Tormented By My Jilted Alpha Mate

LION’S DEN

Sienna's POV

Let me paint the scenario for you

It is has been seven days since Kade Archer put a knife in my stomach

I have been asking the Moon Goddess the same question every morning since I opened my eyes in this Nightridge pack house. Would death not have been easier?

Genuinely. Would it not have been more merciful for me to just bleed out on that warehouse floor instead of waking up here, bandaged like a piece of spoiled meat!

I cannot even stand straight without my wound pulling. Every time I bend, something in my stomach screams at me.

The bandages are thick enough that I look like I am carrying an extra person under my uniform and this i***t woman still put me on room duty.

I curse her under my breath as I drag my bucket down the hallway. I curse Reaver too while I am at it. And Damon, the Beta who arranged my transfer like I was livestock. I curse all of them very thoroughly and with great creativity.

And Kade Archer. Especially Kade Archer.

Because of him, Lily is still dying. Because of him, my plan collapsed. Because of him, I am hobbling through an enemy pack house on day seven of a wound that has no business being made to work yet, with fifty thousand gold bars nowhere in sight and my sister's three month clock ticking in the back of my head like a bomb.

He is so lucky he is hot. That is the only grace I am extending to that man right now.

"Stop it, Sienna," I mutter to myself.

Hot is irrelevant. Hot doesn't save Lily. Hot doesn't get me out of here!

The head of servants said seventh floor, third room on the right. Clean it thoroughly and don't touch anything that doesn't need touching. As if I would want to. As if being in that room is something I am looking forward to.

I stop at the top of the hallway and stare at the door.

Alpha Kade's room.

This is the lion's den. I walked into it once on purpose and came out with a hole in my stomach. Now I am walking back in with a mop and a bucket because apparently the universe has a very specific sense of humor.

He is going to finish what he started. He is going to see my face and remember exactly who I am and this time there will be no hesitation.

I stand there for a full minute having this argument with myself. Fine , I will just wear a cleaning mask and hope he doesn’t recognise me

Then I hear voices from inside the room and my feet stop moving on their own.

Two voices.

I know one of them immediately. That flat cold tone that lives in my nightmares now.

The other voice is lighter. Easier. Like someone who finds everything slightly funny, but has a black heart

I lean closer to the door.

"Brother." The lighter voice. Something in the aura behind it makes my skin crawl even through a closed door. It's charm wearing a mask. I can feel his smile from where I stand. "I wish you died. I would have been crowned next."

A pause.

"Get out." Kade.

"Is that any way to thank the man who saved your life? You're welcome, by the way."

I can picture him sitting down without being invited. The type. Absolutely the type.

Kade says nothing. The silence has teeth.

"Elena says hello." The brother again, drawing the name out like he knows exactly what it does. "Actually she said more than that. She said to tell you she's pregnant again. Our second pup."

I blink.

Elena.

I file the name away. There is a story here. Some wound that is still open judging by the quality of silence that falls after that name is dropped. Kade does not respond and somehow that says more than any words would.

"She asks about you sometimes," the brother continues, his voice taking a sympathetic edge. "Usually right after we finish. She'll be riding me, screaming my name, and then after she'll get all soft. I hope Kade's okay. It's actually annoying."

Oh.

Oh this man is evil.

"Get out, Damon!" Kade's voice has changed.

Ah! this is the Damon? The one who traded me with Reaver? Bastard!

“Get out!”

I don't care about Kade's feelings. I don't. He put silver in my stomach. He can sort his own heartbreak.

But I am starting to understand the shape of him a little. The cruelty makes more sense now. This Elena must have hurt him.

"I saved your life," Damon is saying. "You owe me now. That's pack law. And I will collect, brother. When the time comes, you'll do what I ask. No questions."

"There's nothing I wouldn't do to see you dead."

"The feeling's mutual." Footsteps now. He's moving. "Try not to get killed by any more women before I get my favor."

I press tighter against the door frame.

“f**k you!” I growl from Kade

"And remember. Day ten of thirty. If you don't get a mate, I become Alpha."

I frown.

Thirty days. Mate. Become Alpha.

So Kade has a deadline. It is funny how even an Alpha can be kept on his toes. I start laughing, but the pain in my stomach reminds me not to.

The door swings open and I have approximately zero seconds to react.

The door hits my face.

I go backwards. The bucket goes sideways. My wound screams so loudly that for one second everything goes white and I see stars. I hit the floor and just lie there for a moment, blinking at the ceiling, my stomach on absolute fire.

"What the hell…" The brother looks down at me. Golden eyes. Brown sandy hair. He looks at me in irritation. Spoilt brat. “What are you doing on the floor, you fool? Are you spying?"

"I slipped," I gasp.

"Useless." He steps over me. Actually steps over me like I am a mat. "Watch where you're lurking."

I watch him disappear. I lie on the floor and I think of things I could do to him. Gut him for one

Then I get up. Slowly. One hand on the wall. My wound is a spectacular disaster right now and I take a moment to breathe through it and hate everyone equally.

