The Mate That Wasn't Mine novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49

TESSA POV

Every single pair of eyes is watching the battle between father and daughter. She is squeezing his one huge hard with both of hers.

She isn’t speaking aloud. Hazel is mouthing, pressing him to lip read, seeking some privacy froin all the greedy onlookers.

The Alpha does not move. His solid, tense frame does not appear to yield even an inch.

Perhaps in private he is softer, sensitive to the whims of his children. But not up on this stage. When he is on show to thousands of followers. All of whom will talk about this event. Years from now, students will hear about the day a Luna pushed a Warden from the cliff. Now Princess Hazel’s effort will get passed down too.

Alongside my curiosity, there is cold, stark fear. I still cannot pick up any scent of oak and berries. Would Princess Hazel beg for Maxim’s life?

I know I would.

And if she is begging for him, what does that even mean? That they are still a strong force together? That it was more than some summer pursuit and failed romance?

My paranoia is prevented from spiralling further when the Alpha drops his daughter’s hand sharply. Tilting his huge body away from her. A mountain shadowing a tiny bird.

Her pale cheeks are aflame. From up in my gallery the gentle glisten of tear tracks are visible. But she does not move.

Instead she holds herself taller. “Father! I made a promise!” echoes desperates, her voice clear and crisp.

“A promise you were in no position to make!” he barks back. “Now get back!”

Her face crumbles, turning and running into her brother’s chest, where he holds her tight. Kissing the top of her golden head, his arms shielding her view. Luna Sabrina stands with her hands clasped together in silent prayer, staring down at the ground.

This can’t be about Maxim. It can’t.

Once the crowds muttering dies down, Alpha Hale adjusts his gold plated chains and looks down upon his population. His features are stony, unimpressed.

How little he thinks of anyone other than his precious, immaculate Luna is clear.

“You have all heard me discuss the value of the mate bond. How I wanted to reward those who found their soul–tied pair with safety here at Ravenbow.”

Forcing myself to stand up so I can see better, I look down and stare at the red curtains. Who is behind it?

“This offer was not intended for abuse. And yet here we are. BRING THEM OUT!”

The curtain opens to reveal an unwieldy, awkward lump of beige and skin. My first thought is that it is some grotesque beast they’ve captured from over the Elven borders. But then I see the tight, red ropes. The awkward jerking movements are two people.

Bound tightly together, torso to torso, hip to hip. Wrists lashed together. Red ropes around each neck. A mess of honey–blonde, blood and beige. Strapped to a man with a heavily bleeding wound in the centre of his scalp. With his dark blue Beta shirt removed, the red ropes merge against rope burns already visible down his muscular back.

Irene and Isaac.

They lurch forwards, almost falling over the ledge in one go. The crowd shrieks. The pair haven’t been recognised by everyone yet but I know my gentle friend.

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16:33 Tue, 10 Jun 03

Chapter 49

The one who is living her worst nightmare, forcibly fed to the man who hurt and belittled her. The man Princess Hazel promised her she would never have to see again.

Irene is frantically struggling to get out of the ropes. Isaac is slower, lumbering. Squinting, trying to work out the difference. He’s injured. Or been tortured. His braid hasn’t just fallen off. He hasn’t always limped.

“Help. Please. Please help!” Irene screams. “Get him off me. Get him off ine! PLEASE!”

“WHO? YOUR MATE?” Alpha Hale roars. “You sat in front of me, in front of every Warden and swore to your Alpha. Bottom in the armoury, being protected, in’scent–tracing by pitying friends. You played your hand and now you are reaping the consequences!”

I feel sick. His voice is so bluntly basic. There is only black and white in his world.

“It was a mistake! It wasn’t…I’m sorry! PLEASE!” Irene screams. This isn’t right. This cannot be.

I left her in the arms of Silas a few hours ago. She was starting to smile again. They were in my room, safe and alone.

