Her Broken Alpha Prince (Book 18 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 24

For the next thirty minutes, she went over everything that had happened since they'd arrived. Caleb sat listening to all of it, shocked when he found out Knox was mated to the Alpha's daughter, Caelan. The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach intensified. "Is Caelan involved in all of this?"

Zara glanced at him. "Yes. She was running it."

Shit. That wasn't good. At all. Caleb ran a hand over his face as he listened to Zara finish her story, explaining how she'd searched for Knox, only to find him in a room with Caelan and the Beta's son, Robert, his system full of wolfsbane and a knife in his stomach. Caleb squeezed his eyes shut. This really wasn't good. Now he could understand why Zara had been rather vague about how Knox was doing. He would need the sleep to help him heal.

She explained that Knox had participated in the pack meeting, but then he'd gone up to his room to sleep off the rest of the wolfsbane, allowing his body to heal and reconnect with his wolf.

Caleb studied Zara quietly and glanced at Dominic. If anyone was better at reading people than he was, it was Dominic Beckham. Zara's grandfather. Dom?

The old panther shifter lifted his head. She's leaving things out. You're going to have to talk to Knox to get the rest of the story. Or perhaps Daniel will have to. She may not know everything, or she may just rather he told us, especially given that it involved his mate.

Caleb sighed. "Where is Knox?"

"Up on the third floor, turn left, then in the second room on the right," Zara told him.

Caleb noticed the sorrow in her eyes as he stood. She knew what Knox was about to go through. At least he hadn't had time to complete the mating bond with her, but still, it was going to be painful for him, losing his mate. Caleb would know. He'd lost his first mate.

"Caleb?" Zara called before he walked out the door.

"Yeah?"

"He wants to be the one to execute her."

The words dropped in the room like a heavy rock. That had been the last thing he'd been expecting to hear. Silence greeted her words as all five men stared at her in shock.

"You're sure about that?" Daniel asked her.

She nodded, biting her lip. "I told him it was a bad idea, but ..." She shook her head. "He was pretty insistent."

Daniel stood as well and followed Caleb out of the room. She did something to him. That's the only way he could possibly want to end her life.

I know, Caleb responded.

They headed up the stairs, following Zara's directions until they found the room, Knox's scent easily detectable. Caleb glanced at Daniel and sighed softly, then nodded.

Daniel knocked on the door, then opened it up and stepped inside, unsure if Knox would hear his knock or not. Caleb followed him in. Knox was laying on the bed, sound asleep, his face relaxed. Caleb glanced around the room, but nothing seemed out of place.

Daniel approached the bed and placed his hand on his brother's arm. Knox jumped, his eyes snapping open as he sat up and wrapped a hand around Daniel's neck. His body relaxed a few seconds later as he realized who it was, and he dropped his hand. "Sorry," he muttered.

Daniel shook his head. "It's okay. I was sort of expecting it. You've been through a lot today."

Knox ran a hand over his face, his gaze darting over to Caleb before he let loose a long breath. "That's an understatement."

Caleb hadn't missed the pain in his eyes. He wondered if it was physical or mental. Probably both. "Zara told us everything that happened. Or at least what she knows. We need to know what happened with you as well."

Knox closed his eyes, shaking his head, his jaw clenched.

"We have to know, Knox," Daniel told him quietly. "It's important that we do."

His eyes snapped open, and he swallowed, a resigned look on his face. "I'll tell this one time and that's it. I won't repeat it ever again."

"You won't have to," Caleb promised him.

"Does Zara know the details?" Daniel asked him.

"No. She only knows what she saw and a very glazed over version of the rest," he responded, his eyes settling on something across the room.

Caleb exchanged a look with Daniel. Whatever had happened had to have been bad for him not to tell Zara. "Talk to us, Knox."

Knox sighed. "There was wolfsbane in the food they served us. Both Zara and I ate it. And who knows what else. I woke up in a room a few doors down from here restrained to a bed, an IV in my arm. I'm not sure how long I was in there alone before Caelan showed up. She's Alpha Jensen's daughter." He stopped, staring into the distance for a long moment. "My mate," he said bitterly.

Caleb and Daniel patiently waited for him to continue. They both knew this was going to be painful for him.

"She switched out the IV bags, and whatever was in the new one, it contained an aphrodisiac. And it worked. She couldn't keep her hands off of me and .. " He stopped again and sighed. " ... edging. She got naked and straddled me and just ..." he closed his eyes. "... jerked me off. Well, not off, but up to that point. And then she marked me without me even realizing what she was doing."

Caleb's eyes darted down to the mark on Knox's neck in shock as he began to put together exactly what Caelan had done to him. His gaze darted back to Daniel, what was studying Knox, his arms crossed over his chest, a hard look in his eyes.

"Robert, the Beta's son, walked in and he wasn't happy to see her in there with me. Apparently, they're together, and have been for a while. She was supposed to take him as her Chosen Mate. He brought more of that crap she was giving me through the IV, but he was pissed that she marked me, and he stabbed me in the arm with a knife."

Caleb glanced at Knox's arms, but there were no marks on either of them. He remembered Zara saying that he'd been stabbed in the belly as well.

"They both took more of that aphrodisiac and then started making out in front of me. I didn't want to watch him put his hands all over her, but she forced me to," he muttered.

"How did she force you?" Daniel asked him.

Knox's gaze focused back on Daniel for a brief moment, then shifted away again. "It's painful to have your balls squeezed," he muttered. "She had a knife as well."

"How the hell did she stand to have him touching her?" Daniel asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"Aphrodisiac." Caleb muttered. He knew why Daniel asked though. A mated she-wolf wouldn't typically be able to stand having someone else's hands on her like that. It would be repulsive.

"Something's not right with her," Knox said. "She got back up on the bed, right over me, on her hands and knees and let him fuck her."

Both Daniel and Caleb stared at him in shock, their mouths dropping open.

"She stabbed me, while they were ... right through my lung. I could barely breath and even once it healed, she wrapped her arms around my throat, cutting off my air, like she got off on that or something. I don't know. It didn't throw me into a panic though. Not the way she wanted. My brain was so messed up through all of it and..." he stopped again, annoyed. "He marked her. He fucking marked her while he was fucking her over top of me. And there was nothing I could do about it! And I fucking got off on it!" Knox was visibly shaking by the time he was done shouting at them both.

Caleb's eyebrows shot up at that, and he looked at Daniel. Do we even want to ask about that?

Probably not. But I'm beginning to understand why he wants to be her executioner.

It took a few minutes for Knox to calm down after that. Caleb could tell he was barely holding it together and he realized he too could understand why his son wanted to kill her. She'd betrayed him in the worst way possible. He still didn't think it possible though. He didn't think Knox would be able to carry out the execution.

"Zara said you were stabbed?" Daniel asked him quietly

"Yeah. After they were done with their little fuck fest, they both took the knife and stabbed me together." The bitterness in his tone was evident.