Page 101 of The Alpha's Fated Destiny

My voice is hard. “Elsa didn’t betray us. Something else must have happened. Somebody must’ve interfered with her magic.”

The sound of a slow clap has me looking sharply to the right. The soldiers and witches move aside to let a woman through.

Karina.

She claps her hands, slowly. “Well-spotted. No, your little witch friend didn’t betray you. I’ve had witches monitoring you and any magic cast around you for a while now. I couldn’t track you within the Central Alliance, but outside of it,tracking you was easy. It’s not that hard for a witch to mess with a spell that is in the process of being cast.”

Karina is wearing a deep red jumpsuit, her dark hair tied into an intricate braid that flows past her hips. Her icy blue eyes look entertained, and there is a cruel glint in them that makes me shiver.

There’s something wrong with her eyes.

“Are you looking for Alex?”

I take a step toward her. “You kidnapped my mate. I want him back.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Karina smiles at me again.

My eyes narrow into slits. “Are you willing to start a war with the South Alliance? Kidnapping my consort is grounds for a war.”

Karina’s smile broadens. “A war? Me? You are the one who just crossed into the North Alliance without asking. You do know there is protocol, don’t you? You have to ask permission before entering my territory.”

I sneer at her. “Don’t make me laugh. If you want to play that game, you entered the South Alliance to kidnap Alex. I don’t play politics, Karina. I want my mate.”

Karina arches a brow. “Fine. Then let me be blunt as well. You and your mate humiliated me at the banquet. Did you think I would ignore a slight like that?”

“Humiliated you? You were trying to capture me. And when you couldn’t have me, you were attempting to force me into captivity by capturing Alex. You were in the wrong the whole time!”

Karina shrugs. “It’s a pity you’re not interested in playing politics. You won’t go very far in life, Sophia. If you don’t want your mate to suffer, you will surrender willingly.”

She brings out a collar and leash and throws them at my feet. “You humiliated me. Now it’s your turn to live a life of humiliation.”

My companions snarl at the insult. I don’t even bother looking at the collar and chain at my feet.

“I decline.”

Karina chuckles. “You can stop acting tough. You’re barely just an adult. I fear the South Alliance leaders were hasty in choosing you as their queen. You have no experience. And from what I’ve heard, you don’t even have an education. The only thing you have is your mate. You will never see him again.” She gestures with her hands. “You’re free to look around, but you won’t find him. It’s better to surrender.”

I stick my hands in my pockets, rocking on my heels. “You’re right. I don’t have much of an education, and maybe the Alphas of the South were a little hasty in choosing someone so ignorant as me for their leader. But the fact is, I am still the leader. I know about the war that you are planning. I know you want to control me so that you can win this war. That’s not going to happen.”

I bare my teeth at her. “Uneducated and inexperienced as I may be, I do understand responsibility. And as the Queen of the South Alliance, I’m pretty sure I should be preventing a war from breaking out, no matter the personal cost to me.”

Karina narrows her eyes and I continue with a shrug. “At least, that’s what Alex would tell me to do. But I have no intentions of making any sort of personal sacrifice. Alex is, and will always be, my first priority. That does not mean that I am going to let you start a war that will ruin our lives. I am not going to surrender to anybody.”

Karina scoffs. “Is your little speech done?”

I don’t bother with a response.

She lifts her hand and points to the left. “You see that? That is where the human city is. My soldiers are going to reach it within another couple of hours. They’re going to destroy that city and kill all the humans. I know you were trying to stop the attack. But how will your soldiers make it to the North when every pack in the South Alliance is currently under attack?”

A smile blooms on her face.

Every pack?

I exchange a quick look with Patrick, whose body is stiff.

“It seems that the only ones who can protect the humans from the big bad queen is your little party of six.” Karina laughs. “Against my entire army. What a joke.”

She’s clearly enjoying this. “So, who will you choose? Alex or those humans? You should keep in mind that the place where Ihave stashed your precious mate is one that can traumatize him for life.”

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