A Wolf's Pride (41 page)

Chapter Thirty
Five

Lucinda's
face had visibly paled with each word in Ryan’s eloquent
description of her death until by the end of his speech she was as
white as a ghost, her already pale skin an almost deathly white.
She gulped, her blue eyes connecting with his feral amber ones. She
found nothing but heart sinking confirmation. He would kill her in
the most horrid way his imagination could conjure up and judging
from what he had already said it would undoubtedly be painful. The
corners of his mouth lifted in a cruel smile and his gaze broke
from hers, turning towards one of the doors before returning to
her. It was as though he were daring her to try and escape. Her
eyes wandered to his hands, noting the razor sharp claws were still
holding the remnants of the mangled armrests. She wouldn’t escape;
she would be dead, his claws rending her head from her shoulders
before she made it past him. A long sigh escaped her
lips.

“
I’ll tell you
the truth.”

“
That’s a
shame, I was hoping you would make things difficult for yourself. I
want to know a few things. First, how did you escape the dungeon?
Did you have help?” His eyes wandered around the room before
landing on Jeremiah, accusation burning in their depths. “You had
to have had help, no one escapes the dungeons and you weren’t to be
released until your mate came to collect you and as we can all
tell,” he breathed deeply. “You aren’t mated.”

“
I escaped on
my own. I had no help.”

He breathed,
confirming the truth behind her statement. “How?” he
hissed.

“
It was the
full moon, the guards were inattentive. They wanted to be with
their mates, at the feast, take your pick. I tricked them into
releasing me.”

“
How?”

“
I told them
that my mate was in the estate, that he’d been around for a few
days. That I could scent him through the air conditioning, that
after a few days of being constantly exposed to his scent I
recognised him for who and what he was but he couldn’t find me
because of where I was.”

Ryan scoffed
at her words. “Your mate would be able to find you
anywhere.”

“
Blame it on
the moon,” she shrugged. “They didn’t want to be there, their
wolves were strong and their control over themselves was weak. It’s
as simple as that. They heard and believed what they wanted
to.”

“
Why did you
escape and go after Chloe, my mate?” he growled, leaning forward
and invading her private space.

“
I have my own
reasons.”

“
Those reasons
are going to get you killed. The crimes you have committed not only
against Chloe but against the Queen as well are unforgivable. Did
you really think your father could help you get out of this mess a
second time? That his pleas would turn me against the idea of
executing you?” She trembled in her seat with each accusation he
threw at her, her face finally gaining colour. A frustrated, angry
red. “You’re not getting out of this one now. You tried to kill my
mate for no apparent reason. You are a lady, nobility, you’re
educated from birth to know our laws, know the consequences of your
actions and yet you chose to take this course of action anyway.” He
pushed himself away from her in disgust and confusion. “I don’t
understand why you chose this path. You would have been free to
live your life however you chose once your mate came to collect you
and now you’ve doomed him to a mateless life. I’m not going to
spare you because of him.”

“
You don’t have
to spare him,” she spat, her voice rising in volume in correlation
to the increased redness of her face. “My mate is dead! Dead and
all because of that whore’s family. Why should she have a mate, a
lord, when I would have been left to rot in the dungeons for
eternity?”

“
What are you
talking about?” he demanded angrily. He had warned her not to lie,
she had agreed to be honest and here she was defying him already.
The world would be a better place once she was removed from it.
“You’re not mated, how would you know if the man destined to be
your mate were dead?” He breathed deeply, expecting the unpleasant
smell of a lie to reach his nose but to his surprise only the
refreshing scent of honesty wafted from her. He strode back to her,
leaning in so close they were almost touching. “Explain
yourself.”

“
I had a mate.
His name was Luke.”

“
Lucinda, is
that true?” Jeremiah asked, rising from his seat.

