Chapter 44
Bryce POV
Men I once considered friends drag me down the stairs toward the cells. We trained side by side to defend this pack, and they are treating me as if I’m a criminal. “I need to arrange the meeting for Alpha Reese. I’ll be back to check on the prisoner. Make sure one of you is guarding him at all times,” Logan says not sparing me a glance. I still can’t believe that Reese gave him my title.
Robert will fix everything as soon as he returns. I don’t care if I have to kill Logan to get my title back. He means nothing to me. I know he hates me, but I couldn’t care any less. The goddess made a mistake picking him for me. It should have been Reese, and I’m not giving up on him. I still can’t believe that Rosalyn and my mother came back. She doesn’t want Reese, so what could possibly be the reason for returning?
Seeing her standing next to another mate pissed me off. She didn’t deserve Reese and after screwing everything up for me, she doesn’t deserve a second chance mate. She is a pathetic, weak she-wolf. I really thought he was human until his aura felt like it was drowning me. I’ve never felt anything like it. My sister’s mate is a f**king alpha wolf. An alpha wolf that put me on my knees without breaking a sweat.
I think he’s stronger than Robert or Reese. The sound of the lock disengaging brings me out of my thoughts. F**k, I have to try to get these guys to let me go. “Brad, Cameron, you need to listen to me. Reese isn’t thinking straight. He is planning on challenging his father. You need to let me go.” Neither of them acknowledges me as they roughly push me into the cell.
“You both will be sorry when the Alpha returns.” “No, they won’t. The true Alpha of this pack is the reason you’re in this cell,” Logan says, as he steps in front of the cell door. “Go to the meeting guys. I’ve been ordered to guard the prisoner since I already know what will be discussed,” Logan says. They both look at me with disgust before they make their way towards the stairs.
Logan takes a seat across from my cell. “You’re pathetic. You really think you can be Beta just because you were fated to me before I rejected your weak a**” He smiles and a feeling of unease flows through me. He leans forward, placing his elbows on his knees. His eyes meet mine and I see nothing but hate. “You think I wanted you to be my mate. I knew what you were before anyone ever did. The only time you cared about your sister was when your parents, or Reese, or Robert were around p>
“You put on this show like you were her protector. A great big brother, but it was all an act. Pretending you were this really good guy, but I saw what you really cared about yourself. You wanted Reese and to be the Beta of this pack. No one else mattered to you. The moment I realized we were mates I felt sick. Finding our mates is supposed to be the happiest day of our lives, and instead I was devastated,” he says.
“I couldn’t believe the goddess would pair me with such an arrogant, self-centered, self-absorbed, pathetic man. You have no idea the relief I felt when you rejected me because, unlike you, I’ll have a chance to find my true mate” he says. “I was your true mate,” I growl. He throws his head back and laughs. I want nothing more than to wipe that smug smile off his face. “No, you were never my true mate. Being mated to me was a way for the goddess to show Reese exactly who you are,” he says.
“You do not say his name. You don’t have any right.” “I am his Beta. I have every right to say his name. Hell, maybe I’ll be his second chance, since Rosalyn has found her true mate. I think that would be the perfect ending to your story, Bryce. The mate you so callously rejected gets to f**k the man you so desperately want. The difference is I won’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not, to get him in my bed,” he says. I’m on my feet and pressing my face to the bars. “You will not touch what is mine. Reese is mine. I will snap your f**king neck,” I scream. “Don’t worry Bryce, I’ll only touch him if he’s my mate because, unlike you, I respect the bonds of others,” he says smugly. The sound of the door to the cells opening interrupts us. I look over and see the same two guards dragging my father down the hall toward the cell next to mine. “What the f**k do you think you’re doing? He needs to be in the hospital.” “Beta Logan, the former Beta Female saw us dragging Cain down here and asked if she would be able to speak to her son. Her mate is insisting she not come down here alone,” Brad says. “Do not let that b**ch come down here” my father screams. Logan smiles at my father. “Tell Miranda that she and her mate are welcome to come down,” Logan says, and my father screams over and over again about killing my mother.
A few minutes later, my mother walks toward our cells. She is followed by a man that looks like an alpha, but his scent is definitely not wolf. As she passes my father’s cell, she doesn’t even spare him a glance, even though he is screaming about her being a wh*re. Before I can tell him to calm down, the man with my mother waves his hand in my father’s direction. My father flies through the air, his body knocking against the far wall.
He doesn’t get up, but I can see his chest is rising and falling. “Bryce” she says, and I turn to look at my mother. The look in her eyes makes a pit form in my stomach. “I failed you, Bryce. I was so blinded to the man your father truly was. I should have protected you from his warped views of mates. I wish I knew how he was poisoning your heart. You have hurt so many people. You hurt your sister without remorse. You are selfish and entitled,” she says as tears stream down her cheeks.
“Mom, I just wanted Reese. He should have been mine. Rosalyn was too weak to be his mate. I’m your son. Don’t you care about my happiness? Rosalyn has a new mate.” The sadness in her eyes is gone in an instant. She growls, and I take a step back from the bars. My mother is fighting her wolf for control. The man standing next to her threads his fingers with hers. She takes a deep breath before she looks into my eyes.
“You’re wrong, Bryce. You are the one that is weak. You were meant to protect your sister, not torture her. Not take from her something which wasn’t yours to have. As much as it pains me to speak these words, I need to because you are no longer the little boy that I raised. You have become someone I don’t even recognize and don’t want to know. I, Miranda Kramer, break all familial ties with you, Bryce Myers. From this day forward, I am no longer your mother,” she says. My hand goes to my chest as the pain overwhelms me. I fall to my knees as the feeling of loss is more than I can take. My mother just disowned me. My bond with her is gone, leaving behind a giant emptiness in my soul. How could she do this to me? I’m her son and she just threw me away for what, Rosalyn. I look up in time to see her walking away with her mate’s arm wrapped around her. She doesn’t spare me another glance, and then she’s gone. “How does it feel to have the one person that is supposed to love and stand by you just walk away from you like you’re nothing,” Logan asks. “Not so nice to get a dose of what you have been dishing out to everyone around you.” I crawl over to the mattress that lying on the floor. Lying down, I face away from Logan. I can’t believe that just happened. My eyelids feel so heavy, and my body feels like lead. When the darkness consumes me, I willingly give into it.