03

Kessa

I stood frozen. Absolutely, completely frozen.

My blood felt like it had drained to my feet as I stared at the man in front of me.

I couldn't believe my supposed blind date, the man with whom I had laughed with over dinner was my father's greatest enemy.

It had to be a joke, a cruel joke but the minute he removed his mask, shock took over my entire body.

There were  jagged  scars that twisted across one side of his face like a claw mark from hell but I could still make out his features. The same features my brother had described a million times so I stay clear of him.

It dawned on me that this  man wasn't  kidding, he was actually Alpha Ronan asa.

The Alpha King.

The monster my father despised.

The man my brother swore he would kill one day.

The menace people whispered about in fear.

My legs wobbled. I stumbled backward until my shoulder hit the stone wall.

"You lied," I whispered, my voice trembling uncontrollably. "You tricked me."

He laughed. It was a low dark sound that scraped along my spine like a blade.

"Tricked you?" he repeated, stepping closer. "Little wolf... you walked right into my arms. I didn't trick you."

My breath stuttered in my chest.

I had no weapon.No backup.No wolf strong enough to overpower him.

I was prey. A Cornered prey.

"You know the best part of all this is that I don't only get to punish you for the atrocities of your family. I also get vindicated for what you did to me in the past,"

"P–please," I said, trying to gather what little courage I had left. "Just let me go."

He  didn't reply to me, he just stared at me with so much darkness in his eyes.

My heart was pounding loud enough to echo through the massive hallway. That look in his eyes told me everything I needed to know he wasn't going to let me go so easily.

"You think," his high-pitched tone startled me, "that you're going to escape me a second time?"

My stomach dropped.

"S–second? I don't... I've never met you before."

He laughed again and this time it was full of rage he'd been waiting years to unleash.

"Oh, you've met me," he hissed. "And pretending wouldn't save you from death,"

"I don't understand," I choked out, shaking. "I've never even been here before."

His eyes, which were  clouded by fire, fell on mine.

"When I saw you sitting in that restaurant," he continued, ignoring everything I'd just said, "I should've known exactly who you were after that first glance. But I was too damn blind to notice."

He exhaled slowly, almost in disbelief. "Still... I'm glad I told you to come home with me. I'm glad I found you."

My throat tightened so hard it hurt. "Found... me?"

"Yes Kessa," he growled. "It's good to be in the presence of the woman who ruined me."

"You're wrong," I gasped. "I didn't ruin anyone—"

His hand slammed against the wall beside my head, trapping me.

"I lost everything because of you," he growled. "My face. My pack's respect. My sanity."

His voice dropped lower. "My soul."

My confusion only seemed to anger him more.

"You look exactly like her," he added. "And you smell like her."

"I don't even know who she is," I whispered. "I've never hurt you. I swear it."

He leaned in, his breath brushing my cheek.

"You can swear, you can cry, you can beg. It doesn't change the truth."

"I'm not who you think I am," I said louder, forcing the words out. "I wasn't even anywhere near your territory before today! I didn't—"

"Silence."

His command hit like physical force. My wolf whimpered inside me, instinctively submitting.

Tears pricked my eyes at that moment. My revenge,  my plans and my determination to find the person who pushed me... all of it felt like it was slipping away.

I could barely breathe.

He was going to kill me or torture me.

Or both.

He stepped back just enough to pull a dagger from his belt.

"You will pay for what you did," he said calmly. "I will break you. Then heal you. Then break you again. The way you did to me."

"I DIDN'T!" I shouted, tears streaming. "Please Ronan, I didn't hurt you!"

For a moment just a moment the blade wavered. Then he gripped it harder and I braced for pain. For my death.For the final end of everything.

But before the blade touched my skin the doors burst  open.

"Alpha!"

A man rushed inside. I recognized him instantly from the stories my father had told.

He was Beta Sage.

He froze when he saw me pressed against the wall with a dagger pointed at my throat.

"Alpha, STOP!" Sage shouted.

Ronan didn't move. "You're interrupting."

Sage shook his head urgently. "Ronan, she's not the girl."

My heart leapt as hope flared at the bottom of it

Ronan whipped around violently. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying," Sage insisted. "I traced her scent, her history, everything. She's not Aurora."

But Ronan didn't let go of the knife.

He didn't step away from me.

He stared at me with eyes that were shaking with too many emotions and pain was the loudest of them all.

"If she isn't her," he said slowly, "then why?" His head tilted slightly, almost like he was losing his mind all over again. "Why does she smell exactly like her?"

Sage opened his mouth. But Ronan wasn't listening. His gaze locked onto me again.

"Why," he whispered, "does everything about her match?"

He stepped closer again, dagger still in his hand.

"She has to be her."

The room tilted as I realized with absolute terror that It didn't matter if I wasn't the woman who destroyed him.

He wanted me to be.

He needed me to be.

And he wasn't going to let me go.