Substitute Love: Her Fated Alpha

Chapter 5

“Fancy seeing you here, Adeline.” Seeing that I was awake, Lucian let out a sneer. Lightly slapping his palm with the whip, he approached me.

I tried my best to sit up and put some distance between us. However, my struggle was futile. Ignoring my attempt to dodge, Lucian looked down at me with his nose touching mine. Seeing the look of disdain and contempt in his eyes, anger burned in my eyes. He was the person whom I used to love. Despite the lovely time we spent together, only betrayal awaited me. Little did I expect the two of us to meet again so soon.

“Miss Adeline, did you dress yourself just to seduce me in the middle of the night? Or, did you just decide to come back and enjoy the night view?”

Lucian raised his brows, his eyes cold as ice. It was obvious that he was not amused about my arrival. He clenched his fists, as if he was trying to hold back. However, the bulging veins on his neck were enough to tell everyone how furious he was. I could even sense his gritted teeth. With every c***k of the whip, the veins on his hand became more visible.

I struggled to understand the reason behind Lucian’s gloominess. However, I could tell he was more than just angry. Then again, it was never my concern to understand the inner thoughts of my enemies.

With a wave of Lucian’s hands, I was tied to the wooden pillar. Then, he grabbed his whip which was still dripping water. Before I could react, he lashed out at me.

“Ah!” As another whip landed on my body, I cried out in pain. Kylie yelped as well, feeling the pain deep within my soul. However, both of us were gritting our teeth, determined to pull through together.

Kylie: Adeline, we can’t tell him why we came here. He’ll only get more violent if we do that!

Me: Don’t worry, Kylie. I won’t say a single thing!

Clenching my teeth, I glared at Lucian with a murderous look. However, this only earned me another whip. Feeling the whip beneath my chin, I knew from the burning pain that my face was definitely going to swell up. Sneering, Lucian ignored my fuming orbs. “I know how painful it must be, Miss Adeline. Why don’t you give up and tell me why you’re here?”

Hearing Lucian’s calm tone, my heart felt unsettled. Why did it seem like he already knew my purpose here? He only tortured me so that I could be humiliated in public.

To answer my guess, one of Lucian’s subordinates soon entered the tent. He glanced at me first, clearly unamused about my unkemptness. Then, he whispered something beside Lucian’s ear.

“Sir, I believe this woman came to our camp to eavesdrop on our plans. She was also involved with the Blood Moon Pack. They came to spy on our strategy last time.”

That was enough to spark some of Lucian’s interest. “Miss Adeline, have you ever wondered why you found yourself with false information, even though you clearly heard the vice leader speak?” He mused. “Well, that’s because my spy discovered someone spying on us not far away from our camp. That being said, I really didn’t expect it to be you. Can you tell me why you’re doing all this? I’m pretty sure your pack was destroyed a long time ago, and your foster parents are nowhere to be found. So, tell me. Who are you serving now?”

I tried my best to think of an answer while being tortured by the stinging pain. Exposing my identity as the young sister of the Blood Moon Pack’s leader was the last thing I should do. If they knew, Lucian would use this against Theo. With me being held hostage, passing intel to Theo would be near impossible. If Lucian were to attack Theo’s pack, Theo would suffer even more losses.

“Mr. Lucian, I think you’re forgetting that I’m a werewolf without a home. In order to survive, I would sell intel to other people. There’s nothing special about that.” I gritted my teeth and explained with a bitter smile, only to be whipped again. Countless red marks stained my body, and the iron whip was merciless as ever.

I could feel my skin being exposed after the whip tore through my clothes. Seeing my fair skin that was decorated by b****y wounds, some of Lucian’s Beta subordinates had lustful looks in their eyes.

“You’re a naughty one, Miss Adeline.” Lucian approached me and lifted my chin with his whip. My chin was already swollen from the previous lashes. Now, the pain was only getting worse.

I could feel my vision getting blurry from the pain, but I tried my best to hold my ground. “You might find it hard to believe, Mr. Lucian, but I really am an information broker. I just wanted to earn myself some extra cash.”

“Are you really not involved with the Red Moon Pack?” Lucian sounded incredulous. It was obvious that he had trouble believing his ex lover would spy for intel by herself after leaving him.

“You can’t hide anything from me, Adeline.” Before I lost my consciousness completely, I heard Lucian’s threat beside my ear. However, I no longer had the energy to fight back.

All I could think of was Theo… He would definitely send someone to look for me now that I had gone missing…

However, my wishes were ignored once more. When I woke up, I found myself still tied to the wooden pillar. Not to mention, I was forced to wake up after being drenched by ice-cold water.

A woman’s sharp nails traced the side of my face. “Good to see you again, Miss Adeline.”

Hearing Lucy’s sharp voice, a sense of dread flooded my heart. She never liked me because of my relationship with Lucian. Now that I was tied to the wooden pillar, she would never let me go easily.

