The Alpha's Unwanted Bride

Chapter 623: A COVER UP

XADEN’S POV

I looked all over her.

Her sudden claims of Princess Cherry.

I found that had to believe.

There was barely any ever connection Uther had to Cherry.

Especially since Uther was now headed for the cave of chaos.

I still had to be present when they were taken down into the Cave of Chaos.

As Alpha of the pack, it was expected that I had to be present when the sentence is being handed out.

I sighed heavily.

I was going to have to be present for the opening of Cave of Chaos.

I considered having Lisa wait till I got back.

But I changed my mind.

I wanted to have it done once and for all.

”Take her to the room Jasmine had been locked in.” I said. ”If she can give us something, then her death would be merciful.”

Lisa screamed and began to plead but I ignored her.

The guards dragged Lisa down the corridor, her shrill protests ricocheting off the stone walls like knives. I didn’t bother to look at her.

Not yet. If I did, I wasn’t sure what part of me would react,

the part that had lost a child, or the part that had just lost the last shred of patience I had left.

Behind me, Fiona swallowed hard.

She’d seen me angry before.

She’d never seen me like this.

”I’ll come with you.” Fiona said silently behind my back.

I nodded.

She followed silently as we cut through the castle corridors, the torches flickering as if afraid. I could feel her eyes on my back, worried, confused, but stronger than most. She didn’t speak.

She knew better than to speak right now.

I was overwhelmed by everything.

My heart was broken into pieces.

My sister had lied and betrayed me.

I was forced to execute her.

Torn between being a brother, father and an Alpha.

And I had also lost my uncle.

Now I was facing a servant of mine who had been the architect of it all.

We were led to the room Jasmine had been kept in and the moment I stepped in, I was hit by a sickening feeling.

It was cold and sad room.

Had only a bed by the wall, there was no light to tell what time it was, just cold and dark.

I closed my eyes, ashamed and hurt that I had made her go through this.

I wondered how she had spent her nights here.

How she had lost the baby here.

My throat became clouded and I felt like I could barely breathe.

Tears gathered in my eyes as I took in the surroundings.

”Xaden” Fiona’s gentle hand touched my shoulder, snapping me back to reality.

I blinked quickly to hide back the tears and turned around with a tight jaw.

”Are you okay?” She asked softly.

I looked back and saw that Lisa and the guards were now waiting for me.

She had been forced down on the floor while the guards stood behind her hostilely.

”Alpha, please-”

”Shut up.”

She went still.

Her eyes darted to Fiona, then to me. She realized she no longer had the leverage she thought she had.

She knelt straighter, forcing a calm she didn’t feel.

”I won’t speak unless I’m given a deal,” Lisa said, her voice trembling only at the edges. ”If I tell you what I know, I want protections. Amnesty. A new identity. I-

Was she mad?

I wanted to laugh.

I stepped closer.

Her words died.

”You think,” I said quietly, ”that you are in any position to negotiate?”

She swallowed.

”You need what I know,” she whispered. ”Without me-

”I don’t need anything from you.” I stated clearly.

My voice was too calm. Fiona tensed behind me.

Lisa flinched.

”You will talk,” I continued. ”Not because I offered a deal but because you understand exactly what I will do if you don’t.”

I snapped my finger at her, bringing her to look at me.

And then I traced my finger around the room and then down to the floor.

”Do you see where we are?” I asked her. ”Don’t know where we are?”

She was trembling.

She didn’t say a word.

”This is where Jasmine lost our child.” I said explicitly. ”A child that I believe I would never be able to conceive and yet it happened.”

Her eyes trembled in terror.

”The very floor you’re kneeling on.” I explained as I pointed to the ground. ”That’s most likely where she bled and lost her. And it all makes me more furious. This place also makes me feel guilty. Guilty for all the things I could have done to save her. How I could have handled it better. And I’ll like to pour that frustration on you. I would like to rip you into shreds, limb from limb. So you see the level of my rage now?”

She opened her mouth, probably to lie, or bargain, or cry.

I slammed my hand on the metal bed beside her.

She jumped so violently the chair rattled.

”Start. Talking.”

Her composure cracked.

She tried again, her breath shaking. ”Princess Cherry-

Fiona’s head snapped up.

I froze.

Lisa felt the shift. She smiled, weakly, but with desperation.

”Yes,” she said quickly. ”Princess Chery is involved. She was involved from the beginning. Aurora wasn’t the one leading the network. Anna wasn’t either. They were all just... tools. Every single one.”

She leaned forward, her chains clinking.

”Chery was the one whispering orders from the shadows. She was the one funding everything. Controlling everything. Every plot. Every attack. Every ’accident’ that Jasmine faced. Even the one in your pack years ago.”

My jaw clenched.

Years ago.

Bale’s massacre of my parents

Lisa watched my reaction, like a snake tasting blood.

”She’s been doing this for years, Alpha,” Lisa rasped. ”She used so many people as her blade, Aurora, Anna as her puppet, Uther as her pawn, Lily as her errand girl. They thought they had power. They thought they were important. But they were just pieces on her board.”

She sat back, breathing harder. ”While she stayed hidden, untouchable.”

Fiona stepped forward, voice trembling. ”Why Jasmine? What does she want with her? She is lying Xaden! None of this makes any sense! She is only saying this to get out of this!”

”Lying! Why would I lie? Especially when I have my head to lose?!” Lisa spat with venom.

Lisa’s eyes flicked to her, then back to me.

She smiled.

Because fear wasn’t enough for her. She needed to feel powerful again, if only for one more minute.

”Jasmine isn’t just a pregnant unshifted wolf-” Lisa whispered.

The room seemed to shrink.

We waited in anticipation for what she had to say.

”Her mother wasn’t just a slave.” Lisa continued.

I frowned.

”She is actually-

At that moment before Lisa could say a word, the cell became dark.

It felt as though a shadow of darkness had enveloped the room.

And I perceived something in it.

Dark magic.

The burning touch that lit up to the room went poof.

”What just happened?” Fiona asked.

It felt as though a shadow was passing through us, and yet the atmosphere was still.

I cursed under my breath.

”Walter.” I snapped my finger at the guard. ”On a new torch.”

”I’m trying.” Walt said sounding agitated. ”But it’s not working.

The other guards, I could hear them trying to make a fire to light the torch .

”Fuck.” I swore.

And then as if in that very instant, the light came on.

I looked around to see if any of the men had turned it on themselves.

But they equally looked confused.

Their eyes were darting around from one person to the other.

The torches that hung by the wall had been lit on their own.

I frowned.

”Xaden”. Fiona gasped behind me.

I turned around and to my greatest horror, Lisa was kneeling down, her eyes seemingly burned out and where her heart was supposed to be, gorged out.

A guard threw up.

”She is dead!” Fiona gasped in horror.

I instantly went to check her body.

Fiona was indeed right.

She was dead.

”How the hell did this happen?” I barked.

It made no sense.

She had been okay for a split second and now she lay dead?

The exact same moment the light had gone off on its own and returned back without any support.

Fiona who was now seemingly frightened looked back at me.

”Xaden.” She started, her eyes red with fear . ”Someone doesn’t want us to know something about Jasmine.”

My heart was racing.

I hated to admit it, but she was right.

My pack that was supposedly fortified with powers strong enough to resist dark magic however had it walking in my midst.

And the very same moment Lisa was supposed to speak, something had killed her.

Princes Cherry she had said.

I rose up to my feet.

I was going to find out.