The Alpha's Forgotten Mate

You Survival

“You really think it’s over, don’t you?” The voice came from the shadowed corner of the room, where the soft flicker of candlelight barely touched.

Lucy’s pulse quickened. She instinctively leaned closer to Marcel, who stood rigid at her side, his eyes narrowing at the darkness. His hand was on the handle of the door, as if ready to swing it open and face whatever, whoever, was hiding behind it.

“Who’s there?” Marcel’s voice was sharp, his body tense, a silent warning in his tone.

For a moment, there was only silence, then the faintest rustle, followed by a quiet laugh, low and deliberate.

“I thought you were smarter than this, Marcel,” the voice continued, now coming from a figure that slowly emerged from the shadows. She stepped into the light, her dark eyes gleaming with a knowing glint. It was Annie, again.

“I told you before,” Annie’s voice oozed with cold amusement, “this isn’t over. You can’t just walk away from your legacy, not when it's so deeply rooted in your blood.”

Lucy’s stomach twisted at the words, but it wasn’t just the words themselves. It was the way Annie carried herself, like a woman who knew something the rest of them didn’t. Lucy glanced up at Marcel, trying to gauge his reaction.

Marcel, however, remained eerily calm, though the tension in his posture was palpable. His hand tightened around the door handle, his knuckles white with the force of his grip. “I told you,” he repeated, his voice low but unwavering, “I’m done with you. I’m done with the games, Annie.”

Annie’s lips curled into a smile that felt as cold as ice. She took a few steps closer, her movements slow, deliberate, almost predatory. “You think I’m playing games?” she asked softly, almost teasingly. “No, Marcel. This is far from a game. This is about survival. Your survival.”

Lucy felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. The room was growing colder, the temperature dropping as though Annie’s presence alone was enough to shift the atmosphere.

“What do you mean by survival?” Lucy asked, her voice hesitant, but she couldn’t hold back the question. There was a part of her, no matter how much she tried to deny it, that wanted to understand what was happening, to understand what all of this meant.

Annie looked at Lucy, a cold, almost pitying look in her eyes. “It’s simple, really. You’re standing in the middle of something much larger than you, something that stretches back generations. This isn’t just about you marrying Marcel, Lucy. You’re a part of something that was set in motion long before either of you were born.”

Lucy frowned, her confusion mounting. “What are you talking about?” she asked. “This isn’t just some arranged marriage. We’re not playing out some family drama. We love each other. We’re doing this because it’s what we want.”

Annie’s laugh was low and dark, almost cruel. “Love?” she said, the word dripping with disdain. “You think love is enough? You think you can escape your fate by pretending this is just about you two? That’s where you’re wrong, Lucy. And where Marcel, well, he’s already too far in. He can’t back out now.”

Marcel finally stepped forward, his presence suddenly more commanding, his jaw set in determination. “You’re lying,” he said, his voice a low growl. “I’m not involved in whatever you think is happening. I’ve made my choices, Annie. I’ve left all of this behind.”

Annie’s expression didn’t shift. “You can lie to yourself all you want, but the truth is, your bloodline ties you to this. And whether you like it or not, you’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

Lucy’s head was spinning. She had no idea what Annie was talking about, bloodlines, survival, consequences. All of it felt like a story that she was just now being pulled into, and every word Annie said seemed to be another thread tying her deeper into something dark, something she wasn’t prepared for.

“Marcel,” Lucy said, her voice trembling slightly, “what’s going on? What’s she talking about?”

Marcel’s face hardened, his eyes never leaving Annie. “She’s trying to manipulate us. She always has.”

Annie’s lips twitched into a small, almost amused smile. “Manipulate you? No, Marcel. I’m giving you the truth, the only truth that matters. And it’s one you’ve been running from your whole life.”

Lucy glanced at Marcel, seeing the hard lines of his face and the flicker of something, something darker, lurking in his eyes. “Marcel…” Lucy started, but her voice faltered. She wasn’t sure if she was afraid for him or if she was afraid of what this meant for her own future.

Annie turned her gaze back to Lucy, her eyes glowing faintly. “You should listen to him, Lucy. He’s been lying to you for years. He’s been lying to himself, too.” She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “But you, you're part of this, whether you like it or not. You always have been.”

Lucy’s heart skipped a beat, her breath catching in her throat. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, though she was desperate for answers.

Annie didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she took another step closer to Lucy, her eyes never leaving hers. “You think that your marriage is about love, but it’s more than that. It’s about power. It’s about blood. It’s about legacy.”

Marcel finally spoke, his voice cutting through the heavy tension in the room. “Enough, Annie. You can’t scare her into submission.”

Annie’s smile widened, but there was no humor in it. “I’m not trying to scare her. I’m trying to show her the truth.” She turned her gaze back to Marcel, her eyes narrowing. “You’ve sealed your fate, Marcel. And so has she.”

Lucy felt the weight of her words settle into her chest like a stone. She didn’t understand what Annie was saying, but the way she said it, the conviction in her voice, made her feel like there was something far darker lurking just beneath the surface.

Marcel stepped in front of her, blocking Annie’s gaze, his face a mask of cold determination. “You’re wrong. This ends here.”

Annie’s gaze flicked to Marcel, then back to Lucy. “We’ll see,” she said, her voice soft but filled with promise. “You can’t escape what’s coming. None of you can.”

With that, Annie turned and left the room, her presence lingering like a shadow, a cold chill that refused to dissipate. The door clicked shut behind her, and the silence that followed felt suffocating.

Lucy stood frozen, her mind racing. She didn’t understand what had just happened. She didn’t understand what this meant for her, for Marcel, for their future. But the one thing she did know, deep down, was that things had just shifted. They had just crossed a line that couldn’t be uncrossed.

She looked at Marcel, her voice barely above a whisper. “What do we do now?”

Marcel didn’t answer immediately. He simply stood there, his gaze distant, as though he were looking at something beyond her, something only he could see. But then, his eyes softened slightly, and he took a step towards her.

“We fight,” he said, his voice steady but filled with an emotion she couldn’t quite place. “Together.”

Lucy nodded, though uncertainty still gnawed at her. What were they up against? What had Annie meant? And, most terrifying of all, what had she and Marcel just been pulled into?

The future seemed impossibly unclear, but one thing was certain, they couldn’t go back. And whatever was coming for them, they had no choice but to face it head-on.