JONAH

        “Just you and me now my friend. Are you ready to talk?” the pup smirked and the look sent chills down my spine. He grabbed the chair from the middle of the room and sat directly in front of me. I knew I was in the shit before he even said anything else to me.

        I knew I could manipulate Ellie and I could break her down. I had the power to break her down and there was nothing she could do about it because she was powerless to prevent the plan we had in motion.

        I had nothing on this kid. He may have been Charlotte’s mate but he didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact he was in the same room as I was. I couldn’t threaten him or even tell him I had something which was going to break him because it was all a lie.

        I was, for the first time since Charl came up with this plan, totally defenceless and I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do. There wasn’t a chance in hell of me talking my way out of this situation and there was even less chance of me making it out of here alive.

        “Come now Jonah. Don’t go all silent on me. You seemed to have so much to say before,” he chuckled darkly when I didn’t say anything to him. He was definitely enjoying this a little too much for my liking.

        “I have nothing to say,” I managed to breath out confidently despite the fact I was sure he could sense the fear radiating from my body.

        “Look. Here’s how this is going to work,” he replied as he stood up and pushed the chair across the room. He grabbed a set of keys from the table and unlocked the chains around my wrist but I knew better than to try to run for it. I wasn’t a total idiot. Once I was free from my bounds he resumed what he was saying, “you are going to answer all the questions I have for you and your death will be relatively quick and relatively painless. You ignore my questions and your death will be anything but quick and painless.”

        “So I die either way?” I asked.

        “You would be foolish to think I am letting you out of here alive. Not only did you impregnate my mate, join the sick plan to use me for your own gain and mess with my best friend. But you agreed to my mate’s plan of kidnapping my best friend’s pups and killing her mate. I won’t be satisfied until I have your blood,” he growled and this was the end of the line. I was going to die at the hands of a psychopath and all because I feel for a mated she-wolf and thought I actually had a chance of happy ending with her.

        It was stupid to think anything of this plan would succeed but it was worth a shot. Charl wanted revenge on her sister and Bradley too wanted revenge on Ellie. When the two of them joined forces, it was like we couldn’t possibly lose, like all the waiting was finally going to be worth it and we would be happy at the end of it all.

        “If you’re going to kill me then what’s to stop me from not answering your questions?” I dared to ask.

        “I have my ways Jonah. I will get what I want from you. And I don’t really care how I get it either,” he took a menacing step towards me so that I was forced against the wall. The pain from the injuries which Ellie had already inflicted upon my body stung like a bitch but I wasn’t going to let him see that.

        I had to be strong and I had to fight with whatever I had left. I couldn’t let him kill me when I had children to look after. I had two boys who were waiting for me and a women who loved me. I still had something worth fighting for.

        “And what of my family? What happens to them?”

        “Ah. Yes. Charlotte and the boys. Well, I couldn’t give a shit what happens to the bitch but the boys are mine. They know me as their father and that’s how it’s going to stay which is why I feel nothing but joy towards the thought of you being dead,” he smirked.

        I didn’t even know this side of the guy existed. Charlotte had told me that Luca rarely lost his temper and she had never encountered him when he let his wolf take over. He was always so calm and rationale about situations and he would always find ways to solve them without the need for violence.

        That certainly wasn’t the side I was seeing right here. I was seeing a guy who had no problem murdering me. I was seeing a guy who had such a sinister look in his eye that it was sending cold shivers over my entire body. I was seeing a guy with a soul so black that I don’t think there was a way back into the light.

        “But, the—“

        “Tell me Jonah. Do you actually know anything about those boys or do you only know what Charlotte wants you to know?”

        The question threw me off guard a little. I had only met the boys three times before and that was only because Charlotte told me it wasn’t safe for me to see them otherwise they would realise Luca wasn’t their father and that I was – she told me that she was protecting me and that she was keeping me safe from the wrath of Luca.

        “I—I—“

        “That’s what I thought. Daniel and Michael are my boys and there is nothing you can to change that. You will be dead and Charlotte will wish that she was dead so neither of you will be able to take them away from me,” Luca chuckled coldly.

        I knew now that it was too late. There was nothing I could do and I was going to die. I guess a part of me knew I was going to die when Ellie realised who I was and what I had done – that part of me also knew that getting involved with Charlotte was stupid in the first place and I should have walked away from her when I had the chance.

