Chapter 03

AMELIA

I tried to think about something else or to find the strength in my legs to run away from him but he had me captivated. He always had. Breaking his spell was not something I was capable of. Not five years ago and not now.

He crouched down in front of me. The little energy in my heart had all evaporated into thin air. It was a struggle to breathe when I knew I could raise my hand and touch him.

“ What do you want, Tyson? ” I uttered, dropping my gaze to the floor.

If I looked at him a moment more, I was not sure I wouldn’t whimper before him like a pathetic creature because I didn’t like the way he stared at me right now. Like he wanted to set me alight and turn me into ashes.

“ Don’t you know what I want? ” Tyson’s fleeting voice fell on my ears and stole the rest of my breath.

What else could he want more than ripping me apart and then putting me back together so he could do it again? And again? And again?

He hated me.

I made him hate me.

His hand rose in the air. Surprise painted my features as my eyes jumped to his. His gaze was set on my neck, igniting an intense fire in my veins that was hard to kill.

All these years of deluding myself that I wouldn’t give a damn if he was this close to me, and I was still a sucker for him.

His forefinger touched the sore spot on my neck. My body jolted as a moan slipped past my lips. My eyes widened when I realized what I had done. It was terrifying, but it heated my insides all the same.

Tyson’s finger drew a line over the spot where Daniel’s hand had wrapped around my throat. The tingles that shot down my body had me clenching my thighs together as my breathing grew heavy.

“ Ty—Tyson. ” I whispered, before licking my lips.

He eyed my wet lips, and then my green eyes. My blood heated in my veins, rushing straight for my face that turned red under his penetrating gaze.

“ What if I…want to take what you claim I stole from you, Amelia? Do you think you will be able to take it? ” His warm voice was a sensual whisper in the night—a secret weapon wielded against my very being.

I sucked in a breath as my back arched, leaving the cold wall behind and seeking warmth in him.

Tyson’s hand gripped my jaw, the same spot where Daniel had hurt me. My breath hitched in my throat as our eyes met and everything else in this world just became meaningless.

“ Do you think you will be able to take me? ” He breathed, the darkness in his eyes reaching a part of me that I had tried my best to kill over these years.

Liquid heat was flowing through my veins. This was not what I imagined our encounter to be. I imagined blood, and pain, and death. I never dared to imagine his hand over my jaw, his eyes staring into mine and his hot breaths kissing my lips.

“ Tyson. P—Please. ” I pleaded when I didn’t know what I wanted.

His thumb brushed my lower lip, pulling it down, caressing the inside—His rough finger in my soft mouth. My toes curled in my heels. I kept my hands fisted by my side and my knees plastered to my chest to hide what his touch had done to me.

But he could smell my arousal, right? He knew what he was doing.

Instead of death, he was choosing to give me agonizing torture.

He drew his hand back and shook his head. “ You are still the same. One touch and you are all puddles. You think I will touch you between your legs, Amelia? Do you believe I will slide your panties to the side and slip my fingers between your folds to see how wet you are? Do you think I will fuck you if you look at me with those big eyes? That’s what you want, don’t you? ”

My lips trembled, still tingling from the touch of his thumb. His face wore the mask of cruelty. A smirk tugged the left corner of his lips as he stared at my face which was heating in embarrassment this time.

The footsteps and a foreign scent approaching us at a fast pace made me snap out of the daze. My head whipped in the right direction. The man who walked towards us had an unmasked dark aura. He carried power with him and walked with a precision that was hard to ignore. It was Dustin—the Alpha King of the North who was walking towards us. He was Tyson’s childhood friend.

He stopped in the distance. His gaze landed on me before meeting Tyson’s eyes.

“ I didn’t know you were busy. ” He cocked his brow.

“ Why don’t you go and take care of my little sister? ” Tyson smirked. “ Make sure she is occupied so she can’t come here. ”

My heart missed a beat. What was he going to do?

“ Next time. Make a request. ” Dustin spoke before turning around and marching away.

“ You Ms. Amelia Kingsley. ” Tyson looked at my tears-stricken face. “ stop giving others the impression that I brought you here, fucked you, and then dumped you in the corner. Or this time… ”

“ I didn’t… ” My lips parted. His attention diverted to them and I forgot how to talk.

“ This time, I might as well turn your lies into your reality. Now, I know that’s what you want. ” Tyson whispered, before getting to his feet and walking away from me.

My heart pounded hard in my chest as I waited for his back to disappear from my sight. The darkness he carried with him had me choking on my breath.

An invisible hand was clawing at my throat and then squeezing my heart. It was an intense pain I couldn’t get over.

A sigh escaped my mouth when he disappeared down the corner. I stayed sitting on the floor, in the same spot, reeling with the effect of finally meeting Tyson after five years.

He was not the boy I had known. There was no smile on his lips, no light in his eyes. Only coldness. And a grave promise of pain.

I stayed on the floor for a long time, until my knees had regained their strength.

