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Stone reached out and took both of Liza’s hands, and I snarled again. My wolf raged inside, but I instructed him to wait. It wasn’t time.
“Your parents chose me for you. That was their wish for you, Liza.” He smiled and kissed one of Liza’s hands. “They wanted us to create the next generation for the Wylde pack.”
Liza’s body locked up. She no longer gazed at Stone with interest, but dropped her gaze to the ground. She angled her body away from him, and my protective instincts kicked in.
Whether Liza was angry at me or not, I wouldn’t stand by and allow any harm to come to her, physically or emotionally. I grabbed Liza and shoved her behind me before Stone even realized what was happening.
Liza didn’t fight me. She seemed eager to not be near Stone, her muscles relaxing as she stood close to me.
Stone glared at me. “You know what will happen if you try to interfere, Ty. The world will know exactly what your father did to my pack.” He grinned wickedly. “I have enough proof about the Keller family and their shifty background to send your family’s entire financial portfolio into the ground. You’ll be an absolute mockery, and I will relish in your misery. It would only be a fraction of what you deserve for taking fucking everything from me.”
My mother’s face flashed through my mind, and her desperate pleas to make things right. She had stood by Dad through every moment of heartache, during the fallout of each of his bad decisions regarding the Wylde pack. Both of my parents were looking to me to preserve the family name and to keep the Keller pack in good standing amongst all the other packs. Dad had said himself tonight that he was proud of me, that Liza and I would lead our pack faithfully and triumphantly, yet here I stood at a crossroads.
It was Liza or the pack.
“I’m not handing Liza over to you, Stone.”
Stone laughed. “You don’t have to. I’m pretty sure Liza wants to come on her own. She now knows that your family is responsible for murdering her family.” He paused and stepped to one side, locking his eyes on Liza. “Remember, it was your parents’ wish for us to be mated.”
Stone stepped closer to me, and I tensed, prepared to shift and fight. I didn’t have to.
A quiet voice behind me stopped both of us in our tracks. We both glanced at Liza, the blanket wrapped tightly around her body. She stared at Stone, breathing rapidly. She looked at him as if she were seeing a monster, her lips curled back in disgust.
Her reaction put me on high alert as I turned to face her fully. She never took her eyes off Stone.
“What’s wrong?” Stone cocked his head to one side. “Why are you looking at me like that, Aliza?”
Liza suddenly gripped her head and grimaced.
I cupped her face. “What’s wrong? Liza? Are you hurting?”
Her breathing was uneven, and she shook her head. “My parents didn’t want me to do that... to mate with you.” She pointed a shaky finger at Stone.
I glanced over my shoulder at Stone to see his face contorted. His smile wasn’t genuine, it was predatory.
A loud growl ripped through the quiet night, my warning to Stone.
Stone scoffed, his sly grin still plastered across his face. “You were too young to remember, Aliza. I was there for all of the adult conversations. They talked a lot about the infertility of the pack and how you, the omega princess, were the answer to their prayers. I was the only other child in the pack at the time. It made sense for them to choose me.”
Liza glared at him.
Stone held up his hands in defense. “This is our destiny, Aliza. You were meant to be with me, to birth my children, and bring the Wylde pack into a new era!”
Before I realized what was happening, Liza had a hold of my shirt, squeezing so tightly that her knuckles turned white. “I remember something.” Her voice trembled as she closed her eyes, trying to make sense of the memory.
Stone stared at her, his eyes hard with indifference. His voice was gruff when he issued his final threat, hoping to play on Liza’s emotions. “Do you want to shit on your parents’ final wishes before they met their demise at the hands of the Kellers?”
Chapter 30
Liza
Stone’s question rang in my head as I tried to focus on the memories. I compared them to my dreams, the recurring ones I’d had since I was a young child, and the nightmare I’d had a few nights ago.
My dreams had always been a bit distorted, fuzzy, and out of focus. The ending had remained the same, though. The boy took my hand and led me into the forest… but there was another part I’d never dreamed about. Suddenly, it was clear as day to me.
My parents had never liked Castro. There was something different about him... something off. One time, they found him in the woods completely covered in blood. He had killed a deer, which was normal for wolves. The difference was that he did it for fun, just because he wanted to. I had overheard my parents talking about the way they’d found him, his hand gripping the deer’s neck and blood dripping down his face. He was in human form, not even attempting to eat the deer meat, just ripping the carcass to shreds for the hell of it. His eyes had been wild, and it had stirred something inside my mother.
After that, they never left me alone with Castro. I’d see him multiple times a week, but my parents assigned one of the household employees to keep watch over us as we played in our large backyard or in the playroom that was filled to the brim with toys.
