Page 49 of The Alpha Wolf's Bullied Bride

Silver.

A wrangled chuckle escapes me when I realize I've been captured and tied with silver binds. Chains fit for a wolf shifter, the natural metal strong enough to weaken and immobilize a werewolf to prevent it from shifting.

What a joke! I think, a sardonic laugh echoing in the vast empty cavity of my imprisonment. What's the point of silver chains when I don't even have a wolf to shift into?

Okay, Lila, get it together, I will myself mentally, even if the encouragement is only from my own barely-conscious mind.

Slowly, I amble to my aching elbows, lifting myself when a sense of vertigo swoops in and makes me feel dizzy. A few more deep breaths, and I'm able to get a semblance of my composure back, enough to focus my hearing on anything that might give me clues to my whereabouts.

Through the haze of a murky smell in the air, one thing is for sure—I'm still in Zafra, the scent of freshly cut grass evident and overpowering the pungent smell of dampness. My sense of smell might not be as sharp as that of another werewolf's, but I've been around long enough to recognize the distinct, earthy richness of the town I grew up in.

Putting the pieces of this mysterious puzzle together, I arrive at the only plausible conclusion.

This is Cynthia's doing. There's no other explanation. It's as if my gut flutters to alert me that my intuition is correct when the realization dawns on me.

The only trouble is, how do I get out of this mess?

Will she leave me to rot away in this dungeon, which I suspect is below the town's library? Will she torture me slowly, make me suffer for ever believing I was fit enough to be the Alpha's mate?

I wouldn't put it past her. Battered and bruised in this dungeon, she'd have her way with me.

Unless…

“H-hello?!” I croak as loud as I can, my voice bouncing off the four walls and echoing in my ears.

“Hello?! Is anybody out there?!” I try again, but my attempt is futile when silence responds to my call for help.

Great…

Perhaps it isn't so bad, after all, I decide glumly. My shoulders slouch as I curl into myself and prop my chin on my knees, staring blankly at the dark void ahead like a forecast for the rest of my bleak life.

A life that would have been empty, anyway. It doesn't matter if I'm out there, or down here. My measly, wolf-less existence didn't have any real purpose to it. Even as the Alpha's mate, I witnessed the horror in his eyes when he realized his mistake.

My entire existence feels like a mistake. One that has me tearing up and quietly sobbing into my hands so I won't have to face the shame of crying if it echoes back to me. The only thing I regret is that I won't see the ones I love again.

Miles. Valerie.

Flynn.

My sobs become louder, wrenched from the depths of my chest as if the acknowledgment of the truth is being ripped out of me by imaginary claws, tugging and pulling until the painful truth is plucked and held up in front of my face for me to see in all its rawness.

I still have feelings for Flynn. Feelings I've buried so deeply that I thought I'd gotten rid of them entirely. Feelings that make me want to be near him even after all the abuse I've faced at his hands. It's not just a trauma bond but a feeling so deeply ingrained in my being that even when I became stronger-willed, I couldn't avoid those feelings.

Despite what he does to constantly push me away, my heart refuses to stop yearning for his closeness. Even now, as the crows outside flutter their wings and croak their call of departure, the wave of despair for my loneliness is cured by just the thought of the Alpha.

Sigh…

I close my eyes and silently pray for sleep to take over. That way, I can lose myself in the dreams that paint vivid pictures of a better life. Dreams that won't be as empty as reality, where Flynn's hand reaches out for me without horror reflected in his eyes.

“Lila! Lila!”

I'm snapped awake when I hear my name being urgently called from somewhere far away. Blinking quickly, I'm not sure if the voice is just inside my head, part of some dream I can't remember having. But it was present enough to wake me up.

“Lila!”

There it is again, this time louder as it comes from somewhere outside. I strain my eyes to adjust to the darknessstretching out ahead of me, focusing on the heavy footsteps crushing dry leaves with every step outside.

My heart begins pounding faster as every step grows closer and louder, my anticipation building. A thunderous crack ignites the dreary silence as a door flies in, leaving a gaping hole ahead that makes way for the natural light of the moon to filter into the dungeon. I gasp, breath hitching in my throat, when a poised silhouette is outlined in the doorway. From its broad, muscular shoulders that taper into a firm waist, to the powerful thighs that keep up its weight, it's as if the silhouette was pulled out from the pages of a Greek history book. Cast in the light of the moon like marble, there's no mistaking who my savior is.

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