(Warning: triggers in this chapter, read with caution)
(Zander's mom)
Maverick's pov
I woke up a week ago to find myself locked in a cell of what I figured was the castle's dungeon, my first thought to escape track down my mate and force him to come back with me. The problem is I need my other half to open the cell door, but when I tried to get Derrick to take over, he refused to respond.
"Oh, that won't do you any good . . . he's too much of a coward to come back."
I glared up at the mysterious woman who entered my cell just after I regained consciousness and refuses to leave my side, before quickly ignoring her again as I tried to force myself to shift. For a few minutes there was silence and then her mocking laughter echoed around the small room and I realized that nothing had happened.
"I told you, didn't I? He can't help you go after that little mate of yours, he already made up his mind to give up. Besides, if I let you get away, I wouldn't be able to kill you, now would I?"
I instantly focused on her when I recognized the seriousness in her tone and growled a warning at her, causing her to smirk.
"Am I supposed to be afraid of you . . . oh no, you're the one who should be afraid weak Alpha Derrick."
Unthinkingly, I lunged at her and she instantly dodged me, stretching out her arm as she did and wrapping her hand tightly around my neck; forcing the air out of my lungs while she continued to speak as if I hadn't interupted her.
"Now what was I saying, oh that's right I was talking about me kill you . . . well I would do it now, but here's the thing; I haven't decided how I want to do it yet. Maybe I should sneak into the kitchen and poison your food before they bring it to you or maybe I'll wait until you fall asleep and suffocate you or even better, maybe I'll just drive you insane and leave some pills you can OD on or maybe I'll tie a sturdy length of rope to the ceiling low enough that you can get to it and let you do yourself in . . . there are so many options; I don't know which one I'd enjoy doing to you the most. What do you think, weak Alpha Derrick? Which one scares you the most . . . come on, I really want to know."
I tried to ignore her taunting, but she somehow knew how to use all of my weak points against me. I cringed when she pulled me closer to her and I felt her warm breath hit my ear as she whispered to me.
"To think you actually came all this way to find your mate waiting for you with open arms and instead of claiming him, you pushed him away again because of a made up story told to you by a dead man."
I froze at her words, had my sire been lying to me this whole time and if so, why? As if reading my mind, I felt the woman's lips curl into a smirk against my ear.
"Your sire was always a gullible fool. All it took to convince him to separate you from your mate was a whispered rumor that you'd take the lives of any pups your mate bore to you ."
Jerking myself free, I backed away, glaring up at the woman who let out an amused chuckle. Just as quickly as the sound started it stopped and her eyes narrowed into slits.
"If you want to blame someone blame the weak boy who threw away a woman who loved him because of his so called sense of honor."
The confusion in my eyes angered her and she snarled at me, causing me to back away a little more.
"That pathetic fool you called sire threw me aside to mate with another, right after I bore him a son. He even went as far as convincing me that our pup never took his first breath just to show me I wasn't fit to stand by his side."
I shook my head, remembering what my uncle had told me about my brother's birth. He was the one that had mistakenly pronounced my brother dead, so why would she blame my sire? As if reading my mind, she snarled again before calming herself down.
"Yes Maxwell may have mistakenly believed that my pup was dead, but he wasn't the one who destroyed any happiness I might have had . . . your sire didn't even give me time to grieve before he banished me from the pack I'd come to love and after I'd managed to pick up the pieces and move on as best I could with a broken heart, he decided to rub his rejection in my face by announcing to the entire pack just days later that he had cast me away because the child I bore him was dead and the first child born to him by the woman he betrayed me with would become his heir, giving you the title of Alpha if anything happened to him . . . just thinking about his deceit makes me want to kill him all over again."
The woman's words hit me like a ton of bricks and an unwanted whimper escaped my throat. Grinning cruelly, she opened the cell door and slipped out, letting it slam behind me before turning to face me one last time and I allowed myself to relax.
"Don't get too comfortable, I'm only leaving because I have preparations to make. After all I need to figure out how I'm going to make you pay for the harm your birth brought to my son."
Listening to her footsteps growing fainter as she disappeared down the hall, I finally let everything sink in, this whole time I could mate with Ayden and give him pups, the story my sire told me from the time I was a young boy was a lie started by a woman who turned rogue after she was betrayed by the man she loved, a woman who had been planning to end my life from the moment I was born . . . an insane woman and formidable warrior whose name was Madeline . . . my brother's mother was back to destroy the only connection left to the man who betrayed her and the woman that stole him away, me.
Madeline's pov
The boy's afraid, good he should be, after all he is facing the one whose spent his entire life planning to crush him. I had even lowered myself to mating with a rogue so I could become stronger and threw what was left of my pride away to get a position as a kitchen maid in this castle just so I could get close enough to that boy to end his life. Now everything's in place, I can finally give my son what had been stolen from him, his title and rightful mate.
"Madeline, what are you doing down here?"
I had to force myself to smile as I turned to face the castle's chef approaching me carrying a tray of food and when he got closer l took on an air of false nervousness.
"Please Walter, I . . . I just wanted to see the prisoner the guards brought in last week, please don't tell Alpha Dominic."
I pressed myself against him and he nearly dropped the tray he was holding, his head nodding nervously and I let a smirk cross my lips at his naivety. These fools trusted so easily, it was almost disappointing that noone was cautious of me at all. Walter was saying something and I made myself focus on his words.
. . . would be a big help to me and I would make sure that Alpha Dominic paid you for the extra work, so will you do it?"
I had no clue what he was talking about, but I quickly agreed so he wouldn't get suspicious and he smiled gratefully.
"Thank you so much, this will save me so much time! This is Alpha Derrick's final meal for today, but you can start delivering them starting tomorrow morning."
I smiled gently at the man, though I really wanted to let a feral grin cross my lips, the fools were making my plans easier than I could have hoped. I wouldn't need to enact any of my threats, that weak little boy would bring about his own downfall and all I would have to do is sit back and watch. I love it so much when revenge takes care of itself.
