Page 65 of Marked By the Alphas

His words felt like a dagger to my heart. I wanted to say a million things, but I couldn’t even find the words to begin with. It was all a lie. Everything she had told me was a lie. She had penetrated through the safety of my cocoon, only to stab me in the back.

Naya only continued to stand there, looking like a ghost of her former self. Her eyes, once filled with warmth and laughter, were now vacant and filled with tears that I refused to believe were genuine. A look of shame and resignation was etched on her face, but I longed to grab and shake her until her teeth rattled.

My heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces. The betrayal that I felt was a physical pain; a wound that ripped through my soul.

“Well, now that this beautiful reunion is out of the way now, we can focus on the main event. I will reforge the bond that you broke when you escaped. And this time, I’ll make sure that there will be no escape possible for you ever again.”

He produced an artifact that I immediately recognized as Silas’, holding it out in my direction. He began to chant, his voice a haunting melody that carried an undercurrent of menace. The air crackled with dark energy, forming tendrils that reached out toward me.

The artifact thrummed with an ominous energy, sputtering to life, and I felt a cold dread seep into my bones, a premonition to the impending doom I was about to face. It glowed brighter as his voice got louder, and it began casting eerie shadows that danced and twisted around us. I felt a strange pull, a magnetic force drawing me toward the object, and my body trembled involuntarily, as if resisting an unseen current.

My eyes widened with terror, and I writhed my body in desperation. But the chains held firm, binding me to the stone wall like a sacrificial offering.

The room seemed to vibrate with the intensity of the spell. The air crackled with energy, and the shadows contorted as if they were coming to life. Finally, he raised his arm above his head, and I braced myself for the inevitable.

But then, something unexpected happened. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Naya move, jumping in front of me. I couldn’t even get the words out before the energy struck her, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

I screamed, my voice a raw, desperate cry, but the man, undeterred, refocused his attention on me once again.

The energy surged again, but this time, the artifact sputtered, its glow flickering and dimming. The spell faltered.

“What the hell?” he growled, his voice filled with rage, and he tried to focus the spell again. But it was useless. The magic was dying, defeated by some unseen force.

I watched as Naya struggled to pull herself up. She looked like she had no more strength left in her, but she fought to sit right in front of me, determined to disrupt the bonding ceremony.

A surge of hope ignited within me, along with a flicker of defiance. But before I could savor this brief victory, weakness washed over me. My vision blurred, and I felt the world tilt around me.

I heard a commotion from outside, but before I could bring myself to focus on it, my consciousness slipped away, and I felt myself fading into the dark abyss.

Chapter 34

Rhys

Rhys. Wait,Rowan said through the mind link, but I ignored him, pushing into the house. Behind me, I could hear them following.

The house was a labyrinth of shadows, each corner a potential threat. We moved through it like ghosts, our senses heightened, our bodies taut with anticipation. The air was thick with tension, the silence broken only by the creak of floorboards and the soft thud of our footsteps as we searched through each room as carefully as we could while taking down the guards that we found along the way.

Then, we found her.

Pale and almost lifeless, she was chained to a cold, stone wall. A wave of anguish washed over me, a raw pain that threatened to overwhelm me. Naya was also lying lifeless on the floor, but the room was empty save for the two girls, which further proved to me that there was something really off.

Kai, along with Rowan, rushed to Elara’s side, their hands trembling as they fumbled with the chains.

I was about to move toward them when the door slammed shut to reveal a face I had thought I would never see again.

Finn?

He stood in the doorway, a smug smirk plastered on his face. Behind him was a phalanx of armed men, their eyes gleaming with a cruel anticipation.

“Finn?” My voice was shaky as I spoke. “What are you doing here?”

“Brother! How amazing it is to see you again after so long!” His voice was mocking as he spoke, the perfect mimic for Silas’ voice.

“Silas sends his regards, brother.” His gaze landed on me, and his smirk widened. “And I must say, it is a pleasure to be reunited with you, Rhys. Look at you, unable to even detect a trap anymore. You walked right into it. All for what? A Siren? How the mighty have fallen!”

“She’s not a Siren.”

A growl rumbled in my throat as my wolf fought to take over, but before I could move to grab onto him, he raised his hand to reveal a pulsating object. Almost immediately, I felt all the muscles in my body stiffen.

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