Chapter 2

Her heart pounded loudly in her chest as she waited for him to say something in response to her pleas. He didn’t, instead he remained in silence, watching her from where he sat. Since he didn’t respond, she couldn’t think of anything else to do besides plead more.

“Please, sire. I beg of you to show mercy to them. Please.”

His next words were disappointing. She should have expected something similar to that, but then she didn’t.

“Get out of my office, Miss Sinclair!”

“Sir, please I…”

“I said, get out!” The tone of his voice increased which made her spring up to her feet immediately. Even while sitting on that wheelchair, even with the fact that she had a capacitated advantage over him, he still scared the hell out of her.

What should she do now? She hadn’t even tried and he’d already given her his answer. Remaining here is dangerous, she could lose her life if she upsets him further, but still her life is nothing, it’s still worth giving it a shot to save her family.

“You might not know me that well sir, but Benedict is my husband and Sonia is my sister. If you kill them, you’re leaving me with nothing. I was already born into this world with nothing, and my family are the only light I have left in this world…”

She stopped because she saw something different in his face. A reaction she’d never seen before, not in the few minutes she’d been standing in front of him. He then softened his tone a little bit.

“Sonia and Benedict are your family. Benedict is your husband. Are you sure about what you just said?”

“Yes sir. I am absolutely sure.”

“Benedict is my second-in-command. I see him almost every day. How come I’ve never seen you both together?”

This is a question she does not like to answer, but given the situation, she has no choice but to reveal some parts of her one-sided marriage to the alpha.

“He doesn’t like to go out with me much sir, but I can assure you that we’ve both been married for years. He means a lot to me sir.”

Xander didn’t ask her any further questions about this. He’d always known that Benedict was married to some wolf in the pack. He’d always assumed Benedict’s reason for not bringing her out or introducing her to anyone was because she was ugly or something, he didn’t expect such a beautiful woman to reveal herself as his former Beta’s wife.

“You’re Ben’s wife, which means that apart from me, you’re the other person who got betrayed. You’re the other one who got hurt so badly, even more than me, because he cheated on you with your sister.”

It was a sad fact, but true. Edwina had cried her eyes out after discovering the truth as to the real reason Benedict married her, which was only to get closer to her sister. Sonia was unattainable, as she was betrothed to the most coveted alpha back then, a form of compensation offered by her family after Xander rejected their other daughter. Benedict never loved her, and neither did alpha Xander. No one did.

He then interrupted her thoughts, “did you not hear what I said?”

“I’m sorry… Yes sir. I got hurt really badly. I don’t know how much it compares to yours, but it was a very painful feeling.”

“So why are you here?”

She rose a brow, “I don’t understand, sir.”

“If you got hurt by what your sister and husband did to you, then why are you here risking your life, pleading for them to released. Do you not wish to see them die for what they did?”

She shook her head immediately, “no sir. I would never wish death on anyone.”

“Not even the ones that hurt you so much? The ones that act as they please without giving a damn as to how it will affect others? You don’t wish death on them? You don’t wish them pain?”

“I don’t sir,” she answered with a bit of confidence for the first time in front of him. “I would never wish death or pain on anyone, no matter what they did to me.”  

His voice sounded much calmer this time, even more than before.

“Why?”

“I don’t really know the reason, maybe it’s because I don’t like seeing people get hurt. With all the things that people have done to me before, I know how much pain I felt, I know how much it hurt me, and I would never do it to someone else just so they could feel that same hurt, or even more.”

Her words moved him, she saw it, before he quickly whisked it off and then the cold glare was back on his face.

“Get out of my office, Edwina.” He called her by her name this time, that seemed different, but why his sudden change in demeanor? They were just getting along with a good conversation.

“I will leave, Mr. Chase, but please, I would like to know if you will consider my request to spare their lives.”

“I do not attend to pack matters in my business office. You should not have come here to discuss this at all.”

Edwina knew this well enough before coming here, but it’s not like she had a choice.

“I am sorry sir, the guards didn’t let me into the packhouse to come and see you, that’s why I came here instead.”

“I don’t believe that. Didn’t you mention just now that you’re a night howler?”

“I did sir.”

“So, what’s the reason you were refused entry?”

She sighed; this was the biggest part of her bleak life she would have to reveal to him in order to explain things. Her “deficiency” as everyone called it.

“I do not carry the mark of the night howler, sire.”

She expected for him to demand for more explanations. “How could such a thing be possible?” was a very familiar question she was no stranger to. It wasn’t a long story at all, simply put, she’d been born that way.

Xander didn’t need for more enlightenment before putting two and two together. This time around, he couldn’t hide the expression on his face.

Sinclair. Of course, how could he not have recognized her when she walked in?

“You don’t have a wolf.”

“Yes sir.”

“You’re that female I rejected those years ago, the one whose sister I had to marry instead. You’re my original mate, Edwina Sinclair.”

Sighs, “yes sir. I’m the one.”