Without another word, Lucy shoved a huge long needle into my body. Compared to Lucy, Lucian was definitely going soft on me. With more and more needles penetrating my legs and arms, Lucy was ready to send me to my death. Clearly stimulated by the t*****e, Lucy grabbed a needle that was no thinner than a nail and stared at my chest with a crazed expression.

However, she hesitated for a while. Perhaps she was trying to look for the best spot. My limbs were bleeding incessantly from the other needles, but that did not bother Lucy at all. To her, I was just a toy that she could t*****e, and she made no effort to hide that.

As the needle approached my chest, I was ready to embrace my end. Suddenly, a voice sounded outside the dungeon. “Miss Lucy! Mr. Lucian is here!” Lucy’s hand trembled, and the needle dropped to the ground.

Ignoring the needles that were still inside my body, Lucky left with her subordinates hurriedly. It was likely that she did not want Lucian to see this side of her. Very soon, Lucian appeared in the dungeon with his people.

One look was enough for him to see my sorry state. However, he did not care at all. He only approached me and observed my wounds for a short while before ordering his subordinate, “Get her to the doctor, Johnny. I want her to stay alive before she tells me the truth.”

I could feel myself being untied from the wooden pillar and the rest was just a blur.

When I regained my unconsciousness after the longest time, I found myself lying in a single bed that was quite decent. Judging by the white walls and clean sheets, this must be the infirmary of the Blue Moon Pack.

I listened carefully for any sort of movement. It seemed like there was only one person watching over me. Even the doctor was nowhere to be seen. After a while, the only person beside me left as well, probably assuming that I would not wake up for quite some time because of my injuries.

Waiting for the person to disappear entirely, I looked at my wounds. Blood was still seeping through the bandage. Struggling, I sat up from my bed. I had to make use of this chance to escape this place.

Pressing down on my bandages to stop the bleeding, I staggered out of the room and wandered around to find my way out. Soon, frantic footsteps could be heard. It was likely that they realized I had gone missing.

Desperate to hide myself, I entered an ordinary-looking hut. However, it did not take long for the guards to find this place.

“Should we go in and have a look, Porter?”

“Maybe not. Let’s look somewhere else. We’ll definitely get punished if we go in there. The leader said this place was out of bounds.”

The two guards mumbled to each other as they walked away. Making sure that they were far enough, I came out of my hiding spot and observed the hut.

The hut only had a single room, and there was only an ordinary cabinet in the middle. Sensing my surroundings getting quieter, I tiptoed toward the cabinet. On the cabinet was an opened book. On the first page were the words “mysterious powers of the west.” Curious, I looked at the book cover - it was a book called Unknown History of the West, a book that I had never seen before. Judging by its fanciness, it was unlikely for it to be a normal history book. Perhaps it was more like a magic tome.

The book’s cover was a gold frame with a delicate oil painting. Even the pages were made with light parchment of the highest quality. Lucian would never hide a random book in a hut while not allowing anyone to access it. There had to be something unique about it.

I attempted to take this book with me, but it was impossible to lift this book off the table. It seems to be glued to the cabinet with some sort of magic. I used all my strength to lift its corner, only to set off an ear-piercing alarm.

Knowing that the wolves of the Blue Moon Pack would soon find their way here after hearing the alarm, I had no choice but to make my escape.

***

After much struggle, I finally found my way back to the pack. I spotted Theo immediately in the woods, and I could tell he had been looking for me. Forgetting my sorry state, I jumped into his arms. “Theo! I’m back!”

Feeling Theo’s warm body, my vision was getting blurry from my tears. Theo could see the wounds on my body, and he gently patted me on the back. “I’m so happy to have you back. I’ve been so worried about you, Adeline.”

Due to my severe injuries, Theo successfully convinced the elders and the warriors to let me rest. When they saw how badly wounded I was, they could only say yes to Theo’s request. Just like that, I found myself back home, back inside the fancy bedroom that Theo prepared for me.

I thought things would get better from here, but I was proven wrong.

When I was delivering some fruit to my brother’s study, I heard something that made my entire body freeze.

“Please rest assured, Mr. Lucian. My sister won’t affect our plan. Plus, I’m sure you already know how loyal she is. Not to mention, she is also quite capable. Our plan will succeed without a doubt.”

Clenching onto the fruit plate, I tried my best to remain calm. Ever since I arrived at the Blood Moon Pack, I never thought my brother, the leader of the pack, would be this close to Lucian despite knowing how much Lucian had hurt me. Lucian was not just my enemy. He was also the leader of the Blue Moon Pack, a pack that had been at war with the Blood Moon Pack for centuries. They should be enemies, so why would they contact each other? Did Theo truly see me as his sister, his own living family member? What about the Blood Moon Pack? Did he ever care?

I was too afraid to answer the countless questions I had. At least there was one thing I could be sure of. My brother, the only family member I had, did not love me unconditionally. It was very likely that he had something else planned…