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She rises to her full height, adjusting her skirt and I am unsure whether to be surprised or violated by the fact that she could very well impersonate me in a room filled with people who have only seen me from afar and get away with it.

The woman has my height, my proportions, my skin shade, and though her face is different, if you wished it hard enough, you could almost see a resemblance.

She fixes me a brutal look of jealousy as she scurries out, adjusting her dress.

Then it hits me right in the chest as Ronan smiles at me, warmly.

Soren isn't the only one Ronan is obsessed with. He might want to be Soren, but he wants me. He wants to break me so I never leave him, and he is not beyond ruining everything I hold dear to achieve that.

Even if it means hurting Landon.

He raises a hand, dismissing the guards and when the door clicks shut behind me, he inclines his head towards the seat on the other side of the desk. "Come, Fina. It's been too long."

I pull out the gun from the holster and his head jerks up, brown eyes widening with surprise and...excitement. The sick fuck. He leans back in his chair, his muscles straining against his silk blue dress shirt. "I thought I'd seen every damned angle. This is by far, the sexiest you've ever looked."

I aim for his head and pull the trigger.

But he isn't in his seat anymore. One blink he's right there, relaxed. In the next, he's in front of me, his hand grabbing at my throat and slamming me into the wall. Portraits fall off the wall and pain runs a singular path down my back.

He smells the same. Like myrrh. But now, it is the most disgusting thing ever. My grip on the gun tightens as I try to twist it and aim, but beating up one Beta guard is nothing at all like going up against a Head Alpha.

His free hand catches my wrist, cracking bones as he slams my hand again and again into the concrete, until the bones in my fingers break. Until my hand hurts so bad, I can no longer clutch the gun and it tumbles to the ground.

I muffle a cry of outrage, the anger blocking the pain out and I jerk my knee into his groin. He moves at the last minute to avoid the hit and the space gives me enough leverage to head butt him.

But my head only connects with his nose and in retaliation, he grabs at my hair and throws me into the desk. My side slams into it hard and the mahogany cracks, crashing to the ground with me.

For a moment, I can't bring myself to move or breathe past the pain. I may have broken a rib. Or three.

Hands rove my face and I flinch, not wanting to be anywhere remotely even close to Ronan, but he crowds me with his body, his hands. "Fuck, I'm sorry, Fina. You forced my hand. I'm sorry."

"Don't touch me," I snap, crawling away from him but Ronan traps me to the ground with his hand on my hip.

"I understand your rage, but you will never try that again, Seraphina, or I swear to the gods that you will never see Soren again."

I stiffen, chest rising and falling hard. "Where is he? Where have you kept him? Where is Landon? Where?—"

He threads his fingers through my hair with a soft smile. "It's been so long since we had a conversation like this. I've missed you so much. I've missed our fights, your fire."

I slap his hand off my face, scrambling back, and he laughs as I clutch my broken wrist to my chest. "Landon is well. He is being looked after by the best wet nurses. Winter..." He shrugs, straightening. "He's alive, but not for much longer."

I scramble to my feet, fear prompting me. "I am who you want, aren't I? The reason you have done all of this was to get me back here. I'm here. Landon is here. Let Soren go."

I'll figure it out somehow. He won't hurt me or Landon, but the sick glee that brightens his eyes every time we speak of Soren tells me he has no such reservations towards him.

When Soren is safe and back home with Eric, I'll come up with something.

Hopefully, my hasty message to Baldwin counts for something.

I hate to use his desperation to have me in the family like this, but I had no one else to turn to. No one else to plead with to save my son and husband.

Ronan takes one step forward and I retreat one step back. His honey brown eyes take on a chilling shade as he reads my face. "You let him fuck you, and fuck with your mind, too. Why do you look at me with so much hatred, Fina? You don't even remember me."

My lips part, but I hold in the words. Maybe his response to me will be different if he still believes I know nothing. "How else should I respond to a man who sent men after me, stole my son away and sent me my husband's bloody fingers? Should I get on my knees and suck your dick in gratitude?!"

Ronan catches his bottom lip in a nasty grin. "That doesn't sound so bad. You have no idea how long I have dreamt of that."

"You are disgusting."

He snorts, leaning over to pick up my gun.

He empties it out and shoves the compartment into his pockets.

"If you came here with plans of murdering me, I'd strongly advise you bury that thought.

Even if something happened to me, Soren will remain a prisoner of the South and rewarded with the punishment any other trespasser would.

Death. My mother will rule in my stead and raise Landon to be the next Alpha, and in the end, you'll have gained nothing. "

Bile rises in my throat, the frustration and despair making it harder to breathe right. "What do you want?"

"Marry me."

I blink. "I'm a married and mated female!"

"I have the paperwork ready to fix that problem."

For a moment, I forget my broken wrist and yell, gesticulating wildly. "I do not want to be your fucking wife?—"

My airflow is cut off again, worse than earlier, and I choke as he practically strangles me.

"I gave you a choice once, but it's become quite clear how much he's brainwashed you.

I will make the decision for you, because you are mine.

You always have been, and I am not beyond putting you in chains to make you understand.

" His thumb strokes my pulse as he exhales slowly, as if to calm himself.

"If you refuse me, I will kill him, and even then, our wedding will still take place.

You're a smart woman, Fina. Do you think your petulance worth Winter's life? "

"You cannot kill him," I croak, fighting the tears in my eyes. "The council of six has been summoned. You will be stripped of your title and forced out to be a rogue if you kill another Head Alpha without cause."

His brows arch, his chest shaking and another deep laughter fills the air.

"You don't know, do you? It'll be a couple more weeks before that gathering, and so long as I don't kill him directly, I won't break the law.

He trespassed and it is within my rights to hold him prisoner.

But, accidents do happen all the time, you know?

He could easily die from an infected wound or too much wolfsbane keeping the prisoners at bay. "

My body trembles, the first tear slipping from my eyes, another following swiftly. Ronan sighs, pressing his lips against my cheek, and I shudder with disgust as his tongue darts out to taste my tears. "I will let you see him one last time, Fina, so you understand what truly is at stake."