        I would be living my life and I would be getting on with it. Things would be a little more painful because I would never have really gotten over the death of my true mate but at least I would be alive and I would be able to get on with my life with the chance to fall in love properly. I would know what it was to be a father and there would be no need for to sneak around all the time.

        But it’s late for ‘what ifs’ now because the damage has been done. Luca and Ellie both know the truth so this is the end for little old me.

        “The twins are with Bradley on the outskirts of the territory. There is a wooden shack about five miles out and that’s where he has been hiding all this time,” I sighed in defeat. At least there was one good thing I could do with the last of my life.

        “I swear, if they so much as have a scratch on them,” Luca growled. He was still in my face and I could see the way his eyes were constantly switching between his normal colour and black as he continued to fight against his wolf.

        “Bradley doesn’t really want to kill them. He simply wants Ellie to think they’re dead so it makes her easier to kill. Bradley is going to raise the pups as his own and he is going to train them to be ruthless killers. They will become like his own personal weapon,” I admitted.

        The twins were stronger than your usual wolf because they had the blood of two Alphas in their system. They also had royal blood which made them all the more powerful – Maxwell would become even more powerful than his mother when the time came and he would have abilities which could either be used for evil or for good.

        Bradley would harness his powers for evil. If he was returned to Ellie then he powers would be used for nothing other than good because she is a wonderful women while Bradley is full of hatred.

        “And there do you fit into this plan?” Luca laughed mockingly.

        “I was just the distraction. My job was to divert suspicion away from Charlotte and to give the orders to the traitors within the pack,” I shrugged. I could feel the power of my wolf returning and the strength which he was giving me as he aided the healing process.

        The bruises Ellie had given me were now faded and the welts which had previously covered my wrists were now gone too. I was beginning to look more like a person rather than some deformed being who had never been allowed to see the light of day.

        Naturally, my wolf wanted to be set free so that he could take out Luca, but I knew that was pointless. He was the strongest wolf in this pack and he would be able to take me down before I had even fully shifted. If I was going to die at his hand then I was going to die as a human so that I still had a little of my dignity left.

        “There. It wasn’t all that difficult to tell me what I wanted to know. Was it?” Luca smirked. He took a step away from me and walked out of the room, returning a couple of seconds later with a silver blade and I immediately tried to fun for the door. But I was stopped by a wall of muscle on the other side.

        I looked up to see who I had run into and I saw that it was none other than Blake. He was fuming and with every reason to be.

        "Y—You li—lied,” I found myself panicking as Blake backed me into one of the walls and I was left with nowhere to go. Luca holding the silver blade and Blake on the verge of shifting left very limited options for me to actually take. “And what’s h—he do—oing here?”

        “I only lied when I said I was going to make your death quick and painless. I want you to suffer as you have made me suffer,” Luca shouted. He forced the blade into my shoulder and I screamed out in pain as he repeated the move three more times. The blade hitting the same spot every single time.

        “I to—old you w—what you want t—to know,” I screamed out. I didn’t care how weak I sounded right now. I wanted to be dead and I wanted to be dead now because this pain was unbearable and it was cruel.

        “You stole my mate,” Luca ground out as I felt a jolt in my side where he forced the knife and I could see my blood pooling at my feet as I moved my hand over the wound. He then forced the knife into my stomach and dragged it down before pulling it out and put it against my throat. His eyes were now charcoal and his claws were making an appearance. He put his lips against my ear and whispered, “you tried to steal my pups, murder my best friend and ruin my pack. You kidnapped two innocent children and you are one sick man.”

        “Ple—lease. Just k—kill me no—ow,” I begged as I felt my legs go from beneath me and I fell to the ground. Every part of my body ached and there was a harsh pain shooting in every direction around my body. I don’t know where the pain started and ended.

        “What do you think Blake? Do you think he’s suffered enough?” Luca asked Blake.

        “For having my pups kidnapped and trying to murder my mate? No. I don’t think he really understands what he has done,” Blake spat the words out as his foot came into contact with one of the wounds Luca had already inflicted upon my body. Even my wolf had given up the right now and was slipping away from me. I just wished that I could do the same because it would certainly be better than enduring this pain any longer.

        “I’m so—orry,” I choked out the words through the tears which were now covering my cheeks. I really was weak and I should have given them the answers they wanted earlier and maybe, just maybe, I would have escaped with being forced to live out the rest of my days in this cell with limited food and now contact with other wolves.

LUCA

        “I’m so—orry,” Jonah choked out the words. The poor guy had obviously never said those words before in his life but I didn’t give a fuck.

