Chapter 400: Apparition
"Did he really share your bed last night?" a male voice found Violet in the darkness of her cell, and she shivered.
"What?" she asked, her own voice trembling such that the question barely made it past her lips.
Who was here? Sam had led her past one guard, through the dungeon, and into the cell where she was now huddled on the floor, replaying what she had just proclaimed aloud to the whole pack and wondering if it was worth it—if she had reached anybody. Was she a worthy messenger? It had all happened so fast, and it didn’t cause quite the uproar that she had hoped.
Now the surprise of an unknown male voice was here, whispering as if he was right next to her even though there was no one near. She hadn’t seen anyone else in the dungeon along the way. As far as she knew, Pearce was the only other prisoner here, and he hadn’t heard what she just said to the whole pack. Who could this be? Or was she hearing voices now?
"Did the Alpha share your bed last night?" the question was enunciated more clearly, each word punctuated with the threat of anger in its wake that never quite materialized.
"Yes," she breathed in response to the disembodied voice. It was not a lie. He had been in her bed.
A snarl echoed off the walls of her cell, and she curled into herself, clutching the sweater that was around her shoulders.
"Did you sleep with him?" the anger was barely restrained to allow the question to materialize.
Violet whimpered. That voice was definitely coming from inside her cell, but she didn’t understand how that was possible. Who was haunting her?
"No, no. Not last night. Of course not. I-I’m... I c-can barely allow anyone to touch me," she stuttered, coming out with the truth that seemed imperative now in the face of this faceless threat.
"Why did you suggest it then?" it growled.
"I-I am t-trying to get them t-to s-see..." she stumbled on her words.
"Is my female really this weak?" another snarl ripped through the cell, and this time the male it belonged to appeared right out thin air. It was him—the one with the golden eyes from her nightmares. He was some kind of apparition, but he looked so real—with a dark cloak around his shoulders and wavy blonde hair falling near his chin. It was him.
Violet’s eyes grew as wide as saucers as they remained locked on his, and she scuttled back into the corner, lips quivering as she searched for a sound or words, but nothing was coming. Nothing coherent would work its way into her mind.
It didn’t make sense. He was a horrible memory. He was a nightmare, but now here he was in her cell. Had he been in here before she arrived? Was he hiding in the shadows waiting to pounce? Had he drifted through the wall like some kind of ghost? But ghosts don’t bite. Ghosts don’t mark lycans. Ghosts don’t have those otherworldly eyes that look like two hot suns scorching the victims of their gaze.
"W-who are you?" she finally asked, not wanting to know but wondering all the same. He was here for her. That much was clear.
"Apparently I am your mate," he replied, looming closer. "Do you know what that means?"
"No, you can’t be," she swallowed, licking her lips afterward and noticing how his eyes narrowed in on the little action. "You can’t be," she repeated, this time the edge of hysteria making its way into her voice.
He threw his arms out. "I don’t make the rules. And I certainly didn’t request a mate. If I had, it wouldn’t be one as pathetic as the female I see before me."
"Leave me, then. Leave me alone," she whimpered. "I don’t want you for a mate either."
"Why? Are you waiting for the Alpha to realize you are who he is meant to be with?" he smirked, his head tilting to the side as his eyes remained narrowed on her. "I can tell that is what you wish."
"No, that is not what I wish," she lied, hands fluttering over the sweater as she tried to tighten it more, but the fabric was straining against her attempts.
The male laughed. It was a small, dry laugh at first, but then it grew... echoing off the walls of her cell just as his snarl had. "You do not even lie well, little one," he chuckled. "Why would you pine away for him when he is mated to another? I can feel your emotions as if they are my own, and it is sad. I have not felt so pathetic and sad in a long time."
"I don’t know what kind of disgusting creature or witch you are, but you are not my mate. I refuse to be mated to you. That was the worst night of my life," her voice trembled again, recalling how she had been attacked first by the lycans and then by him. "Worse than when I lost our Alpha’s child."
The twin suns in his eyes flamed larger, and for a moment she thought that he was going to attack her again. "You carried his child?" he asked, the ice of his voice contrasting with the fire in his eyes.
"Yes," she replied, jutting her chin out. "I should have been the Luna of this pack. That is the truth. It was taken from me by an outsider. She is not our true Luna just as you are not my true mate."
"And if I kill your Alpha, what then?" he asked, leaning closer to her—close enough that he could smell the wildflowers in her hair.
"You cannot kill him," she suddenly laughed, surprising him. Was she this foolish? To be brave enough to laugh in his face about what he was capable of as a male? "If you kill him, then sure—I will accept you as my mate. But it will never happen. He is stronger than any male I have ever known."
"You have not known me," he snarled, "but you will." And then just as quickly as he appeared, he vanished with a final flourish of his black cape—an apparition that returned to the air from which it came.
