Page 142 of Alpha's Impostor Bride

Silver Ring Organization? I think dimly. What is she saying?

“But I had to come back. Of course I had to!” She sneers. “Let you be queen of the North? You’re not worthy of being a queen. Did you think you could raise your status? Did you think you could be better than me? In a higher position than me? You, who would lick my shoes if I told you to?”

She laughs angrily before grabbing my head and slamming it against the door. “You ungrateful, greedy, little bitch. How dare you pretend to be me? You were supposed to die in my palace, not become that barbarian’s mate.”

I try to summon my wolf, but I can’t feel it. It’s like our link has severed. I feel so weak!

“Once I’m done with you, I’m going to destroy all the research you’ve been doing, and then I’m going to kill that spawn of yours!”

Her words barely register on me. The only thing I comprehend is that she wants to hurt my child. It’s difficult even to draw a breath, but I don’t care. I’m not going to let her hurt Finn.

My body feels sluggish, as if she’s drugged me with something.

But most of the impact is on my wolf. I can’t feel it anymore. I force the panic aside and lift my knee to hit her in the crotch. I’m unable to use much force, but the surprise of the attack has her stumbling backward, forcing the withdrawal of her hand from my stomach.

Blood gushes out. I wrap my arms around my waist and begin running down the corridor. More like stumbling. My legs are barely able to hold my weight. Without my wolf, I can’t feel the mating bond, and it is sending me spiraling. My wounds are fatal, and I know it.

“You bitch!” Vivian catches up to me and grabs me by my hair, pulling me back and throwing me to the ground.

I may not be able to shift, but I can still use my claws. I slash her on the arm, and she jumps away, crying out in pain.

Where is everybody in this palace?! Where are the guards?!

With no other way out, I hobble back to the lab and quickly press my hand on the fingerprint scanner. Vivian is already rushing toward me. I know the door won’t close in time. I stumble in as soon as it opens and grab the closest thing to me, smashing it against her head as she enters. She goes down like a ton of bricks, and I search for the lights.

My hand hits the switch, and when light floods the lab, I look around in a dazed manner.

It’s a wreck.

It looks like a tornado tore through this place, destroying every single thing inside. All the screens and equipment that Maya purchased are broken. All the vials and the cooler where they were stored have been shattered.

What is happening? How did Vivian escape? Who trashed this place?

I need to call for help. I can feel the life seeping out of me. Without my wolf, I can’t seem to heal at my usual pace. I’m not going to make it, I realize.

Tears burn my eyes. I wanted to see Finn grow up. I wanted him to be loved. Cedric and I were finally happy. We were going to be a family. I wanted my home to be overrun by children.

As I grab the edge of the marble counter and try to look for something to raise the alarm with, I see a still figure on the ground. A few more steps, and I recognize Jerry lying there, face-down in a pool of his own blood.

“No,” I moan, falling by his side. I try to shake him, but I’m too weak. His body is growing cold. “Jerry,” I whisper hoarsely.

I can’t get words out properly. My own body is starting to shut down.

The door is open. The smell of blood should alert somebody.

A hand wraps around my ankle, and I’m being dragged toward Vivian. My head lifts weakly, and I see her crawling toward me, a deranged look on her face.

“You think you can get away from me?” She spits at me. “I have to kill you. You have become a thorn in the organization’s path. And you have become far too arrogant for me to let you live. You forgot your place, Leanna! It was always beneath me! You are not—You can never be better than me!”

She’s clutching a shard of broken glass, and she sinks it into my calf, dragging it down. I let out a shriek of pain, and she laughs.

“Scream all you want! Nobody is coming to save you. Your mate is gone. That barbaric beast is long dead. Just like his parents. The Eastern Kingdom has finally managed to wipe out the entire Northern royal family. Those arrogant beasts!”

I kick her in the face, and she falls to the side, blood spurting from her nose.

“You’re lying!” I shout at her, blood spilling from my mouth. “Cedric is not dead!”

“He is!” Vivian laughs before her next attack. She leaps at me as I grab a scalpel from the floor next to me. I stab it in the air, getting her straight in her right eye.

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