Alpha Prime: Her Retribution

Chapter Twenty Three

ADELAIDE

“I really don't want you to go back to Yellowstone.” Liam muttered, we were standing outside, near the waiting car. I smiled at him, squeezing his hand.

“It's alright Liam, I'll be fine.” I assured him.

“Take care of yourself and call me if anything comes up.” He continued. I nodded and turned to Magnus.

“Thank you for your support.”

He smiled, bowing.

“It's always an honour to serve my Alpha Prime.”

I got into the car, waving at them just as the car pulled away. I leaned back, a sigh escaping my lips mentally preparing myself for the s**t I was about to face.

***

I got down from the car, the surroundings were quiet, almost as if every inhabitant of Yellowstone was aware of the incoming storm. The guards stationed at the door stared at me, a wary expression on their faces.

I walked past them into the foyer, shrugging off my coat, heading for the stairs when the sounds of people talking caught my attention.

What's going on?

Curiosity got the best of me and I walked towards the source of the noise, realising it was coming from Jacob's conference room. The door was slightly ajar and I could see Tony and Jacob's three advisors standing.

“Prime, it's clear her loyalty doesn't lie with you!” Caldwell uttered. I rolled my eyes, of course he'd be the one leading the hate train. “What she said on live TV is akin to treason!!!”

I leaned against the wall, listening to their arguments.

“Christopher is right Prime, the Luna is out of control, she's painting you and the entire continent in bad light. I really think you should do something about it.” Another added.

“I say you should make an example of her, show the world that you will not tolerate any insult to your good name.” Christopher continued.

“So I should punish her then?” Jacob uttered.

I glanced at the mirror, seeing his reflection, he was seated, an unbothered expression on his face.

“and further assert her claims to the international community.”

Christopher kept quiet as Jacob got to his feet.

“Adelaide Silverstone can say all she wants regarding me and her stay here in Yellowstone but one thing stands clear. She will continue to stay here as my Luna”

I clenched my jaw at his words.

“Whether she wants to or not.” He continued, his eyes meeting my gaze through the mirror. “The entirety of Europe can protest all they want, it won't change the fact that she isn't going anywhere and I would rather the world burn than let her slip through my fingers once more.”

He held my gaze for a few seconds before turning to the advisors.

“If that is all, you can leave.”

************ *********** *********

“Good afternoon Ms Adelaide.” Delilah uttered, walking into the room. I didn't need to glance at her to pick up on the tone and guarded expression on her face.

Great… another thing to deal with.

“Good afternoon Delilah, can you get me a notebook and a pen, I need to make some notes.” I requested, not looking up from the laptop. I felt her leave before coming back a few minutes later. She placed them next to me and moved to the side.

I worked in silence, trying to chart the percentage of wolves that were missing in the last 10 years while trying to find if they had anything in common but the palpable tension in the room gripped at my skin like a leech making me unable to fully concentrate.

Eda damn this!!!

I slammed the book shut and turned to her.

“If you have anything you want to say, say it now.”

She looked down at her feet.

“I have nothing to say.” She mumbled, I scoffed, folding my arms.

“Like hell you don't.”

She kept quiet and for a second I thought she didn't plan on saying anything so I turned back to my laptop.

“Why did you do that?” She asked. I turned to her, noticing the distressed look on her face.

“Do what?”

“Make our Prime look bad on tv!!! You literally dragged his name through the mud.” She cried out. I let out a humourless laugh.

“So let me get this straight, Jacob forcing me to attend a banquet and parading me in his arms for the world to see which caused my name and honour to be slandered is nothing but when I decide to go on tv and tell my side of the story to clear my name, I'm suddenly the bad person. Don't you think that's hypocritical?” I inquired.

“Prime would have put a stop to the name calling and protests.” She replied.

“So what if he would have put a stop to it, is that supposed to make me love him or make me feel better?”

She stared at me.

“Why are you filled with so much anger and hate Ms Adelaide? It's not healthy, it's not natural. Prime is your mate, you should love and care for him.”

Her words sounded eerily similar to Nanna Ur’s. I shrugged, looking at her. The anger I felt sapped out of me, pity replacing the violent emotion.

“You said your father was killed in an accident right?”

She nodded.

“How did you feel after his death?”

She frowned, biting down on her bottom lip.

“I was in shock, I was sad, and angry and lost.” She whispered.

“Now imagine if everyone in Yellowstone died at the orders of one man and that man was your mate, how would you feel? Would he being your mate make up for the atrocities he committed against you?”

She was quiet.

“Exactly… I lost everyone that night, I was 18, I still needed my mum, I still needed my dad and he took them away from me. My friends, my aunt, everyone, Delilah. How do you expect me to love a man like that?”

“Everyone makes mistakes but Jacob is a good man.” She pleaded, kneeling in front of me and holding my hands. I shook my head at her, pulling away from her. It was hopeless trying to make her understand the pain I was going through.

“He might be a good man to you and the inhabitants of Yellowstone but to me, he’ll always be the monster that haunts my dreams. You can take the rest of the day off, I would like to be alone.” I whispered, turning back to my work. I heard her leave, closing the door behind her. A part of me felt bad treating her the way I did.

Ugh… stop it Adelaide, you're not her mother.

*******

I looked down at my notes, my mind muling over the connection I had made between the old cases of missing wolves and the new ones.

They were related.

