CHAPTER 5

Angelina's POV

I wrapped the sorry excuse of a blanket around my body and although it did little help with the cold, it wasn't enough to cover all my important bits. My legs were still out but at least no one was going to get an eyeful of my black lingerie. 

It is a bit scratchy but beggars can’t be choosers and I’d take this over being naked any day.

I heard shuffling and the clanking of chains then I saw Alpha dragging my father in with chains around his arms and legs.

He looked thinner than I remembered and his salt and pepper hair and beard had grown out and were dirty and tangled as if they hadn’t been brushed in years, his eyes that were the same soft brown as mine looked unfocused. 

He was shivering and he had a few marks across his skin; some looked like they were old while some looked more recent. I felt my blood boil over.

“What did you do to him?” I demanded with a scream.

        “Not half as much as he deserves,” the Alpha replies without remorse.

“You’re a monster,” I spat, wondering what kind of being he is. He is unsympathetic.

       “The same monster who is letting you see your father,” he reminded me. “Remember that.”

Alpha threw him to the floor and I held in a gasp as my father let out a groan of pain. I bit back my retort but instead basked in the feeling as he rushed over to me.

“Dad,” I said not believing my eyes and he held my face in his hands, “Is this really you? Please tell me this isn’t some weird hallucination.”

      “As if I would waste an illusion on a puny human girl,” I heard Alpha mutter under his breath but I ignored him.

Petty man! I thought within me.

“Where have you been all this time?” I cried softly, “I don’t know why I’m here or what these people want from me.”

        “Angelina, my girl,” he pulled me into a hug and I sobbed on his shoulder, “I missed you so much.”

He pulled away and took in my disheveled appearance and barely clothed skin under the blanket and he turned to Alpha.

“What did your men do to my daughter?” I have never heard my father sound so angry.

          “Nothing less than she deserves as your child,” Alpha replied coldly.

“What happened to justice?” my father yelled, “Why would you punish her if you think I did the crime? She is innocent.”

         “Justice died alongside my wife.” he folded his arms, looking nonchalant. I still couldn't make out the color of his eyes.

“She is a child, you sadistic prick,” he spat, “She is nineteen years old and if you hurt her then so help me I will-,”

       “What will you do?” Alpha asked with a smirk on his face, interrupting my father from going on with his threats. “You are on my territory, in my dungeons and my chains but I’m curious as to what you would do.”

He was trying to taunt my father and I realized I needed to diffuse the situation soon. 

“They didn’t rape me,” I whispered to my father in assurance, “I’m fine; they just took my clothes.”

       “She’ll get cold,” he said, “We’re not like you people.”

“What makes you think I care?” Alpha asked, “I don’t care if you rot in this cell and die; as long as I get justice for her.”

Dad just pursed his lips and pulled me in closer as if trying to shield me from the wrath of Alpha’s stare.

“Where have you been this whole time?” I asked as I pulled away, “Who are these people and why do they have us here? And why does he think you killed his wife?”

         “No matter what they say Angel; you have to believe that I didn’t kill her; I would never,” he promised, “She was good and I would never hurt anyone; much less someone like her.”

“I know you wouldn’t do that,” I sighed, “I have been trying to tell him that but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

       “Grief can sometimes imprison the mind and make us believe things that don’t make sense,” he said and Alpha seemed to be fed up.

“I didn’t bring you here to cry into each other’s shoulders like toddlers,” he spat, “If you’re not interested in doing what I want then I can take him away and resume your punishment just as fast as I brought him here.”

He gave us one last piercing look before leaving and I half expected his goons to come in, seeing as they usually come in right after he leaves but no one came.

“Where the hell have you been these past two years?” I turned to my dad, “You left me all alone in a house with no way to pay the bills and no one to help me.”

          “I’m so sorry Angelina,” he whispered to me, “I never wanted to leave you.”

“Then why did you?” I asked, “And why didn’t you call or text to tell me you weren’t coming back? I could have figured out something instead of waiting for you,” I sobbed, “I was waiting for you to come back from your trip. I waited for weeks then months and years like a fool thinking you were going to walk through that door any day and you didn’t.”

        “I was going to come back,” he said and I scoffed, “It was always my intention to come back for you.”

“Then why didn’t you come back? And where did you go? How do these people even know you?”

        “After the incident,” he began and a shiver passed through my spine as memories flashed through my mind, “I started looking for a place; somewhere that would be safe for us.”

“You didn’t think of including me on this search?”

        “Please Angel, just listen.”

I sighed and nodded, letting him know that I wasn’t going to interrupt again.

“I was searching and I found about this place,” he smiled weakly, “I needed to know if it was good enough for us so I decided to give it a trial period of three months.”

“It was amazing, I have never been to a place so welcoming, I knew you would love it,” he smiled wistfully, “But then, on the day I was supposed to leave I was detained for the death of the Luna who was the Alpha’s wife.”

"What?!" I exclaim sharply in disbelief as the words rang out in my ears.

Luna and Alpha?

What the hell is going on?!