The Alpha's Silent Bride: Seventh Time's The Charm

Chapter 87: 087: His Mate... Or mine?

~ RONAN ~

I wake up early, determined to put Mara exactly where she belongs. As much as I want to banish her from the pack, she hasn’t done enough to deserve that punishment. Her first offense cost her rank. Her second has landed her in the dungeon. If she’s foolish enough to commit a third, I won’t hesitate to banish her for good.

What weighs on my mind isn’t Mara, though. It’s the strange chemical Dr. Elias and Irina still haven’t been able to identify. If Warren truly has no idea what it is, then who would go through the trouble of creating a substance designed specifically to suppress Roselle’s wolf? Why target her? What was the purpose? Too many questions crowd my mind as I walk beside Roselle back to our room.

"For any reason, have you ever thought about why someone would want your wolf suppressed?" I ask, once we’ve settled on the couch.

Her face settles into a thoughtful frown as she searches her memory.

Those hazel eyes finally lift to meet mine. "I don’t know. Aside from Warren and Nova... I can’t think of anyone else. No one," she says quietly.

I let out a slow breath as I study her face.

I wouldn’t put it past Warren because I know he wanted her dead, but I’ve been an Alpha long enough to know when someone is lying and when they’re telling the truth. When I confronted him, I didn’t sense deception. Whatever faults Warren has, I don’t believe he created that chemical. He simply doesn’t have the mind for something like that.

"I don’t think it was Warren," I say quietly, and Roselle’s expression narrows to confusion.

"I... I was going to leave all of this behind," she says softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"But Dr. Morrison told me the best way to heal from trauma is to talk about it."

Her gaze lowers before continuing.

"Warren didn’t actually want me dead. It’s against pack law to kill a royal — only a royal can kill a royal. He might have done horrible things... like locking me in a pitch-black cell where I didn’t see sunlight for almost a year. He’d leave me there for days with barely enough food or water to survive. Sometimes he’d order the guards to keep me awake all night by throwing freezing water over me whenever I closed my eyes. Other times, he’d chain me to the wall for hours just to prove I couldn’t escape. He’d tell me no one was coming for me... that I’d been forgotten... that I was worthless and would never be loved by anyone."

She swallows hard, her voice trembling.

"And whenever I tried to fight back... he’d make sure I regretted it."

My entire body goes rigid, fury surging through my veins like wildfire. Kael snarls inside me, his rage crashing against my own. Why the hell didn’t she tell us? If I’d known... I wouldn’t have settled for taking Warren’s fingers. I would’ve taken his damn leg instead.

"You... he did what?" I ask, my voice dangerously quiet.

"The worst part was that he made me believe it was all my fault," she says, her voice trembling. "He convinced me I deserved everything he did to me. That I was lucky anyone was willing to keep me around. He told me that if he ever rejected me, in front of everyone, I would die alone. That no one would ever want me. That no pack would ever accept me. That I would be... nothing."

She lifts her gaze to mine, tears spilling freely down her cheeks.

"But... you wanted me anyway," she whispers.

My heart shatters.

I pull her into my arms, holding her against my chest as tightly as I can, trying to smother the murderous rage threatening to consume me. Because I’m one second away from marching straight to Westbrook and finishing what I should’ve started.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" I ask after a long silence, my voice softer now.

She lets out a shaky breath.

"I was going to... eventually," she murmurs. "But I didn’t trust you back then. I thought you were going to send me away too. I kept telling myself it wouldn’t change anything... that talking about it wouldn’t make any difference."

I cup her face, forcing her to look at me.

"He was wrong about everything," I say, my voice firm enough to leave no room for doubt. "You are not worthless. You are not a burden. You are not broken. You are the most precious person in my world, Roselle, and I would burn this entire realm to ashes before I let anyone hurt you again."

She buries her face in my chest, and I feel her shoulders tremble as quiet sobs break free. I tighten my arms around her, silently making a promise. No one will ever lay a hand on her again.

I let out a slow breath, still savoring the silence with her tucked safely in my arms.

"For some reason," I begin, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, "Kael was convinced you were my mate the very first time we met. Even now... the stubborn idiot still isn’t completely convinced you’re not."

The words leave my mouth before I can stop them, and almost immediately I realize how ridiculous they sound, especially after everything we’ve just talked about.

Her brows knit together.

A deep frown settles on her face, as though my words have stirred something buried deep in her thoughts.

"Does Ethan have a mate?" she asks suddenly.

"What?"

For a second, I’m not sure what catches me more off guard, the question itself or how abruptly she changes the subject.

"Does Ethan have a mate?" she repeats.

"I heard you," I reply with a confused chuckle. "I’m just trying to figure out how we went from talking about Kael to Ethan." I study her expression before answering. "No... at least, not that I know of. Why?"

She hesitates, chewing lightly on her bottom lip.

"Because..." she says quietly, lifting her eyes to meet mine, "...he thinks I’m his mate."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Every muscle in my body locks.

"What did you just say?" I ask, my voice dropping into a deadly calm.