Chapter Twenty Three
LUCY
“Lure the Alpha to the pack and I’ll take it from there,” Cade’s words kept lingering in my head as I paced around the woods seeking a solution.
Chris and I hadn’t been on the best of terms but he was my mate and I had to admit, I was drawn to him already. Whatever he was using to capture my attention was working very well.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
There has to be another way, I thought. I also had to warn him of the dangers ahead and for him to stop visiting until I found a way out of this.
There was no means of communicating with him and going to the pack to see him was suicidal, I had only been lucky the last time.
I was in this mess because the moon goddess had chosen my ene, y and the enemy of the rogues as my mate, one that had never happened before. I wondered how everyone would feel when they learned I was mated to the Alpha. They would hate me for sure and would put me and my mum in harm’s way.
“There you are,” Nathan said from behind, bringing me back from my oblivion. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, what are you doing here?” he asked.
I ignored his question, pretending not to pay attention. I noticed the frown on his face when I didn’t respond to him. This wasn’t something I was ready to expose to him, also his father had warned that I kept everything away from him until he felt it was right to do so.
“Lucy, I’m talking to you,” he said, nudging me.
“What do you want, Nathan?” I asked. I needed to be alone but he failed to understand.
“I said that I’ve been looking for you, what are you doing here all alone?” he asked,
“I need some time alone that’s why,” I blurted out.
At this point, I didn’t care about how he felt about my response, besides it was his father who had placed me in such a difficult situation. Everything his father was planning to do was going to be beneficial to him as well and I’ll be the one to suffer the damned consequences.
I watched as he walked away not minding how angry I had made him, I needed time to think of my problems and how to solve them.
After hours of thinking without coming up with any possible solution, I returned home. Maybe a good sleep would help me think better so I thought. Getting home I found Cade and my mother chatting and laughing, something I had never witnessed before.
“You’re here, we were just talking about you,” Cade said.
“What are you doing here? You’ve never visited my hut before,” I asked. It was rare to see Cade visit anyone in the pack, he barely had time for that and only did when he had something important and private to discuss with such family. Seeing him here meant he had something to say or he came to ask questions he shouldn’t ask.
“Is everything okay with you, Lucy?” he asked. “Nathan told me you’ve been acting strange lately and that you wouldn’t talk to him, so I came to what the problem could be.”
I scoffed. There was no way I was going to believe that crap, since when did he care about my mood or how I felt. There was something he wasn’t saying and I knew it.
Was he suspicious that I could be having second thoughts about this deal? I thought, or he suspected that I had something to do with the Alpha? Maybe that was why he was here, to find information from my mother.
“Did you really come here to know why I haven’t had a conversation with your son or is there more to this visit?” I asked.
“I’m the leader here and it’s my responsibility to look out for any of my subordinates who aren’t doing well. Stop overthinking things, it’s not healthy,” he said.
“Well, as you can see, I’m doing great you have nothing to worry about,” I said.
“Perfect, I wouldn’t want my finest wolf disrupting my plans because of a little misunderstanding,” he said. At this point, I knew he had something in mind and was waiting for the right moment to spill it out. “Do you mind having a word with me outside for a bit?” he said to me.
“Here we go,” I mumbled, huffing a sigh. I followed behind while he led me outside the pack. Where could he be taking me to? I thought. Why wouldn’t he have that discussion in his chambers, why out here?
“You have nothing to worry about, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said like he was reading my thoughts.
“Why are we here then? Why can’t we discuss whatever this is in the pack?” I asked.
“Is there something I need to know?” he asked, raising my suspicion. “You’re the one acting strange so tell me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, if this is about Nathan, you have nothing to worry about. We had a little argument, that’s it,” I said.
“Is our plan still in place?” he asked, I could sense the suspicion in his voice.
“Of course, everything is set, I’ll lure the Alpha and you can do whatever you like with him,” I said.
“I’ll give you the honor of killing the Alpha, it’s what you’ve always wanted, now you have the chance to get your revenge,” he said. That wasn’t what I was expecting, killing the Alpha wasn’t my goal anymore. Why did he suddenly want me to be his killer? What could he be planning this time?
I nodded in affirmation. “I’ll leave you to handle the rest and let me know when you’re ready,” he said and walked away.
I swallowed hard, how did I let myself get into this mess? I had to find a way to warn Chris, his life was in grave danger and it didn’t matter who his killer would be. If I didn’t do it, there was someone else that would.
As I pondered on what to do, Maverick came out of his hiding, wearing a smirk on his face. I knew someone had been eavesdropping on our conversation, I had noticed the movement in the bushes but paid no attention to it.
“How long have you been out there?” I asked.
“Long enough to know that you’re leading yourself to doom,” he said. At that very instant, I became really confused.
“What are you talking about?” I asked again.
“You know what I’m talking about, Lucy. I see that you’ve formed an allegiance with Cade but don’t forget what I’ve always told you,” he said.
As he turned to walk away, I grabbed his arm. “You’re getting me confused here, what do you mean?”
“History is about to repeat itself,” he said, “I wouldn’t harm my mate if I was you.”
He knew. Maverick knew. I stood there in shock as he walked away still wearing that smug he always had on his face.