The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 101

Athena's POV

"Isn't it?" he asked, stopping in front of me again. "When was the last time he said he loved you and meant it? When was the last time he chose you over his pack responsibilities?"

I couldn't answer not because not because of anything, but because Daxon was already getting into my head and that terrified me more than being chained up in this basement.

This is what he always did back when we were dating and he wanted to break me down mentally before he started with his fists.

"He'll come for me," I said instead, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "When he realizes I'm missing, he'll tear this place apart to find me."

"Oh, I'm counting on him trying," Daxon said, and his smile was back. "But he won't find you, not here, not with all the wolfsbane I've been pumping into this room. Your bond is completely blocked, isn't it? He can't feel you and you can't call to him for help."

My heart sank because he was right and the knowledge of it made me feel more alone than I had ever felt in my life.

The wolfsbane in the air was thick enough that even if I screamed with everything I had, Tristan wouldn't hear me through our mate bond and he wouldn't be able to sense where I was or if I was even still alive.

"And even if he does somehow track you down," Daxon continued, "he'll walk right into the trap I've set for him. Either way, I win."

"What trap?" I asked, though I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

"Silver-lined cage, wolfsbane in the air, and enough firepower to take down an entire pack," he said casually, like he was describing what he had for breakfast.

"Your precious mate is going to come charging in here like the hero he thinks he is, and I'm going to put him down like the dog he is."

"You're insane," I whispered, because what he was describing wasn't just revenge, it was a complete break from reality.

"I'm practical," he corrected, his voice cold and matter-of-fact. "You took something from me, so now I'm taking something from you. An eye for an eye, a mate for a mate."

"I didn't take anything from you," I said desperately, pulling at my chains even though the metal was cutting into my wrists and I knew it was useless. "I was never really yours to begin with."

"You were mine, you are mine," Daxon said, and there was something almost religious in his voice, like he truly believed what he was saying.

"The ceremony was just a formality. In my heart, in my soul, you have always belonged to me and you always will."

"That's not how this works," I said, my voice getting stronger even though my situation was getting worse by the minute. "You can't just decide someone belongs to you because you want them to."

"Watch me," he said simply.

He turned and walked back toward the stairs, leaving me chained and alone in the dim light, and I felt panic rising in my chest like I was about to drown.

The concrete walls seemed to be closing in on me and the smell of wolfsbane was making my head spin and my wolf whimper in the back of my mind.

"Wait," I called after him, hating the desperation in my own voice but unable to stop myself from asking. "What are you going to do to him?"

"Whatever it takes to make sure he suffers the way I did," Daxon said without turning around. "I want him to know what it feels like to lose everything he thought was his. To be locked up the same way I was locked up and forgotten about. How about your brother and Sarah, or little Lily, or baby Liam. Who should I start with first?"

All the blood drained from my face and I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. He was going to hurt my family because of me and because of choices I had made and there was nothing I could do to stop him from here.

"Please," I whispered, and I hated myself for begging but I would do anything to keep them safe. "Please don't hurt them. If you want to punish someone, punish me. This is between you and me, nobody else needs to get involved.""

Daxon paused at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at me with something that might have been pity if it had come from anyone else but from him just looked like mockery.

"You still don't understand," he said softly. "This was never about you, Athena. You were just the prize that got taken away from me. This is about him thinking he could take what belonged to another Alpha and get away with it."

Daxon was going nut, I could feel it. But, I didn't have a choice, I have to try to get to him.

"He didn't know about our arrangement," I said quickly, grasping at anything that might make him change his mind. "I never told him about the engagement or the mating ceremony or any of it. He thought I was free when he found me and when we got together."

"Ignorance is no excuse," Daxon said with a shrug like my words meant nothing to him. "He should have asked. He should have checked. He should have known better than to mate with someone else's property."

The word property hit me like a slap and I felt my wolf rage inside me, wanting to shift and tear his throat out even though I knew the wolfsbane would make me too weak to fight and the chains would hold me down anyway.

"Get some rest, Athena," he called over his shoulder as he started up the stairs. "Tomorrow we start phase two, and you're going to help me destroy the man who thought he could take what was mine."

"I won't help you," I said, but my voice was small and lost in the concrete space and I could hear how pathetic I sounded even to myself.

"You will," he said with absolute certainty that made my blood run cold. "Because if you don't, I'll make sure he suffers for a very long time before he dies. And I'll make sure you watch every second of it while you're chained up and helpless to stop me."

The light went out, plunging me back into darkness, and I heard his footsteps disappearing up the stairs and away from me until I couldn't hear anything except my own breathing and the sound of my chains when I moved.

I was alone again, but now I knew exactly what I was dealing with and exactly how much danger Tristan was in and how little time I had to figure out a way to save us both before Daxon put his plan into action.

Daxon wasn't just planning to hurt me or kill me quickly and be done with it like I had hoped when I first woke up here. He was planning to use me as bait to lure Tristan into a trap, and then he was going to torture us both until we begged for death and even then he probably wouldn't stop.

And I knew he wouldn't leave Orion and his family alone either because that wasn't the kind of person he was and it wasn't how his mind worked when he wanted revenge.

I had to find a way out of here before that happened, wolfsbane or no wolfsbane, chains or no chains, because the alternative was too horrible to think about and I couldn't let it happen.

Because if I didn't escape and warn them what was coming, the man I loved was going to die trying to save me, and I would have to live with that knowledge for whatever time I had left before Daxon decided he was done playing games with me.

The chains around my wrists were tight but not tight enough to cut off my circulation completely and I could feel that they were attached to the wall behind me with what felt like heavy bolts.

The concrete was old and crumbly in some places and I wondered if I could work one of the bolts loose if I had enough time and was willing to ignore the pain.

My wolf was weak from the wolfsbane but she was still there in the back of my mind and I could feel her anger mixing with mine and giving me strength I didn't know I had.

We had survived two years with Daxon before and we had gotten out of that situation and we could survive this too if we were smart about it.

The first thing I needed to do was figure out exactly where I was and how many people Daxon had working with him because he couldn't be doing all of this alone.

Someone had helped him fake his death and someone had helped him kidnap me and someone was probably watching this place while he was gone.

The second thing I needed to do was find a way to get a message to Tristan or Orion without Daxon knowing about it because they needed to know what they were walking into if they tried to rescue me.

They needed to know about the silver and the wolfsbane and the trap that was waiting for them.

The third thing I needed to do was find a weapon or make one because I wasn't going to go down without a fight this time and I wasn't going to let Daxon hurt the people I loved without making him pay for it.