Page 30 of Arranged Bullied Mate

She looks down at the blanket, twisting it in her hands. “They wanted me to get close to you. To make you trust me. And then…” The words catch in her throat. “They wanted me to kill you. Or die trying.”

The silence in the room is absolute, as if even the air is holding its breath.

I don’t say anything, I can’t. I’m frozen in a mixture of rage and disgust. They must have known an omega could never kill an alpha; it’s almost laughable. If she’d tried, would I have killed her? I could never kill Ava—but they don’t know that. I thought the rage I felt toward Maddox yesterday was the more heightened expression of primal hatred I could ever experience, but I realize now that was nothing. Nothing against the level of rage I feel toward her parents.

And Ava? Her heartbreak is palpable, but that doesn’t change the fact that she lied to me. I can’t separate my feelings about any of it at the moment, so I don’t even try, afraid I’ll say or do something I regret. It’s best I say very little and get out of here. Better for Ava.

I walk toward the door, trying not to even look at her. I can’t look, or I won’t be able to leave her. She reaches for my hand, and I freeze. “All this time…” I start, but can’t even finish the sentence.

“Ronan, I—” she begins, but I raise my hand to stop her.

“Enough,” I roar. “You’ve done enough—”

Panicked, she scrambles to her feet, discarding the blanket and standing in front of me, naked and completely vulnerable. “She’s my baby, she’s everything,” she sobs.

“Would you have killed me?” I ask plainly, my eyes raking over her naked body.

She shakes her head. “Never. I could never.” The honesty in her voice and the pain in her eyes tell me it’s the truth. I let the words hang in the air for a moment, and it takes everything in me not to pull her into my arms. However, I don’t know how I feel about her betrayal yet, and there is something far more important I need to attend to. I need to let my wolf take action; I need to be the alpha my pack and family need me to be.

When I speak, I know my words sound cold, but I need to put some distance between us while I figure out what to do and how I feel about everything. I need to get my head around the situation. “You’ll stay here,” I tell her.

“Ronan, please—”

“I will have three betas on the house, effective immediately. You do not leave. Emily will be sent over to staywith you.” A plan forming, I’m already moving, gathering my jeans from the floor and tugging them on with hands steadier than I really feel. “When I return, we’ll decide what happens next.”

“No.” Her voice cracks. “Don’t leave, please—she’s my baby, Ronan, I have nothing left, I—”

I stop at the door and realize I’m gripping the frame so hard my knuckles have turned white. “You had a thousand chances to tell me,” I tell her, my wolf already in my eyes.

Chapter 20 - Ava

“How is Garrison’s mate?” I ask Emily quietly, knowing the pack is deep in mourning.

She turns from where she’s warming some soup for supper on the stove and sighs. “Sara’s devastated. They were a fated couple, and they were so happy. Worse still, that it was Maddox.” Her shoulders slump as she considers her words. “Ronan sat with her this morning, but it’s going to take a long time for her to heal. The pack will be with her, though. How could Maddox do this?”

I think about my parents’ betrayal, which is equally as baffling to me. I’ve thought about why they did it, and why Maddox would have turned on the people who had cared for him the most. “I think sometimes people get swept up in an idea of power, of what that should look like,” I say. “They seem to ignore the consequences.”

“Maddox thought he was an alpha,” Emily says sadly. “I don’t think he was.”

I shake my head, “No. An alpha wouldn’t have done what he did. It’s as simple as that. He was a coward to attack Garrison like that.”

“And you,” Emily adds carefully.

“I don’t think that was his original plan…” I start, but trail off. I have already given my account to Jacob and Elder Wilder this morning, grateful to have Emily sit with me, so she’s already heard it all. Recalling Maddox’s plan for Ronan was painful, but relaying his comments about Emily hurt the most. It’s clear she blames herself for entertaining a relationship with him, which everyone assures her is ridiculous—this was always going to be his path.

Emily wipes her hands and turns to look at me. “Did you sleep at all?” she asks, tilting her head as her hair falls over her shoulders. I shake my head. The house feels empty despite Emily’s presence. My heat is broken, and I know I should feel grateful for the calm in my body and mind, but if anything, I have too much clarity now.

“You heard from him?” I ask. I don’t say his name, but we both know who I mean.

She’s quiet for a second. “I haven’t seen him since he left Sara’s house. I’m sure he just needs to walk it off. He’s…not himself. But that’s understandable, after everything. Learning about Sophie on top of everything else must have been a shock.” She sits and reaches for my hand. “Give him time, Ava. He’s not angry, at least not in the way you think. He’s just…processing.”

I want to believe her, but the blank look on Ronan’s face when I told him about Sophie is burned into me. He didn’t say much at all, not even in disbelief or rage. Just walked out. I know he’s angry, and he has every right to be. But what does that mean for Sophie?

I’ve considered calling my parents, begging them to see reason, now that he knows anyway. Just to let me have Sophie, I don’t care about anything else. But when I went to look for my phone, I realized it was gone. Ronan must have taken it. Glancing out of the window, I see the numerous betas stationed around the house. Emily said it’s for our protection, in case Maddox had any real supporters, but I can’t help wondering if it’s to stop me from running. If I’m about to be declared a traitor.

The thought lingers in the back of my mind as I sit here with Emily. I don’t think Ronan has told her about my parents’ plan, only that they have Sophie. But not knowing what willhappen next is killing me. “Did Ronan say where he was going? Or when he’ll be back?”

Sympathy crosses Emily’s features, but she shakes her head. “He left with Jacob looking pretty serious, but they didn’t say where they were going,” she says. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”