Claimed by the Hellbound Alpha

All the Cards on the Table

Kaia

“I’ll accept the position Alpha Damian has offered me, but I’ll live somewhere other than the pack house—in an apartment in the city, one that I choose myself.”

I didn’t need to look at everyone’s faces to know that my request was far from what they had expected, especially Marcus, who looked displeased.

“Live outside the pack house?” I heard him ask. “Why would you want to live outside the pack house when it’s a place of privilege?”

It was easy to guess that his intention was simply to keep me close whenever he felt the urge to come to my bed.

“What my son says is true,” Alpha Damian agreed. “Why would you want to live outside the pack house? That’s impractical for a woman holding the position I’m offering you.”

I looked at Alpha Damian, then at Beta Robert and his wife.

All three seemed convinced that I was a fool for refusing my place in the pack house.

But I was determined to make my demands clear.

“I want my own space, and there is one more condition,” I said. “As Marcus’s recognized mate, I will attend the wedding ceremony between Marcus and Evelyn, and I will perform my administrative duties. But during that time, I do not want to be disturbed or approached by any of you, in any way whatsoever. Is that clear?”

None of them seemed to understand.

“Why do you want this, daughter?” Beta Robert asked. “Can’t you see that we’re extending a hand to you? That we don’t want you far from us? That we’re still your family and want to support you despite this adversity?”

So that was how they saw it.

That was why they refused to understand my reasons, the pain crushing my heart, and how difficult it was for me to endure their presence after what they had done to me—or rather, after what they still intended to do to me, with their plans of silence, complicity, and submission.

How could they not see it?

“I’m only asking for my own space, and I’m asking because I want to be away from all of you.”

My words were perhaps too harsh.

They reflected everything I had bottled up inside my chest.

But they were genuine.

I saw the pain that crossed Beta Robert’s eyes, and those of his wife as well.

“K., cousin, wait a moment,” Evelyn interrupted, though I had not expected to hear from her. “Why are you being so harsh? There’s no need to treat us this way, especially your parents.”

“You think I’m being harsh?” I asked, struggling to keep my anger under control. “I’m only asking for space. After everything that’s happened, I think that’s the very least I deserve, don’t you?”

I looked around, waiting for an answer.

None came.

Until Marcus finally spoke.

“Your place is with us, Kaia. By our side. In the pack house, as befits someone of your rank, especially now that you’ll be holding the position my father offered you.”

Of course it had to be him insisting on turning me into his concubine.

He wasn’t even capable of disguising how badly he wanted to see me reduced to that.

“I’ve already stated my condition,” I said, bringing the discussion to an end. “If you decide not to accept it—”

“We accept it,” Alpha Damian said before I could finish. “We accept it, Kaia. If you don’t wish to live in the pack house despite having the privilege to do so, I respect your decision.”

Privilege?

Did they really see it that way?

Or were they determined to repeat it until I finally believed it myself?

“But Alpha, please...” Beta Robert began before his wife’s hand stopped him.

“I understand that Kaia must be deeply hurt and that she now desires peace and quiet in her life,” Alpha Damian said without taking his eyes off my father, as though he owed the explanation to him rather than to me, the actual victim of all this. “Let’s give her that, so she has time to reflect and think more carefully about what is most beneficial for her future.”

I didn’t miss the glimmer in Alpha Damian’s eyes when he said those last words.

It was as if he were convinced that my reaction was nothing more than a tantrum that would fade after a few days.

More than ever, I was determined to disappoint him.

For now, his words gave me what I wanted, and I had no intention of arguing further.

Unfortunately, the woman I had once called Mother had other plans.

“Are you serious, daughter? Do you truly want to distance yourself from us?”

Her words infuriated me.

That she could still call me daughter after what she had done.

After placing her duties as a Beta’s wife above the happiness of her only child—the child whom the Goddess had chosen to become the true Luna of Green Moon.

“It’s exactly as our Alpha said,” I replied, unwilling to prolong the discussion. “Right now, I need to be alone. I need time to process everything that has happened.”

I didn’t call her Mother.

Or Mom.

Or anything at all.

My voice was a cold blade that she undoubtedly felt piercing her heart.

Though it was nothing compared to the iceberg still lodged in mine.

“Please, daughter, just make sure this time apart doesn’t last too long.”

I didn’t answer.

It was time to turn my back and head into the city to choose the place where I would live until the day my mate married my cousin.

But before I could leave, I felt Marcus’s hand close around my arm.

“Do you think what you’re doing doesn’t affect me too?” he asked, anger flashing in his eyes.

Suddenly, he was once again the proud, arrogant boy from high school.

“Have you even thought about how much I’m suffering because of your decision? My father already explained that none of this was planned. It just happened. It was a series of unfortunate events in which I’m a victim too, because I never intended to get your cousin pregnant. It wasn’t something I planned. And I need you, Kaia. You’re my mate. I’ve recognized you, and you’ve recognized me. That’s what led us to do what we did last night. Proof that only together can we get through this. But if you choose to leave now, everything will become even harder.”

I didn’t know what to think in the face of that swamp of nonsense.

Marcus was presenting himself as the victim now?

Seriously?

It had to be a joke.

A terrible joke.

But if I thought he was finished, he still had more to say.

“Kaia, stay. Live in the pack house, in the place assigned to you by virtue of your rank. Then we can be there for each other whenever we need one another—to listen, to understand, to comfort each other. Because I’m suffering too, Kaia. I’m suffering more than you can imagine. And I know our pain will only grow worse if we separate from each other.”

No.

This wasn’t a joke.

Not even the cruelest one imaginable.

Marcus was completely serious, and his attempt to portray himself as a victim demanded all of my resolve.

So I prepared myself to answer his performance.