Page 95
Story: The Alpha's Forsaken Vow
He lets go of my chin.
Lina stops crying.
I can almost taste my own blood in my mouth, and it doesn’t compare to the fear, the betrayal, and the anger thrumming in my veins.
I watch as Julian stands up and looks at my daughter with ire before he turns around to leave.
Call it adrenaline, call it my maternal instincts kicking in, but I realize two things.
One, my daughter needs me, and I'm her only savior.
Two, and the most important, the only way to get through to Julian is to be him.
To manipulate. To scheme. To get in his head.
“D-did you ever look for me after you left?” I ask.
Julian pauses in the middle of the room, his back to me and his hands in his pockets.
Swallowing the knot of bitterness in my throat, I continue with the lies that slip out of my mouth so easily they almost convince me too, “Because I saw you everywhere I looked. I missed you. Every time I looked in the mirror, I remembered how you used to hug me and tell me I was the most beautiful woman in the world. I cried for you for so many years. I still do, sometimes.”
He doesn’t look at me, but his shoulders turn rigid.
“What game are you playing, peaches?”
“Tell me if you ever missed me.”
“I’ve missed you every single second of my life, Lila. I love you. Still do. Always will.”
“But you cheated on me, and it hurt, and because of that, I slept with your uncle just to spite you. But Alaric…he was never you. I’ve tried to convince myself he’s you, but I’ve been lying to myself, Julian. I–I convinced myself that if I tried to love him, maybe I would move on from you. Maybe I would…”
“Did you? Move on from me, I mean?”
Yes! As soon as you cheated on me! As soon as you called our relationship a game, you fucking monster!
“No. I still want you, Julian Hells, and I hate you and myself because I do. If we were still together, would you have marked me? Because if you’d marked me, you’d be mine and I’d be yours forever. Not Alaric or anyone else would come between us.”
This time, he does turn around, and the Julian I once loved looks at me with the most genuine smile I’ve ever seen.
But I know better. I know his bad parts outweigh his good.
“I would have marked you even if you didn’t ask me to, Lila. That’s how much I loved and still love you.”
I swallow the lump stuck in my throat, wincing as the silver-threaded cuffs around my wrists scrape against the metal bars behind me. I can’t take a step forward, not when my ankles are tied and my body is practically bound to this rusty cage.
But I lift my chin anyway.
I shift just enough to make it look like I’m choosing him, to make him believe I still have a choice, even when he’s got me tied up. For Lina.
“Then mark me. Mark me so that Alaric knows I chose you and that you are the only Alpha I want in my bed.”
Seconds turn into minutes. Julian stands there with a suspicious expression and an undeniable gleam in his eyes.
I think he’ll see through my bluff.
But he proves to be as predictable as I had thought.
His eyes light up with sick triumph as he licks his lips and steps closer. “Your wish is my command, peaches,” he says, voice like oil on fire. “Come to me.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95 (Reading here)
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107