Chapter 096

HANNAH

"It's like this," Jace continued. "Your identity as the white wolf needs to stay hidden. If you fight in the duel, you won't be able to shift because if you do,

"Everyone will see your white fur from miles away," Cade finished. "Everyone will know what you are, and then you won't be safe anymore. That’s why you can’t compete.”

I felt my shoulders sag. The disappointment I felt was way more intense than the excitement of humiliating Julia. Somehow, my identity always managed to stop me from doing or being what I wanted. When I was labeled the traitor’s daughter, I couldn’t do what everyone else did. Now, I was the white wolf, and that hadn’t changed either.

Chase gently squeezed my shoulder. He drew up a chair so he was sitting close to me.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "We know this competition is very important to you." He smiled a little. "Cade and I were even laying bets on how good you would be. We were all in support of you crushing it on that stage, but your safety comes first." He paused. "You should consider withdrawing from the competition."

My head jerked up. I looked at all of them. Their faces had the same expression. They looked sorry but were all in agreement.

"I really wanted to compete," I said in a small voice. "Isn't there... any way around this?"

I knew the answer already. I just couldn't stop hoping against hope that one of them would have a solution or something. Anything.

"No, there isn't," Jace said. "As for the scholarship to Worchmount, we'll pay for it. It won't be a problem. And if you don't want to go to Worchmount but someplace else, we'll get you in too."

Chase nodded. "There will be other competitions in the future, I'm sure. This one has shown you that you already have it in you to win, but you have to withdraw. There's too much at stake."

Cade said something else, but I wasn't really listening. I was thinking.

They were right. I couldn't fight, not when doing it would put me in danger, but then there was Julia.

She would think I was scared of her, that I had chickened out. She would be more bitchy than usual, especially after what I had done to her today.

Could I really give her the opportunity to mock me?

*******

ASHER

"Still alive and apparently healthy... She's proving to be a major thorn in our flesh, just like her traitor father."

I groaned and scrubbed a hand over my face. I felt weak and miserable. My head was pounding. I wanted peace and quiet, not my father standing by my bedside and yakking about Hannah!

But I couldn't tell him that.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his brow furrowed in thought. At this rate, he was obviously more obsessed with Hannah than I had been.

The man wasn't even waiting for me to recover from our last attempt to kill her. He was already plotting something else, maybe even something more dangerous, judging from the look on his face.

It was sort of ironic how irrelevant Hannah used to be just a few months ago. Now it seemed our entire lives revolved around her.

I had almost died, yet he didn’t care about that. We had been wrong about the whole bond tie, and that had almost cost me my life. My father didn’t care to figure out why it had failed or why our plan backfired. He was already plotting other ways to hurt Hannah.

"I think I may have just thought of a good plan," my father said half to himself.

I said nothing. I would probably be okay with it if the plan didn't involve me in any way. I had almost died and wasn't in the mood to tempt fate again.

The door of my room opened. Julia stepped in, saw my father, and bowed.

"You asked to see me, Alpha," she said.

I looked from one to the other. What was this about?

"Yes," my father nodded. "I heard about this pageant you are contesting in, about the skill contest. At the next stage, contestants are to duel each other, am I correct?"

Julia looked surprised. And curious. She swallowed her questions and nodded. "Yes, that's correct, Alpha."

My father smiled, a smile just like the one he had on his face when he had told me that Hannah would die. Right before I had almost died.

He took a turn around the room. Every step brought him close to Julia.

"Do you know what a blood duel is?" he asked her.

I was reaching for the herbal mixture the doctor had brought to ease my pain, but his question froze my joints. I looked up sharply.

Why was he bringing up something as dangerous as a blood duel?

"I... I think I have an idea of what it is," Julia nervously answered after giving it some thought.

"Good," he said, rubbing his hands together. "Get ready, Julia. If my plan goes well, you will challenge Hannah to a blood duel."
Bound to Three: The Omega’s Redemption
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