The Alpha's Exiled Mate Chapter 199

Freya’s POV

I stepped toward Thorne's SUV, keeping my spine straight despite the overwhelming urge to curl inward protectively. As I passed Thorne, his scent washed over me. He didn't touch me, but I could feel the heat radiating from his body, his gaze burning into me as I climbed into the passenger seat.

The moment he slid into the driver's seat beside me, the enclosed space became saturated with his fury. He didn't speak as he shifted into drive and pulled away, tires spitting gravel. In the side mirror, I could see Jasper standing exactly where we'd left him, watching our departure with an unreadable expression.

I clutched my mother's gift tightly in my palm, drawing strength from its presence as we drove in oppressive silence. My wolf was unnaturally still within me, sensing danger in Thorne's barely contained rage.

After several miles of tense silence, Thorne's gaze dropped to my neck, where the diamond pendant caught the light from the setting sun.

"Take it off," he demanded, voice low and controlled.

I kept my eyes fixed on the road ahead. "No."

The steering wheel creaked under his grip. "That wasn't a suggestion."

"And that wasn't a response to a suggestion," I replied evenly, though my heart hammered wildly in my chest. "It's mine. He gave it to me to replace the one you destroyed."

Thorne's jaw clenched visibly, but he didn't respond. We drove in silence for another hour, the air growing heavier with each passing mile. City lights began to appear in the distance, signaling our approach to Moon Bay. I expected him to drive me back to my apartment, but he took the exit toward Grey Manor instead.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, panic beginning to bubble up. "I want to go home."

"Not until I've dealt with this," he growled, not looking at me.

"Dealt with what?" I felt my own anger rising, pushing back against my fear. "You have no right to interfere in my life anymore. The exile is over."

"You reek of him," Thorne said flatly. "His scent is all over you."

The implication behind his words made my cheeks burn with indignation. "That's not—"

"I can smell him on your skin, in your hair," he continued as if I hadn't spoken. "Even from where I'm sitting, I can smell where his hands touched you."

I fell silent, unsure how to respond to the raw possessiveness in his voice. We passed through the gates of Grey Estate, the mansion looming ahead, windows glowing with warm light that felt at odds with the coldness in my chest.

The SUV came to an abrupt stop at the front entrance. Before I could reach for the door handle, Thorne was around the vehicle, yanking my door open and grasping my wrist in one fluid motion.

"Let go of me!" I pulled against his grip, but it was like trying to bend steel. "I'm going home."

"After," he said simply, pulling me toward the mansion's entrance.

I dug my heels in, fighting him with every step. "After what? You have no right to force me to stay here!"

His grip didn't tighten, but it didn't yield either. "Until I'm satisfied that Stone's scent is gone, you're not leaving this property. It's an insult to my pack."

"Your pack?" I laughed bitterly. "The same pack that exiled me? The same pack that tried to kill me?"

He paused mid-stride, turning to face me. "No one tried to kill you."

"Tell that to whoever attacked me with silver." I met his gaze defiantly.

Something flashed across his face—surprise, then anger, then something harder to define. But he didn't release me, continuing to pull me up the steps. The Beta guards at the door stepped aside, eyes carefully averted from the spectacle of their Alpha dragging a struggling woman into the mansion.

Once inside, Thorne didn't pause in the grand foyer with its marble floors and ornate staircase. He headed directly for the east wing, pulling me along the residential corridor. We passed a startled maid who quickly disappeared around a corner.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded again, my anxiety mounting with each step deeper into the Alpha's private domain.

"Somewhere you can clean his stench off you," Thorne replied curtly, pushing open a heavy wooden door to reveal an enormous master bathroom.

The space was larger than my entire apartment, with a sunken tub that could easily fit four people, a walk-in shower with multiple heads, and marble countertops. It screamed wealth and power—everything the Grey family represented.

Thorne finally released my wrist, only to close the door behind us and stand blocking it.

"Take off that necklace," he ordered, voice low and dangerous. "And those clothes. They all reek of Stone."

My eyes widened in shock and outrage. "You've lost your mind if you think I'm going to strip in front of you."

"I've seen it all before," he replied coldly, referring to our encounter in my apartment. "This isn't about sex, Freya. This is about removing another Alpha's scent from what's mine."

"I am not yours!" I shouted, backing away until my legs hit the edge of the tub. "I am not your property, not your responsibility, not your concern!"

His expression darkened. "As long as you bear my pack's mark on your back, you are my responsibility."

"Then remove it!" I challenged. "Take away your precious Alpha mark and let me live my life!"

Instead of responding, Thorne crossed the space between us in two long strides. Before I could react, he grasped the diamond pendant in his fist. "Take. It. Off."

"No," I held his gaze defiantly.

In one swift motion, he tore the necklace from my throat, the silver chain snapping under his strength. I gasped, more from shock than pain, as he pocketed the pendant.

"You had no right," I whispered, trembling with rage.

"I have every right," he countered, reaching past me to turn on the shower taps. Water thundered into the large enclosure, steam quickly beginning to rise. "His scent is all over you. Get in."

I shook my head, backing away. "I'm leaving. You can't keep me here against my will."

Thorne's patience visibly snapped. He grasped my shoulders, pushed me against the wall, and held me there with his body weight while he yanked the shower attachment from its holder. Before I could process what was happening, he directed a spray of warm water over my head, soaking my hair and clothes.

"Stop it!" I gasped, shoving against his chest as water streamed down my face. "Are you insane?"

"His scent is everywhere," Thorne growled, continuing to drench me. "In your hair, on your skin. I can smell him all over you."

Water cascaded down my body, plastering my clothes to my skin. I struggled against him, but his grip was implacable. As the water soaked through my shirt, memories suddenly flooded back—guards holding me down in the Silver Cage Prison, forcing me into tanks of silver-infused water to "purify" me of my wolf.

"No!" I screamed, panic overwhelming me as the flashback seized control. "Not the silver water! Please, no more!"

My lungs felt like they were burning again, my skin crawling with remembered pain. I thrashed wildly against Thorne, no longer seeing him but the prison guards who had held me under the silvered water until I nearly drowned, again and again, calling it "cleansing."

"Stop! I can't breathe!" I gasped, feeling the phantom silver burning through my system, weakening my wolf, making my vision blur.