“
Father, you
can smell that I’m telling the truth,” she sighed, her gaze never
leaving Ryan’s feral one. “Luke was a,” she paused, her eyelids
falling shut as shame flushed her cheeks even further. “Luke was a
gardener. He was common,” she spat, the word leaving her lips
sounding like poison. “He was a gardener here, in the royal estate.
I met him when I was very young, barely out of maturity, visiting
the royal estate for the first time. I had always been told that I
was meant for royalty, destined to be Queen of our people and then
Luke came along. This commoner came to me, claiming to be my mate.
Do you know how horrified I was? It was impossible for us to be
mates. I was to be mated to Prince Tobias, I knew it and so did
everyone else.” Ryan grunted, a sound of disbelief, astounded by
how far her delusions had taken her.

“
He was a
nobody, not a Lord, not nobility, not even a warrior. How on earth
could we be mates? I didn’t want him.”

“
So you
rejected him,” Ryan interpreted.

“
Of course I
did.”

“
He wouldn’t
have killed himself,” Sebastian inserted. “He would have kept
pursuing you. His wolf and he would have allowed nothing less until
you had accepted him.” His eyes wandered to Erica, a smile forming
on his face. “I know.”

“
Yes, I’m well
aware of how tenacious you males can be. He wouldn’t leave me
alone. How was I to get prince Tobias’ attention if he was
constantly following me about?”

Ryan’s eyes
narrowed in disgust. He had a feeling that whatever Lucinda was
about to say would turn his stomach. She had rejected her mate and
he was now dead. He didn’t doubt that she somehow had a hand in his
demise. “What did you do?”

“
I told him I
wanted him to prove himself, that I couldn’t accept a mate I wasn’t
confident could protect me. He heard about a group of hunters that
lived together and decided to take them on to prove his strength.
He hid me in the woods, far enough away that they wouldn’t see me,
but close enough that I could see them, see him win. There were far
more of them than he had anticipated. The hunters saw him coming,
they knew what he was and they shot him with silver bullets, those
violet eyed demons. I’ll never forget those eyes.” She turned
towards Chloe, her blue eyes aglow with hatred. “The men that
killed Luke may have been dark haired but how many humans do you
know of that have those eyes? They’re related, I know it. They shot
his body until it was riddled with bullet holes and dragged him
away to kill him properly. I ran as fast as I could from that place
and never heard from Luke again. They killed him.”

Chloe gasped,
shocked at the accusation but unsure of how to react. She scanned
the faces around her, easily remembering those who had been calling
for her execution. Would Lucinda's words inspire more calls for
retribution? She may have believed that her family was innocent of
all the accusations that had been levelled at them but those around
her did not. She could see heads nodding in agreement, scowls
appearing on faces. She visibly shrunk back in her chair, clutching
the armrests in terror before Ryan turned to her, fixing her with a
reassuring smile before returning to face Lucinda. She sat up in
her chair meeting the gazes of those who were looking at her with
anger in their eyes. Her stare was calm, defiant, daring them to
try and attempt something.
Ryan won’t let
any harm come to me.
The thought gave her
courage and she sat up straighter.

It was
unusual for her to be so reliant on someone but as her eyes
wandered over Ryan’s strong back, her mind filling in the details
of his front, she realised it wasn’t so unusual after all. Their
reliance was mutual. She needed his protection and he needed her,
period. What he didn’t know was that she was in his corner, ready
to defend him. He had saved her life by offering up his own that
made him beyond precious; the feelings he drew effortlessly from
her were worthy of defending even to the end. Anyone who tried to
hurt him would have to deal with her and she would make sure she
got in a few good hits before they took her down. Ryan deserved no
less.

“
It’s not fair
that she would get a mate when her family killed mine,” Lucinda
continued, her voice taking on an increasingly whining tone. “It’s
not fair that she, a human, would be given a Lord as a mate. She
doesn’t even truly understand the concept of mates and she doesn’t
want him. I was doing her a favour. She owes me a mate and I wanted
to take it out of her hide.”

