Bound By The Alpha: Her Dark Secret

The Breaking Point

Chapter Five:

Derek answered Edward's call in his private office, pacing behind his massive oak desk. The room smelled like leather and expensive whiskey, a sharp contrast to the dungeon's stench of fear and blood.

"Derek, I've been thinking about the night the seal went missing," Edward's voice crackled through the international connection.

"What about it?" Derek stopped pacing and stared out his window at the pack grounds below.

"You said Nina was caught near the vault. But who exactly caught her there?"

Derek frowned. The question seemed obvious. "Bianca and Nathan found her. They'd gone to get training supplies from the Crescent Pack, came back because they'd forgotten the purchasing power document, and discovered Nina in the vault."

"They went together?"

"Yes. They've been working as a team on supply runs." Derek's frown deepened. "Edward, what are you getting at?"

"It just seems convenient, doesn't it? They happen to forget something important, come back at just the right time to catch a thief?"

Derek felt something cold settle in his stomach. "Are you suggesting Bianca set Nina up?"

Edward was quiet for a long moment. "I'm suggesting you consider all possibilities before you do something you can't take back."

"She was there, Edward. In my private vault, with my most valuable possession."

"Was she holding the seal? Or was it just nearby when they found her?"

Derek tried to remember that night clearly, but anger and betrayal had clouded his memories. He'd been so focused on Nina's presence in the vault that he hadn't paid attention to the details. What was Edward getting at with question.

"I... the seal was on the floor near her feet."

"Derek, I'm coming home early. The deal here is basically finished anyway. Don't do anything permanent until I get there, okay?"

The line went dead before Derek could respond. He stared at his phone, doubt creeping through his mind like poison.

A scream echoed from the dungeons below, high and desperate. Nina's voice, full of agony that made Derek's wolf howl in distress.

Derek ran from his office, taking the stone stairs three at a time. His heart pounded as he raced through the corridors, following the sound of Nina's cries.

He burst into the torture chamber to find Lucien holding a red-hot iron poker inches from Nina's face. The metal glowed orange with heat, and the smell of burned flesh filled the air. Bianca stood beside them, her face flushed with excitement.

"I said wait for me!" Derek roared, his alpha voice shaking dust from the ceiling.

"We got bored," Lucien shrugged, not looking particularly sorry. "Besides, she's still not talking. Thought a little extra motivation might help."

Derek looked at Nina hanging in her chains. Her clothes were torn and bloody. Fresh burns marked her arms and shoulders. But her dark eyes still held that stubborn fire he'd first noticed at the refugee camp.

"Bring her friend down here," Derek ordered, the words tasting like ash in his mouth. "Maybe watching Fey suffer will loosen Nina's tongue."

"No, please!" Nina struggled against her chains with renewed strength. "I'll tell you anything you want to know!"

"The truth. Where's my seal?"

"I don't know where it is now, but I'll help you find it!" Desperation made her voice c***k. "I'll do anything, just don't hurt Fey!"

Derek studied Nina's face, looking for any sign of deception. He saw desperation, yes, and terror for her friend's safety. But he still didn't see guilt.

"Fine." He moved to unlock her chains. "Prove your innocence."

Nina collapsed to her knees as the chains released, too weak to stand. Derek caught her before she could hit the stone floor, and for a moment they were close enough that he could feel her breath on his neck.

"There's a ceremony tomorrow night," he said, helping her stay upright. "Important guests from three other packs. You and your friend will work in the kitchens, help serve the meal."

Nina looked up at him with confusion. After days of torture, this sudden change must seem impossible.

"If you try to run, I'll hunt you down myself," Derek continued. "If you cause any trouble, if you even look at someone wrong, Fey dies. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Nina's voice was barely a whisper.

"Good. Kamal will take you to the servants' quarters." Derek turned to leave, then looked back one more time. "Nina?"

"Yes?"

"Disappoint me again, and there won't be a third chance."

As Derek walked away, he tried to ignore the voice in his head saying he was making a mistake. Not about trusting Nina with limited freedom. About everything else he'd done to her.

Something doesn't feel right but he can't tell what it was.

The next evening, Nina balanced a heavy silver tray as she moved through the packhouse corridors. Her body ached from days of torture, but being out of the dungeon felt like a miracle. She'd been given clean clothes - a simple black dress and white apron that marked her as servant class.

Fey had been waiting in the servants' quarters when Kamal brought Nina down. Her best friend had hugged her so tightly it hurt, tears streaming down her freckled face. They'd worked side by side in the busy kitchens all day, not daring to hope this freedom was real.

Now Nina was carrying Derek's private dinner to his room. Her hands shook as she approached his door, making the dishes rattle on the tray.

She knocked softly. No answer came from inside.

The door was unlocked. Nina pushed it open with her shoulder and stepped into Derek's private suite.

The dinner tray crashed to the floor with a sound like thunder.

Derek was there, but he wasn't alone. Bianca knelt between his legs, her blonde hair spilled across his lap. But that wasn't what made Nina's world tilt on its axis.

On Derek's desk, gleaming in the lamplight, sat the royal seal.

The same seal Nina had been tortured for stealing. The seal that had never been missing at all.

Nina's wolf surged forward with a roar of rage that had been building for days. Golden light blazed from her eyes as power she'd kept buried for years finally broke free.

Her cover was blown, her secret revealed. But Nina no longer cared about hiding.

Everything was about to change.