The Alpha's Broken Mate

Chapter 21

I stood frozen in shock. My heart kept pounding as I stared at Ann.

"What are you doing?" she screamed.

I opened my mouth to respond, but my mind was a blur.

Think of a lie. Think of something quick.

"Uh..." My words faltered as panic crept in. "I was... cleaning your room, and I... stumbled across this."

Ann scoffed, narrowing her eyes "Ha! Nice try. Do you think I’m that stupid? That drawer was locked. You picked it, didn’t you?"

I swallowed hard, a lump forming in my throat. I wanted to lie but there was no way to deny it now. I was caught.

"I knew you’d snoop around," Ann muttered. "That’s exactly why I came upstairs."

She turned around and stormed out of the room, leaving me standing there, trembling. I could feel how angry she was at me but that was the least of my problems. My thoughts were already racing. What had I just uncovered?

The book. The one that had been hidden away, locked behind a drawer. I had to know more. My fingers itched to flip through its pages, to uncover its secrets. Ann would be back soon, but for now, I had a moment. Just a moment.

I quickly grabbed the book and flicked it open. As my eyes skimmed over the pages, something caught my attention—a circular mark drawn carefully in ink. I stopped dead and my breath caught in my throat.

It was the same mark that had been on my back for as long as I could remember. The same mark my mother had. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

My heart raced, and I scanned the next line. There, in the corner of the page, was a name: Caroline James.

I gasped. The realization hit me like a bolt of lightning. Caroline James... that was my mother’s name. But why was it here? Why was it written in this book? My hands shook as I tried to process the questions in my mind.

Was this chapter about us? Was there something hidden in my bloodline, something I didn’t know?

Before I could read further, I heard the door rattling. My heart skipped a beat, and I hurriedly shoved the book back into the drawer, locking it just as Ann’s footsteps echoed outside the room.

The door creaked open, and there she was, standing in the doorway.

"I’ll teach you a lesson," Ann sneered.

Without warning, she grabbed my arm, dragging me out of the room. I felt confused and scared at the same time.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded.

"You’ll see soon enough," she replied “I’m going to take the rebel out of you. You’ll learn how to behave."

I tugged at my arm, desperate to break free, but Ann’s grip was tight. The reality of what was happening settled in—I was being punished. Again.

I couldn’t let this happen. I couldn’t be locked away again, not when Mason needed me. He was alone, and I was the only one who could care for him.

"Stop struggling!" Ann hissed, tightening her hold. "You’re only making things worse."

"Please, I have to take care of Mason," I begged, my voice breaking. "You can’t do this."

Ann’s lips curled into a cruel smile. "You should’ve thought of that before you decided to misbehave. Don’t worry about your precious brother. He’ll be fine."

Her words hit me in the chest like a knife. She didn’t care. She never had.

She pulled me down the corridor. I could feel my pulse quicken. It felt like the walls were closing in around me.

"No!" I cried out, trying to pull away from her, but she dragged me faster. "You can’t do this! You can’t—"

She ignored my pleas. Her grip was like iron as she led me toward a door at the end of the hall. My heart sank as I recognized the door—that door. The one that had always been kept locked, the one no one ever used. It was the room my mother had kept things she didn’t want anyone to see.

Ann opened the door with a grunt and shoved me inside. I stumbled forward, barely managing to catch myself before crashing to the floor.

Before I could protest, the door slammed shut behind me, and I heard the click of the lock. I was trapped.

The room was suffocatingly dark and musty. The air was thick with dust. My lungs burned as I gasped for breath, but the staleness of the room made it feel like I was suffocating.

I banged my fists against the door, shouting for Ann to let me out, but it was silence that followed.

"Let me out!" I screamed.

The seconds stretched into eternity. I kept banging on the door as I screamed. My fists ached with the impact, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t stop. I had to escape.

"Please, let me out!" I cried.

But no one answered. No one ever did.

Exhausted, I slid down the door with my back resting against the cold, rough surface. My hands were bruised from pounding on the door, and my tears fell freely.

I was supposed to protect Mason. I was supposed to take care of him, but now I was locked away, useless.

I sniffled, wiping my eyes, but the tears wouldn’t stop. It felt like I was drowning in them.

I missed Mason. I missed my mother. But more than anything, I missed Tyler.

Tyler.

The name echoed in my mind. He was the one person who could make everything feel like it might be okay. But now... now he was gone. He was probably with Stephanie, laughing, having fun, forgetting about me.

The thought of him with her, of him not thinking about me anymore, tore at my heart.

I wanted to scream, to tell him everything—everything that had happened, everything he didn’t understand. But the words never came. And the ache in my chest grew sharper, deeper.

Oh, Tyler. How could I ever make you see the truth?

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the painful memories that flooded my mind. Jack... the darkness... it all rushed back, flooding my thoughts.

I remembered the feel of Jack’s hands on mine, pinning me to the bed. The terror of being helpless, unable to fight back. The hit to my head that had knocked me unconscious. It all came crashing down on me, and I couldn’t breathe.

I cried out louder and my chest heaved with the weight of it all. It felt like someone had reached inside me, tearing at my heart, ripping it apart.

I missed Tyler so much. He was the only one who could make it stop, the only one who could heal me. But I had lost him. And now... now there was no one left.

My thoughts spiraled. Maybe... maybe it would be better if I wasn’t here. If I just... disappeared.

The world would be better off without me, right? No one would miss me. Not my dad. Not Tyler. Not anyone.

Maybe, just maybe, if I were gone, I could be with my mom again. We could be together, happy, forever.

But then I remembered Mason My little brother. He would suffer. Ann would use my absence to torment him, just like she’d done to me. He needed me. I couldn’t leave him.

The pain in my chest, the ache that had been growing for so long, felt like it might consume me. I was so tired. So, so tired.

I closed my eyes, letting the tears fall freely. I couldn’t fight anymore. Everything was too much.

As I drifted off into the darkness, the thought of the book lingered in my mind. The mark, my mother’s name, everything I had just uncovered. There was something there. Something I needed to understand.

But for now, all I could do was sleep.