I froze as a chill ran down my spine, my heart beat so fast that I knew he could hear the sounds of my drumming heart beat.
He could smell my fear; he could feel the thread I felt at the pit of my stomach as he stood there. I looked back, scared of what he might do.
His eyes twitched as he glanced from the vessel to me.
He frowned, and I knew he knew at that moment what I was trying to do.
Then he growled.
"You... how dare you!" he hissed at me, and I shook my head, looking back and around, praying he didn’t catch a whiff of Anita and her mate helping me. I might get away with this, but they on the other hand would be brutally punished.
"No, is not what you're thinking…..," I hissed back at him, and he scoffed.
"Tell me, why should a pregnant woman be next to a departing ship at fucking midnight, frightened and afraid, when her mate lies passed out on the bed? Even if you were here for any reason, your expression tells me otherwise," he snapped at me, and I shook my head.
"No, you’re mistaken," I snapped, just as he stepped closer.
"Enough! I do not enjoy anyone playing with my intelligence. Do you think I'm a fool not to know you sought to escape?" he hissed at me, and my eyes widened as I looked at him. I stepped back as he moved forward.
"Please, I beg you, let me go," I pleaded, even though I knew it was foolish to ask a father to betray his son.
"You hold the heir of my empire; you’re the mate of my son, and you think I’ll watch you slip away or escape? You must be delusional to ask for such a thing. Why do you desperately want to leave your own goddamn mate?!" he roared at me, and my eyes widened. I had made him even more angry than he had appeared to be, and I feared.
He stood there watching me; perhaps I knew I was doomed, but he could never know the very reason I was leaving him. He could never know who I was to him, nor that he had searched for me among every red-haired female in this pack.
"He is a monster," I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut as tears streamed down my face.
"You do not have to say that; you do not get to..."
"No... you do not know the things he have to me. You do not know the horror I faced. He would kill me sooner or later. This baby in my stomach means nothing to him; he would end me before..."
"It’s me you hate, isn’t it!" he growled, and I froze, avoiding his gaze. I clenched my fist at his words; I knew he was right. I did hate the man who ruined my life.
Even though Ryker had treated me in far more horrible ways, I still hated the Alpha King most for ruining my life. I hated him for what he had turned me into.
"I'll take your silence for an answer?" he asked, but I remained silent. He didn’t deserve my words, not now or ever.
I hated the man that stood before me, just as I've spent many nights cursing him, but the goddess never paid attention to my curses instead, she paired me right to him.
"I understand that, but I won’t let you hurt Ryker because of this," he hissed at me.
"He is a monster, and he does not deserve my mercy," I snapped back. How I had found the boldness to talk back to this man was beyond me. I would never have opened my mouth in Ryker's presence, but here I was, exchanging words with the most feared man in our world, a man who could snap my neck in an instant.
And I didn’t even know why or how I could stand up to him.
"Enough. Your actions warrant a penalty of death, but I’ll spare you. Return to your mate. No matter how much you try to convince me of the cruelty of your mate, it doesn’t faze me. I know the man I raised, and Ryker is one of those things. But you..." he hissed as he came closer.
And I moved further back until I was trapped
Then he stopped, as if something hit him, and he looked away from me to the ground.
“Ryker must know of this today, return to him, i.not one for mercy female, but if the ever happens again,I'll drag you back, even if you run to the end of the earthI'll drag you right back!” he snapped me, and my heart skipped a beat as I glared at him down.
He didn’t mean those words, did he? I must have been delusional not to realize he meant every word he had spoken. He would drag me back to Ryker if I ever thought of escaping; I knew that now.
He just showed up yet again, to ruin my life, as of the first one wasn't enough.
Just as I made a move to leave, his next words stopped me.
“Ryker spared your life even though your parents were traitors, and forgave you, accepted you as his mate. If you ever, ever break him or hurt him, I’ll kill you, I swear it. I’ll do to you what I didn’t do to those traitor parents of yours all those years ago, and I promise, you wouldn’t like me in the end. I promised I would be the one man you’ve hated. I’ve forgiven you only for the sake of the pup in your womb. Speak no more of my son’s courtesy because it’s untrue, and love him like a mate. If not, I’ll be your nightmare,” he threatened.
His words fell from his lips, threats meant to make me stay by his son’s side, their weight woven into my very soul, and I knew I wouldn’t forget.
He had used my greatest fear to threaten me, the death of my very own parents. I stood there as tears spilled from my eyes, clenching my fists.
I looked back at him, but he stared at me down. I turned away and headed back to the pack house.
I hated him, I hated him so much; he was worse, worse than Ryker would ever be.
He said he would become my nightmare, but he never knew he already was my greatest nightmare, one I wished had never happened.
With one look at him, I withdrew from the harbor without a word, but my aching heart but one word kept ringing in my ears.
“I’ll kill you”
