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He shrugs. “Nothing. You just…you’ve changed, Gunnar.”
“And do you have a problem with that?”
I’m bristling, feeling like we were hurtling toward this from the outset. A fight over Aisling—over who would be the true alpha of our pack. She’s put herself in danger too many times, though, and it seems like Oberon is more than willing to accept that.
I’m not.
I never will be again.
“No problem at all,” Oberon says. “Let’s get going.”
Chapter nineteen
Aisling
I whip my head around to look at my father, who’s standing completely silent behind me. He’s got his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes cast down at the floor, and Irving’s hand is still on my wrist, and…
“You can’t let them do this,” I hiss. “I’m the May Queen—“
“You’re an omega,“ my father spits, shaking his head. He still won’t look at me. “Not even my daughter…just a thing to be fucked and used.”
“The people won’t allow it,” I start, but Lianna comes around to my other side, grabbing me by the elbow. Her sharp nails bite into my skin, her smile sadistic.
“The people are in our pocket,” she says. “Those privileged enough to live on our island know they’re lucky to be here—lucky to have mates of their own, plenty of food, shelter. And they have a new patron saint…me.”
“This isn’t your island,” I snarl at her. “It’s mine!”
“It hasn’t been yours in a long, long time,” my father says. He opens the door we came through and a group of alpha guards come in, their expressions blank. “Take her downstairs.”
I struggle as Lianna and Irving pass me over to the guards, the group of them following in our footsteps. It’s no use—as I know well, these men are stronger than me, unwilling to give me an inch. I scream as I’m dragged forward, not taking any steps to follow but brought along all the same.
In a sick subversion of everything my grandmother built, the entrance to the lab is behind a large mural of the tree of life at the back of the sanctuary, a spiral staircase descending down, down, down. My knees and shins start to bleed as they force me down the stairs and along a bright corridor, my body stiff as I fight them for every step.
“Let me go!” I scream.
They do as I ask eventually—albeit, not at all how I wanted. We reach a holding cell in the sterile white facility and they practically toss me in, a plexiglass door sliding shut and locking behind me.
I whip around and bang my fists on the door, raging at my father, Lianna, Irving…
“You motherfucker!” I spit out. “This is why mom left you. You’re a fucking monster…”
They just stare, not caring.
Just watching.
Then I understand what they’re waiting for.
A growl sounds from behind me…then a familiar—but wrong—scent. I go as still as humanly possible, then I turn around.
There are eyes in the dark.
Green eyes sparkle in the light from the corridor, reminding me of another night in a city far away. I’ve seen this look before—on Oberon, when he was set loose on Vance’s house.
Somehow, I know this is worse.
It’s weird when you see someone you know lose their mind. You can still see the person you know…but the eyes aren’t right, the features off.
The man taking a step out of the darkness looks like Luka, sure.
