The Alpha's Rejected Mate

Chapter 10: The Seven Names

The small hall was empty. The elders ran. The servants ran. Even the rats ran.

I stayed.

Sat on the chair where the bald one was sitting. Still warm. His sweat still on the wood. Disgusting. I didn't move.

Ryder came back. Holding two cups. Water maybe. Wine maybe. Didn't matter.

"You okay?" he asked.

"No."

He put the cups on the table. Sat across from me. Looked at my face. My hands. My eyes.

"You look tired."

"I didn't sleep."

"I know."

We sat quiet for a minute. Two minutes. The torches crackled. Wind outside. Cold wind. Winter was coming. Or maybe it was already here. Inside me.

"They're gonna come back," Ryder said.

"Who?"

"Damian's friends. The other Alphas. They won't let this slide. A nobody Omega taking the throne? Killing their boy? They'll want blood."

"Let them come."

"It's not that simple, Lila."

I looked at him. Really looked.

"Then explain it to me. Simple."

Ryder stood up. Walked to the window. Looked outside at the dark trees.

"There are three packs close to us. Shadow Fang. Blood Moon. Dark Claw. Damian had deals with all of them. Money. Land. Omegas."

"Omegas?"

"They trade them. Like dogs. Like furniture. The strong packs take weak Omegas from smaller packs. Use them. Throw them away."

I felt something in my chest. Hot. Burning.

"Did Damian sell Omegas from our pack?"

Ryder didn't answer. Didn't need to.

I stood up. The chair fell behind me.

"How many?"

"Lila..."

"How many?"

"Seven. That I know of. Maybe more."

Seven.

Seven girls. Seven Omegas. Seven lives. Sold like meat.

"Where are they now?"

"Gone. With the other packs. We can't get them back."

I walked to the wall. Punched it. My fist went through the stone. Dust fell. Cracks spread like spiderwebs.

Ryder didn't flinch.

"Damian is still in the dungeon," I said.

"Yes."

"He's not dead yet."

"No."

I pulled my fist out of the wall. Looked at my knuckles. Bleeding. Didn't feel it.

"Maybe I kept him alive for a reason."

"What reason?"

"To find out where those girls are. To make him talk."

Ryder shook his head. "He won't talk. He's scared but he's not stupid. If he talks, his friends kill him. If he stays quiet, maybe you don't."

"Then I need to scare him more."

"Lila. You bit his arm off."

"Not enough."

I walked to the door. Ryder followed.

"Wait," Ryder said. Grabbed my arm. "If you go down there like this... angry... you'll kill him."

"So?"

"So if he's dead, he can't talk."

I stopped. Looked at his hand on my arm. He let go. Fast.

"You think I can't control myself?"

"I think you got every right to kill him. But not yet. Not before he tells you everything."

I breathed. Deep. Slow. The fire in my chest was still there. Hot. Burning. But I pushed it down. Buried it. For now.

"Fine. I won't kill him. Yet."

Ryder nodded. Didn't smile. Didn't relax. Smart.

We walked down the hall. The torches were low. Some of them dead. Nobody came to light them anymore. Everyone was hiding. Scared of me. Good. Let them be scared.

At the top of the dungeon stairs, I stopped again.

"Ryder."

"Yeah?"

"The other packs... Shadow Fang... do they know about me? About what I did to Damian?"

He was quiet for a second. "Probably. News travels fast. Especially bad news."

"Good."

"Good?"

"If they know, they're scared. And scared enemies make mistakes."

I started walking down the stairs. Cold. Dark. Wet.

Behind me, Ryder whispered something. I didn't catch it. Didn't ask.

The guards saw me. Moved. Fast. Didn't say a word.

Damian was in the same cell. Same floor. Same dirty bandages. But his eyes were different. Empty. Dead.

I grabbed the bars. Bent them. Walked inside.

He choked. Gasped. His hands grabbed my wrist but he was weak. Too weak.

"Shadow... Shadow Fang..." he whispered.

I let go. He fell. Coughed. Breathed.

"Where in Shadow Fang?"

"The camp. North of their pack house. In the woods."

I turned. Walked out.

"Lila," Damian called after me. "You go there... you won't come back."

I stopped. Didn't turn around.

"Watch me."

Ryder was waiting at the top. His face was white. His hands were shaking.

"Well?" he asked.

"He talked. Shadow Fang. North of their pack house. There's a camp in the woods."

Ryder was quiet for a second. "You're not really going there, are you?"

I looked at him. Didn't answer.

"Lila. Shadow Fang has twice our numbers. Three times. You're strong but you're not..."

"Not what?"

"Not invincible."

I laughed. Mean. Cold.

"Watch me."

I walked to the throne room. Sat down. The golden throne. Damian's throne. My throne now.

The hall was empty. Dark. Quiet.

But my head was loud. Seven girls. Seven names I didn't know. Seven families crying somewhere. Waiting for daughters who will never come home.

"I'll find them," I whispered. "Or I'll burn Shadow Fang trying."

The voice inside me woke up. The old one. The dark one.

"Good," it whispered. "Burn them all."

I opened my eyes.