The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 100

Athena's POV

The memory left me shaking so hard that the chains around my ankle rattled against whatever I was chained to and the sound echoed through the small space like a death knell.

My stomach turned violently and I thought I might throw up from the combination of fear and betrayal and whatever drugs were still working their way out of my system, making everything feel fuzzy around the edges.

Seraphine had betrayed her pack in the worst possible way and the knowledge of it sat in my chest like a stone.

Not just Tristan, not just the pack, but me personally and that somehow made it hurt worse than anything else. I had let her into my home when she looked desperate, had been ready to get her water and listen to whatever she needed to say, had been willing to help someone who claimed to be in crisis.

Yes, I didn't like her but I could only let her into my apartment because I had pity on her.

And she had used that kindness against me like a weapon.

She hadn't just lured me into a trap or set me up to be kidnapped by someone else, which would have been bad enough.

She had actively participated in every step of it, had injected me with whatever drug knocked me unconscious, had probably helped whoever did this get me here and chain me up like an animal.

The worst part was that she had looked satisfied when she did it, like she'd been planning this for months and was finally getting her revenge for some imagined wrong.

She wouldn't have done it alone.

My hands clenched into fists as anger started to burn through the fear and confusion, hot and bright and almost welcome because at least it was something I could control.

I had never done anything to hurt Seraphine beyond existing and coming back to my own pack where I belonged, had never tried to take Tristan away from anyone because he was already mine.

But apparently that was enough to make her hate me so much that she was willing to help someone kidnap me and probably kill me.

Now I was here in this concrete tomb, chained to the floor in some dark place that smelled like mold and decay and despair, my mate unable to find me because the wolfsbane was choking our bond like smoke in my lungs.

The anger felt better than the fear because at least it was something I could hold onto, something that made me feel less helpless and vulnerable and weak.

But it also made me more aware of how alone I was and how bad my situation really was and how little chance I had of getting out of this alive.

I tested the chain around my ankle again, pulling at it with both hands until the metal cut into my palms, but it was solid and the shackle was too tight to slip off even if I dislocated my foot. Whatever I was chained to felt heavy and immovable, probably bolted directly into the concrete floor.

The room I was in felt small and enclosed, with walls close enough that my voice would echo if I tried to scream, though I doubted anyone would hear me even if I did.

The air was stale and thick and tasted like metal and old fear, like no fresh air had circulated through here in years.

I was starting to think about what other options I might have when I heard footsteps somewhere above me, slow and deliberate like someone taking their time and enjoying the anticipation.

They were coming closer and my heart started beating faster.

"You're awake."

The voice made my blood run cold because I recognized it even though I hadn't heard it in months and had hoped I would never hear it again.

What was he doing here and how was this possible and why wasn't he dead or locked up somewhere he couldn't hurt anyone ever again.

Had he managed to escape through the help of Seraphine?

The thought made me shiver. Seraphine was working for him, for how long now?

A light flicked on overhead, swinging lazily back and forth and casting moving shadows across the concrete walls that made everything look twisted and wrong.

The sudden brightness made me squint and blink, but when my eyes adjusted I could see that I was in what looked like a basement or cellar with gray walls and a low ceiling that felt like it was pressing down on me.

And standing at the bottom of a set of wooden stairs, watching me with cold satisfaction and that same cruel smile I remembered from my nightmares, was the man who had destroyed my life years ago.

Daxon.

He looked older than the last time I'd seen him, with gray threading through his dark hair and new lines around his eyes that made him look distinguished instead of evil, but his smile was exactly the same.

Cruel and calculating and pleased with himself, like he'd just won a game I didn't know we were playing.

"Hello, Athena," he said, like we were old friends meeting for coffee instead of predator and prey in a basement where no one would hear me scream. "It's been too long."

I couldn't speak for a moment because seeing him here, knowing that he was the one behind this, made everything so much worse than I had imagined and brought back memories I'd spent months trying to forget.

The wedding that never happened because I'd finally found the courage to say no.

