
“You’ve been asked to dress nicely and come out for dinner,” Alice says, her voice suddenly louder, her tone unnaturally high.
At first, I’m confused-then it hits me.
She’s pretending.
She doesn’t want whoever is outside to know what we are really talking about.
That means… we’re being watched.
A chill runs down my spine. My eyes flick toward the door, imagining the guards standing just beyond it, their sharp werewolf hearing picking up every sound.
I swallow hard and nod slowly.
Alice crouches down, reaching for something on the floor. That’s when I noticed the dress bag in her hand-one I hadn’t even realized she brought in with her.
She holds it out to me. “Take it. Everything you need is in there. You have to look presentable for dinner.”
I blink at the bag, hesitating before taking it from her grasp.
I know what this means.
I’m about to meet him.
The uncle who has been lurking in the shadows of my life, the one who has decided I am nothing more than a bargaining chip.
He doesn’t know me.
He doesn’t care about me.
Yet he wants to control my future like he owns me.
My jaw clenches.
I inhale sharply, steeling myself for what’s to come.
Then, as Alice turns to leave, I watch her carefully, still trying to figure her out.
And before I can stop myself, I whisper, “Alice… right?”
She glances back at me.
I hesitate, then mutter just as quietly, “I think I like you.”