The Alpha's Broken Daughter

CHAPTER 5

When I wake up everything feels wrong and heavy and distant. My head is pounding while my ears are ringing so loudly that I can barely hear anything else.

My mouth tastes strange and bitter and I feel sick. When I try to move my body it feels like it doesn’t belong to me and my face is throbbing in a way that makes it hard to even think straight.

There is a voice nearby and it sounds close, but it is muffled and unclear and I can’t make out what is being said.

I blink slowly and try to focus and drag myself back into reality. Everything is blurry and spinning while I try to sit up but I can’t quite manage it.

And then it hits me. The walls. The smell. The cold.

I am in the dungeon. I am in one of the cells and Ryker is sitting outside the bars. He is leaning forward trying to talk to me but he is keeping his distance because the bars are lined with silver and it would burn him if he got too close.

“What… what happened?” I manage and my voice sounds weak and unfamiliar even to me.

“Dad injected you with wolfsbane.” Ryker says quietly.

The words make my stomach turn instantly and I feel like I am going to throw up. I drop my head back against the cot because the nausea hits too hard and too fast.

Everything hurts. Not just my face. Everywhere.

“How are you feeling?” He asks, and I can hear the strain in his voice.

“It hurts.” I say. “Everywhere.”

“It’s the wolfsbane.” He explains. “It’s stopping you from healing properly but once it wears off you will be fine.”

But I know something is wrong. This is not just wolfsbane. I shift slightly and look down and my vision is still blurry but I can see enough.

"What happened?" I asked but the moment I say that the memory slams into me. Mom and her body. The blood and the way she fell.

My chest tightens painfully and tears spill over before I can stop them.

“He killed her.” I whisper. “He killed our mom.”

Ryker moves closer to the bars staying just far enough away from the silver and his face is twisted with grief.

“I wish I could hold you right now.” He says. “I really do.”

I push myself off the cot slowly and move toward the bars and every step hurts but I ignore it. I sit down as close to him as I can get. We just sit there. Broken together. Trying to hold it together. And then it comes back to me.

Her voice and her last words.

“Nicole Everstone.”

I frown slightly through my tears because I have never heard that name before but she said it like it mattered. Like it was important.

“How long have I been here?” I ask. “Did James leave?”

“Summer.” Ryker says quietly. “You have only been out for a couple of hours. The wedding is still happening.”

Why would anything like this stop the wedding?

“Alpha Ethan has been calling you all day.” Ryker continues, lowering his voice. “I heard your phone and I answered it. I told him everything.”

“He is too far away.” I say. “He will never make it in time.”

And then the thought hits me harder than anything else.

“And even if he does… why would he still want me?”

“Summer.” Ryker says firmly. “He is desperate and he’s not going to let this happen.”

“I stopped believing in people a long time ago.” I say. “The only person I have ever been able to count on is you.”

And that is the truth. But something else settles in my chest as well.

If Ethan does not make it then I will handle it myself. James will not touch me again. Not ever. Not if I have anything to say about it.

“Did Dad punish you for earlier?” I ask.

“I already dealt with it.” Ryker says quickly. “Don’t worry about me.”

I know he is lying but I let it go. Footsteps echo down the hall and two women approach the cell. The guard unlocks it and lets them in and they are carrying a dress. A wedding dress.

“You will wear the veil.” One of them says coldly. “Alpha James requested it because of your face.”

“He doesn’t want anyone seeing what he did.” I mutter.

They pull me to my feet and my legs feel weak and unsteady. The wolfsbane is still tearing through my system and making everything harder.

Ryker turns his back immediately and forces the guards to do the same and I feel a flicker of gratitude for him even now. They dress me quickly.

The gown is plain but fitted and tight and it clings in all the wrong ways and the veil is thick enough to hide everything.

They lead me out of the cell and Ryker helps me up the stairs. I feel like I am walking through a nightmare that I can’t wake up from.

There are people waiting upstairs for my hair and makeup and they work quickly and efficiently like this is just another normal day.

Like this is not completely insane and pretty soon the music starts and my father appears.

He takes my arm and leads me to the doors, and when they open I see the crowd.

Hundreds. Maybe thousands. Both packs are all watching me.

“Where is she?” I ask quietly.

“Who?” He replies.

“Mom.” I said.

“That’s not your concern.”

Then we start walking down the aisle. Step by step I feel unsteady and disconnected and numb. When we reach the end he hands me over to James.

His hand grips mine and his arm wraps around my waist. And my skin crawls.

The ceremony is quick. Too quick. Like none of this matters.

“Do you, Alpha James, take this woman…”

“Yes.” He says immediately.

“And do you, Summer Everstone, take Alpha James…”

And then something shifted. A sound from the forest. Low and distant but I hear it.

I am the only one who does. My head lifts slowly and I look straight ahead and my heart starts pounding again but this time it is different. This time it is not fear.

“No.” I said.

The word cuts through everything. The crowd erupts into murmurs and whispers and my father is at my side instantly. His grip tight and painful.

“What the hell are you doing?” He growls.

I smile for the first time.

“Waiting for my mate.” I said.

His expression darkens instantly and his wolf pushes forward. He raises his hand and then everything starts shaking. Glasses rattle and tables tremble. The ground vibrates beneath our feet.

And then they came. A wall of wolves bursts through the tree line. Fast and violent and unstoppable.

And at the front it’s him. Ethan.