Page 48 of Alpha's Hated Mate

“Well,LunaSaffron,“ Nadia looks directly at me and says with a smile like my new title is a joke. “Welcome to the dawn of a new age.”

She’s working with her father! Anger rises up within me as I stagger to my feet, the rational part of my brain trying to make sense of her presence. But the way she’s smiling at me is the same way she does when she thinks she’s gotten one over on me. Every insult, every jeer, it always lies behind that same shit-eating grin.

“What in theactualfuck, Nadia?“ I say. I’m moving before I can stop myself. I rush across the cell, my hands reaching between the bars to claw at her.

She doesn’t even flinch. She just stands there and watches me claw at the air. My reach is nowhere near long enough to reach her.

“I do love that Scarlet temper.” She laughs. “Dad was right about you. If only every wolf had a fraction of the energy your kind possess—“

“You bitch!” I snarl. “Let me out of here and I’ll give you a full demonstration.”

“Oh, Saffron.” Nadia’s voice as condescending as ever. “Do you even know how important all of you are to wolf-kind? Each one of you has the potential to be a weapon of mass destruction.They labeled my father as insane, but what’s really insane is that they wouldn’t allow him to harness that potential. But don’t worry. That injustice will be corrected.”

I step back from the bars. “You can’t do this, Nadia. You can’t kidnap all the Scarlets at Moonhelm so your father can experiment on us.”

The other Scarlets gasp and start to murmur anxiously.

Nadia gives me an odd look and then smirks like an all-knowing genius. “You think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?”

“I know your father is a monster!” I ball my hands up into fists to keep myself grounded . . . to hold the tears back. “I saw it in my visions. He experimented on my mother, Natasha of Hino, turned himself into a giant beast, and killed her!”

She shakes her head with a sigh. “My fathersavedyour mother. She and your father attempted a coup on the Alpha King. She would have been executed along with you in her belly! Instead, he took her in as one of our pack.”

“Only to torture her!”

“No, not torture. My father wanted to create a serum that would rebuild wolf anatomy. Make all wolves stronger. More powerful than any wolf ever known. And he knew the key lay in Scarlet DNA but no one would let him try. Then, he discovered that Natasha of Hino carried a baby Scarlet . . .” Her face split into a slow, manic smile. “And he could finally test his theories, thanks to you.”

That vision of my mother strapped to the table. Alton extracted my DNA from her belly.

“With your DNA, he finally fulfilled him dream of creating a super wolf serum but, having no other wolves to test it on, he used it on himself. However, he didn’t account for the loss of control. Scarlets are the closest thing to wild wolves after all. The wolf he became was filled with rage and blood lust. He wouldnot stop until he tasted it and . . . unfortunately, you and your mother were the nearest at that time.”

“He killed her!” I shut my eyes to try to block the image from my mind again.

“You have to understand,” Nadia continues. “He didn’t mean to kill her. The beast could not be contained until it tasted blood.”

As if that made it better. I feel like I’m going to throw up. I don’t want to hear any more of this. “Just shut up!” I yell.

“No, you need to hear this.” She pauses, walking back toward me. “Once he reverted back to his old self, he was horrified that he hurt Natasha. He went back to look for her baby and knew the older couple found you, but left you alone because you’d be better off with them.”

My fingernails dig into my palms until they sting. Is that supposed to make me feel sympathy for the beast that killed my mother? The beast she died protecting me from. The beast he transformed into usingmyDNA.

Bile rises in my throat. I press my forehead against the cool metal bars, trying to ground myself as the room spins. The other Scarlets whisper behind me but their voices sound distant, underwater.

Nadia walks back toward the desk and lifts up a picture frame. It’s the same photo of Alton Vaultmore I saw in Shatterstone Hall. She says softly, “My father swore never to change into that wolf again . . . and he never did. But over the years, the cost of denying the wolf was great. Eventually, his heart stopped from the strain . . . and, one year ago, the world lost the greatest scientist who ever lived.”

Alton is dead after all? How is that possible? He attacked us in the woods.

“Then who attacked—?”

“Someone had to continue his vision.” Nadia’s voice becomes stoic and full of purpose. “Someone had to perfect his serum. I had to carry on my father’s legacy.”

Holy shit.The wolf monster in the woods . . . it wasn’t her father. Nadiais the giant red wolf.

“Do you know what’s ironic?” Nadia smiles slyly. “Our families have been connected all this time. My father saved your mother. Your DNA created the serum that now flows through me. My family always had a thing for Scarlets so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that my brother is enamored with you. Soon, you and other Scarlet wolves will form the army that will help me usher in the new age of wolf-kind.”

“Your army? You’re a fucking psycho! Why would we help you?”

“Silly Saffron, you don’t have a choice. How do you think you wound up in that cell? Howall of youwound up in that cell?” A smug smile tugs at her lips. “You see, not only am I able to control myself with this new serum, but it allows me to control Scarlet wolves as well.”

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