#Chapter 13 Jay's son One of them squeaked. Another babbled some sort of excuse and slipped from the table t owar ds the liv ing room . Then, I was alone with Matt and embarrassed. I would never live this down. I should have kept my mouth shut. H e w as going to tease m e , for sure, or get mad My best bet was to pretend like there was nothing out of the ordinary. After all, it was in my best interest to ma k e sure that m y position as his whore or mistress or whatever Matt was telling people seemed as real as possible. I tried to calm down, so I didn't tum around to look at him. He walked around me and sat across the table, staring at me. I didn't meet his eyes, too embarrassed and bracin g m yself fo r the teasing "...why did you say that?" Act cool. I had to act cool. This could be a chance to learn more about Matt. His weaknesses and desires. It would be easier, in the long run, to use those things against him to learn everything I needed to know. "Spur of the moment." He scoffed, "Try again with a better lie, hm?" I finished my food and excused myself from the table. He didn't stop me to my surprise. I made my way up the stairs as quickly as I could, avoiding the other guests. As I closed the door behind me with a little sigh of relief, I couldn't believe what I had heard. What the hell was going on? What was Matt thinking? Doing? What was I doing? Nothing I was learning was making any sense. How could everything in the news be a lie? A disguise? For what? This party wasn't even real! What was the point of all this? The man who saved my life and the man who played death games were the same person, but he wasn't the lustful, willful, power drunk monster I had imagined. 1 I couldn't even guess a reason for him to be involved with the Fluorite massacre. Matt was only a few years older than me, so at the time, he would have been eighteen. It's possible that he doesn't know anything, but he is the only son of the alpha who benefitted from it. He had to know something! My head began to ache. If he knew nothing and the Wallbers weren't involved in any of it, then the last three years were a complete waste of time. I couldn't accept that all that pain and suffering was for nothing. I'd lose what little sanity I had left. I sunk onto the bed to think, turning over the party and e v eryone I had seen in my mind, but nothing stuck out. I couldn't have been in my room for longer than an hour before A rmand sent me a text asking where I was and if I needed anything. His overly nice disposition only made my headache worse . Miss Renda, you like sweets, right? Won 't you come down and have dessert? The next few pictures were of cake, pies, and other desserts. When a bowl of ice cream drizzled in chocolate popped up, I sighed. Armand was persistent and there was nothing better than ice cream when I was down. I couldn't remember the last time I had ice cream Fine. I'm coming He replied with a cheering emoji as I left my room and returned downstairs. When I got to the bottom floor, I went into the living room. The bartender w a s flirting with a group of women. A group of men stood around to the right of the living room. I hoped to get my ice cream and escape befo r e Matt or anyone else noticed me. Then, I saw Jay's eldest son. J ay was my father's beta. I knew for a fact that Jay had been in the city when the attack happened, and his son had been there too. W hat was he doing here? If he escaped, was he looking for revenge too? It would make sense that he got into Matt's fake inner circle if he survived. If I remembered, they had family in another pack they could have gone to hide with. I wanted to ask, but I closed it before a sound escaped me. There was something wrong with this picture. He didn't look watchful. H e looked comfortable as if he was here all the time. It could have been an act but Jay's son wasn't the smartest growing up. What if Jay had helped the Warhammer pack and his son was here as a guest because of that? The thought turned my stomach, but the thought wouldn't leave me. My pack had been wealthy but not large. We were known for our flowers, our mines, and the beauty of the surrounding land. Dad was a good businessman and leader. He took care to make sure we lived and worked in peace. Our forces w ere just strong enough to defend us when need be or at least give us time to escape if something serious happened. Someone inside the pack would have had to help them avoid the patrol paths and Jay was the only person who w ould have been able to get that information other than Dad. Jay, or Uncle Jay as Angelia and I called him, was always v ery kind to us. When we were little, he would hide chocolates in his coats so Angelia and I could find them. He spoiled us. I had always thought of him as family. He was so good to us…. " M y candy's the best," Dan growled, leaning over Armilla and licking her tears a w ay. I could almost feel his weight on my chest, watching him. "Don't you like candy?" The guard tore Angelia away from me and dragged her across the room. A nother held me in place as I cried and begged. Angelia screamed, thrashing and trapped beneath Dan. Armilla had gone quiet in the far corner of the room. Blood stained the sheets. He shoved Angelia off the bed when she stopped screaming and simply lay still. "Your tum, little girl... Brave, eager gir... Come get some candy." One, two, three, f our studs in the bed frame. I couldn't breathe. I can't breathe. Pain tore through me. His weight crushed me beneath him. He thrust harder and harder, shaking the bed with his weight. I kept screaming. Fighting, but he wouldn't budge. His guards held me down, laughing at me. Enjoying the show. Wet, squelching, pain throbbed between my legs. "Stop!" "Stop!" I said, gripping my head. "Stop. Stop! Stop!" I curled up beside the bed, focusing on the grains in the carpet. One… Two… Three… Four… Five.. . I got lost in picking out the individual strands, and the memories faded. I could still feel my hands shaking. I felt nauseous and di zz y. Ov er-heated and frozen as if my body didn't know what it was thinking. I laid down on the carpet, forcing myself to take deep breaths as I noticed the grain of the dresser's wood and began to count the strands. "One.. Two Three." "Are you okay, Renda?" I gasped, looking up at the face leaning into the door. Matt was the last person I expected to see. Had he knocked or just walked in? He couldn't see me like this. "Get out," I said "Get out!" "Claimed by My Ex's Alpha Brother" by CrushReel is a captivating billionaire CEO novel. Edith, in a twist of fate, switches babies with her wealthy friend, only to have the babies switched back by the CEO. Years later, Edith realizes her mistreated daughter is actually her own. This gripping tale of secrets and revelations explores the complexities of identity and relationships.
