Chapter 13

 THE INTRUDER

LEXI’S POV

I laid beside Dexter, unable to fall asleep. I had just made my stay in Manny’s house worse.

He had expected me to run away again and I had played right into his hands.

How was I going to escape this pack now?

The next morning, the guards were still stationed outside my door, standing stoically like statutes.

“Aren’t you guys going to go for breakfast or something,” I teased slightly. Trying to hide my irritation at seeing them again.

“No Ma’am,” The first guard replied quickly. “We have shifts, so even if we leave we would be immediately replaced.”

“Hmm…” I murmured, giving him a sour look. “..I see.”

“Oh wow,” Sophia’s voice suddenly called out.

I turned to find her walking towards my room with an amused smile on her face.

“I am very glad to see Manny is finally threating you like what you are, a prisoner.”

“Why are you so glad?” I retorted immediately. “If he is keeping me here that only means that you would have to see my face for longer.”

The smile on Sophia’s face immediately faded at my words. “Don’t be so cocky, he is keeping you in a room now, but tomorrow, you could be sleeping in the dungeon.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you,” I replied, wanting to get under her skin. “Manny wants me close to him that’s why he is keeping me here, he even has guards stationed outside to protect me and my son from you.”

Sophia went pale, like she hadn’t seen it like that before.

She leaned closer to me, placing her mouth close to my ears. “I am going to get you out of this house, even if I have to drag out your dead body.”

Her words sent a chill down my spine.

I knew Sophia hated me, but she had never given me such a direct threat before.

She glared at me spitefully, before walking away.

As soon as she left, I rushed back into the room, shutting the door immediately, trying to cool off the panic I was feeling.

Sophia was a vile soul who never said anything she didn’t mean. In the process of standing up for myself, had I stepped on a serpent’s tail?

My heart raced in fear as I slid to the floor, with my back against the door.

Manny had made me his prisoner and now Sophia was after my head?

My problems just seemed to keep getting worse and worse, I thought, burying my face in my hands.

My reality dawned on me suddenly, Manny had trapped me here. He said I could go but he knew that there was no way I was leaving this pack without my children.

No matter how hard I thought about it, there was no future for me outside this pack without them.

I couldn’t leave Dexter behind and Wayne didn’t even want me and my freedom was just another illusion.

I stared at the window until my eyes ached, thinking about how perfect my life in Rogue Haven had been. I thought of Jax, remembering his kind eyes and smiling face, how he had always protected me. I thought of Nia, how she loved me like I was her mother.

How could I bear to not see them again?

“Mom?”

Dexter’s voice suddenly broke through the silence, and I quickly wiped the tears from my cheeks. He sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes, hair messy from sleep

“Were you crying?”

I forced a smile, standing up and heading towards him. “No, of course not.”

“Then why are your eyes red?” he asked, giving me a concerned look.

“Mommy is just a little stressed, that’s all,” I replied softly, sitting next to him.

Dexter stared at me for a while, his warm eyes observing my face.

“I miss home,” he said suddenly.

“Me too,” I replied sincerely.

After a pause, he asked quietly, “Are we ever going back to Rogue Haven?”

I sucked in a breath and telling myself not to lie.

“No,” I said gently. “At least… not right now. Your father doesn’t want to lose you again, that is why we’re here. That’s why…” I thought about the guards outside the door again, feeling my voice crumble, “..he is keeping us here.”

Dexter looked down at his fingers, thinking. “But you don’t want to stay, do you?”

“I want you to be safe. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“This place is not that bad,” he whispered, like a secret. “Wayne’s cool. He talks a lot about video games, and he says he would let me use his extra controller.”

The thought of them getting closer made me smile “That’s good. I’m glad he’s being nice to you.”

Dexter nodded, raising his head. “If you wanna talk to him, you should talk about games. That’s what he likes.”

I blinked, surprised at the suggestion. “You think that would work?”

“Yeah. He talks about them a lot.” He giggled. “I bet if you asked him about Zombie Fighters , he’d talk to you forever.”

I laughed lightly, the sound awkward in my throat, rusty from crying. “Zombie Fighters, huh? That sounds… terrifying.”

“It’s awesome,” Dexter said seriously. “You gotta pretend you’re not scared.”

I ruffled his hair, standing to my feet. “Okay then. I’ll give it a shot.”

Later that evening, after dinner had been brought and taken away, I walked down the hall finding Wayne’s room. The guards didn’t stop me this time—maybe Manny had given them different instructions.

Maybe he wanted me to embarrass myself again.

As I approached Wayne this time, I had hope.

A strategy to win him over or at least soften his heart towards me.

I knocked once, lightly, then turned the handle and stepped in before I could lose my nerve.

“Wayne, I—”

The words froze in my throat because Wayne wasn’t alone.

He sat on the rug, cross-legged, controller in hand, his face lit with the soft blue glow of the screen and beside him was—her.

Clara.

Manny’s ex-girlfriend. The one from before me. The one Sophiaused to love more.

She was smiling, looking effortlessly beautiful as she leaned toward Wayne.

“Nice combo move. You’re getting better,” she encouraged as he played.

Wayne laughed happily, seeming so carefree in a way I had never seen before

“I told you I was going to defeat this level, Aunty Clara.”

Clara nudged him gently. “I never doubted you for a second, champ.”

I stood there, frozen, watching the woman my son called so fondly and hating every second of it.

“What in the hell are you doing with my son?” I shouted, allowing my anger to get the better of me.

Clara’s head snapped around at the sound of my voice. For a split second, surprise flickered in her eyes—only to be swiftly replaced by cold, unmistakable disdain.