Page 72 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

“Capture her!” he roars.

Without missing a beat, I gesture with my hands, letting my magic flow out of me. All the soldiers drop unconscious on the ground.

My grandfather’s face turns white as a sheet.

“I have not been sitting on my hands doing nothing this whole time,” I sneer at him. “And another thing, I don’t know why you are so desperate to let my mother die, but I do wonder if part of the reason is that you can’t bear to see the state she has been reduced to because of your desire for control. Maybe I should’ve brought her here and shown you. Even if she wakes up, she will never know how to laugh again. I don’t think she will be able to smile again. And you did this. You let the world do this to her. I hope you remember that.”

I begin walking away, Alex and Logan right behind me. My voice is harsh, my heart a block of ice. “You may have turned your back on your daughter, but I’ve not turned my back on my mother.”

He doesn’t stop us, and I take the opportunity to hurry away from this place. The audacity of this man. He really thought he could convince me—no, order me, to leave my mate and become his prisoner.

“Sophia.”

Over the rage bubbling within me, I hear someone call for me.

“Sophia, stop.” Alex’s hand wraps around my wrist and he pulls me to a stop, forcing me to face him. “Calm down.”

I glower at him. “Calm down? Did you not hear what he said? He said my mother deserved it. She deserved all that happened to her, simply because she refused to stay here as his puppet. This is the Central Alliance. All this beauty and talk about living in harmony with nature is bullshit! It’s just to cover how heartlessthey really are! I have to find a way to save my mother, Alex. No matter the cost to me.” I pull my hand away from his. “And if you try to get in my way, you won’t like it.”

I try to walk away, but he stops me once again.

“Is that a threat?” he asks with a frown.

“No. I’m telling you how it is. I’m done.” I hold his gaze. “I’m done with everyone putting my mother last. Now your pack is safe, the South Alliance has a new leader, and Noah is missing. For now, nothing else matters. I have to save my mother. Nothing else comes before that. Not my health and not my safety.”

Alex tries to reason with me, but I’m not having it. “No. If this was your mother, you would not even be standing here having this discussion with me. My mother is not someone who can be discarded. She’s not someone who’s going to be ignored any longer. I am going to put her first. No matter how long it takes, and even if I have to share my life force with her. If you try to stop me, Alex, you and I will have a problem.”

Alex looks furious. “I cannot let you share your life force with her. The more life force you share, the more you shorten your own lifespan. Don’t think Elsa didn’t tell me…”

“So?” I stare at him “This is not some random woman on the street. This is the woman who gave birth to me. This is the woman who suffered for years to keep me alive. You don’t get to have a say in this. Nobody gets a say in this except me. Right now, I am a daughter before I am your mate. Understand that. You don’t always know what’s best for me, Alex. You have no problem sacrificing everything for your pack, but when it comesto my mother, I have to sacrifice in moderation. That’s not how it’s going to go this time.”

I walk away from him, my heart still hurting from my grandfather’s words.

The image of how I found my mother still haunts me.

People treat their animals better than how she was treated. When I heard Cyrus tell me how she deserved it, I had wanted nothing more than to rip his heart out of his chest. That arrogance in his eyes, the smugness. He probably reveled in what my mother experienced. He thought it was true justice, solely because she disobeyed him.

I don’t know much about my mother, but I do know she must’ve waited for him. She must’ve thought her father would come for her, that he would not abandon her. And slowly, over the years, that hope must have wilted away into nothing. What must have passed through her heart when she realized that nobody was ever coming for her? How did she feel when she finally knew that there was nobody on this planet who gave a damn about her?

“I care!” I mutter, my hands clenched into fists by my side as I walk quickly, ignoring the burning tears in my eyes. “I care, Mom. I’m going to keep fighting for you, no matter what it takes.”

I exited the Silver Mist Wolf Pack territory. I don’t know where I’m going, but I don’t stop walking. I have to get away from this place or I’ll go mad.

Alex doesn’t approach me and right now, I don’t care. My heart is hurting so much that feels like it will explode. This anger that fills me is on the verge of consuming me whole. I want to burn this place to the ground. I want to destroy it. The look on Kian’s face as he attempted to attack me, after hearing me insult my grandfather comes back to me. He didn’t bat an eye upon hearing what my mother went through. He must have known this whole time. He had only planned to lure me there.

I had been wrong when I thought that the shifters of this place, of this alliance, were different. They’re just a different kind of monster.

A hand falls on my shoulder and I shove it away, ready to say something nasty to Alex, but it’s not him. It’s Logan.

For some reason, seeing his steady expression quiets the rage within me.

“We’re going to have to find a witch if we want to leave this place,” he tells me. “There’s a witch coven nearby. I’m not completely certain, but I think…there should be one there. They will help us with the portal.”

“How do I know you’re not…”

I’m about to imply that he might betray me, but I stop myself in time. I’m just so tired.

“You need to eat and rest,” Logan tells me, a knowing look in his eyes. “And stop taking your anger and hurt out on your mate. He’s not to blame for this situation. The witches in the Central Alliance are more capable than you realize. They might be able to help you.”

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