The beatings that came when he felt I'd crossed the line.

The miscarriage he'd caused with his fists when I'd tried to tell him about our baby.

The months of terror before I'd finally escaped and found my way to Tristan's pack.

"What do you want?" I finally managed to ask, and I was proud that my voice didn't shake even though everything inside me was screaming and my wolf was pacing frantically in my mind.

His smile widened and he took a step closer, his hands clasped behind his back like he was giving me a tour of his property instead of holding me prisoner.

"What I've always wanted," he said simply, and his voice was the same smooth silk it had always been when he wanted something. "You. And now that I have you, your precious mate is going to pay for taking what was mine."

"I was never yours," I said, and this time there was steel in my voice because that was one lie I would never let stand, not even to save my own life. "I rejected our bond at the altar in front of everyone."

"Details," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand like my choices meant nothing to him. "You agreed to my proposal which makes you mine whether you accept it or not. The fact that you ran away and found yourself another mate doesn't change the fact that you're mine ."

The casual way he said it, like my feelings and choices meant nothing, like I was just an object to be traded between men like cattle or land, made my wolf snarl with rage.

"You have no right to keep me here like this," I said, my voice getting stronger with each word.

"I have every right," Daxon said, his voice hardening and losing that fake silk tone. "You humiliated me when you ran away from our wedding. You cost me an alliance with other packs that I had worked for years to arrange. And then you mated with someone else like I meant nothing to you."

He was closer now, close enough that I could see the hatred burning in his eyes, the same hatred that had made my life a nightmare before I finally found the courage to leave.

"You made me look weak in front of my pack members. Those filthy things," he continued, his voice dropping to a whisper that was somehow more terrifying than shouting. "Do you have any idea what that did to my reputation? What it cost me?"

"I don't care what it cost you," I said, surprised by my own boldness. "You were going to force me into a life of mystery, I didn't want to be with someone who hurt me every chance he got."

"Hurt you?" Daxon laughed and the sound echoed off the walls like breaking glass. "I was teaching you discipline. I was trying to make you into a proper mate, someone worthy of an Alpha."

"You were beating me," I said flatly. "You put me in the hospital twice and caused me to lose our baby, and you want to call that discipline?"

His face changed at the mention of the miscarriage, something flickering across his features that might have been regret or might have been annoyance.

"That was an accident," he said finally. "I didn't know you were really pregnant. I thought you were lying to manipulate me into going through with the wedding."

"I never lied to you," I whispered, remembering the pregnancy test clutched in my hands while he beat me on the kitchen floor. "Not once."

"It doesn't matter now," he said, waving away my words like they were flies. "What matters is that you're going to help me get my revenge on the man who stole you from me."

"Tristan didn't steal me," I said, pulling at the chain around my ankle until it cut into my skin. "I chose him. I chose to leave you and find someone who actually loves me."

"Love," Daxon spat like it was a dirty word. "You think what you have with him is love? You think he won't get tired of you eventually, just like I did?"

"He's nothing like you," I said with absolute certainty. "He's never raised a hand to me and he never would."

"Give him time," Daxon said with that cruel smile. "All males are the same eventually. We get what we want and then we move on to something newer and shinier."

"You're wrong," I said, but part of me wondered if he could be right and hated myself for the doubt.

"Am I?" he asked, tilting his head like he was genuinely curious. "Tell me, how long it took before he accepted you?"

I opened my mouth to argue but the words died in my throat because he wasn't lieing.

"I can see it in your eyes," Daxon said softly. "The doubt. The fear that maybe you're not enough for him anymore."

"Stop," I whispered, because his words were hitting too close to home and I couldn't bear to hear them.

"He's probably relieved that you're gone," Daxon continued, circling me like a predator. "No more obligation to pretend he still wants you. No more guilt about looking at other women."

"That's not true," I said, but my voice cracked on the words.

Tristan loves me, that was why he chose me. He isn't with me for his selfish reason he loves me.

He's trying to mess with my head, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing me break.

Never.