– Chapter 131

Arabella

Fourteen Years Earlier

It wasn’t easy getting away from Odette. The powerful she-wolf was determined to keep me in the shelter with the other women and children, but I’ve always been good at slipping through the cracks when adults aren’t looking.

I’m still furious at Flynn and Bastien, they always treat me like I’m a baby. It isn’t fair that they get to go fight while I’m expected to cower in the darkness and wait for the danger to pass. Boys get tobe warriors, why is it any different for girls? I may not be as old as they are, but I’m every bit as brave – I know I am.

Darting through the forest, I head towards the sounds of the battle, determinedly keeping my eyes straight ahead. I can hear snarls and screams in the distance, and every now and then crimson pools flash in my periphery, blood spraying from fallen shifters as their lives wink out.

I followed my brother’s scent all across the mountain, but they traveled so far throughout the conflict that all the action had died down by the time I finally caught up with them. They were at the edge of a cliff, rolling over the bodies littering the ground to check for signs of life. I’d never seen such carnage, and my stomach churned at the terrible images.

However the faces of these dead strangers were not the ones which would go on to haunt my nightmares for years to come. No, it was what happened next that brought my world crashing down and forever ruined my chances of achieving a good night’s sleep.

One of the – supposedly deceased – wolves at the edge of the trees got to his feet when Flynn and the others had their backs turned.

I didn’t see him myself until it was too late – otherwise I would have screamed a warning. Until this moment my foolish young mind had imagined itself in love with Bastien Durand. He was everything I could dream of in a mate, and one day he would be Alpha. No one in my family’s history had ever risen to a position of such power. Flynn would come the closest by becoming Beta, but if I married

Bastien I’d outdo even my superstar brother.

Well, those dreams died when the enemy wolf charged Bastien, and Flynn threw himself at the would-be killer just in time. Now I did open my mouth to scream, but unfortunately no sound came out. I stood there with my mouth gaping wild while Flynn and his target toppled over the edge ofthe cliff.

I watched my brother fall to his death, and I’ve watched it a million times more in my memory. The last surviving member of my family was gone in the blink of an eye, and all for the sake of Bastien Durand.

My brother gave his life to ensure this man could one day rule the pack, and all because he happened to be born to a powerful man.

That was the day I lost all respect for the pack hierarchy, and that was the day I decide that I would turn it on its head if it was the last thing I do. I’d lost everything I cared about in the whole world, it was only right that Bastien should be made to feel that pain for himself.

“You’re the reason he’s dead!” I choke, clawing at the huge wolf’s iron grip on my body.

“It was your fight, not Flynn’s, and he wasn’t that wolf’s target. You were. It should have been you who died!”

“You think I don’t know that?” Bastien snarls, “You think I didn’t wish it had been me?”

“But it wasn’t!” I exclaim.

“So you decided to kill innocent people rather than coming after me directly?” He scoffs, “What kind of logic is that, Arabella?”

“Your father wasn’t innocent.” Squirming and kicking at the horrible man, I add,

“Meeting Frederic in the Gemini lands was a blessing. He knew – he saw your family for the criminals you are! He was more of a friend to me than you ever were.” Nothing I do seems to budge his hold, but still I fight, lashing all of my anger out at him. “He offered me revenge, all you ever offered me was condescension, as if marrying you could ever make up for my loss – and you didn’t even do that!”

“I was going to marry you because you’d been in love with me for years and I felt guilty enough about Flynn that I was willing to do whatever it took to make you happy. But in the end I did what was best for us both, I still provided for you, and I left the door open for you to find your own fated mate.” Bastien growls.

“I don’t care about mates!” I cry, the words pouring out of me in a torrent now that I’ve begun. “I stopped loving you and stopped caring about romance the day Flynn died. Since then all I have ever wanted is to have him back and if I couldn’t have that, I was willing to settle for power.

I was going to wait until we married and then get rid of you so I could rule and ensure Flynn’s sacrifice would actually have been worth something. But you found a way to mess that up too.”

“And what about Selene?” Bastien demands, “what about my pup? They didn’t have anything to do with Flynn’s death.”

“They got in the way!” Thrashing violently, I continue. “They ruined everything! The only thing they were good for is to cause you pain. I wasn’t strong enough to take the pack by force, but through them I could finally make you feel what I have all these years.”

“Flynn would be ashamed of you.” Bastien grates out, baring his sharp canines. “He would be mortified to see what you’ve become.”

The words bounce off of me like rubber. “He doesn’t have the option to feel any way about me anymore.” I remind Bastien. “And when I’m done, Selene and your brat won’t have the option to care about you either.”

His massive hand squeezes around my throat, his razor sharp claws digging into my tender flesh. “Do not threaten my family.”

Instantly realizing my mistake, I gasp for air. I can’t believe I let him wind me up this way. How could I tell him all that? It was so foolish, so blind. Bastien is glaring up at me with a savage glint in his eye, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking, and that this is precisely what he intended.

Fear seeps through my consciousness, and my survival instincts begin to demand I fight or flee. Of course I’ve been trying to flee, but that’s not going very well at all. My purse is still dangling from my wrist, and suddenly I remember that I bought a stun gun last week, just in case things get out of hand with Blaise.

Abruptly ceasing to fight, I pin the bag between my body and the wall, stabilizing it enough to reach inside.

“What are you going to do to me?” I squeak, playing for time.

“I haven’t decided yet.” He grumbles, “My wolf thinks I should kill you, and I have to admit the idea has its appeal.” Something flickers behind his silver eyes, and for a moment it almost seems like he feels guilty. “But luckily for you, I have more respect for your brother’s memory than you seem to. He wouldn’t want me to kill you, no matter how much you deserve it.”

My heart racing, I close my fingers around the solid weight of the stun gun and extract it from my bag, jamming it into the side of Bastien’s throat before he can see it coming and pressing down hard on the power button. Electricity jolts from the metal prongs and into his flesh, ricocheting through his body in a violet wave.

My feet hit the ground with surprising force as Bastien drops to the pavement twitching. Bending down and pressing the prongs to his middle, I send another jet of electricity into his body, not stopping until he loses consciousness. Breathing heavily, sweet relief rushes over me, but I know I’m not out of the woods yet.

I drag his body further into the shadows and fumble for my phone. For a moment I stand there frozen, unsure who to dial. My first instinct is to call Blaise, but I’m not sure I want to involve him. If I can take down Bastien without his help, then I won’t have to share my power. If he gets involved, he’ll take control of the Nova pack immediately and once again my fate will be dependent on whether or not a man wants to marry me.

That was fine when I had no other choice, but this strange coincidence has changed everything. As confident as I am in my success with the Calypso Alpha, I’ve been confident before and I’d like to think I’m wise enough to have learned from my mistakes.

Instead, I dial another new friend, the same bear shifter who sold me the stun gun. A plan is slowly forming in my mind, and I think I’m going to be in the market for more illicit goods – and fast. As the dial chimes in my ear, I take a few steadying breaths. After a moment the line clicks open. “Speak.”

The words tumble out before I can stop them. “I need your help.”

____________________________