The Gift chronicles novel Chapter 1

Book 1 Chapter 22

Gwen's eyes shone in horror at my violent words, and she ran to the cell door, smacking on it in desperation. "Let me out of here! She's a psycho! This wasn't part of the deal!"

Within seconds, none other than Alpha Cain himself opened the door. "What are you doing, Gwendolyn?" He demanded assertively.

She bared her neck in submission and breathlessly told him, "She's going to wait until someone lets her out and she's going to kill them, their mates, and their pups! She told me herself! I looked into her cold dead eyes as she threatened it!" She wailed, tears streaming down her face. I smirked.

"You are dismissed, Gwendolyn. I will speak with you later." Alpha Cain's eyes shone with fury, and I swear I could see the fire in his eyes. Gwen ran out of the cell immediately, and I could hear her sobs as she crossed the hall.

His whole body shook with anger as he approached me in my corner. I wouldn't have been surprised if he shifted into his wolf right then and there.

I kept smirking at him, knowing there was a dangerous glint in my eyes as my own inward anger threatened to spill out.

"You think threatening the lives of my pack and pups is funny?" He roared, grabbing my hair and smacking my head into the cell wall. Blood matted my hair instantly.

I laughed sinisterly. You really thought I would tell my escape plan to your undercover planted prisoner?

His anger quickly turned into confusion as he realized that I had played him.

You have a really bad habit of underestimating me, mate. Do you remember what my position in my old pack was?

He didn't answer me, and just continued to hold my head against the wall by my hair. The smell of my own blood overwhelmed my senses.

I was the Gamma. Do you know that Gammas run the prisons in my pack too, Alpha?

He sharply inhaled, realizing his mistake.

Pretending to throw a pack member into the jail cell with the prisoner and hoping they talk to the pack member? That's one of the oldest Gamma tricks in the book, Alpha. You should really play smarter next time.

I smirked again at him as his hand released my hair. He looked genuinely surprised I had sussed him

out.

I'll admit Alpha, I really thought we were starting to trust each other. I mockingly told him. I will say though, it's interesting that you believe I would behead innocent pups. I guess I know what you really think of me.

Guilt flashed in his eyes momentarily, and I could feel regret through the mate bond. I will admit, a small part of my felt hurt that he believed I would murder innocent pups. I may be a killer, but I only kill those who deserve it.

"You haven't given me any reason to trust you," he muttered.

Have you?

He ignored my question, and I took his silence as confirmation. He was right not to trust me, and I'm sure I was right not to trust him. That was confirmed today. We both were playing each other like fiddles, and neither of us were winning.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I wondered why he wasn't leaving. Suddenly, he spoke.

"Please submit," He begged, and I was shocked that his implicit Alpha dominance allowed him to lower himself by begging. "I don't want to do this anymore, Ares. We keep hurting each other, and I don't want to hurt you anymore regardless of how much you may want to hurt me. The Blood Moon is in twenty days. We are having a huge celebration, the whole pack will be there. We can induct you into the pack, and you will officially be the Luna. What more do you want from me?"

I considered his words momentarily, weighing my options. I would consider your offer if you hadn't just doubted my integrity and honor by assuming that I would have murdered Blood Lake pups. It's quite clear what you think of me. And you know what I want? My freedom. Not to be the Luna of a pack with an Alpha who locks his mate in a house all day, not letting her leave or even WALK on her own. I suggest we break the bond and go our separate ways, and you can find some other submissive she—wolf who would love to take my place.

He snarled loudly at my words, and harshly grabbed my jaw. I could feel the bone beginning to shatter. "You can rot in here for the rest of your life if that's what you choose, but you are not leaving this pack and we are not breaking the bond." Blood pooled in my mouth from his lethal grip on my jaw. I spat the blood at his face, and he made no attempt to wipe it off, or loosen his hold on me.

"You are the Luna the Blood Lake pack needs. Strong. Tough. Aggressive. My wolf is already attached to you, there is no way I can let you go now. If you were more connected to your wolf you would understand. If you submitted to me as your Alpha and as your mate, there is not a thing in this world you would desire and not have."

You're wrong. There's nothing I want more than to be far away from this hellhole, and most importantly, you.

He snapped my jaw as easily as a leaf crunches under footfall during Autumn. I growled and threw a punch, hearing his nose break with a satisfying crunch. I swung again, blackening his eye.