Page 122 of A Chance at Redemption for the Alpha

Her voice bores itself into my mind, finally alerting me fully. “Abducted?” I force my eyes open, blinking up to look right atNova, who is sitting next to me. She looks a bit roughed up, but thankfully seems to be unharmed. “Right, the weirdo with the cape who took Maddie!”

“Exactly.” Nova looks relieved. “Good to know you haven’t lost your mind. The creep in the cape knocked you out pretty badly, I think.”

I groan, rubbing my head. “Certainly feels like it.” I look around, looking for Maddie, to realize she isn’t with us.

“She isn’t here,” Nova informs me, guessing my surprise. “When I woke up, it was just the both of us.”

I scramble to my feet, ignoring the way they tremble slightly. Nova and I are in a cell. It smells slightly humid, as if we are underground. The bricks of the building are thick, and everything looks old, almost like a castle. I stalk forward to the door, tugging at it, only to have a jolt of pain go through me. “Fuck!” I curse.

“What’s with the door?” Nova asks, hurrying to my side.

“Covered in silver,” I frown, stretching to look through the small window on the door. Right behind it, I spot a guard. “What did you do with Maddie?” I yell.

The guard turns to us with a frown.

“Did you kill her?” I demand to know.

“She is just getting tested,” the man says as if he isn’t even bothered that we are here.

Tested?

The man who took Maddie, Nova and me had long hair, very elegant features and looked quite similar to Silas. It’s the cheekbones and the nose in particular. I frown. Wait a moment, could this be…

I decide to take my chance. “Tell Aloysius he’d better keep his creepy fingers off that tiny girl!”

“You think my lord would touch a child?” the guard hisses.

So, it IS Aloysius! I don’t know much about the situation, just the little Silas and Marc told me, about how Silas’ brother is trying to keep his bloodline clean. Back then, I felt they didn’t trust me enough, but now I know it’s not about trust or the lack thereof. They kept secrets to protect everyone around them. I don’t know who Maddie is to Aloysius, but I doubt he has anything good in mind. And by all means, blood-related or not, she is Sheila’s daughter, and I will make sure to bring her back to her.

Nova tugs me away from the door and further into our cell until our backs hit the wall. “Okay, Benji, give me the short version,” she whispers.

“Aloysius – crazy, nutcase, psycho brother of Silas,” I whisper. “He’s obsessed with a clean bloodline, so is on a hunt to kill all his potential children.”

She stares at me. “You just made that up.”

“How I wish.” I grimace. “Silas has been trying to take him down for ages. He came close to it once, but-“

Nova sighs. “I know that part of the story,” she admits quietly. “Julianus told me about it.”

I gaze at her curiously. “So, you know?”

She nods.

“Can I ask something, Nova?”

“Of course.”

“How did you manage to forgive him?” I ask. “Julianus, I mean.”

“That’s the point, Benji,” she says. “And what you refuse to see when it’s about yourself. There is nothing for me to forgive. He is so kind to me. I know he fucked up in the past, but he is doing everything to change. The same goes for you and Lori. It doesn’t matter to her who you were before. She just knows the Benjamin of today. There were lines you didn’t cross, that’s all she needed to know. Everything else doesn’t matter to her.”

I hear noises, carefully scooting closer to the small window again that leads to the corridor. I spot a woman who looks oddly familiar.” Do you know her?” Nova whispers.

“I think it’s Juniper,” I reply. “One of Silas’ entrusted allies.”

“Just awesome,” she sighs. “Now we know who fucked us over.”

We both move away from the window again, and Nova pokes my chest. “And now focus! Okay, so, Maddie? What is with her?”