There was nothing to suggest the tide would turn against her like this. Why the fuck have they done this to her! Isaac beat her, hurt her? Yes Irene lied but how is it possible to treat her like this.

My wolf woefully points that Maxim and I could be in their place. Bound and doomed together in a sickening mix of red rope and blood.

I want to argue with my inner spirit but what is there to say?

We are just as guilty, only undiscovered, so far.

“Donlon lied to his me. He paid the price. You two lied to your me, why should your price be any different!”

My eyes flit around the space. I can see Remy holding Princess Hazel tight in his arms. So tight that she cannot move. He’s stopping her from getting herself thrown from the cliff.

Remy’s lips are pressed to her ear, no doubt telling her to shut the hell up. To hold on and get back to her perfect princess life where the peasants don’t

matter.

Around the side of the deep gray cylinder the huddled crowds are shocked. Hands are clamped over mouths, some faces already turned away from the sight of the struggling couple below.

Only Alpha Hale moves. Striding about, waving his arms. Dominating the space. All the anger he has towards Luna Sabrina’s betrayals is being funnelled through the tangled victims.

“I am protecting our Goddess! She must not be mocked! Bonds are sacred! Rebels are coming, ready to rip everything we know apart. But you are ready to deceive your Goddess?”

“Please don’t kill me! Exile, anything! I don’t want to die!” Irene begs before she lets out a heart–wrenching scream. “Silas!”

“So not only were you faking a bond you were fucking another man? And my naive, foolish daughter tries to tell me you’re the victim. That you deserve a second chance!”

“No! No! Silas is my friend! The kindest man I’ve ever met!” she screams as the momentum shifts. Instead of trying to reduce her proximity to Isaac she barrels into him, pushing him backwards, trying to get close to the Alpha. To save herself in any way she can.

Only for the conjoined pair to fall to the stone ledge in a heap. The crowd screams when their struggle sees Irene dangling over the edge, held only by the tight, red ropes tying her to Isaac’s wrist, neck and hips.

Head facing up at the sky, Irene’s pale green eyes meet mine in a flash. A singular, tiny second of recognition jolts between us. The vicious red cut on her cheek looks worse, smeared with Isaacs blood from his injuries.

Staring at each other, my eyes filled with tears.

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Chapter 49

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I wish there was some way to tell her how sorry will ever come close. How I’m grieving for everything we’re not going to share. How it burns me to the core that she wasn’t recognised for being herself, that she had to lie to measure up to what Ravenbow wanted. That one mistake shouldn’t define everything. That I’m going to miss her so fucking much.

Irene screams. A bellow of pure desperation.

“Shut up! Nothing is going to change your fatel” Alpha Hale grunts, smirking as Isaac struggles to get Irene up to standing, her body flinching with every touch of his skin against hers.

Control of the pack is slipping, this situation is becoming a circus, not a court. Alpha Hale has gone too far.

I stifle a growl. Only for my legs to give way. Shaking so badly with fear for Irene, I land in a pile of discarded, broken bows and arrows. I grab a long, lethal arrow. The tip of it is serrated with old, tarnished silver.

I can’t watch my best friend die. But I will try and stop it.

Because there is clearly no reasoning with Alpha Hale. From what I can see up here he is a madman.

I set off up the next flight of stone stairs, ascending in desperation, hoping that it might keep me travelling around the edge of the cylinder. There has to be a chance of getting close to the Alpha. I don’t know.

Maybe I’ve lost my mind completely. In the dark tunnels, feeling my way by hand, descending a few flights with caution, I hear Alpha Hale shouting again.

“A bond, is a bond! You two made your arrangement and wanted to reap the benefits! NO MORE. NO MORE LIES!”

I emerge out into the light. Looking around furtively, peeking around a column I realise I’m only a few balconies away from the royal family. I can get there. Everyones eyes are so fixed on the horror on the ledge, they haven’t spotted my movements. My intentions.