Chapter 3 LOCK HER UP IN A CELL

Bella's POV

My eyes locked onto his, my heart pounding against my rib cage. And just like I had predicted, his left hand collided with my right cheek, the sound resonating through the spacious room.

My eyes fluttered shut involuntarily and I let out a shriek, not daring to utter anything more, silencing the cries that were at the tip of my tongue. I knew better than to show any signs of weakness.

Five years later and everything was still the same, just how I remembered it.

I opened my eyes, slowly meeting his gaze this time. His dark grey eyes blared in fury and I knew this slap was only the start of it.

“Who on earth do you think you are?” He asked, bobbing his head to the side, his brows drawn together in rage.

The answer to the question was really simple. In Moonlight Pack, I was a nobody. It hurt to even think it, but it was true.

“You seem to forget that you're nobody here, Bella.” He took a step towards me and I took one back.

“You seem to have forgotten that I took pity on you, and raised you!” He raised his voice an octave higher, the suddenness of it causing me to flinch. “All I have asked of you in return, was to get married to the soon-to-be Alpha of Carteretmouth Pack and you dare to call off your engagement with him!”

He thundered, the veins in his forehead ticking like time-bombs waiting to explode.

I remained silent, waiting for the remaining of the verbal lashing before he would continue with the physical ones. It was a routine I was well accustomed with.

“You seem to forget that you are wolfless! Useless! Max was doing you a favor! Heck, he was doing this pack a favor by agreeing to marry a wolfless pack and you seem to think you're the moon goddess because, how much more stupid can you be!”

I have a wolf! I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell them that I wasn't useless, I wanted to show them that I was just as powerful, that I held just as much worth as they did, but I couldn't.

With Nina's reminder constantly ringing in my mind, I let out a sigh. It wasn't yet time.

“I have never asked anything of you! All I want is that you get married to Max and I'm sorry but you don't have a choice.” The anger in his eyes was suddenly replaced with mischief. It unsettled me.

“I have a choice.” I replied, my voice unwavering. I wasn't going to let him decide who I spent the rest of my life with. I had already been through so much and now, I deserved to be happy.

I watched as the corner of his lips tugged up into a smile, one that was daunting. He took another two steps towards me and this time I didn't move.

“Of course you do, Bella. I can see that you've grown wings.” He was referring to how I had spoken up for myself and I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

“But,” he drawled, his gaze scruntinating. “You either marry Max, or I cut off Cora's medical expenses.”

I stumbled backwards a bit like I was shoved, my eyes widening in shock. “You can't do that.”

Cora was his wife. How could one man be so cruel. She needed this treatment to survive, to live. He would rather let her die if I refused to marry Max for his selfish reasons.

“Oh, yes I can. You've been away for five years and you lost your memory already? I'm the Alpha of this pack! And I do as I chooses!” His hit his chest as he spoke, his eyes never leaving mine.

I had just graduated from medical college. I didn't have nearly enough to fund Mother's health expenses. I let out a sigh.

“You will marry Max. Am I clear?”

I said nothing and he moved closer in a bid to intimidate me into saying yes, but I still remained silent.

“Are you mute?” He simultaneously raised his hand to slap me but was interrupted when somebody spoke.

“Alpha. Max is here with his future Luna.”

Future Luna. It was that woman.

I had expected Grey to be upset. Anything but the genuine smile that was now dancing on his lips. Weird.

He stepped away from me, straightening out the invisible creases on his outfit before following his beta out of the room with me curiosly trailing behind them.

“Alpha Grey.” Max acknowledged as we walked into the room, a ghost smile playing on his lips and for a second his eyes met mine before he very quickly looked away.

As each second passed, it was becoming really hard to fight the urge to lurch forward and claw out his eyes. The bastard.

“Max.” Grey smiled easily, pulling Max into a hug. “It's really nice to see you again.”

“Likewise.” Max replied, pulling the woman he brought along—the very same woman—to his side, his hands resting firmly on her waist as he pretended like she was absent in the room.

I hated to admit that it still stung to watch him with someone else.

