My heart skipped a bit as I watched him, running his eyes over me. I was startled, terrified to see him standing there with so much authority.

I could feel the power coming from.him like a wave, my eyes wide as I stared at him as if I'd seen a ghost.

O my God

Why was he here?

What's happening??

Does he know?

The question flowed through my brain, as i felt cripped at that moment.

“Alp…ha…king,” I stumbled as I tried to bow. Just as I saw him coming toward me to help me stand well enough, I pushed backwards.

Scaring the fell of what his touch would do to me.

“No…” I snapped urgently, moving backward and falling on my ass. He froze as he looked at me with confusion, but I was much more terrified of that one movement of his that nothing else mattered.

Because I knew for sure the cat would definitely be out of the bag if he ever touched me, and nothing terrified me more than that.

“Forgive me…I didn’t mean to startle you,” he apologized as he stood up straight. I pushed myself up from the ground as I bowed, my legs shaky, as I closed my eyes and looked beneath me.

“Thank you, Alpha…if you wouldn’t mind, may I ask what is the reason for your presence? Is something wrong?” I asked hastily as I avoided looking at him, scared of what I might see in his eyes or scared he might look right into my eyes and know, know who I was to him.

Then everything would be in vain, and I’d be stuck in a circumstance that I knew for sure I’d never be able to forgive myself.

“You must forgive me, Diona, but I sought you out because I have some issues that I would love to address with you,” he spoke, and my heart skipped a beat. I looked everywhere but at him, clenching my fist behind me as if to hide my anxiety.

“What would that be, Alpha?” I whispered without looking at him.

“I’ve observed your temperament, and I would love to address the issue of you being absent from your mate’s side. In twenty-four hours of being here, I have observed you avoid his company, and even now while he drinks himself to stupor, you hide in here to evade him. I find your attitude undeserving for a woman of your standing as a Luna. You should be the first and foremost female in the pack, even exercising authority over the Alpha as his mate,” he spoke, and with each word, rage engulfed me.

My rage intensified

How dare he……

Stand there and dictate what I must do, when he was unaware of the torment I endured at the hands of his son, when he didn’t know the suffering, maltreatment Ryker had inflicted upon me for years.

I couldn’t bear it, I was too shattered to care about who he was at that moment; he had crossed the line and I wouldn’t tolerate it.

I should have kept my mouth shut, and nobbed like a fool. I should have turned away and left as soon as possible, to prevent my next course of actions, the words that spilled out of my lips next.

"Then it would be entirely your fault, Alpha King, after all, you are his guide, and I would argue he inherited all his bad behavior from you. Before you hurl accusations my way, I suggest you ask your beloved son what he has done to me, or perhaps you should truly get to know the boy you call a son. You criticize me for being an irresponsible Luna, but your son is an abuser, a liar, a cheat, and a narcissist!" I snapped at him, breathing heavily as I locked eyes with him.

Then it struck me.

I froze when I realized what I had said, when I understood that the words that had escaped my lips were enough to place my heart in his hands or lead to my decapitation.

I froze, my face contorted in terror as I stood there, horrified by my own words.

"I’m... I’m... I’m... I’m so sorry, Alpha," I cried out as I closed my mouth, stepping backward, tears streaming down my face, but he remained there, frozen, staring at me as if he had seen a ghost. I couldn’t decipher what I saw in his eyes.

I didn’t know if it was anger, pain, rage, or shock.

But I didn’t care; I turned and ran in the opposite direction.

This was my chance to escape this pack, and I knew if I missed it, I would never forgive myself.

I ran, and with each step, I glanced back to see if he was following me, but each time I felt relief; he wasn’t. I didn’t know what his temperament was like, but I knew he was ruthless.

And I would rather leave before he came after me or, worse, told Ryker what I had said about him, knowing what Ryker would do to me.

If there was anything Ryker valued, it was his relationship with his foster father, and trying to portray a good image to his father. I had just thrown everything out of the window, and if he found out about it, not even this fake pregnancy would save me from his wrath.

The border appeared before me as I hastily hurried forward, sensing Anita and George nearby, knowing they would be there to wish me farewell.

I moved towards the ship, tucking my rubber gloves higher to shield me from the cold. As I moved forward, I breathed in and then out, knowing that in a few minutes I would be on board for a new life.

Just as I took another step forward, I felt a tug as someone grabbed my hands. I yelped as I turned to face the intruder to find him.

He stared into my eyes with rage, anger, and confusion, and I looked terrified to see him, much more terrified than I had been when I found him in the hallways.

"Where do you think you're going?" he hissed at me, and I’ve never been more terrified in my whole life.

I froze as a chill ran down my spine, my heart beat so fast that I knew he could hear the sounds of my drumming heart beat.

