The Alpha's Unwanted Bride

Chapter 711: FATHER DEAREST

The forest felt wrong without Maelis.

Too quiet. Too empty. Like something vital had been ripped out and the land itself hadn’t learned how to breathe again.

I stood frozen where she had fallen, my fingers locked around the small chest, my body shaking so violently I thought my bones might crack apart. The warmth that had been at my side moments ago was gone. Replaced by cold and blood and the echo of her scream still ringing in my ears.

Then there was only him.

My father.

He took a step toward me.

I recoiled before I could stop myself.

”Don’t,” I said, my voice breaking. ”Don’t come closer.”

He halted, his expression tightening not with guilt but with something like irritation. As if my fear were an inconvenience rather than the result of what he had just done.

”You shouldn’t have seen that,” he said calmly. ”She forced my hand.”

My chest heaved as tears spilled freely now. I didn’t bother wiping them away.

”Why,” I whispered. ”Why are you like this.”

He frowned slightly. ”Like what.”

”Evil,” I said, the word tasting bitter and final. ”Why are you evil.”

For a moment he simply stared at me.

Then he sighed.

Not in anger. Not in shame.

In disappointment.

”I’m not evil,” he said. ”I’ve just learned what others refuse to accept. That sacrifices must be made.”

My stomach churned violently.

”You murdered them,” I cried. ”You slaughtered them. They trusted her. They trusted me.”

”They resisted order,” he replied evenly. ”They chose chaos. That always ends the same way.”

I shook my head hard, as if that might dislodge the sound of his voice from my skull.

”You killed her,” I sobbed. ”You killed Maelis.”

”She chose to stand against me,” he said. ”You don’t get to choose both sides and survive.”

Something inside me snapped then.

Not loudly.

Quietly.

Like a string pulled too tight for too long finally giving way.

”And what about me,” I asked. ”What am I to you.”

He stepped closer again, carefully this time, like one might approach a frightened animal.

”You are my daughter,” he said. ”You are my greatest legacy. Together we can change this world. Shape it into something better. Something strong. Something that cannot be threatened again.”

My hands clenched around the chest.

”To our image,” he continued. ”With your power and mine there would be no more rebellion. No more division. Only unity.”

The word tasted wrong.

Unity built on bones.

I looked at him then. Really looked.

At the man who had held me while I cried. Who had kissed my forehead. Who had promised safety while sharpening the knife behind his back.

And suddenly it all fell into place.

”Oh,” I breathed.

He tilted his head. ”What.”

My laugh came out broken and hollow.

”It was her,” I said. ”Wasn’t it.”

His eyes sharpened.

”My mother,” I continued. ”She was the royal who locked my wolf.”

Silence stretched between us.

”She did it,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. ”She locked my wolf to protect me. To protect me from you.”

He didn’t deny it.

He just stared at me.

Heartbreak tore through my chest so violently I doubled forward, clutching my stomach as another sharp pain rippled through me.

”She wasn’t a wraith,” I said hoarsely. ”I knew it the moment I stopped taking those tonics. I saw her clearly. She warned me about you.”

His jaw tightened.

”Enough,” he said. ”Hand me the ruby.”

I tightened my grip on the chest instinctively, backing away.

”No.”

”Jasmine,” he said sharply. ”You don’t understand what you’re doing.”

”I understand everything,” I cried. ”I understand why she ran. Why she hid me. Why she sealed my wolf.”

Another contraction ripped through me, stronger this time, stealing the breath from my lungs. I cried out, dropping to one knee, the pain rolling through me in a brutal wave.

My father’s eyes flicked to my stomach.

”Your baby,” he said coolly. ”If you want him to live, give me the stone.”

Something wet and warm spread between my thighs.

My heart lurched.

No.

No no no.

I pressed my legs together instinctively, terror flooding me as the reality slammed into me all at once.

”My water,” I whispered. ”It broke.”

The pain surged again, unforgiving and relentless.

”You don’t have much time,” he said. ”Without your wolf you won’t survive this. Give me the ruby and I can fix it.”

Fix it.

By owning me.

By owning my son.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my entire body trembling.

Maelis’s voice echoed in my mind.

Do not let it deceive you.

I shifted my grip on the chest, feeling the pulse of the ruby through the metal.

I stopped resisting it.

I let myself tune to it.

Not with hunger.

Not with fear.

But with choice.

Light exploded outward.

Blinding. Overwhelming. Green and red colliding in a violent surge that lifted my hair, my clothes, the very air around me. The emerald at my throat burned hot as the ruby screamed in protest, the two forces clashing in a blinding storm.

I felt myself being pulled.

Away.

The forest blurred. The ground vanished beneath me. The pain in my body dulled into something distant as the light wrapped around me completely.

”Jasmine,” my father shouted, lunging forward.

I opened my eyes one last time.

He was running toward me, hand outstretched, his face twisted in fury and desperation.

”You will never leave,” he roared.

I met his gaze through the light.

”You will never make it out of this place,” I said softly. ”Not without me.”

And then I smashed the chest against the ground.

The ruby shattered.

A soundless explosion tore through the world, fragments of crimson light bursting outward like dying stars. The scream that tore from his throat was not human.

”No,” he howled.

He leapt toward me.

Too late.

The light swallowed me whole.

The last thing I saw was his hand grasping at empty air.

Then I was gone.