Chapter 63
I turned around quickly and saw Tyson standing there with a cruel smile playing on his l*ps. My first instinct was to stand in front of my daughter and protect her from his gaze. He seemed to notice my actions because he laughed cruelly.
“I’ve already had her for a day,” he laughed. “I could have seen things you didn’t even want me to see. I have to admit though, your daughter is beautiful. It is a shame she isn’t ours. If she was, she would have been spared all of this.”
“If you lay one finger on my child,” Ryker growled and Tyson turned his angry and hate filled eyes to him.
“Oh, I forgot you were here. Ryker Caine, the knight in shining armor. I expected that you would be the one to come here. I thought you would try to save your child in a heroic act of bravery. It would have given me sick pleasure to gut you like a fish, but I got the mother instead. Not a terrible bargain, but I’ll live.”
“Tyson,” I called and he turned to me. “You’re outnumbered here, so I’m going to tell you how this will go. I am going to release my daughter and we are all going to walk out of here alive or you will be gutted like a fish.”
He stared at me for a long second and his eyes took in the people in the room. He seemed to realize that he actually was outnumbered seeing as both Ryker and I were free and he was the common enemy. His beady eyes took in the room and then to my shock, he started laughing.
I was taken aback by his laugh and I cast a wary glance at Ryker who was also looking at me with the same shocked expression. Tyson laughed with such reckless abandon and clutched his ribs as if he was going to keel over from the force of the laughter.
“It’s funny that you think I will let you go that easily,” he said as he wiped a stray tear from his face. “The thing is Camilla, that I have doused this entire house with gasoline. If you make one wrong move, then I will set this place ablaze with all of you in it. I’m not against dying but do you really want the monarchy to end with you?”
I realized that he had a point and it was at that moment that the scent of gasoline filtered into my nose. I cast a wary glance at Ryker and I knew that I couldn’t risk calling his bluff so I raised my hands in surrender and took an unwilling step away -from my daughter. I moved closer to my mother and away from the door.
Tyson smiled widely while Ryker looked at me confused and once I was close enough to my mother, I slowly put my hands down.
“You’re right,” I said to him making sure to keep his eyes on my face as I slowly took out a pocket knife from my back. “I’m the one you want, right? Let my daughter go safely and I will stay here with you.”
“No,” Ryker said almost immediately and Tyson’s eyes flashed over to him.
I used the moment of distraction to sl*p the pocket knife into my mother’s hands. Her eyes went to mine and I gave her a discreet nod. She let out a sigh of relief and I saw her start to work on her bonds. I knew it would only be a moment of time before she would be able to get herself free and maybe her powers would be of good use to us. As far as I checked, there is no water source around here and mine would be a waste.
“Camilla,” Tyson called out and I looked up. “I’ll let your daughter go, but in exchange for your mate. Give me the right to kill him and I’ll let your child live.”
“What are you saying Tyson?” I asked unable to process the choice that he had just given me,
“I am giving you a chance to save one of them. Give Ryker to me and you can walk out of here with your daughter. You understand why I cannot let the others go but it shouldn’t matter to you, they are simply collateral damage. We will raise Audrey together like our own and in a matter of years she will forget about Ryker.”
I opened my mouth to speak but no words would come out. I glanced at Ryker who had an impassive expression on his face- he was giving me a chance to make the decision without his input. Tyson noticed the expression and it seemed to infuriate him because he brought out a lighter from his pocket.
“Make your choice now, Camilla,” he warned. “Or I swear, I will set this entire place ablaze and we will all die.”
“Tyson, please,” I pleased and he flicked the lighter on as if reminding me that I had limited time to make a choice. “I choose Audrey.”
The words left my l*ps before I could stop them and I could feel the silence that fell over the room. I shot Ryker an apology with my eyes but he gave me a look that allowed me know that he understood why I had to make that decision.
Tyson’s l*ps curled up into a smirk and as he moved towards Ryker, there was a flash of movement from my left. Mother had cut through her bonds and she looked more angry than I had ever seen her in my life. Her eyes narrowed at Tyson and he looked from me to her, before awareness settled on his features.
“You tricked me,” he growled. “You f**king bi tch.”
He came for me and I braced myself to side step his move but then he stopped and fell to the floor. I noticed that pocket knife I had given mother protruding from the back of his neck and when I glanced over at her, her hand was outstretched as if she had thrown it. I stared at her with wide eyes and she rolled her eyes.
“You’re welcome,” she said and I rushed to pull her into a hug. “Let’s get out of here as soon as possible.”
I pulled away from her and rushed to Audrey. She had small tears rushing down her face and as soon as I freed her hands, she wrapped them around my neck as fiercely as she could, I picked her up and allowed her cling to me like a koala bear.
