Tempted By My Ex's Brother-in-Law (Aria and Grayson) novel Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Aria’s POV

Alpha Thalira stared at me coldly. Her gaze was icier than ever, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“Soldiers.”

Her voice thundered through the dining hall.

“Take this disrespectful girl down!”

“Yes, Alpha!”

Guards stationed in every corner of the room responded loudly and lunged at me fiercely. My shoulders and wrists were twisted, muscles screaming in pain. My face contorted as I was forced to my knees.

Shit. I guess I shouldn’t have said those things. But then again, every word of it was true. It’s not my fault if Alpha Thalira didn’t want to face the fact that her family was a complete mess.

I struggled against the soldiers holding me, glaring at her. “So now you’re going to hurt me, too? After carving up my mother’s face and locking her away for years, you’ll do the same to her daughter?”

A vein throbbed angrily on Alpha Thalira’s forehead. “This is what you deserve for defying me.”

“Oh, do you want obedient servants, or children with their own minds and personalities? And which kind can truly succeed you as the next Alpha of Frostpine Pack? I think you know the answer.”

Her brow furrowed deeply as she glared at me. I sensed a flicker of hesitation and pressed, “I know you must have regretted cutting Lady Quentina’s face. Don’t do it again. Don’t do something you’ll regret later.”

The dining hall fell dead silent.

All my other family members looked anxious. Not because they were worried about me being punished- they were worried about the exact opposite. If I got away with this, they’d be so disappointed.

For a moment, I really thought Alpha Thalira’s expression had softened, that she might let me go.

But then her voice boomed through the hall:

—Drag her out of my sight and throw her in jail. Now!”

Soldiers immediately yanked me to my feet. I cursed under my breath, earning a cold smile from her. “Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll regret punishing a disobedient granddaughter later. Absolute control is absolute in this pack.”

Fuck. That control freak!

They started dragging me toward the exit. Everyone watched with smug satisfaction; no one would speak up

for me. Sable was sobbing, too horrified to say a word.

My mind raced, searching for a way to save myself, when a voice suddenly cut through the air:

“Grandmother, you shouldn’t lock Aria up.”

Everyone turned, shocked, to look at the speaker.

Rhys stood behind his mother and brother, his expression calm and firm.

“Rhys! What the hell are you doing?” Morrigan snapped.

Orion jabbed him hard in the ribs. “Yeah, man, are you fucking crazy? That’s Aria Collins. Why are you helping her?”

“I’m not helping her. I’m helping Frostpine Pack,” Rhys said. “She just earned this pack some good publicity. If we throw her in jail now, what will people say?”

“Who cares what people think?” Morrigan said in a hushed, urgent voice. “The point is we’re getting rid of her… that’s one less player in the game. Why ruin this chance?”

Rhys turned and whispered back, “Mother, our pack’s stock price just went up today, thanks to Aria’s positive performance at the training grounds. I say we need her to stabilize our stock price.”

Morrigan visibly hesitated.

She was in charge of the pack’s business, so she did care about the stock price. But giving up such a great chance to ruin me? She wouldn’t love that.

Before she could decide, Alpha Thalira spoke again, her voice lower this time:

“Fine. Lock her in her room instead… until I decide what to do with her.”

Tamsin cried out resentfully, “But Mother-”

“SHUT UP! I said lock her in her room, and that’s the end of it!” her mother roared back.

Then she stormed out of the dining hall, fuming, without another glance at her family.

The soldiers dragged me out roughly, all the way to my room, and shoved me inside. I slammed my fist against the door in frustration, but no one responded.

Everything I’d painstakingly built since arriving here had collapsed because I lost control.

I should have been more restrained.

I should have endured longer.

But then again, I’d already endured so long I felt like I was going crazy.

Surviving here was indeed not as easy as I thought.

No one brought me dinner that night. No breakfast the next morning either. Then, for the entire next day- no water, no food.

I was starting to think Alpha Thalira had decided to pretend to forget me, so I’d just starve to death on my own. That would be a good way to keep her hands clean.

By the second evening, I slumped on the couch, asleep–or maybe passed out from hunger, I wasn’t sure.

Then a noise woke me.

A squad of soldiers barged into my room. Their faces were ice cold as they hauled me off the couch and shoved me toward the door.

“Who sent you?” I asked. “Was it Alpha Thalira? She wants to see me?”

No one answered. They just surrounded me, front and back, and pushed me down the hall, shoving me whenever I slowed my pace.

I pretended to comply while secretly studying them.

I recognized two faces. I’d seen them at the shooting range yesterday. They’d been standing near Tamsin, laughing gleefully when she and her daughter were bullying me.

Alpha Thalira didn’t send these people. Tamsin and Maeve did!

And their plan was obvious. They wanted to kill me or get rid of me before Alpha Thalira made her final decision.

Those vicious monsters!

I held my breath, my mind racing for a solution.

I couldn’t just go with them. Who knew what they’d do? Chop my body parts, bury me alive, throw me off a cliff… anything was possible with those two.

I couldn’t cry for help either. Because let’s face it, nobody here gave a damn about my life there.

Time was short. The only way out seemed to be…

As we rounded a corner, I abruptly spun on my heels and bolted out of their circle!

“CATCH HER!” people shouted behind me.

I ran with all my strength, sprinting desperately toward the packhouse’s main gate. But no matter how fast I ran, the shouting soldiers kept gaining on me.

Then, Tamsin and Maeve’s voices joined the chase.

“Stop! You hear me? Where do you think you’re going? Our people are everywhere!” Maeve shouted.

“And nobody’s coming to save you. Not your dear mother, and certainly not Alpha Thalira. You’ve got no one

here. You won’t get away!”

For a moment, despair welled up inside me.

They were right. I’d lost all support. If they caught me, it would truly be my end…

BANG.

Suddenly, I collided with someone near the packhouse’s front gate.

My nose smashed hard against a rock–solid chest, and I almost burst into tears.

A strong hand caught my elbow, steadying me.

Tamsin and Maeve reached us almost instantly. But instead of grabbing me, they gasped sharply.

“…Fuck,” Macve muttered.

I was shocked, too.

Because I was looking into a pair of smoky gray eyes, like the light before dawn. For a moment, I couldn’t even tell if I was dreaming.

The hand gripping my arm tightened.

“What’s going on here?” Grayson asked, his cold voice sending a chill down my spine.