“This is—”

“Layla, your future Luna.” Grey completed the sentence for him and I couldn't help but wonder how he knew her.

My forehead creased as I tried to figure out what new shenenigan was going on here.

“Bella, prepare some fruits and cups of tea for our guests.” Grey spoke without sparing me a glance. I sighed for the umpteenth time and headed for the kitchen.

I filled a pot with water and set it on the cooker, and as I turned around to continue cutting watermelons, I spotted Layla standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

“How pathetic is it that you're a slave in your own pack.” I didn't give her a reply. Instead I focused on cutting the watermelons into perfect squares.

The sound of her heels colliding with the tiled floors was the indication that she was slowly approaching me. “It must hurt to see me with the man you love.” She continued to ramble on. “It must hurt to know that I'm the true Luna of the pack and not you.”

I wanted to tell her so badly that she was so desperate for my leftover because clearly I had rejected Max but I couldn't.

“You don't know me and I don't know you, yet you feel so threatened by me?” I asked the slender and tall blonde with my head slightly bobbed to the side.

“You are the one who's supposed to be jealous of me.” She retorted defensively, and a smile involuntarily touched my lips.

“And it drives you crazy that I'm not,” I replied, letting my shoulders rise and fall in a casual shrug.

On cue, she held my arm in a tight grip, standing toe to toe with me and in a flash the anger in her eyes was replaced with an emotion I couldn't name. Something sinister.

“It doesn't have to be like this, Bella. I'm only trying to be nice.” She said in an oddly loud voice, leaving me confused because there were only two of us in the room. She didn't need to be so loud.

One moment she was standing toe to toe with me, and the next, she fell to the ground with a loud thud, a shriek eluding her lips.

I hadn't pushed her. Instead, she threw herself on the ground. In that moment, Max and Grey walked in and I finally understood the picture Layla was trying to paint. She succeeded.

Max crouched down and Grey came at me with anger filled eyes. He latched his fingers around my throat, squeezing. I shut my eyes close, gasping for air.

“How dare you humiliate my guests!” His voice resonated through the quote kitchen and from the corner of my eyes, I could see Layla's victorious smirk.

I wanted to speak. To tell them that I hadn't done anything, but I was struggling to breathe with the way Grey was restricting my airways, strangling me.

“Guards!” He called out and in a matter of seconds, three men that looked larger than life itself trooped into the kitchen.

“Lock her up in a cell.” He told them, hauling me at their feet. “Maybe spending a day or twenty in there will teach you a lesson for good.”

I was pulled up from the ground and pulled mercilessly by two hefty men—with my legs barely touching the floor—to a cell in the dungeon.

~~~

“Psst, Bella.” I blinked my eyes open, my vision still hazy from the deep sleep I had fallen into.

“Bella.” The voice called again and I turned in the direction of the sound to see a shadowy figure crouched down at the other side of the cell.

I hesitantly moved towards the shadow and when I was close enough, she took of the shawl. It was Cora.

“Mother.” I whispered, reaching out to hold her hand. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to get you out.” She replied and shook my head in defiance.

“No. I can't let you get in trouble because of me.”

“I'm not going to get into trouble, Bella. But, you need to leave here as soon as possible.” She said rising to her feet, then she unlocked the cell.

When I came out, she handed me a phone and a purse. “It's money. It's not a lot, but it's something.” She said and a tear dropped from my eyes. I pulled her into a hug and she hugged me back, Rubin g her hands over the length of my back.

“Get out of here.” She urged, but I was reluctant.

“Grey…”

“Grey won't kill me, Bella.” She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

“I promise I'll be back to get you out of this hellhole.” And with that, I ran without looking back.

Just as soon as I left the territories, my phone buzzed in my hand. I took a look and it was an unknown number. Reluctantly, I hit the green icon and raised it to my ear.

“Hello,” I spoke, my voice almost a whisper.

“Hey, Bella. It's your brother speaking. There's a private jet close by to pick you up. It's time for you to come back home.”

Before I could ask questions, the line went dead.

What new game is life playing with me?