“
So you
rejected your mate and are now having to deal with the
consequences?” he repeated, bemused. “Not only that but you’re
trying to drag my mate’s name down into the gutter with yours.” He
turned to face those who were looking at Chloe with anger in their
eyes. “You said it yourself Lucinda, Chloe is human. If you met
your true mate when you were just out of maturity then it was
almost a hundred years ago. Whatever you saw that day has nothing
to do with my mate. She wasn’t even alive and she knows nothing
about the hunters or the crimes they’ve committed against us. I’ve
had enough of this, of dealing with you. You tried to kill my mate,
tell these people exactly what you did so I can get started with
your execution. The faster you tell them, the quicker and less
painful your death will be.”

Lucinda
visibly deflated, the breath leaving her body in a long sigh as she
slumped back into her chair. “I walked straight in to your rooms.
It was the first time in days that the doors weren’t locked or
guarded, I just decided to take advantage of the
opportunity.”

Ryan nodded,
remembering leaving Chloe unattended after their fallout.
Stupid,
he
scolded.
It won’t happen again.

“
She was alone,
bemoaning the state of her life since you came into it. We spoke.”
Chloe scowled, remembering the unpleasant conversation and her
repeated instructions that Lucinda leave, instructions she had
ignored before attacking her. “I told her that as she didn’t want a
mate, I would relieve her of her problem.” She sighed before
speaking again. “At the time Chloe wasn’t able to speak but the
look on her face said she didn’t believe I would be able to make
you mine.”

“
She was
right,” Ryan interrupted. “If you had succeeded in killing Chloe, I
would have followed right after her. I can’t continue living
without her.”

“
We finished
our conversation, I picked her up, she struggled but of course she
couldn’t overpower me and escape and then I threw her over the
balcony. The rest you know.”

“
Yes,” he
hissed. “I do. Now that you’ve all heard her pathetic excuses and
her confirmation of her own guilt, can I kill her now?”

“
Ryan,” Chloe
scolded, shocked by his cavalier attitude towards ending someone’s
life.

“
It’s okay,”
Alex whispered to her, gently patting her hand in
reassurance.

As she looked
around the room Chloe began to notice that many of those present
were nodding their heads in agreement and glaring angrily at
Lucinda. Was Ryan really going to kill her?

“
Lord Ryan is
right,” Tobias began, standing from his seat to address the
gathered crowd. “We have all heard the confirmation of Lady
Lucinda's guilt not only in this matter but in the attempted murder
of my own mate, Queen Alexandria. Lady Lucinda was well aware of
the fact that we weren’t mates when she challenged my mate and
despite her full awareness of this she not only tried to keep me
from my rightful mate but tried to poison her as well. All in
favour of her execution say aye. I’ll start.” Hard grey eyes turned
to regard Lucinda, amber appearing in the orbs the longer he stared
at her. “Aye.”
I wonder if Ryan will want
some assistance in getting rid of her.

I hope
so,
his wolf snarled.
And if not…you’re King aren’t you, order him to let us
help.

‘
Aye’
reverberated around the room as one by one the voices of those
present condemned Lucinda for her actions. Murder was a crime and
attempting to kill someone else’s mate not once but twice was
unforgiveable. The wave of agreement swept the room until the only
person left was Lord Jeremiah, Lucinda's father. All eyes came to
rest on him awaiting his response, the silence was
deafening.

“
Lucinda,” he
began. “I’ll always love you in spite of all that you have done but
I can’t allow this to go unpunished. We’re nobility, we’re meant to
set an example for those we lead, if I allow you to get away with
this then what sort of message would I be sending?” His voice
quivered, emotion choking him. “You shouldn’t have gone after
someone else’s mate for a second time. Maybe after a few hundred
years Queen Alexandria would have granted you clemency, she has
shown you great kindness considering what you have done, and you
would have been free. I saved you once, I can’t do it again. This
is my final act as Lord of the Northeast clan, after this I’ll hand
the reins over to one of my sons.” Tears began to well in his eyes
but he blinked them back. “Aye.”