        Stabbing him with silver did nothing to relieve the anger and tension in my body. It didn’t make me feel in the slightest bit better about anything which had happened. And it didn’t make me hate him any less than I already did.

        The guy had single handedly ruined my life and didn’t even bother to stop. All he needed to do was stop and think, he would have been able to see that Charlotte was totally fucking mental and it was a terrible idea to follow through with any of her ideas. He should have known this is where it was always going to end.

        He is the reason I feel so god damn empty. He is the reason my wolf is both mourning and pissed. He is the reason my heart has shattered into a million different pieces and I don’t know how I am ever going to put it together again. He is the reason for everything which is happening now and he was foolish to believe I was actually going to go easy on him.

        Blake is just here because he wants to see that Jonah is brought to an end. He wants to see that the man who is behind his mate’s suffering is dead and know that he can never do the same thing to someone else again. He didn’t even want to get his hands dirty. He just wanted to watch as I took his life and I made him feel all the pain he had made feel.

        “Sorry doesn’t fucking cut it,” I sneered. I dropped the knife to the ground and pulled him from where he slumped by his throat. He was begging for death and that would come soon enough but not before he had done something for me.

        “This one is for Ellie,” Blake surprised me when he swung his fist and hit Jonah square in the face with some serious force. I was fairly certain that I heard a couple of bones break. And then he did the same thing and this time his nose broke which caused Jonah to howl out in further pain. “And that one was for kidnapping my children.”

        “You messed with the wrong people Jonah. Now, before I squeeze the last of the life from your pathetic body, I want you to give Bradley a message for me,” I ground out the words as I allowed my wolf to partially take over. I no longer felt pain when my canines emerged and I revelled in the feeling of my claws coming free as they dug slightly into Jonah’s neck.

        “Wh—hat?” he wheezed. He really was a shit excuse for a wolf. I know I am the strongest in the pack but he hasn’t even tried to fight me off. He simply let this happen to him and now even his wolf is beginning to fail him.

        “You tell that son-of-a-bitch to—“

        “Luca. Please,” I retreated slightly at the sound of her voice. The pain of her betrayal still too fresh for me to be around her. She was begging for the life of the man who had ruined me and I would have laughed had I not been so damn pissed off with her.

        “Don’t what? Don’t do this?” I seethed as I closed my hand around Jonah’s throat and Charlotte’s cries became ten times more desperate. “And why not?”

        “Because I love him,” she replied.

        “Aw. How sweet. I guess it’s only fair that you witness his death then,” I chuckled coldly and with one final squeeze the satisfying sound of Jonah’s neck snapping was like music to my ears. I dropped his body to the ground and walked away from it with an evil smirk now covering my face.

        She was the reason that had happened and she was the reason I hated her. If she wanted a reason for what just happened then all she needed to do was look in the mirror because the answer would be staring right back at her. The stupid bitch should have known better than to mess with me.

        “Jonah,” she screamed. She ran to his body and cradled him in her arms as her tears covered the corpse.

        “He got what he deserved. No one messes with my family,” Blake growled. I could see that he was fighting with himself as he looked at Charlotte and I knew him well enough to know that he wanted to rip her limb from limb for what she had done. And, as much as she deserved to die, the thought of her remaining alive knowing the man she loved is dead was all the more satisfying to me.

        “And what of me? What happens to me?” Charlotte continued to cry.

        “Ellie will deal with you. Because, if I so much as touch you, I won’t stop until you are dead,” Blake told her honestly and then he walked out of the room with his fists clenched at his side. I quickly followed after him but not before I did the one thing I had been waiting to do since I found out the truth about my mate.

        “Oh. And Charlotte?” I said in a sickly sweet tone.

        “Yes Luca?” her voice was barely above a whisper as she replied.

        “I, Luca Hind—“

        “No. Please. Don’t do this to me. Please,” I scoffed at her begging and then I laughed at her when she actually fell to her knees in front of me with her hands clasped together. It was just too god damn funny. That she thought I was going to want her after everything she had done.

        She even had the audacity to come down here and beg for Jonah’s life. She must think me a mug if she thought I was still going to want her after all the things she had done.

        “I, Luca Hind, Third in Command of the Darkness Pack, reject you, Charlotte Charles, as my mate,” I spoke confidently and then walked out of the room without another look in her direction. She had done this and now she needed to live with the consequences of her actions.