Contractually Yours Alpha (Riley)

Chapter One Hundred and Forty Eight

Aric had been the Beta, second in command-it only made sense for my father to leave him in charge of the pack, but he never did. He had seen something I hadn't. Instead, he wanted me mated to Alexander, believing it was the best way to keep me safe. I had thought it was just to protect me from Cynthia, but that wasn't the only reason. He knew there were others who posed a threat.

Cynthia waited for me to piece everything together and slowly, I did.noveldrama

My father never informed Aric of his plans to marry me off had found that strange but never thought much of it. Now, thinking back to their conversation—when Aric had tried to convince him to end the agreement-my father had firmly refused.

"The letter... it was false." I finally spoke up.

"Your father would never have sent you against her. He wanted you far away from her. But it wasn't entirely false -there was some truth to it," he said, his eyes never meeting mine.

"You advised me against telling Alexander about my plans to face the Empress." The words came out in a whisper.

Aric had failed me once-he had drugged me-but I had been willing to forgive that. Despite everything he had done, I had still seen him as family.

"That's not all he did." Cynthia's voice was laced with satisfaction. "How do you think I got to your father? I needed a healer and someone who could get me into the pack without question. Aric was perfect for that. And Sarah? She helped drug your father-I delivered the final blow..."

She was still talking, but I couldn't hear her. It was all starting to make sense. Sarah had tried turning me against the Nightshade Pack members under the guise that our pack was being mistreated-our people weren't receiving the best treatment, but I had a feeling she had tried to convince me in hopes of starting a war. Now that I knew who she really was, I no longer believed the pregnancy test mix-up was a mistake. It had all been part of a plan.

My father had loved Aric like a son and regarded him as a brother. If he had suspected anything, he had kept it to himself—and in the end, this was his reward: a stab in the back and an insult to his face.

I lunged at Aric, slamming him to the ground. My fists crashed into him over and over, tears streaking down my face. He didn't fight back; he just lay there, letting me beat him into a pulp. I wished he would fight back-l

wanted to break him.

Alexander had wanted him dead for a long time now; he never trusted Aric. But I had been the one to stand in his defense. He was my friend-he knew me, and I cared about him...

"That's enough," the Empress said, but I didn't stop. My anger was stronger than her compulsion-I refused to let him go..

"I trusted you." Punch. "You bastard." Punch. "I cared about you-he cared about you." Punch. "You took them away from me." Punch.

"I said that's enough!" The empress roared, and the force of her compulsion hit me hard. I couldn't fight it. Amanda pulled Aric's limp form away with a strength that surprised me; he had been knocked out, barely breathing but still alive. Her skin had the smallest contact with mine, and I noticed how cold it was.

"Traitors." I whispered. "I will kill you all; I will tear you apart." I promised.

Sarah held no remorse in her eyes.

"They all wanted something," the Empress continued. "Just as I had once desired from the god of light. The little girl wanted immortality-same as Sarah. They chose death over the struggles of life. They chose to become

Chapter One Hundred and i

creatures of the night. Demons."

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Amanda's skin had been so cold, and her eyes... they still held that fire, but beneath it, I now saw the emptiness I hadn't noticed before. Sarah, however, looked exactly the same her skin wasn't pale; she hadn't changed at all.

"That's why you adopted her you let this happen to her. You told me you were going to protect her."

“She wanted it,” Sarah snapped, her eyes narrowing in anger. “She was lucky to be turned-that's all I ever wanted."

"But you haven't received your reward yet. You're not a demon-at least not yet." "I will be. Soon."

She glanced at the Empress, but Cynthia's eyes were on me

Demons were real-I knew that-but there weren't many left. I knew what turning into one meant. Some changed completely, losing all that made them human, while others managed to hold on to some part of themselves. But there was always a risk.

Looking at Amanda, I saw a stranger. She might look and sound the same, but the girl we rescued from the Gray Moon Pack was gone. The one standing before me was nothing more than a demon. Sarah knew the risks, yet she still wanted to be turned. She wanted it so badly that she didn't hesitate to betray me and my family-just to get what she thought she deserved.