Chapter 69

Ryan was not aware that I was going to meet Jacob. Beneath the Alpha's lair, in the prison of my death, I knew he was locked up.

The guards obeyed me when I asked to see the outcast Alpha. I would be Luna by tomorrow and everyone knew it. They were leading me to his cell.

I was surprised when we entered the room. Last time, Jacob was wheezing with ashy gray skin and looked on the verge of death. He didn't look nearly as bad, and I wondered if he'd recover now that he was not offered the Blood's Bane any longer. As the Luna, I could have them still provide that to him to continue the poisoning.

Or else, there was a risk that Jacob would return to health. Even if he were already cast out as the Alpha, that still really unsettled me. I wanted him dead and gone at this point.

He looked up slowly. He was crouching in the corner, his shoulders arched in a way as if he had shifted back to a man, but it had been a very difficult shift. He was no longer receiving Clan Clark blood, and I met his hungry eyes as they focused on me.

"You again." He sneered with disdain.

My body tingled with the instinct that this wolf would absolutely hurt me if given any opportunity. As such, I kept my distance from the cell. Without warning he lashed out at the bars, grabbing them he shook and rattled them violently, his face twisted with rage.

"Let me out of here! I'm the rightful Alpha! This was all a trick of them! Of that bastard Ryan!" He screamed at the guards. They looked down at their shuffling feet, but did not respond.

Outwardly, I remained calm, but inwardly, Ariana recoiled from this danger. She wanted to lash back at him, strike before he could get a chance to hurt us.

"You are no longer the Alpha." I said. "And your wife is no longer the Luna."

"She's a worthless bitch any way," he snarled. "I never should have married her. She has no blood for me, and I will be consumed by my wolf or die of poor health in here because of her. But mostly because of you."

Standing as proud as I could, oddly, I felt a little defensive of my sister in this strange moment. Maybe it was because she was supposed to be me, and this abusive marriage could have been my fate. Maybe it's because I still had some family tie to her that I'd long denied, but I said to him, "My sister was the right mate for you. No one else would have done for you what she did."

"Sister?" He glared at me. His eyes grew foggy and I knew he was trying to capture some vision of me, but he would not be able to.

"Yes, you do not recognize me, but I know you. I'm Alissa Clark. My sister is Jennifer and that was your chosen mate."

His expression shifted to shock as if the reason for the block in his visions made sense. "How?"

"The Moon Goddess sent me back." I said. "I died under your direction, but I was not meant to die. I was meant to be Luna one way or another. And I needed to come back to take you down." I gestured at his prison cell.

"I will never be held down," he said. "If this is all true, then that explains why you smell so sweet to me. But don't think that at the first opportunity, I will strike you. I will kill you again in one heartbeat, and I will drink all your blood again. Like I did the day I married your sister."

I shuttered, and I hoped he didn't notice.

His sinister smirk determined that he must have. He continued, "You can have fear if you're sleeping in my house. And I will be sleeping beneath you, waiting for a chance."

"You will never get another chance to hurt me." I said. Jacob would have to be killed; I knew it then. I was not prepared to make it happen in that moment, he still looked like he might be strong enough to put up a good fight. But before my wedding, this man needed to die.

"Don't count on that," he said.

"Take your empty threat and shove them back down your throat. You have some nerve claiming Ryan's Lair, the true Alpha and Alexander. You broke the Pact, and you're exactly where you should be." I said defiantly. "And what you did to me was unforgivable, and horrible. You are a monster."

"It was easy to do it. When your sister approached me, I knew she'd be perfect to use for this. Stupid girl, that's a special person who would betray her own sister like that." He said.

I realized that he spoke to hurt me since he could not reach me any other way. I was trembling with fear, rage, sorrow, betrayal, all the emotions packed so firmly inside me that I shook from them.

"You can be proud of yourself," I said sarcastically. "You've ruined your own life. If you hadn't done what you've done, you could still be Alpha. And now you're caged like you belong." I turned to the guards and left him down there, needing to get away. I could not hear his words any more.

What was most unsettling is his lack of caring. Jennifer showed more emotions than he did. I knew that he was the real monster, and while she was monstrous too, her evil choices that she made very young had led her into a trap that she could not get out of. Jacob had always held the power.

Still, I would be happy to be rid of both of them.

I ran upstairs to Ryan. I threw my arms around him and pounced on his lap as he was in a chair. I embraced him with all of myself, needing to feel safe and warm, and loved. All the reassurance that I would have a good life from now on superseded those terrors from Jacob.

"What's going on?" Ryan chuckled.

"I told them." I said quietly. "I told Jenifer who I was, and instead of killing her, I banished her from the pack."

"Really?" he asked. "I'm surprised. What made you do that?"

"I didn't want to kill her like she had to me. She's so low now anyway."

His eyes grew hazy as he saw her in a vision. He nodded, "She might kill herself."

I tilted my head as if that was expected after I saw her. "But then, I met Jacob, and I told him who I was. He threatened me. He looks healthier now than before." I glanced around to see who might be listening. There were servants and guards everywhere. "He should probably continue taking the herb."

A flash of heat and aggression roared in Ryan's eyes. "He threatened you?"

" Yes, I don't feel safe with him alive, and I never will." I said, tucking myself into his arms, and he wrapped them around me.

"We will have to see about that." He said.

"About what?"

He kissed me. "I will protect you."

"I want to finish him," I said.

He didn't respond, I could see his expression shifting with all the thoughts I wish I could read. I wondered that he would do something to Jacob, and if I would care. I wanted to do the honors, but perhaps, Ryan had plenty of issue with Jacob too.

"I'll take care of him," Ryan said. "I don't want him to ever hurt you again."

I thought of how much my wolf feared Jacob, and wanted to strike before he hurt us. I would delight in the day I could live peacefully knowing that Jacob was gone, so I nodded.

"I will have a chat with him tonight," Ryan said.