Fated - Forever #2 (Sample of Published Book)

Chapter 1 - Part 2

Keri

They had been forgotten about until Scarlett had moved here and started school a few weeks ago. When he saw a picture I'd taken of Scarlett, he'd known straightaway that the woman he'd obsessed over and murdered had somehow had a daughter he hadn't known about.

His obsession had started all over again but this time it had been fixed on Scarlett. I hadn't been able to understand it. He'd started a war to crush the surrounding packs to ensure that Cade wouldn't be able to find support with them when my father took Scarlett away from him by force. He'd wanted to kill Cade to ensure that Scarlett would only belong to him.

But his plan had failed and in the end Scarlett had killed him. One of the packs that her parents had belonged to had fought with Cade and Blake to fight off the attack by Victor.

I didn't know why she wasn't angry.

"I couldn't imagine what it would have been like to grow up with a father like Victor," she said quietly. My eyes lifted to hers. There was sympathy in her eyes.

I pressed my lips together. She had no idea what I'd been through. What Victor had done to her had only been a glimpse of the life that I'd led beneath his iron fist.

I'd gotten close to Scarlett, probably closer than I had with any other person, but it didn't make me trust her. I'd been taught to never trust anyone. What was she trying to accomplish? I didn't believe for one moment that there wasn't some hidden agenda behind this conversation. Was she trying to get information from me that she could use against me?

"Why didn't you just run away?" she asked softly as her eyes held mine.

She had no idea the hold that Victor had over me. I would have done anything he'd asked, anything.

She wanted me to confide in her the reason I stayed with a psychotic monster that made every day of my life miserable. Even suicide hadn't been an option, and I'd contemplated it on more than one occasion, but there had been no escape from the nightmare of my life, not even death.

"I'm still your friend," she said softly. "And despite everything, I still care about you."

I couldn't believe that, not after everything that had happened. It had to be a lie. My own mate couldn't even look at me without hatred. How could I expect anyone else to feel differently?

"I know that you did it because of Victor," she tried to explain to me.

She was right but that didn't make me feel any less guilty about what had happened. I held her gaze without betraying the swirl of emotions that pulled at my heart. Feeling and caring for people gave the enemy something to use against you. I wouldn't allow that to happen. The person who had the most power to hurt me had turned his back on me. It was a good thing we hadn't touched yet. When mates touched, the connection of feelings was made and it would have been crushing for me to deal with the rejection.

"I know you still care about Blake," she prodded further.

I didn't want to talk about him.

"I know you were lying when you said you didn't care if Blake died as well."

I remained silent. It had been a lie. I cared for Blake even though I hadn't known at the time he was my mate. His death would have hurt. If Victor had found out how much I cared for Blake, he would have killed him just to teach me a lesson. It would have been a weakness to exploit.

Victor had raised me to take over the alpha role and I was more than capable of doing the job. All I wanted was for them to release my pack and I so we could go back to our territory. I was worried about the pack. From the snippets of information I'd been receiving from my pack through the mind-link, we'd sustained quite a few losses.

While the attack had taken place I'd been with Curtis, another one of my father's implants, delivering a sedated Scarlett to my father. The attack had also been a diversion to keep Cade busy so he wouldn't notice that Curtis, who he'd thought was a trusted human, had actually kidnapped Scarlett right from under his nose.

Blake and Cade had combined their packs to fight effectively. Cade had retained the alpha title because his pack had been bigger. Blake had taken the title of beta. But there was no way Blake's and Cade's packs could have fought us off. I'd found out another neighboring pack, the full moon pack that was run by an alpha named Kyle who was also Scarlett's cousin, had shown up at the last minute to help. But even that wouldn't have given them the numbers to tip the battle in their favor. The decision to allow females to fight had ensured their victory.

She let out a sigh. I knew she was starting to get annoyed because I wouldn't open up to her. Little did she know, I wasn't capable of being the person I'd pretended to be to fool her into a friendship.

"I want to help you," she said as she shifted slightly on the seat. Pain was visible in her features.

There was no point in having this conversation with her. It would mean nothing. Soon, I would leave and they could carry on with their lives. Any friendships or feelings had been made under a veil of betrayal that couldn't continue once the truth was out no matter how hard they tried. I was glad that I wouldn't have to face seeing Blake every day. It would kill me slowly to watch him move on with other girls.

"I tried to get Cade to release you and your pack members," she continued.

That surprised me. My father had been the one to attack but he was dead now and I didn't want to go to war with anyone. All I wanted to do was to get back home.

"But he isn't budging at the moment," she revealed as she scanned my features for some sort of reaction.

I could feel my agitation rise. I didn't have to say a word for her to know what I was thinking.

"With Victor, everyone knew where they stood, but with you, they aren't sure and it's making them nervous," she revealed.

So that was the reason for this little conversation, I thought to myself. She wasn't trying to be a friend, she was trying to get me to open up to her so she could manipulate me. I wouldn't allow them to dictate the terms of my release. My pack was bigger, I had more power. There was nothing she could say that would reach the person she thought had been her friend. This conversation as far as I was concerned was over. When I stood up and I saw the surprise in Scarlett's features, I walked over to the bars that separated us and held her gaze.

"I'm not your friend," I stated calmly. I wouldn't allow my emotions free rein. "I never was."

I could see the hurt in her eyes as she reacted to my words. The more I hurt her, the more likely she was to forget about me and move on. It was better for everyone.

"It was my job to fit in and get information for my father. I was good at it, but it's over. I don't care about any of you," I stated firmly. She knew I was referring to Blake as well even though I hadn't said those exact words. "Tell Cade I want to talk to him."

I needed to get out of here so I could get back to my pack. They needed me and, as their alpha, it was my job to take care of them. I saw the determined glint in her eye but I turned my back on her and walked back to the bed. Finally, Scarlett stood up and with one last look she shuffled out of the room. I let out a sigh of relief as I sat back down on the bed. I rested my head against my knees as I pulled them up to my chest.