Chapter Twenty Six

LUCY

"You traitor!"

Those words jolted me back to life.

I felt a sharp pain on my side as I lifted myself from the bed, the environment was unfamiliar to me. The last thing I remembered was passing out in the woods after I was injured by Cade's men.

"Shit!!” I exclaimed.

Cade's men must've reported the situation to him and my mother was probably in trouble right now.

"Where was I?" I asked myself as I looked around. A familiar figure was asleep close to me, it was a shirtless masculine figure whose head was buried on the bed.

I tried to get out of bed without waking him up but I failed. He woke up at the slightest sound and held me down before I got off the bed.

"Stay, you're still hurt," he said. It was Chris and I was in his chambers.

"What am I doing here? How did I get here?" I asked.

"I brought you here, you were injured and needed to be taken care of," he explained.

"Thank you," I said, my gaze fixed on his bare chest. I swallowed hard as I fought the urge growing inside me. This wasn't the first time I'd seen a shirtless man so why was this different?

"I should go," I finally said, burying my face to the ground. I grabbed my clothes that were neatly placed at the corner of the bed and dashed into the closet. I wondered how I got out of my clothes, my face immediately turned red at the thought.

"No, you're staying here until you're strong enough to go home or you can stay here with me completely. This is your home too," he said from the room.

My home, I thought. Of course, this used to be my home but not anymore. I was an outcast now and didn't belong here.

"I'm sorry but I can't stay here, I'm not welcomed here," I said again, hoping that would change his mind. "I need to be sure that my mother is safe out there. One of Cade's men must've told him all that transpired in the woods," I added.

"Oh, if that's your concern then you have nothing to worry about. I took care of him, so no one would be saying anything to your leader," he said with a smile.

I sighed in relief. If truly he meant what he said then I had nothing to worry about but that wouldn't stop me from leaving here. Another minute here with him alone, I wouldn't be able to control the desires I had for him.

His bare skin was welcoming and pleasing to the eyes. I had always wondered what he looked like underneath those clothes but this right here was far from my imagination of him. This was more than perfect.

"Get a hold of yourself, Lucy. This is not the time," I muttered as I quickly brushed him out of my thoughts. "I need to leave, I can't stay here. It's way too risky for you and me," I added.

Chris glared at me. I knew I could be stiff-necked sometimes but leaving here was for the best. Not like I didn't want to stay back, this was fancier than the hut I lived in that miserable pack.

"It's obvious nothing I say will make you stay, I'll make sure my beta leads you to the pack safely," he said.

His beta whose name was Glen walked into the chambers and after a brief discussion between them, he led me out of the pack.

Our journey was a quiet one and it was very boring. I had a lot of questions to ask him regarding who Chris really was.

"I'm Lucy, what's your name?" I finally broke the silence.

"I know who you are," he grunted.

"I know your name, it's Glen, right?" I asked again.

"Listen, because you're my Alpha's mate doesn't change the fact that you're a rogue to me," he snarled at me.

"well I didn't choose to be a rogue neither did I choose to become his mate so you had better mind the way you address me," I growled at him in return.

We glared at each other for a while until he turned his gaze away from me.

Yeah, look away, I thought.

"you can leave now, I will continue from here," I said as we got closer to the pack.

"I'm going with you until you walk through those gates," he snapped.

I never understood why he was rude to me, it was obvious that this was more than just me being a rogue but what did I care, he could hate me all he wanted but it wouldn't change who I was.

"This is it, you can turn back now before anyone finds you here," I said, not like I cared if anything happened to him. I was doing this for Chris.

He snarled again and turned to leave. "Good riddance," I heard him mutter.

I simply ignored him and walked in. As I expected, Cade had a few of his men waiting for me.

"Good to see you back, Lucy," I heard Maverick call from a distance. His face beamed with excitement as I was led away by the guards, it seemed like he was enjoying the show.

Maverick was the least of my concern, there was no sign of my mother anywhere and these damned guards wouldn't let me go see her.

Was she imprisoned already? I asked myself.

"She's here," one of the guards announced as we walked into Cade's chambers. Nathan was with him when we walked in and didn't seem surprised to see me. Maybe he was still angry at the way I spoke to him.

"Why are your guards treating me like a prisoner? " I blurted.

"Where the hell have you been?" Cade asked calmly.

"You sent your men to attack me, I thought we had an understanding," I said.

"Understanding? You were the one acting like a creep so I had to make sure you were following my orders,"

"By asking your men to attack me, right?" I snapped.

"What are you talking about?" he said, bursting into laughter.

"If you had trusted me, your guards would still be alive and I wouldn't have been held captive by the Alpha," I lied.

"You don't look like you were captured, where the fvck have you been, and don't you dare lie to me!" he yelled.

"I just told you what happened to me because of your lack of trust. Look at me!!" I screeched at him revealing the injury I had gotten from his men. "this is what happened."

Cade grimaced at me not knowing what to believe. He simply waved me off and flung himself on his couch.

"Did you see what happened to my guards?" he asked as I was about to leave his chambers.

"They deserved what they got for trying to hurt me. I watched as the Alpha slew them with his bare hands, it was more than pleasing to watch," I grinned.

I returned to my hut and found my mother asleep. I felt relieved when I saw that she was safe and sound. Keeping her here wasn't safe anymore, I didn't trust what Cade would do next.

As for Cade, I had better plans for him. I was going to win his trust once more and beat him at his own game.