It still didn't make much sense, were certain wolves being targeted? If they were, why? And by who? I made a mental note to call the European Wolf Registry in the morning. I was determined to get to the bottom of all these disappearances.

I closed the laptop, placing my notebook to the side before heading out. All the detective work had left me starving. I glanced at my watch, it was nearly time for dinner, I wasn't in the mood to dine with Jacob so I made my way to the kitchen instead.

“Good evening Luna Prime '' the two maids cooking greeted, curtseying.

“Hello,” I replied, a stiff smile on my lips.

“Can I help you with anything?” One of them asked.

“No, I just plan on making a sandwich.” I answered.

“Oh, I can help with that.” She chirped.

“It's fine, I can manage on my own.” I said. I made my sandwich in silence, while the maids continued making dinner. Once I was done, I got a bottle of water and headed back to my room.

“If I didn't know better, I would say you were avoiding me.”

I paused at his voice before turning around, a fake smile on my lips.

“Well there's only so much of a murderous psychopath I can tolerate.” I replied. He chuckled, walking closer to me. Alarm bells rang in my head and I set my plate and water on a table before taking several steps back as he approached me. My back met the wall and I realised there was no other place for me to go to. I looked at him, noticing how red his irises were. He stopped, pressing his palms to either side of my head before leaning in. I turned so his lips brushed against my cheek, he inhaled sharply before moving to the shell of my ear as his hand brushed my hair away.

“Funny how this murderous psychopath is still your mate.” He whispered, his teeth nipping the sensitive flesh. I grit my teeth to stop a moan from escaping.

Eda damn this blasted mate bond!!!

I turned to glare at him, his words and actions incensed me. It wasn't fair how he was able to keep his cool while his words always set me off.

“You can hate me all you want Adelaide but you can't deny how your body responds to me.”

As if to further assert his words, his hand that was still pressed against the wall moved to my waist, pulling me flush into him. He lowered his head, nipping at my collar bones, a needy whimper escaped my lips, my knees threatening to give out. He pulled back, a smug smile on his lips.

“Even that pathetic replacement of a mate, Harry couldn't evoke such feelings from you.”

Pure red hot anger razed through whatever pleasurable haze had consumed me. A snarl escaped my lips as I surged forward.

“Don't you dare say his name!!! Harry was a far better man than you would ever be!! You don't even measure up to half of the…”

A choked gasp left me as Jacob pinned me to the wall, his hand wrapped around my throat. There were dark web-like veins appearing and spreading under his eyes, my heart slammed against my ribcage. Fear washed down over me. I stared at him, unable to look away from his blown out pupils which were completely red. His complexion had become pale, as if the blood and warmth had been drained from his blood vessels.

“And yet all that's left of him is dust and a couple of teeth.” He whispered, tilting his head almost like an animal. “You know, I enjoyed killing him, almost as much as I enjoyed disembowelling your father.”

I closed my eyes, my breathing hard and fast as I tried to get rid of the horrid scenes, my actions must have amused him because he chuckled.

“Look at me, pet.”

I refused, he tightened his grip on my throat.

“Don't make me repeat myself Adelaide.”

I forced myself to open my eyes and stared at him. There was no semblance of humanity in his eyes, all that was present was the monster.

“I hate you,” I whispered. “I hate you so much.”

I could feel something wet running down my face and for a second I didn't register what it was until he raised a finger to my face, wiping away the liquid. He pulled his hand back, examining the salty wetness… tears.

“If only Charles could see how his strong daughter is breaking down in front of me.”

I blinked back the tears, refusing to give him any more satisfaction.

“You'll never break me down.”

“That's where you're wrong, pet. I have already done just that.” He replied, his hand moving away from my throat to cup my chin, while his thumb brushed my bottom lip.

“What's more pathetic? Knowing that no matter what I do, no matter who I kill or torture, your body and mind will always respond to me.”

I kept quiet, wanting nothing more than to escape his grip.

“I could kill the Ridgeway pup in front of you and you’ll still respond to my touch.” his finger trailed down my cheeks to my neck, a shiver escaped me. “And my kisses.”

He lifted my chin, pressing a punishing kiss to my lips that I was certain would leave them bruised. I gasped, he took the opportunity to plunge his tongue into my mouth. I fought against the desire to kiss back practically begging Eda to take away the bond. But it was impossible as I found myself responding to the kiss, fisting his shirt and pulling him even closer to me.

My head began to spin, my lungs burning. It was as if he was stealing the oxygen from me. I tried to pull away but he fisted my hair, claiming my lips once more. Just when I thought he was hell bent on kissing me to death, he stepped back, my legs gave way and I fell to the floor.

My ragged panting filling the room. He squatted, cupping my face, forcing me to look up at him. There was still no trace of Jacob in his eyes, just a beast.

“Let this be a lesson to you, pet. You will always be mine, body, heart and soul, no matter what you portray to the world.”

He got back to his feet, walking away, he stopped by the table. I watched as he picked up the plate and took a bite of my sandwich. He hummed, quirking an eyebrow, turning to me. His eyes were back to normal.

“This is a really good sandwich.” He commented, taking another bite before walking off with the plate. I swallowed hard, getting back to my feet.

“Oh and pet?”

I looked at him.

“Next time you mention that pathetic boy's name, I'll hunt down whatever living relatives he has left and kill them, who knows, after that I might finally claim you right next to his grave.”

I could only watch as he walked off, one thing was clear, Jacob Mont Blanc was a monster and I was f****d.