Page 161 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
I force my eyes open despite the pounding in my skull and discover that I’m bound to a wooden chair, my hands tied behind my back and my ankles secured to the chair legs. Therope bites into my wrists when I try to move. Panic flares, acute and immediate, cutting through the drug-induced haze.
I’m in some kind of chamber carved out of rock. Torches flicker in sconces, casting dancing shadows that make the rough walls seem to writhe. The ceiling arches high above, disappearing into darkness.
“Ah, our guest awakens.”
The voice makes my blood freeze. Slowly, painfully, I turn my head toward the sound.
Zari sits in an ornate chair that looks absurdly out of place in this dungeon-like setting. Her dark hair is perfectly arranged, her court dress immaculate. She looks like she’s holding audience in a throne room instead of...wherever this is.
“Lady Zari.” My voice comes out as a croak. “What—”
“Confused?” She tilts her head with mock sympathy. “I suppose you would be. After all, you thought I was safely locked away, didn’t you? Another of your precious prince’s miscalculations.”
I struggle to sit up straighter in the chair, assessing my restraints. The rope cuts deeper into my wrists with every movement. “When Lucian finds out—”
“When Lucian finds out, the Council will already be through with you.” The casual way she says it sends a shiver down my spine. “I never interfere in my father’s business, but you really forced my hand. Lucian was always mine, Astra. Even if the fates gave him to you, I have the ability to snatch him back.”
“You’re insane if you think—”
“What I think,” she interrupts me, rising from her chair with liquid grace, “is that you have caused quite enough trouble for one lifetime.”
As she moves, I see the others. Harper stands near the far wall, no longer bothering to hide her smugness. Beside her is a man I recognize with a jolt of horror: Alpha Gareth. He’ssupposed to be in the dungeons, too, awaiting execution for treason.
But it’s the fourth figure that scares me the most—a man I recognize from the trial, one of the nobles who demanded Lucian hand me over to the Council for judgment.
Lord Aldric steps forward from the shadows, his silver hair gleaming in the torchlight. His cold eyes assess me like I’m a piece of meat.
I stare at him, remembering how his eyes lingered on me during the trial with that calculating gleam.
“Why?” The question tears from my throat. “What do you want with me?”
Lord Aldric’s smile is sharp as a blade. “You’re very valuable, Lady Astra. Your bloodline is, at least.”
I blink at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Eclipse Born.” The words drop from his lips like stones into murky water. “A rare bloodline, born of a shifter and a powerful witch. Your kind has the ability to control the wolves of shifters.”
Everything inside me goes still—my thoughts, even my breathing. “That’s impossible.”
“Is it?” He circles my chair menacingly. “Long ago, the whole concept of kings having an official mate and a concubine arose because one of the women was always Eclipse Born. She provided heirs to the king that could help keep his family established in the monarchy. Control over every wolf in the kingdom, passed down through royal bloodlines.”
“You’re lying.”
“That’s why the Council began wiping them out,” he continues, ignoring my protest. “To weaken the power of the royal family. When the Eclipse Born disappeared, monarchs lost their supernatural edge. They became ordinary wolves playing at being kings.”
He pauses, studying my face as if savoring my dismay.
“It was just before they neared extinction that the Council realized the powers of the Eclipse Born are transferable”—Aldric smiles ominously at me—“if a ritual is followed correctly. However, there were only a handful left, and they had gone into hiding.”
“No,” is all I can think to say. “No, this isn’t real.”
“Tonight, your power is going to be harvested.” He gestures to someone or something behind me that I can’t see. “And then distributed among more suitable recipients.”
Alpha Gareth steps forward, his face twisted with cruel satisfaction. “Did you really think this was all coincidence, little wolf?”
I stare at him, my mind racing. “You knew the whole time. You knew what I was.”
“Of course I knew.” He laughs, the sound echoing off the stone walls. “Your grandfather was raising you so that he could sell you to the Council later. A nice little retirement fund, courtesy of his granddaughter’s rare bloodline.”
