Chapter 30

“I should kill you right now that I have you in my grasp,” he said. “But it would be unfair to deprive my brothers of the satisfaction of watching you die in their presence.”
“I haven’t done anything deserving of death, Dominic,” I said softly. I needed to appeal to his conscience and hope that he listens to me.
“Is that so? Ever since that day you walked out on us in the mountains six years ago, we have only experienced a series of bad luck. The only good thing that ever happened to us was Brianna and you still took her away from us!”
“I didn’t it,” I argued. “Brianna sold me to the Highlands. She killed my son, our son, and you didn’t do anything about it.”
“So you decided to join forces with the River Pack to overthrow us?”
“I didn’t it. The only person I knew in the River Pack was Antonio and you three already killed him. Why did you always believe everyone else but not me? Why?”
“Maybe it’s because there’s something about you that’s not quite right since you returned. You seem… damaged.”
“Because I was a sex slave to the Highland Pack’s Alpha? That was not by choice.”
“But it ruined you,” he insisted. “How can you expect us to continue to see you as the same Jade we fell in love with?”
“That’s not my fault, Dominic. I didn’t do anything wrong. Life has been cruel to me, you know that, don’t you?
“Besides, you too have experienced what it feels like to be used for other people’s pleasure without your permission. Surely, you can now understand how I must have felt all that time. ”
He looked away briefly. “I didn’t track you down to chat with you. We are going to Apex Woods together.”
“Dominic, please, don’t take me there,” I pleaded with him. “Your brothers will kill me.”
“That is if I don’t kill you first,” he said and stepped away from me. He shifted back to his human body and removed the necklace from his neck.
“Here, take it,” he said, offering it to me. “It’s your burden to bear, not mine.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t want it. I think that’s what is causing my bad luck. It was the necklace that made my uncle tell Antonio to kill us.”
“Because he knew that our mother survived after fleeing from Apex Woods. It was our father that gifted it to her on the night of their mating ceremony. She wore it all the time and never took it off.”
“Where did he get it from?”
Dominic shrugged. “Nana claimed that the necklace was divine and it wasn’t formed by human hands. She guessed that someone must have gifted it to our father before he gave it to our mother. But knowing Nana, that tale might be fabricated.”
“I believe it,” I said.
“Of course, you do. You are as naïve as Nana, so I’m not surprised. Now, that’s enough talking. Let’s go.”
“Dominic, please,” I begged. I knelt on the grass and clasped my fingers together to beg him.
He threw the necklace at me and said, “Wear it. We’re leaving now.”
I picked it up reluctantly and wore it around my neck. Maybe Nana was wrong after all. I would never be free of the Alpha triplets. As long as they were alive, I would always belong to them.
With a deep sigh, I got on my feet and followed Dominic. He was watching me with hard eyes as if I was a criminal. I knew there was no way I could escape from him because his eyes were pinned on me as I walked with him.
Maybe I should have stayed with Sasha instead of roaming about, and looking for a rogue Lycan who may already be dead. He probably didn’t remember me anymore, but here I was searching for him like a lost sheep.
We walked for hours in silence. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to say something.
“Why did you three abandon the Mountain Pack?” I asked Dominic.
“We didn’t abandon them, we returned to our rightful home,” he replied curtly.
“Couldn’t one of you have stayed back to be the leader of the pack there?”
“They got a leader after we left,” he said dismissively. “What’s it to you?”
“Nothing. I’m just curious.”
We heard rustling in a nearby bush and we stopped to see if something or someone would come out from the shaking tall grass.
“Who’s there?” Dominic asked. “Show yourself!”
The person did and my breath left me in a whoosh. It was the Lycan in his human form. He had trimmed his beard but still looked as gorgeous as I remembered.
“I remember you…” said Dominic. “You were that bastard Lycan that kicked me into the river and left me for dead.”
“You were going to kill a defenceless she-wolf and I couldn’t let that happen,” he said smoothly. “I can see that you haven’t learnt your lessons since then.”
“I am ready for you,” said Dominic, rolling his shoulders.
The Lycan chuckled. “Don’t make me kill you a second time, because this time, it will be for real. I promise you.”
“Bring it on!” Said Dominic, challenging him.
“Please, don’t,” I said, stepping between them.
“Do you want to go with him?” The Lycan asked me.
“No,” I replied honestly.
“You heard the lady, Wolf. She doesn’t want to go with you.”
“Stay out of this, Lycan. This matter does not concern you. She’s my mate.”
Dominic’s last sentence surprised the Lycan rogue. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, waiting for confirmation.
“Yes, we were mates but not anymore,” I said. “He and his brothers are accusing me of crimes I did not commit.”
“That’s no way to treat a mate,” said the Lycan. “Don’t you agree, Wolf?”
“My name is Dominic, not Wolf. As I said before, this matter does not concern you. Jade, let’s go.”
“I hate stubborn wolves,” said the Lycan as he slowly began to transform. “Especially bully wolves like you.”
“And I hate nosey Lycans,” said Dominic. He too began to shapeshift into his wolf form. “I think we better end this rivalry here, once and for all.”