I pick up my bucket. Adjust my face mask. I knock on Kade's door.

No answer.

I knock again.

Still nothing.

I push it open.

"I told you to get out, Damon!"

I step inside. "I'm not Damon."

Silence.

I start to clean, crossing my fingers and hoping he doesn’t recognise me

"Are you incompetent?" He snaps suddenly, making me flinch. But I do not respond.

"I asked you a question."

Nothing. If I speak, he might recognise my voice

"Look at me when I'm talking to you."

Fuck you! I say under my breath as I turn sharply at him, my eyes glaring. His eyes locks on to mine and I see the moment he recognises me

"You." The word comes out like a growl.

He is out of bed before I can move, knife from somewhere, and I am against the wall with the blade at my throat before I can even think

I am so tired of all these

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now."

Maybe I am suicidal, I don’t know, but I roll my eyes. I “Because you'd have done it already if you really wanted to,” suddenly I do not care about consequences. “"You've had seven days."

He seems to let my insolence slide. "Why are you here?" He presses the blade closer, it slices me slightly. "Why are you in my pack?"

"You think I want to be here?" I laugh. I don’t care. I don’t care anymore. "Alpha Reaver told me I failed. That I'd work off my debt. Then he sold me to you. Made some deal with Beta Damon. Trade benefits or something. I don't know. I don't care."

"You tried to kill me."

"And you stabbed me even when I tried to save you. Looks like we're even."

"Even?" I can't believe what I'm hearing. "You're a hired killer. An assassin. You murdered innocent werewolves to lure me in."

"They weren't innocent. They were rogue wolves killing humans. I did you a favor."

"You lied to me. You said you had a pup… "Who's Lily?"

He has to bring Lily into this conversation? “I don’t have a pup, I wanted to save my head…”

“Liar!” He presses the blade tighter on my neck. Blood pools around it, warm and thick. I imagine his licking it off my neck. How would that feel? Focus!

“Who is Lily!?”

“Lily is my sister. She's dying. Heavy silver poisoning. I needed money for treatment. Your bounty was fifty thousand gold bars. That would have saved her."

"So you decided to kill me."

"So I decided to do what I had to do!" I yell. Bold. "You think I wanted this? You think I enjoyed luring you there? I've been hunting for the people who destroyed my family for years! They took everything and sold me to Reaver who turned me into his assassin. Now I have been passed down to you!”

My trauma comes crashing down. No. No. I cannot be like this around Kade. I am risking so much. But right now my brain refuses to think. Oh goddess. I am breathing hard. I am actually crying. My heart is racing. I cannot control it.

"I hate you!" The words are forming on their own. "I hate you and I hate Reaver and I hate every single person who made me into this! I was a princess! I had a family! I had a life! And now I'm nothing! I'm a slave passed between packs like I'm worthless!"

"You are worthless." He says, pinning me harder. "You're a killer. A liar. You lied about having a pup to manipulate me…"

"Because you would have killed me otherwise! My sister is dying and I'd do anything to save her! She is the only family I have left!”

We're both breathing hard. The knife is still on my throat but I feel his hand shaking.

"Guards!" He yells

They burst in immediately.

"Take her to the dungeons."

"No…" I fight them. I cannot be taken there. I know what happens there. "Let go of me! I said let go!"

“Flog her until her skin flares!”

“Let me go!” I hit one in the face as they pull me towards the door

One of them catches me right over the wound and the pain is so savage and so immediate that I react with a feral gasp.

"Wait," Kade stops them. "Leave her here."

"Alpha?" one guard sounds confused.

"I said leave her here. In my room. I'll deal with her myself."

They obey, closing the door

We are alone.

I am breathing hard

Suddenly, I start to feel something in my chest, like something unlocking. The pain in my stomach is gone. My body is getting warmer. The warmth is spreading outward through my body until it is in my hands and behind my eyes and in a place somewhere between my ribs that I have never felt activated before. A pull so insistent that I actually take one step toward him before my brain catches up with my feet.

I look at Kade.

He has gone completely still. His jaw has locked. His eyes are wide for just one second. I watch the goosebumps rise on his skin the exact same moment they rise on mine.

Oh no.

Oh absolutely not.

I back up until the wall stops me. "This can't be right."

"No." He says absolutely horrified

"You stabbed me!"

"You stabbed me first!"

Not this. Not him. Not a man who already has me filed under 'problems to eliminate'.

"I'd rather die," I tell him.

"That can be arranged."

He moves toward me. I back up but the wall is already there and there is nowhere to go. He is too close. The bond is too loud. My body is doing things my head is loudly, clearly, repeatedly objecting to. My wolf is practically purring and I feel like ripping her out of my head.

"This doesn’t mean anything," he says. "You're still an assassin. Still a liar. Still my slave"

"I am not yours."

"You're mine."

"I hate you," I whisper.

"I h

ate you too," he says.

And then he kisses me.

And I, Moon Goddess help me, I kiss him back.

I hate myself so much right now.