Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 399

Chapter 399

“No.” I shook my head. “You’re not saying…“.

“I orchestrated everything, Natalia. I had to drive your exactly where I needed you to be. Under my protection. In my territory. With no one to turn to but me.‘

I frowned, considering his words. I thought back to how Damon had been there from the beginning, always exactly where I needed him to be, exactly when I needed him. I thought about how he always seemed to know what to do, how easily he accepted me into his pack as his Luna.

But it didn’t make any sense. Damon had been the one to push me to leave Ashmoor. He had suggested that I go to that meeting in Green Ridge.

“You told me to branch out,” I said quietly. “You gave me the push I needed to leave hiding and eventually return to Andrei. Make that make sense.”

He shrugged. “False sense of comfort,” he replied simply. “By encouraging you, I made you trust me even more.”

“Why me?” I blurted out.

“Because you’re special, Natalia.” He stood again, descending the steps of the dais slowly, and strode over to the twins. I leapt to my feet, a growl ripping from my throat, but Damon merely crouched and brushed his thumb across Max’s cheek. “Your womb carries a power that few possess. The ability to produce offspring of extraordinary strength. Combined with my bloodline…” He glanced up at me. “We could create an army unlike anything the packs have ever seen.”

Bile rose in my throat. “You’re insane, Damon. This has to be a joke. And a cruel one, at that. You killed the actual rogue king, didn’t you? And now you’re messing with me.”

Damon didn’t flinch. He stood, eyes flicking to the fresh mating mark on my neck. “Has your ability manifested yet?” he whispered instead of answering my question.

I took a step back, hand flying up to cover my mark. “Even if it did, I wouldn’t tell you right now.” Truthfully, it hadn’t. Not as far as I could tell. Perhaps I didn’t have one.

Damon’s lips curved. “Once I mark you, it will. I was always the stronger brother.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it. You’re a good warrior, Damon, but Andrei could fight circles around you.”

If my words stuck Damon at all, he didn’t show it. He simply strode over to me, towering over me in the flickering light of the braziers. I refused to back away. I straightened my spine and met his gaze head–on.

“So,” I said, studying his face, “you think I’m going to become your… what? Mate? Consort? Slave? And that we’re going to produce children together?”

“Something like that.” Humor flickered through Damon’s eyes.

“You forget that I rejected you more times than either of us could count.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Damon replied coolly. “But I know you won’t reject me now. Not once you see what I can offer you.”

“And what is that?” I asked. I inspected him closely; this close, I could see every line in his face, every fleck of gold in his green eyes. I knew Damon’s face just as well as I knew Andrei’s, and… something was off. I could see it

now.

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Chapter 399

+25 Bonus

His eyes… They weren’t quite the same shade of green. They were darker, somehow. Less vibrant. As if there were another color hiding beneath, muting the shade.

Pulling back, Damon gestured around us with a grin. “A palace, to start. An army that will grow and grow the more time we spend together. And soon, all of the territories will be ours. I’ve already begun the process.”

“Right. The process of slaughtering innocents,” I hissed.

“War isn’t pretty, Natalia.” Damon returned to his throne and sat, regarding me coolly. I kept my gaze fixed on him. I watched every movement, every twitch of every muscle. Something wasn’t adding up. “It’s not as if I want to kill innocents. But in order to seize power, one often has to display it first. No one ever got anywhere by not being ruthless. Your precious Andrei knows that better than anyone.

My jaw clenched. He didn’t know Andrei. Not really.

Maybe he never had.

I stared at the man on the throne, trying to reconcile this cold, calculating stranger with the Damon I knew. The man who had played with the twins in Ashmoor. Who had looked at Grace like she was the only woman in the world on our wedding night. Who had carried his brother out of combat.

Damon was kind. Sweet. Caring.

This man… He was wearing Damon’s face.

But it wasn’t him.

Chapter 400