Page 129 of Claimed By Prince Daddy

I swear, Sasha, I had nothing to do with this! I didn’t call for an attack on your camp.He growled.I don’t know what the hell is going on. Perhaps the Dark Fae influenced my bears somehow.

My upper lip curved, fangs lengthening. “There was no metallic scent of Dark Fae on them. No dead look in their eyes.” I rose to my feet, holding the gun at my leg. I threw out my arm to the side. A shimmer of light appeared around the cabins. The lighted wolf bounded toward us. I made it stop a few feet away. The wolf bared her fangs at Damon, a menacing howl rumbling from its throat.

Damon turned his enormous head toward the translucent wolf, astonishment playing across his face. But I didn’t believe it for one second.

“Your bears were acting out of their own fucking free will!”

Damon swung a pleading gaze toward me.Sasha, please…

“Get out.” My voice shook, and I steeled myself against the raw pain of betrayal. Damon remained, refusing to move. “Leave!” I shouted at him.

HIs head sagged.

A tremor of grief wracked my body. I bit my lower lip to keep the tears at bay—the taste of blood filling my mouth.

“The only reason I’m letting you live,” I hissed, “is because you’re my wolf’s fated mate. But I willnevermate with you… a monster, abear.”

The light faded in Damon’s eyes. He paused for a long moment before he turned and padded away. His remaining bears that hadn’t given chase fell into step with their alpha. Then I watched until they were nothing more than smudges within the shadows of the forest.

I swallowed past the dry lump of emotion lodged in my throat and the sting of tears behind my eyelids. I refused to shed a single one over Damon.

I’d die first.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: TORTURE IS EFFECTIVE

DAMON

“Have the prisoners spoken?”

Amber, my beta, shook her head. “Not yet. The torturing is effective, Alpha. They are weakening.”

My upper lip curled in frustration. I walked past Amber and went down the dark corridor of the underground prison cell my father built for werewolf prisoners of war. But no wolves filled the cells today. Rage licked through my blood like a windswept flame.

Some of my bears had defected, betrayed me and the Stoneclaw Clan by following Rick and attacking Sasha’s pack. A raw ache twisted my heart as Sasha’s tear-stained face came to mind. The hatred that had darkened her brown eyes, turning them near onyx. My fangs jabbed through my gums. Someone was going to talk and reveal why they had attacked the pack of latents. And I knew who the hell I was seeing first.

I stopped in front of a door. Two of my sentinels flanked each side, keeping sentry. I nodded to them and opened the door. I closed it behind me, my gaze locking on the only bear inside the room.

Rick lifted his head from where he sat chained to a chair bolted in the concrete ground. Iron made up the bolts and chains restraining Rick—a substance that paralyzed our beast forms, weakened us.

I stepped toward him, my lip coiling in disgust at the sight of my former friend. A small pang shot through my heart—my soul aching over his treason. I hated how I still held a deep affection for my supposed friend. Blood slicked the side of his face and matted his hair. Bruises, both new and old, bloomed across his exposed skin. No doubt, more evidence of torture appeared on his body beneath his torn, dirty clothing.

“Damon,” Rick wheezed. “I swear, I?—”

My fist connected with his cheekbone. His head snapped back. I straightened, fist and jaw still clenched.

“So, you can speak,” I said. “The sentinels said you lot were mutes.”

Rick’s head turned, his gaze hesitant as he met my scowl. I lowered my head until we were at eye level.

“Now I’m only going to ask this once.” My voice dropped, sounding frigid and deadly. “Why did you attack Sasha and her pack?”

Silence descended. Rick swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. I let my claws slice out. My features hardened. I struck out a hand.

“Okay!” Ricked howled, flinching, his eyelids slammed shut. My hand stopped mere centimeters from his face. “Okay!” He cracked open an eye. “You’d really attack me, your friend since cub hood, for her?”

I knew who he referred to. And Rick must’ve read the answer in my icy stare, for sadness flickered across his expression. Then his gaze transformed, anger replacing the earlier emotion.

He let out a dark chuckle. “What the hell. You’ll kill me, anyway.” His eyes glinted with hatred. “Might as well tell you all the juicy details.”

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