Alexander's Revenge

Alexander snarled viciously at Amari as she pleaded her case. He was two seconds away from snapping her neck to cease the lies flowing from her lips. But a quick death would be too sweet for her. She deserved to feel the pain his mate felt before she was cruelly ripped from him. Their life together was tragically over before it even began. Since those few hours of being with Camilla, Alexander knew she was the reason why the stars hung in the sky, and the moon controlled the ebb and flow of the tides. Tears pricked behind his eyes as he recalled the last moments he spent with Camilla. They had secluded themselves in the library of the packhouse while Alexander attempted to calm himself down. Nothing seemed to help bring him off of the ledge. Titus wanted to break out and hunt Amari down and rip her to shreds for disrespecting his mate and mocking their bond. Camilla gently motioned for Alexander to lay his head in her lap. He reluctantly agreed, and he would never regret it. He closed his eyes as he remembered the sound of Camilla's voice as she softly sang to him. Goosebumps appeared all over his body once she gently ran her fingers through his hair. A few minutes later, he was summoned by Alpha Winters and had to leave the comfort and safety of his mate's embrace. That was the last moment he spent with his one true love.

Alexander was snapped back to cruel reality by Amari's yelling. "Can you not see now that she's dead that we're mates?!"

He humorlessly chuckled and shook his head as he approached her. "All I see are your lies. I'm going to allow my men to hurt you so bad that you're going to wish you were never born," he whispered in her ear, causing her eyes to widen in fear. "Put her in the cell and make her scream," Alexander ordered before leaving the dungeon. The last thing he heard before shutting the heavy door behind him was Amari's wails, pleading him to come back.

Alexander rushed to the furthest place from the dungeon...his office. Maybe then, he wouldn't hear her desperate cries for help.

"Why would you not want to hear her screams?"

Alexander didn't want to admit that Amari's cries caused an uncomfortable feeling to bloom in his chest. He shook it off and pressed forward. A fire raging in the fireplace was most likely started by one of the many maids under his care. A maid who was most likely eager to throw herself at him and beg for him to take her in front of the blazing fire. Before today, he would've been all for it, but now? He didn't even want to think about touching another woman.

Alexander trudged towards the bar located in the corner of his office. His eyes perused the selection of lavish spirits, finally settling upon a bottle of bourbon that had been passed on through the Beaumont family for many generations. When his father passed the bottle down to him, he told him to open it and drink from it when he felt he was truly lost. Alexander chuckled. "I guess all the Beaumont men had it all figured out, huh?" he mumbled to himself as he twisted off the lid.

Alexander didn't bother with a glass and ingested a healthy pull as he made his way to the leather couch situated in front of the fireplace. He plopped down and rested his feet up on the matching ottoman. He spent the next several minutes drinking and contemplating what to do with his life moving forward. He needed to find a luna for his pack. Lunas played an essential role in maintaining stability in the pack, and Alexander's pack members were becoming suspicious, especially with those questioning his authority and position as their Alpha.

He chuckled ruefully as he thought about making Amari the new Luna. That would be the cruelest punishment. To have him, but not have him at the same time. Amari would hold the title, but she would never carry the position in his heart.

Alexander's plotting was interrupted by knocking on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Just your best friend...wondering why a woman is being tortured in your dungeon," James called through the door.

"Come in," Alexander answered gruffly. "Take a seat," he offered, motioning to the spot next to him on the couch with the bottle of bourbon.

"Don't mind if I do," James eagerly replied, taking the offered seat next to Alexander.

The two remained in comfortable silence for several minutes while they passed the bottle back and forth between them.

"First, I want to say I'm sorry for your loss," James said as he stared into the crackling fire.

"Thanks...you too."

"Yeah...Camilla and I have been friends for a long time, but we kinda drifted apart the older we became. Which is why I'm certain she wasn't your mate."

Alexander narrowed his eyes at James.

"Why would you say that?" he snapped.

"Because if Camilla was your mate, then you would've smelled her scent on me several times in the past, but you haven't. I don't think the woman you have being tortured in your dungeon was lying."

"Leave," Alexander snapped.

"Why?"

"Because I just lost my mate and you're speaking nonsense. How is it you would believe some crazed woman who's been locked away from the world over Camilla, someone you only seconds ago said you've been friends with since childhood? If I didn't know any better, I'd believe you had a hand in my mate's death," Alexander accused.

"That's either the grief or the alcohol talking; maybe both," James sighed.

"It's neither!" Alexander growled.

"If you say so," James responded. "The fact that you're not rolling around, wailing on the floor, begging for someone to end your life after the demise of your mate is all the evidence you need to know that Camilla wasn't your true mate. If you kill Amari, then you'll never know the truth. Your mating mark from Camilla should fade within a couple of months. You should keep Amari alive until then. If your hate towards Amari doesn't change, then that means she isn't your mate. If they do...then Camilla tricked you, and there's a murderer out there somewhere."