Page 133 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

We pull up in front of my former family home, and my insides tighten in abject fear. I really don’t want to go inside.

However, when Terrence opens the car door for me, there’s not much I can do.

“How is Arabella?” I ask slowly, following him up the steps of the mansion.

Terrence casts a glance my way. “Your capacity for forgiveness never fails to amaze me, Charlotte. After everything she did to you, you’re still concerned about her?”

“You mean the attack on me at the cafe?”

“That, and everything else she did.” Terrence looks around. “If you ask me, your family had it coming. They should have respected you. Instead, they became arrogant and decided to play games.”

His tone puts me on edge. I’ve never heard Terrence sound so harsh.

“I haven’t forgiven anything.” My eyes roam over the place I once called home. “But as her sister, I worry about her. She wasn’t always like this, you know. There was a time when she was sweet and loving. But my father had no room in his family for love. He needed his children to be strong and manipulative. He hated me because I was born a healer. Even with my abilities back, he still wanted me dead. More than that, he wanted me to suffer. He wanted me to pay the price for the humiliation he faced because of how I was born.” My hand curls into a fist by my side. “So, no. There is no forgiveness inside me.”

“Don’t worry.” Terrence smiles at me suddenly. “From today on, nobody will ever treat you as less than a queen.”

Before I can ask him what he means by that comment, he walks away. “Wait here. I’ll get you something to drink.”

My eyes linger on his retreating figure, and I feel a sense of unease within me. Perhaps it’s the fact that I feel like a guest in my childhood home? I can’t put a finger on it, but I’m definitely uncomfortable.

Taking out my phone, I try calling Robert, only to discover there’s no signal here. But then my phone vibrates, and Ricky’s name pops up in the message notifications.

“No outgoing calls, but I can receive messages?” I mutter, confused. “What’s going on?”

I’m about to open the message when I hear pounding footsteps, as if someone is running. My head jerks toward the main hallway, and a woman bursts out of it. The sight of her has me gaping.

My sister’s flawless complexion is marred with bruises. One of her eyes is swollen shut. Her hair looks like chunks have been torn out.

My heart crawls into my throat. “Arabella!”

She sees me and rushes toward me. “Help me! Help me, please!”

There’s no trace of arrogance on her face anymore, just desperation. “He’s going to kill me! Please! Help me!”

“Arabella, who?” I grab her by the upper arms and give her a little shake. “Who’s trying to kill you?”

Her eyes are crazed with pain. “We have to go! We have to g—”

“Go where?” comes a pleasant voice from the hallway.

I look up as Arabella turns white as a sheet, hiding behind me as she used to do when she was a child.

Terrence is standing there, and a feeling of foreboding overtakes me.

“What is going on, Terrence? Why is Arabella in this state?” I demand.

“She’s paying for her sins.” Terrence beams at me. “And I’m not done with her yet.”

When his gaze settles on the cowering girl behind me, there’s an intense hatred in his eyes, one I’ve never witnessed before. It makes me shiver.

“She’s the reason we couldn’t be together, Charlotte.” Terrence’s voice is harsh. “After everything I did for this clan, all I wanted was one thing in return. You. And your father couldn’t even keep his end of the bargain. To my face, he agreed to the engagement between us, but just when the clan began to achieve success due to my efforts, he backed off, claiming you ran off and died, and then arranging my engagement with your sister!”

I stare at him, shocked. “You knew?”

Terrence gives the cowering Arabella a hateful look before turning his attention toward me. “I wouldn’t have found out if I hadn’t arrived earlier than planned. I saw you in the street. I thought I was imagining things, so I followed you. And not just that day. For a couple of days, I followed you. I thought I was going mad. The animal shelter, your apartment, your place of work. And I realized it really was you. I sent word to your father, asking if he was sure you were dead, because I’d seen you. He asked me where, and I made the mistake of telling him. I didn’t think he would have the guts to touch you. But I was wrong.”

My brain is trying to process all this information. There are a lot of things that aren’t making sense to me—especially the way Terrence is talking, as if my father should have been scared of him. Why would my father be scared of Terrence?

---