Chapter 5

Author’s POV…

 

It hurt so much seeing what he did to her father. Growing up, despite how badly her father treated her, Alexa never thought she would shed this much tears seeing he was no more. Alexa still loved her dad, despite his ill-treatment towards her, and now, he was gone.

 

She couldn’t control herself from weeping so hard in front of Logan. She didn’t care what he thought. Alexa had just lost someone valuable to her, and she needed to express her grief for the last time she would see him.

 

Then she heard his threatening words.

 

“You can cry from now till tomorrow, Lexie. That will not make me feel any pity for you. In fact, your tears will only make me give you more punishment. Maybe you will even cry harder after then.”

 

Those words sounded so familiar; they reminded her of the kind of life she had back in the blue scorpion pack house when Alexa would do something wrong, or rather, something her father thought wrong. Depending on his mood, he might go as far as nearly beating her to death. Alexa would lay on the ground, bleeding, crying, praying that she would just close her eyes and never wake up again.

 

Then her father would say:

 

“Cry all you want, Alexa. It will not make me feel any sorry for you, in fact, I will even hit you twice as hard so you can cry even more, you murderer!”

 

Alexa used to hear those words all the time. Then, she would remind herself of the day she would come of age, the day she would leave this place to be with her mate, the day she would not have to endure such torture any longer. Alexa could only hope for that day, and so that was what gave her strength.

 

In the words that were supposed to hurt her the most, the words that were supposed to make her feel like it was worthless to carry on, those were the words Alexa used to encourage herself that it would get better one day.

 

So, those words were like a default setting for her. When Alexa heard those words from her oppressor, she would look him squarely in the eye and tell him with her expression that no matter how hard you tried to break her, you would never succeed because no matter what, Alexa would always keep fighting.

 

And that was how she faced Logan after he said those words to her. Her reaction shocked him, and she was probably expecting some slaps or a punch in the nose like her father would whenever she gave him that bold face. Instead, he surprised her, dropping the knife he held to the ground.

 

“Simon!” He called.

 

Another handsome young man with the same build as Logan entered her dungeon room. He had a dominating presence, much less than the alpha but significantly more than that of an ordinary omega. Alexa could tell that he was the beta.

 

“Yes, alpha Logan?” Simon answered him as he entered.

 

He motioned his head, referring to the open box and the blood-stained sword. “Get someone to clean that up,” he ordered before leaving her dungeon room.

 

After Beta Simon carried out the instructions, Alexa was left all alone in her dungeon room, back to the cold floor, and back to her lonely thoughts. She recalled what had just happened with Logan. For a second there, he appeared helpless on what to do. It almost seemed as if she had some control over him.

 

Alexa thought of the way she responded to his words, maybe she shouldn’t have, but it wasn’t her fault; it wasn’t something she could control. And besides, Logan needed to know that she was innocent; she was not meant to be here. Alexa had no involvement nor say in any of the things her father did. It was meaningless for him to be keeping her here.

 

***

 

Logan didn’t know why the goddess would wish him such bad luck by mating him with her, but just like the day his parents died, life is filled with things you don’t expect.

 

She sounded so innocent. He wanted to believe her. He almost believed her, but not until he realized that these might just be acts of hers to make him feel sorry for her. The apple never falls far from the tree, and as far as he is concerned, anyone so close to Danister would be just as evil and corrupted as he was.

 

After seeing what remained of her father, she wept uncontrollably. It was hard to say anything else to her as all her sobbing noises filled the dungeon room. How was he supposed to threaten and terrorize her with his words if she kept crying like that?

 

Logan needed to let her know that crying would not get her far in this new life she found herself in, so he let out those words.

 

“You can cry from now till tomorrow, Lexie. That will not make me feel any pity for you. In fact, your tears will only make me give you more punishment, maybe you will even cry harder after then.”

 

After hearing his voice, she suddenly wiped her tears, raising her head to face him squarely, boldly. It was strange; Logan never said any words of encouragement to her, and yet, she somehow found strength in his words.

 

***

 

As he exited the dungeon, Logan tried to think about what had just happened back there. He didn’t know what to do when she stared at him like that. It was like he was lost in the admiration of her strength and boldness.

 

Damn this mate bond!

 

In normal circumstances, a prisoner would not dare to do what Lexie had just done. Logan was meant to punish her severely, but he didn’t know why he felt helpless in those two seconds she stared at him.

 

With no other option, and to avoid standing there looking stupid, he quickly called Simon in to clear up the mess.

 

He thought about the things she said as he walked, the reason her pack members treated her that way. Could they be true? It would seem absurd for wolves to think that an infant could be responsible for killing its mother, but in the blue scorpion pack, you just never know.

 

Logan still didn’t trust her or anything she said or tried to make him believe, despite the bond he shared with her. He had good reason not to, as he could never trust anything that came from the seed of Danister.

 

At the dungeon gates, he met the new guards who had just taken over the morning shift from the night guards. They had the longest shifts and, therefore, would be seeing more of the prisoners.

 

Logan called them before he finally left the gates of the prison.

 

“There’s a new prisoner,” he told them. “I’m sure you all are aware of our victory against the blue scorpion pack last night. We have killed Danister, and now it remains his daughter who is left behind in this prison.”

 

“Yes, sire. We are all aware of that,” they told her.

 

“I want you to be careful of her. She might seem innocent, but don’t believe anything she tries to put on for you to show her mercy. Treat her no different from the other rugged prisoners. Do you understand me?”

 

“Yes, sire,” they all chorused.

 

And then Logan left the prison. Kara would be in her room by now. He didn’t want to keep her waiting there for too long.