“You chose me,” she babbled in the midst of her tears and all I could do was hold her close and k*ss her temple.
I saw that Ryker had freed his sister but when he pulled her to her feet, she stumbled. Mother rushed over to help her and I heard Riley mutter her thanks under her breath.
“Go to your daughter,” mother told Ryker and he glanced at her briefly before rushing over to Audrey.
was so fixated on having Ryker and Audrey safe and next to me that I didn’t notice what was going wrong until I heard mother gasp. I turned to her only to see her crumple to the floor and Riley holding her still beating heart in her hands.
I let out a blood curling scream and shielded Audrey from seeing the bl oody scene in front of me. Riley just rolled her eyes and dumped the bl oody heart on the floor as if it were an inconvenience.
“Shut up,” she spat as she wiped her blo ody hands on the bottom of her pants. “Your voice is so f**king annoying.”
“Riley,” Ryker began slowly. “What are you doing? Why are you doing this, we came to save you.”
She rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket to take out a small vial. She emptied the contents in her mouth and I don’t know how to explain what happened. All I know is that one second, Riley was standing in front of me and the next; she started to morph until Lauren was standing in front of me with an evil sneer.
I stumbled back slightly and she held out her hand. “Surprise, you must be shocked to see me.”
“Where is Riley?” Ryker asked and I saw her frown in slight annoyance.
“Tied up in a cabin in the woods back at the pack,” she said almost dismissively. “She isn’t dead, don’t worry, I have someone. there who makes sure she is fed and clothed and taken care of.”
I still couldn’t wrap my head around what had happened and was staring at her with my eyes wide. Audrey tried to move in my arms but kept my hand on the back of her head to prevent her from looking at the scene in front of her. Lauren must. have noticed the movement because she narrowed her eyes at Audrey in my arms.
“I thought I got rid of you four years ago,” she began. “Do you know how hard it was to get someone who was willing to morph into Ryker? Do you even know how hard it was to get a witch to sell me the potion or how hard it was to get a lock of Ryker’s hair?”
“It was you,” I almost face palmed at how stu pid I was. It wasn’t Ryker who I saw having S** with her, it was someone else who had morphed into him. “Even the conversation with Lucy, it wasn’t her, was it?”
She shook her head.
“You were stu pid for believing that Ryker of all people would cheat. Even after you left I tried to make him mine but he was still hung up over you,” she spat the words as if it were a curse word. “I thought all he needed was a few years to get over you then I heard that you were at the palace- you a meager omega was now a princess. I knew I had to go so I kidnapped Riley and I morphed into her. Imagine my shock when I see that you have a child.”
She moved closer and I took a step back and leveled her with a look that would make meager men cringe.
“Stay away from my daughter.” I warned and she smirked
“I don’t want your child, I want Ryker,” she said before turning to him. “She chose your child over you. She chose a baby over a life with you. I would never do that and you know it. Come with me, choose me. You know how she has been treating you lately. You told me yourself that she was using you for S**.”
I turned to Ryker shocked and to my surprise, he wasn’t looking at me. Before I could say anything he removed his hands from Audrey and I. I tried to reach out to him but he brushed me off and made his way over to Lucy. She squealed and buried her head in his chest.
He used that opportunity to turn to me and I saw him mouth, ‘the lighter.
I knew what he wanted to do and I wasn’t sure if I could. I shook my head and he gave me a weak smile before turning to Lauren and k*ssing her. I felt a searing pain go through my chest and I almost stumbled back. It felt like my heart was being ripped in two and I knew I had limited time.
I rushed over to Tyson’s fallen b*dy and I took the lighter from his pocket. Lucy must have heard my movements because she turned to me then back to Ryker and a knowing look crossed her features.
“You tricked me,” she spat and before she could say anything else, I lit the lighter and threw it on the floor.
I was not expecting the magnitude of the flames that filled the room. My skin pri ckled with heat and I heard Audrey moan over my shoulder. I unlocked the door and rushed out of the room, making my way to the front door which was locked. I cursed under my breath and decided to check the way Ryker and I came in and to my luck it was open.
-I could hear Lauren screaming in frustration and I couldn’t see Ryker but my man focus was getting out with Audrey. I
dropped her out through the window first and then I crawled through.
“Where’s daddy?” she asked as she stared up at the burning house but I didn’t know how to answer her.
“He’s coming,” I lied.
I rushed to the front of the house looking for a way to break open the door but the knob burnt to touch and I couldn’t find anything to break it. Awareness dawned on me as I realized what I had just done- I had killed my own mate.
Audrey was standing in the clearing- away from the fire and I could feel her eyes on me as I fell to my knees in front of the house with so bs wracking through my chest. I watched the house burn as guilt settled deep in my chest when I heard an amused voice behind me.
“It’s funny how you thought I would die that easily.”