I got to my feet and pressed my back into the wall after I don’t know how long. I wanted to stay here, hidden from the rest of the world for as long as I could but a thought had me in a chokehold…

What if Daniel went to Dad and told him everything?

Adelia might be in trouble.

On my wobbly legs, I made my way back to the hall filled with chattering people. Some of them saw me enter the hall and the whispering, the disgusted looks started right away.

I would not have minded them like always but when my eyes found the man standing on the terrace attached to the hall, watching me with the eyes that had peered into my bare soul just some time ago, I was filled with a sense of shame. I struggled to breathe, lowered my head, and skipped past people and their jabs.

Every word was acid burning my wounds now.

Every disgusted look was a fire that burned a part of my soul I would never regain.

“ Amy. ” Adelia came in my path, putting a stop to my walk of shame as the man watched from the corner with nothing in his eyes.

I pushed everything aside and focused on my younger sister. Her eyes were wide, filled with panic I couldn’t stomach.

“ What’s wrong? ” I whispered, complete strength returning in my legs.

To protect her, I could rise from the dead. This was nothing.

Adelia grabbed both my wrists. Her bottom lip quivered. I scanned her body quickly to see if she was hurt anywhere.

“ Dad… ” She trailed off in a broken voice.

“ Dad what? ” Panic settled in my heart.

“ Dad told…D—Daniel that he can take you home tonight. From today, you will stay with him. Your—Your mating ceremony will take place in his pack and now—now you are his responsibility. ” Tears broke free of her beautiful eyes and marked her cheeks.

Something twisted inside my heart. The last shred of hope I had regarding my Dad was killed mercilessly. Now, he was pimping me out, knowing well what Daniel’s intentions were.

“ It’s all right. ” I whispered, willing myself to not let the pain show on my face.

“ No, it’s not, Amy. What will I do without you? ” She sobbed, not caring that people were watching.

My eyes roamed around the hall, refusing to move to the terrace where he stood. I could feel the weight of his stare, the sheer fire in his eyes but I forced myself to remain oblivious.

Instead, my eyes found my Dad standing in the distance with a glass of rich wine in his hand and his eyes narrowed. He was watching us—Adelia to be precise.

We should have talked through the mind link. Adelia shouldn’t have cried.

I gulped the nausea rising to my throat and looked back at my innocent sister who was still crying—Not for herself—but for me.

‘ Ady. ’ I addressed her through our mind link.

She picked her head up, giving me a dejected look.

‘ People are watching. Can you calm down, please? Nothing will happen to me. ’ I whispered.

‘ I can—can’t. Dad is separating us. ’ She cried out.

‘ Nothing in this world will ever separate us. ’ I grabbed her hands and took them off my forearms before squeezing them between mine. ‘ Dad can try. The whole damn world can try but they will never be able to separate us. Do you get me? ’

‘ What if he—he hurts me when you are gone…just like he hurt Mom? ’ Tears stopped flowing from her eyes but the fear remained.

I shuddered. ‘ Then I will gut him myself. If he touches a hair on your head, he dies. ’

Adelia’s eyes widened before she blinked and looked around. Her lips parted as she realized what she had been doing. She was naturally expressive and pure with her emotions but now, she had to learn the ways of the world.

‘ Calm down. ’ I whispered. ‘ I will make things right. Trust me. ’

‘ I do. ’ She glanced at me.

I released her hands. ‘ Now, let me go talk to Dad. ’

‘ O—Okay. ’ She sounded unsure but she didn’t stop me.

I walked towards Dad who was standing with a group of Alphas. I could recognize them all because they were allies to him. They often visited our house and decided what they wanted to pressure the proxy King—Tyson’s father into, when he was absent for two years. And King Fenric always complied with their demands without a single question.

As I neared them, one of the Alphas let out a booming laugh. “ Oh come on, Alpha Kingsley. You know he is just a puppet. Fenric will still pull his strings. We have nothing to fear. If he causes too much trouble, we can just get rid of that filth. ”

I froze in my steps. The filth in question was Tyson and he was in the same hall. I had no doubt he could hear them talking about him.

So…was he going through the same things as me?

I was sick to my stomach and couldn’t continue the rest of the way to them. So, I stood there, listening to their conversation as Dad cast me occasional glares.

“ That weak son-of-a-bitch is not a King. He belongs on the borders, wasting the rest of his life away. He doesn’t deserve to be here after what he did to your daughter. Poor Amelia. ” Another Alpha sighed, addressing my father.

“ You are right Alpha Maroni. Once all this fuss over his return is over, we will just ask his father Fenric to send him back to the borders. We can’t be among filth now, can we? ”

“ He will get what he deserves. I am with you all. ”

I couldn’t hear it anymore. He had just returned home after disappearing for two harsh years and the strong Alphas of the East were already planning another exile for him. All because of me.

My blood chilled in my veins and my eyes lowered to the floor instinctively. I wanted to look at Tyson just one more time—just one—but I knew what I would find there.

Endless hate.

Bottomless Revulsion.

All because I lied.