He could smell my fear; he could feel the thread I felt at the pit of my stomach as he stood there. I looked back, scared of what he might do.

His eyes twitched as he glanced from the vessel to me.

He frowned, and I knew he knew at that moment what I was trying to do.

Then he growled.

"You... how dare you!" he hissed at me, and I shook my head, looking back and around, praying he didn’t catch a whiff of Anita and her mate helping me. I might get away with this, but they on the other hand would be brutally punished.

"No, is not what you're thinking…..," I hissed back at him, and he scoffed.

"Tell me, why should a pregnant woman be next to a departing ship at fucking midnight, frightened and afraid, when her mate lies passed out on the bed? Even if you were here for any reason, your expression tells me otherwise," he snapped at me, and I shook my head.

"No, you’re mistaken," I snapped, just as he stepped closer.

"Enough! I do not enjoy anyone playing with my intelligence. Do you think I'm a fool not to know you sought to escape?" he hissed at me, and my eyes widened as I looked at him. I stepped back as he moved forward.

"Please, I beg you, let me go," I pleaded, even though I knew it was foolish to ask a father to betray his son.

"You hold the heir of my empire; you’re the mate of my son, and you think I’ll watch you slip away or escape? You must be delusional to ask for such a thing. Why do you desperately want to leave your own goddamn mate?!" he roared at me, and my eyes widened. I had made him even more angry than he had appeared to be, and I feared.

He stood there watching me; perhaps I knew I was doomed, but he could never know the very reason I was leaving him. He could never know who I was to him, nor that he had searched for me among every red-haired female in this pack.

"He is a monster," I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut as tears streamed down my face.

"You do not have to say that; you do not get to..."

"No... you do not know the things he have to me. You do not know the horror I faced. He would kill me sooner or later. This baby in my stomach means nothing to him; he would end me before..."

"It’s me you hate, isn’t it!" he growled, and I froze, avoiding his gaze. I clenched my fist at his words; I knew he was right. I did hate the man who ruined my life.

Even though Ryker had treated me in far more horrible ways, I still hated the Alpha King most for ruining my life. I hated him for what he had turned me into.

"I'll take your silence for an answer?" he asked, but I remained silent. He didn’t deserve my words, not now or ever.

I hated the man that stood before me, just as I've spent many nights cursing him, but the goddess never paid attention to my curses instead, she paired me right to him.

"I understand that, but I won’t let you hurt Ryker because of this," he hissed at me.

"He is a monster, and he does not deserve my mercy," I snapped back. How I had found the boldness to talk back to this man was beyond me. I would never have opened my mouth in Ryker's presence, but here I was, exchanging words with the most feared man in our world, a man who could snap my neck in an instant.

And I didn’t even know why or how I could stand up to him.

"Enough. Your actions warrant a penalty of death, but I’ll spare you. Return to your mate. No matter how much you try to convince me of the cruelty of your mate, it doesn’t faze me. I know the man I raised, and Ryker is one of those things. But you..." he hissed as he came closer.

And I moved further back until I was trapped

Then he stopped, as if something hit him, and he looked away from me to the ground.

“Ryker must know of this today, return to him, i.not one for mercy female, but if the ever happens again,I'll drag you back, even if you run to the end of the earthI'll drag you right back!” he snapped me, and my heart skipped a beat as I glared at him down.

He didn’t mean those words, did he? I must have been delusional not to realize he meant every word he had spoken. He would drag me back to Ryker if I ever thought of escaping; I knew that now.

He just showed up yet again, to ruin my life, as of the first one wasn't enough.

Just as I made a move to leave, his next words stopped me.

“Ryker spared your life even though your parents were traitors, and forgave you, accepted you as his mate. If you ever, ever break him or hurt him, I’ll kill you, I swear it. I’ll do to you what I didn’t do to those traitor parents of yours all those years ago, and I promise, you wouldn’t like me in the end. I promised I would be the one man you’ve hated. I’ve forgiven you only for the sake of the pup in your womb. Speak no more of my son’s courtesy because it’s untrue, and love him like a mate. If not, I’ll be your nightmare,” he threatened.

His words fell from his lips, threats meant to make me stay by his son’s side, their weight woven into my very soul, and I knew I wouldn’t forget.

He had used my greatest fear to threaten me, the death of my very own parents. I stood there as tears spilled from my eyes, clenching my fists.

I looked back at him, but he stared at me down. I turned away and headed back to the pack house.

I hated him, I hated him so much; he was worse, worse than Ryker would ever be.

He said he would become my nightmare, but he never knew he already was my greatest nightmare, one I wished had never happened.

With one look at him, I withdrew from the harbor without a word, but my aching heart but one word kept ringing in my ears.

“I’ll kill you”