Page 7 of Ruthless Reign

I deliberately withhold the supreme title, waiting to gauge his reaction. His blue eyes lock with mine, but his expression is blank, unreadable. And that's when I get my answer.

While some alphas will most definitely snap at thedisrespect, every single person underneath them, particularly in their own pack, will without a doubt try to correct you. We can't help it—it's our natural submission and connection. All the years I complained about Alpha Daxton—that he was an asshole, brutal, likely to kill me for my attitude problem—I would have defended his honor without question. At the end of the day, he's my leader. Being Luna to another pack—uh, packs?—still doesn't remove that tie. I'll always refer to him as Alpha, even being mated to other ones. Loyalty doesn't die, and it certainly doesn't change,even when the Moon Goddess decides to stress you out by twisting fate.

The fact that this man standing in front of me has made no effort to correct me, whether he's their alpha or not, sayseverythingI need to know.

And now, I'm furious all over again.

Knowing that they are responsible for the hunters, there's no way this man is a random Alpha. No—he'stheAlpha.

Alpha Fucking Cade.

And he's the one who instigated all of this pack's wrongdoings.

"Asshole," I mutter, voicing my thoughts.

"At least you are smarter than you look. I'll give you credit for that," he replies, taking a step back. "They warned me that you were a handful."

I snort. "Oh, I'm sorry that you have to deal with me being a handful. Perhaps I'm not acting appropriately. Tell me—what's the correct behavior to exhibit when someone smashes a rock over your head, kidnaps you with the intention of severing your mated bonds, and trying to kill other alphas? I must have missed that lesson in school."

My blood boils when the asshole has the audacity to actually laugh this time, shaking his head to himself as he turns around and heads for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" I yell with a growl. "Could you at least remove these stupid chains?!"

Cade pauses at the foot of the stairs, giving me an amused look over his shoulder. "I think I'll leave them on a little longer. They seem to piss you off."

"Of course they piss me off!" I shout at his retreating form. "Come back and face me like an alpha."

I'm well aware that I'm playing a dangerous game. A smarter person would shut their mouth and do what they say to avoid getting hurt. Unfortunately, I've never been good at pretendingassholes don't annoy me, and if they are going to ruin my life—and my mates'—I'm going to maketheir livesa nightmare for as long as possible. Maybe then they will get sick of me, dump me back on Shadow Pack land with areturn to sendersticker on my forehead. Or option B—they just kill me to shut me up.

Either way, my unusual strategy may,just may, protect Lex and Maverick's packs. It's probably an even more insane idea than flinging myself down the stairs, but I have to improvise here. I don't have much to work with but if I'm good at one thing, it's pissing alphas off.

I still distinctly remember Maverick making a jeer at Lex, telling him that if he wanted to deal with me then that's up to him, but he had no desire to do so. If I can't kill these wolves, then having them kill me is the next best thing. Let the Moon Goddess redraw a new mate for Lex and Maverick—they will find happiness after the pain. It tears me apart thinking of them hurting, but I know they are strong enough to survive it. But I'm not letting these mega assholes find solace in my suffering. And I'm certainly not just going to let them destroy me for their own personal agenda.

After all, if Lydiana was correct and this is just the universe's way of balancing the good and evil, then nothing these packs do will stop that. If anything, it will speed up their demise. Eventually, they will suffer the consequences, tipping the scale of evil and disappearing into thin air. And if I'm a member of the pack—even by force—then I'll cease to exist too.

I'm going to die either way.

I try not to dwell on that thought too much, focusing on doing everything I can to preserve the survival of my packs. My end may be in sight, but as long as I stop anything bad happening to them, I'll accept it.

The only problem is… how much time do I have?

Time goes horribly slow and being underground doesn't help.

I have no idea if it's still daytime or whether the moon is overhead. Regardless, I use the opportunity of being alone to try to free myself from the chains.

If I was just able to shift, I'd break them in a heartbeat. But Mira is still missing in action, the only company being my thoughts.

I've decided to be a glorified pain in the ass, ready to tormentCadewhenever he appears again. Heck—I'll settle for any of the others too. James seems to really dislike me. I'd easily be able to trigger him. But I know in my gut that the alpha will be back—I could tell from the look on his face when he left.

What is with all these alphas having a superiority complex?

Stupid question when you think about it, but gone are the days when alphas were pure barbarians—like that Alpha Kingston. He has isolated his entire pack, forbidding outsiders from even getting near them. I still remember his cranky voice on the phone in Alpha Daxton's office, refusing to cooperate in the slightest.Thatis what I expect Alphas to be like, based on history. This new generation are all sarcastic assholes—evenmyassholes.

I miss my assholes.

As I try to apply pressure on the chains by contracting my muscles, my mind wanders to them. Are they looking for me? Are they close by?

Lex would be losing his shit—always so protective. He was ready to go to war with Maverick over me.

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