I hung up. My hand throbbed, a deep, rhythmic pulse of agony.
The door swung open.
Hadley limped in, leaning on a nurse. She saw the burn, the dead body, and smirked.
But when Damian turned, her face crumpled into a mask of pain.
"Damian!" she wailed. "Is she hurting you? Oh god, the stress makes my injury worse!"
Damian rushed to her side. "It's okay, baby."
He glared at me. "You see? Your existence causes pain."
"I'm leaving," I said. "I'm taking my father's body."
"You aren't going anywhere until you've been punished properly," Damian growled. "Keith!"
Keith stepped in. He looked pale.
"Take her to the Dungeon," Damian commanded. "Lock her in the silver cell."
'The silver cell. It would kill me in my weakened state.'
Keith didn't move.
"Alpha..." Keith started. "She is grieving. The Code of Conduct-"
"I am the Code!" Damian roared. "Obey me."
Keith looked at me. Tears in his eyes.
"Run, Ariana," Keith whispered.
He threw himself at Damian.
'Suicide. A regular Warrior against an Alpha.'
I bolted.
I ran down the corridor, bare feet slapping tiles. I burst into the parking lot.
Rain.
I saw the hearse I had called pulling up.
"Over here!" I screamed.
A heavy weight slammed into my back.
I hit the asphalt. Damian flipped me over, straddling me, eyes glowing amber.
"You think a guard can stop me?" he hissed.
Enforcers dragged Keith out. His face was bloody. They threw him onto the pavement.
"Hold him," Damian ordered.
He stood up, keeping a foot on my chest.
"You defied a command," Damian said to Keith.
"She saved you!" Keith shouted. "Five years ago! I saw the White Wolf! It wasn't Hadley!"
"Lies!" Damian bellowed.
He pulled a heavy, silver-plated flashlight from his belt. He tossed it to Keith.
"Since you like to help traitors," Damian said. "Break your left hand. Now."
"No!" I screamed. "Damian, don't!"
"Silence, Omega!" Damian crushed the air from my lungs.
He turned his Alpha Command on Keith.
'"Do it."'
'The command rippled through the air like a shockwave.'
Keith whimpered. His body betrayed him. Muscles moved against his will.
He picked up the heavy flashlight.
"Please, Alpha," Keith begged.
'"Break it."'
Keith raised his arm. Face twisted in agony.
'CRACK.'
'The sound of bone snapping was louder than the rain.'
Keith screamed and collapsed.
I stopped struggling.
I looked at Damian. 'The man I had sacrificed my soul for.'
There was no love left. The bond snapped.
Damian looked down, expecting fear.
I laughed. A broken, dry sound.
"You are pathetic," I whispered.
"What did you say?"
"I said," I pushed his foot off and stood up. 'I didn't feel the rain anymore.' "You are a weak, blind, pathetic little boy."
"I am your Alpha! I am your Mate!"
I looked him dead in the eye.
"I, Ariana Morrison, reject you, Damian Crawford, as my mate."
'The words hung in the air.'
Damian staggered back, clutching his chest. The rejection from a fated mate causes physical pain-a tearing of the soul.
"You... you can't," he wheezed. "You can't reject me!"
"I just did."
