"Come," she snaps again. My knees buckle and the top of my foot drags across the floor, taking one step, then another closer, until I'm pressed against the silver bars again.
"That omega is mine, beast.Mine." Her voice drops to a guttural whisper. "When I find that little cunt, I'll makeherpay for what you've cost me. Years of planning. Hundreds of thousands of dollars keeping her hidden, all that investment, and you just let her slip away! You're useless!Incompetent. Do you even know whose blood runs through her veins?"
I know nothing of her lineage. Deidre instructed me to bring Paulie Gresser's daughter back here. But I knew by scent the moment I met her—Mona is not Paulie's daughter. Combined with the power of meeting our fated mate, the loophole in Deidre's directive was the only reason I could leave her.
Deidre snarls, twisting her classically beautiful face to look rotten. "Your clan is on alert, you know? Your meathead brother amped up security; it was all quite an inconvenience. Without the omega, I'd have preferred an alpha female, or at least a beta… Whatever happens to this girl is on you, Silas." Deidre tilts her head toward Lily.
She needn't worry. I already feel the weight of responsibility for Lily's fate.
Her gaze slides to Lily, lips curling. I step sideways, my shadow falling in front of the girl.
"Leave her the fuck alone. You have enough toys to play with," I seethe.
Pierre throws up his palm, magic flying from his fingertips. An electric voltage rips through my body, and my knees quake from the pain.
"Tsk, tsk," Deidre taunts while my teeth chatter and I gasp for breath.
My hand snatches through the bars, fingers narrowly missing Deidre's throat. It is fucking rare that I fight back anymore. Her eyes widen, then flash in anger.
"You think you can protect her?" She laughs, flicking her wrist, and Pierre shoots more voltage into my body. My muscles contract, fingertips to toes, and I gag on my own spit. My wolf tries to fight against the magic, but it's useless. In one last ditch effort to keep her attention on me and not Lily, I spit as hard as I can. White, foamy saliva lands on her face and chest. Her expression sneers into something hideous and volcanic.
Deidre's right hand contorts in the air while her left extends toward Pierre. The electric agony subsides, replaced by an invisible vise crushing my windpipe. Lily whimpers beside me, but I wave my hand behind me to keep her back.
Deidre leans away from the cage and wipes my spit off her face with her left hand. My wolf lets out a low, rumbling growl, emanating from my chest as she chokes me. Deidre peeks around me at Lily and giggles, squeezing tighter.
"I don't think I've ever played with a delta before. What was it you said? I have enough toys to play with?"
Pierre unlocks the cage. The metal sounds like a death knell. Deidre releases me, and I gasp for breath. She strolls around the bars, then steps inside. She grips my chin and presses her lips to mine. I tense, her sulfuric taste making me want to vomit. Her lips press harder, then she lets go, pushing my head back.
"What can I say, Silas? I grow bored with my old toys. Need something new to keep me entertained. Pierre, darling, did youbring the herbs?" She asks him without pulling her eyes from mine.
Witches are strong on their own, but many spells require ingredients. Powerful as she is, Deidre still has to prepare a lot of her spells. She spent literal decades preparing all contingencies to capture me. She had everything and her entire coven ready for me. Even Kendrick, the king of the shifters—Máni is his proper title—wouldn't have been able to fight her off.
But he might have got out a lot sooner, I add shamefully. My alpha stirs. He doesn't agree, but I think that's just his way of holding onto a shred of dignity.
"I'm ready," Pierre says, as he looks at me with excitement. His eyes drag to Lily, a serpentine smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he takes in her small form, cowering in the corner. Fucking pervert.
"This isn't going to work, Deidre." I cross my arms, mimicking her posture. "Whatever you think is going to happen—"
She holds up her hand. "A pregnant shifter has the most powerful blood of all. Between an alpha and omega is best, but since you failed to bring me the omega I've been keeping on the back-burner for fuckingdecades, we're going to use—I'm sorry, what's your name, dear?"
Lily doesn't answer. Deidre's eyes twitch and shift to me. The witch has a temper and the patience of a toddler. And neither Lily nor I need to test her patience more than necessary at the moment. I've pushed her enough today. Uselessly at that.
"Lily," I grit.
"Lily. Yes. Well, she's a bit pathetic and was easy to grab, but she's still a wolf. If you impregnate her, her blood will hold both of your shifter magic. It'll keep us busy until I can get the omega back here. Just remember, dear—" Deidre steps closer, voice bright. "You brought this on yourself."
The chanting begins, and Pierre moves closer to the cowering delta, now openly whimpering, since she's finally aware of their plans. Within the hour, Lily will throw herself at me, and she won't stop until…
"Be grateful, Silas. I could make you fall into a rut, but I don't want you to kill the girl yet, so I won't. For now."
Sadly, there is consolation in that.
But even Deidre's geas won't make my body respond to Lily, not with the scent of my mate so fresh in my memory. I close my eyes and commune with my alpha. I let the new calm settle over me.
Whatever they have planned will fail. I can handle what they throw at me. Hopefully, Lily makes it out of this alive. If not… Well, it's just another dead soul on my conscience.
Chapter 7: Mona
