All Chapters of Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal: Chapter 141 - Chapter 150

(Leo Bloodstone POV)So what happened to my little brother?Well, this is what my father was able to piece together. While I tossed a football around with another alpha pup, Axel had been playing on the swings. He kept getting off of the swings and asking Beth for permission to play with the bunnies that he saw running wild in the forest behind us, but Beth would not let him.We could only guess that when Beth got distracted, he decided to chase after them anyway. Bunnies being bunnies, they likely led him on quite the chase. Axel was a pretty fast four-year-old, but he was also pretty clumsy. Tiny parts of his shirt were found deep into the forest, as though his shirt had snagged on them as he was running.Of course, as a four-year-old, Axel did not understand or appreciate pack boundaries. As a result, we suspect that he had no idea that he crossed through multiple packs on his little journey until it was much too late.Eventually, Axel ran into a small group of rogues. Normall

(Leo Bloodstone POV)I'll pause for a moment, because at this point in the story, I am sure that you are wondering two different things. First, how could I possibly memorize such a long letter after reading it just one time? In response to that question, I will say two things: 1) I am both a werewolf and an alpha, which means that I have all sorts of abilities that an average human does not have; and 2) you try forgetting a letter that explains so much of a tragedy that has impacted your entire life.Second, do I (or did I) have any sympathy for Warrior Ruben’s plight? Did/ does my father? The second question is as easy to answer as the first: No. Does that make us cruel and heartless? Maybe. But the a&&hole shot and killed a 4-year-old pup who was chasing after a f&&king bunny. I don’t care how scared Ruben was. I also do not care how young he was. There is a thing called a moral compass, and if Warrior Ruben had a functional one, he would have stopped to think about what

(Piper POV)It was now closing in on noon. My stomach was rumbling, meaning that my body was hungry, but I had no desire to eat. I was numb.It had been hours since I had been stuck in the panic room with Ingrid, Axel, and the nannies. Thankfully, it had also been hours since anyone talked to me. Once Ingrid said what she wanted to say, she left me alone to process it.And process it I did. Like poison.I knew deep down that she was lying about at least some of what she told me. But was any of what she said true? So much of what she said answered questions that I had. Was she such a good storyteller that she could identify questions that I never asked and answer them with stories that were 100% lies? Was anyone that good? I didn’t know.All I knew was that I trusted Leo. And I felt safe with him. And I loved him. Goddess, did I love him.But Ingrid had an answer for that too. She said that my engagement ring had been spelled by magic. That part I knew was true —Leo had

(Piper POV)After Leo leaves, I can feel the tears beginning to form in my eyes, but I fight them back. Like hell am I going to let Ingrid and Axel know that they have successfully broken me.Not that they don’t already know. It is pretty obvious that they do. Axel sticks his tongue out at me the moment that Leo is out of earshot, and Ingrid looks like she just won a billion dollars. At least the two nannies have the decency to have at least a little bit of sympathy in their eyes.As the four of them push past me to leave —presumably headed towards their rooms as Leo had directed— I find my feet stuck in place. I think a part of me hopes that if I stay in that same spot for long enough, I will wake up in my bed and find out that everything that has happened for the past six hours was just a nightmare.But then I hear Ingrid praise Axel, and for some reason, that is all it takes to bring me back to reality.“Mommy, did I do good?” Axel asks her, hopefully. “I tolded Pwetty Lady e

(Piper POV)It is now three o’clock in the afternoon. I have not heard from Leo or anyone else in hours. Standing up, I decide that enough is enough. Although I wanted to wait for Leo to come to me, at this point, this whole thing has become ridiculous. I am going to go find Leo, and we are going to talk everything out. He may be angry with me, and he may not want to talk to me, but we need to at least try.After all, we are supposed to be getting married tomorrow, and our wedding rehearsal is set to begin in just four short hours. Besides, if I spend even another minute trying to make sense of everything on my own, I am going to drive both myself and my wolf crazy. Even though I messed up, I deserve an opportunity to explain. I also deserve to get answers once and for all.No longer caring whether there are guards in the hallway, I storm out of the panic room on a mission. (To my surprise, there aren’t any guards around.) I go straight to Leo’s bedroom, but after knocking a