Page 67 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
“Entertainment. Protection. Companionship.” His oily grin widens. “Whatever their masters require.”
The full horror crashes over me like a tidal wave. They’re talking about slavery. About breeding me like a show dog and selling my children to be pets, toys for the wealthy and twisted.
“No!” The word rips from my throat. “Absolutely not! Andrew, how could you—”
“How could I what?” His gentle mask slips completely now, revealing the ugliness underneath. “Give you exactly what you wanted? A way out of your miserable life?”
“This isn’t what I wanted!” The pain in my chest is unbearable. This is the man I thought loved me. The man I was going to marry. The man I trusted with everything.
“Isn’t it?” He steps closer, crowding me against the wall. “You came running to me, desperate and pathetic, begging for someone to want you. Well, congratulations. You’re wanted.”
“By slave owners!” Each word is a knife twisting in my heart. Desperate and pathetic. Is that really how he sees me? How he has always seen me?
“By people with very deep pockets,” Andrew clarifies. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been cultivating this opportunity? How many years I’ve spent earning your trust, learning about your bloodline?”
Years. He has been planning this for years. Every moment of tenderness was calculated. Every smile was a lie.
“You never loved me,” I whisper. The words feel like they’re tearing me apart.
“Love?” Andrew laughs, and the sound is cold and cruel. It’s nothing like the warm laughter I thought was his. “You really are naive, aren’t you? I’ve been grooming you since the day we met. Every kind word, every gentle touch, every promise of marriage—all of it was designed to get you exactly where you are right now.”
I feel like I’m drowning. The man standing before me is a stranger wearing Andrew’s face. Each memory I have of happiness, of feeling wanted and loved, crumbles to ash in my mind.
“But I saved you from that shadow bear…”
“Which was so convenient,” he says with that same cruel smile. “I’d been trying to figure out how to get close to you for months. A shifter, living alone, collecting herbs? I knew you had to be valuable. But I needed a way in, needed you to trust me. When that bear attacked me and you saved my life, it was perfect. Instant gratitude, instant bond. You practically threw yourself into my arms after that.”
The betrayal cuts even deeper. He took my act of kindness, my genuine desire to help someone in danger, and twisted it into a weapon against me. The very moment that I thought proved he was good, that I thought proved I was right to trust him, was just another tool in his arsenal.
“I thought—” My voice breaks. “I thought you cared about me.”
“I cared about your potential,” he says contemptuously. “Your bloodline. Your value.”
“I thought someone finally wanted me for who I am.”
“Who you are?” Andrew’s laugh is bitter. “You’re a broken, little wolf girl with abandonment issues. Perfect formanipulation, really. All I had to do was show you a little kindness, and you were ready to follow me anywhere.”
The cruelty of it steals my breath. He’s not just betraying me, he’s destroying every precious memory, every moment of hope I’ve ever had. The wedding we planned, the life we dreamed of, the future where I finally belonged somewhere—it was all an elaborate lie.
“I’ve verified her bloodline,” Andrew continues to Blackwood like I’m not even here. “Previous alpha’s granddaughter. The children she bears will be full shifters, perfect for your collectors who want exotic pets with collars around their necks.”
“Collars?” I choke out, tears streaming down my face.
“Beautiful ones,” Blackwood assures me with that slick smile. “Gold, silver, whatever matches their owners’ preferences. Your children will be quite the status symbols.”
My children. The children that Andrew agreed we could never have, that I’d given up the possibility of when I left my pack. Even that was a lie. He knew. He always knew.
“Now then,” Blackwood says, pulling out an ornate pair of shackles. His rings catch the lamplight as he handles the chains. “Let’s get you properly secured for transport.”
“No!” I lunge for the door, but Andrew catches my arm, his grip bruising. The same hands that used to hold me gently are now instruments of capture.
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” he warns me. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“There is no easy way!” I wrench against his hold, Luna spitting and clawing at his face. “Let me go!”
“Take her,” Blackwood orders coolly. “We can’t have her struggling during transport.”
That’s when I see the other men—two large, professional-looking brutes who have apparently been standing silently justoutside the door. They move forward with practiced efficiency, their movements coordinated like wolves circling prey.
