Episode 7

“An Alpha’s honour is the most important thing.’’ Ryan says, while I stare at his father. I’m stunned, shaken, and can't even find the words. “Your mother knew the best way to defeat my father even after death was to take away his sanity.’’

Alpha Jeremy, a mighty man who’d won 200 battles and conquered impossible enemies, leans against the cold wall of the tower with a piece of chalk in his hand. Alpha Jeremy is nothing like the monster I imagined. He's thin and frail, with gray hair and clothes that look like they haven't been changed in days. His eyes are unfocused, and he's muttering to himself as he draws.

"Hello, beautiful," he says to the wall. "I've been waiting for you. I knew you'd come back to me."

He leans in and kisses the wall, full on tongue. A nurse steps out from the shadows, “Mr Jeremy, please, that isn’t sanitary.’’

She tries to pull him off, but Jeremy only pushes her.

“I’m talking to the love of my life, can’t you see?’’

I remain standing there, staring at the man I thought could save my father: the man kissing a wall right now.

I turn to Ryan, confused. "What's wrong with him?"

Ryan falls to his knees beside his father's chair. For the first time since I met him, he looks vulnerable and broken.

"This is what she did to him," Ryan whispers brokenly, "Your mother destroyed him."

"I don't understand."

I stare at the broken man in the corner. "That's impossible."

"Is it? Look at him. Look at what she did."

"She didn't do anything. She was a victim."

I look at Alpha Jeremy again. He's still drawing, still talking to the wall like someone's there.

"Don't leave me again," he whispers. "I love you so much, Evie. Please don't leave me."

My mother. The woman I've loved and mourned for all my life. How could she do something like this?

“Evie?’’ I stutter, the name makes me pause. Evie…that’s my mom’s name.

What the hell was going on here?

"Don't leave me again," Alpha Jeremy whispers to the chalk figure he's sketching. "I love you so much. Please don't leave me."

He turns suddenly, and for the first time looks at his son and me. His eyes brighten, he stretches his arms for a hug. "She's here! My beautiful mate is here!" He reaches toward me with shaking hands. "You came back to me. I knew you would. I knew you loved me."

"Father, no." Ryan stands up, slowly pushing his father's hands away.

"But she has her eyes. Those green eyes that see right through me." Alpha Jeremy's voice breaks. "Why did you leave me? Why did you say those things? I would have given you everything. I would have burned the world for you."

He goes back to his drawing, crying and wailing. "I dream about you every night. You tell me you love me, and then you laugh. You always laugh at me in the end."

Ryan watches his father with nothing but hurt in his eyes, but all I’m focused on are his father’s words. Why does he confuse me for his mate? Why did he call my mother’s name?

Ryan turns to me. "This is what your family does to people," he says. "This is the legacy you come from."

I don’t have the strength to argue with him, my brain is running a thousand possibilities of what has happened. I'm trying to find a logical explanation to any of this, but there’s none.

My father’s only hope is talking to a wall. His son, the only man remaining with the power to do something, wishes my wicked step mother’s plan succeeds.

"There might be a way to fix this," Ryan says suddenly.

I look up at him, through the tears cascading down my cheeks, I stutter: "W..what do you mean?"

"The contract your father signed was not just a marriage agreement. It was a binding spell, sealed with blood magic. Your mother's blood."

"I don't understand."

"The deal was that you would marry me to unite our packs. But when your mother came here and cursed my father, she broke the spell. That's what drove my father mad. The magic is incomplete, torn apart."

Alpha Jeremy starts singing softly, a lullaby I remember from childhood. "Sleep, my darling, sleep so deep. Dream of love you'll never keep."

"But if the original contract is fulfilled," Ryan continues, "if you marry me willingly, the spell completes itself. My father's mind might heal."

I stare at the broken man in the corner, still drawing and singing.

"In exchange for this marriage, I promise to help you save your father. I will destroy Marcus and Rebecca and give you back your pack."

Hope flares in my chest again, I see a way out again. I can save my father and my pack, I can defeat my enemies. But at what cost? Marriage to my worst enemy.

"And all I have to do is marry you?"

"All you have to do is fulfill the promise your parents made. Honor the contract they signed in blood."

I remain staring at him, trying to figure out what to do. But the answer has never been so clear in my head.

“Fine,’’ I say, like a death sentence. “I’ll marry you.’’

That’s it, I’ve just bound myself to the devil.