Page 66 of Owned By Four Alphas

Castien took a hesitant step forward. “Can I get you anything? Some blankets…or maybe some water? I confess I don’t know that much about childbirth.”

“Don’t come near me,” she snarled. “Malek will have returned. He’ll know you took me. He’ll have signaled the others by now. They rescued me once, they’ll do it again. They’ll rip you limb from limb.”

Castien sighed, turning away. “They won’t get here in time. Not before…not before we free him.”

“What?” Selena asked, but Castien was walking away, leaving her alone and quivering on the heated floor.

A quiet, rumbling roar started beneath her hands, and she sucked in a gasp. It only got louder, more aggressive, and she turned, fear choking her throat.

Behind her, one tremendous wall of the cavern rumbled and groaned. Not a wall, she realized with sinking dread.

It was a door. A great door, as tall as an oak tree, as wide as a warship, carved into the rock. Against it, heavy iron chains as thick as the pillars of the Marble Halls swung and groaned as some great force battered on the other side of the door.

Fire, molten liquidfire, seeped from the cracks, hissing against the stone and pooling at the floor. Selena whimpered, trying to push herself further away from it, further away from what laybeyond.

Then, she realized with a start that she knew exactly what lay beyond. She had seen it in her dreams.

The woodland, peaceful and calm, would always crack apart. Would always reveal the fire hidden beneath. At first, she had thought it a manifestation of her father’s pain, of the tempest of her magic, but now…

Now she knew she had gotten it the wrong way around. The woods were a visage. The stream, the trees, the rocks,allof it.

Even her father.

The fire had been the truth. The fire, and the god that commanded it.

It was Theldir. It had always been Theldir.

She sobbed, tears falling down her skin, her stomach cramping with wave upon wave of agony.

“Here.” Someone offered her a cup and she took it, greedily drinking the blessedly clear water. It only offered a momentary respite.

“Why?” she sobbed again, “why trick me? Why do all of this?”

Castien—because it was Castien holding the cup—glanced up at the door, his eyebrows drawn together.

“Because you had to believe it was really your father. We watched others attempt to take you away from your mates, to steal your power for their own. We saw exactly what would happen to them. Even with the power of a god, they failed. Your mates…they are too powerful. We knew the only way to get you here would be if you came willingly.”

“But how?” she choked. “The prophecy? My dreams? All of it!”

“My lord is a Dreamwalker,” said Castien, his voice taking on a reverent tone. “He can command the minds of others as they sleep. All they need is a connection. And my lord is bound by the Forest God’s power, the very same power that now flows through you. He waited until you came into it, and then struck.”

Selena gasped out a ragged breath, her knuckles turning white where she gripped the cup.

“As for the prophecy…it’s not true. I made it up.”

“Youmadeitup?”

“Why do you think I wouldn’t let you translate it? I had noticed the particular book you found was decorated with various maps and illustrations of the Realm. I simply picked a page that showed the right territory, then pretended to find a book that could translate the actual text. For all I know, it could actually be a recipe for roast mutton.”

Selena snarled, hurtling the cup towards Castien’s face. It whizzed past him, clattering to the floor, and she groaned and doubled over as another contraction hit her.

“As for the wording…I needed something that would panic you. Something that would drive a wedge between youand your mates. Something that would destabilize the political situation. I needed you desperate enough to seek your father, out even in your state. A threat about Theldir, and about your unborn child, satisfied all those needs.”

“You fuckingbastard—”

“If it’s any consolation,” Castien said, crouching next to her, “there is a real prophecy.”

“I don’t care,” snarled Selena. “I don’t trust anything that comes out of your mouth!”

---