All Chapters of The Alpha's Proxy Bride : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Scout’s POV"Walk faster or I will drag you by your hair," the sentinel snarled.His fingers clamped down on my bicep like iron pincers. He didn't care about the bruises he was leaving. Behind me, the other guard shoved me forward, his palm flat against my shoulder blade. They weren't just doing their jobs. They were enjoying this. Every time my feet stumbled on the uneven stone floor, they yanked me upright with enough force to rattle my teeth.The silver shackles around my wrists were the worst part. They didn't just feel heavy. They felt alive and angry. A constant, searing heat radiated from the metal, biting deep into my skin. It felt like the silver was reaching inside me, trying to grab my wolf by the throat and squeeze. I could feel her whimpering, pacing in the back of my mind, desperate to get away from the poison."Pathetic omega," the one on my left muttered. "She tries to kill the Alpha and we still have to give her a bed. If it were up to me, she would be hanging from th

Scout’s POV"Twenty-three hours, forty minutes," I whispered to the damp stone.The silence of the cell didn’t answer. I leaned my head back, feeling the grit of the wall dig into my scalp. Every breath was a chore. My ribs felt like they were being squeezed by a vice, a dull ache that matched the rhythmic throb in my chest. That was the mate bond. It felt like a fresh bruise, purple and tender, pulsing with a life of its own. I tried to pull my mental shutters down, desperately attempting to lock my pain behind a wall of cold iron. If I could feel him, he could feel me. And I refused to let Alpha Nixon know he was winning.I was failing. My energy was gone, and the shield was full of holes.On the other side of that invisible link, his presence felt like a storm. I could taste his bitterness. It was sharp, like metal on the tongue. His anger hit me in waves, heavy enough to make me want to curl into a ball on the moth-eaten cot and disappear. But I stayed upright. Giving him the sigh

Scout’s POV"Do you actually think I won't kill you?"Nixon spoke the words like a promise. He stood by the bars of my cage, his boots heavy against the cold floor. The sound was slow and steady, intended to make me sweat. When he finally turned the key, the metal groaned. It was a harsh, screaming sound that told me to run, but I stayed where I was. I sat on the thin mattress and watched him walk into my small space.The air in the cell changed the moment he stepped inside. It felt like he took up all the oxygen. Every time I inhaled, I felt like I was stealing air from his lungs. His eyes were like a winter storm, sharp and freezing, looking right through me. He was searching for a reason to snap.I tilted my chin up. "I know you won't."He let out a short, dry laugh. It sounded like glass breaking. "You claim to be so obsessed with me that you forced this marriage. If that is true, you should know what I am. Do you think the mate bond saves you? Reach out. Feel the bond and tell me

Scout’s POV"I am coming there tomorrow to tell Alpha Nixon the whole truth," Harmoni said.The silence that followed was heavy. I gripped the phone until my knuckles turned white, staring at the peeling wallpaper of my new prison. His voice sounded thin and distant, like it was coming from another lifetime instead of just across the border. I waited for the punchline. I waited for him to laugh or tell me this was just another part of the game he and Simone were playing with my life."Why would you bother?" I asked. My voice was flat, devoid of the warmth I used to give him so freely. "You got exactly what you wanted, Harmoni. Simone is far away from here, and I am the one wearing the collar. Mission accomplished. Why come back now?""Scout, please. It is not like that," he stammered."Then what is it like?" I shifted on the edge of the mattress. The silk of the borrowed nightgown hissed against my skin, a sound too expensive for a girl who had just been hauled out of a dungeon. "Beca

Simone’s POV"Us?" Harmoni asked, his fingers snapping around my wrist like a trap. "There is no us. You made that perfectly clear the last time we spoke."He held me firm. The skin of my arm went white under the pressure of his grip. I didn’t pull away. Instead, I let my breath hitch, forcing a shimmer of moisture to coat my eyes. They weren't real tears, not yet, but he didn't need to know that. He just needed to see the fragile girl I was pretending to be."I was being realistic," I said, my voice cracking at just the right pitch. "I was trying to shield myself from what’s coming. From the second my father signs me away to some Alpha I’ve never met. I was trying to survive losing everything."Harmoni’s jaw tightened. "But Scout and Nixon...""Scout is a different story," I snapped, cutting him off before he could find his logic. "We made that happen. We pulled the strings. Besides, Nixon is a man. Men in this pack get to choose their lives. I don't get that luxury."I let a single