(AMARI'S POV)
Alpha of the River Pack?
"Please—you've got it wrong." Rudina's scared voice made me jolt back. Tears were streaming down her face as she clung to me.
The scary woman turned to Rudina as if she'd only just noticed her.
She flicked her wrist. Two men approached. I lunged for my sister but strong hands tore her away from me.
"No. No please. I'm married to a truck driver, not an alpha." I hit the ground while Rudina was held aside, crying in the firm hold of two large men.
Rough hands yanked me upright, fingers clamping around my throat and I was facing the furious woman again.
"Are you in denial now? Aren't you Amari Daclaw Blackwood? Married to Kaelen Blackwood?" She asked, her voice lower, more dangerous.
"Yes but he told me he was—" I struggled to breathe as her claws hovered at my throat.
"Proof." She snapped. "Show me. Now... or I kill you." Her eyes turned deadlier.
I had no proof. Kaelen had taken our marriage certificate with him.
My heart pounded so loudly in my ears that it almost overshadowed Rudina's cries.
"Good. You don't have it!" She spat.
"Pl-please."
"Do you know how many women have tried this?" She said coldly.
Hot pain strung my neck. Already—
"Neoma!!" A sharp call made us all freeze.
Then I heard fast approaching footsteps and the sound of wheels against the floor. The grip around my neck loosened. I dropped to the ground.
I coughed, wheezed. My fingers touched my neck. No blood. Yet.
"Let them go now." I heard a woman's commanding voice.
In a split second, Rudina ran to me crying and hugging me. I held her tightly, my breath shaking.
"We must have her thrown in jail, mother! She's a sworn liar who wants to milk the death of my brother! Your son!!" I heard the wicked woman, the one I suspect is Neoma, speak.
"Shut up!" I heard another voice. This one was a cracked female voice.
I looked up.
One woman stood. Tall. Elegant. Composed.
The other woman, way older sat in a wheelchair, her sharp gaze like they were commanding everything around her.
"Vanessa see if she's hurt." She instructed.
The other woman stepped forward and I held a sobbing Rudina tighter to me.
"No, I'm not hurt." I lied.
"Take a look at her! Does she look like someone Kaelen would marry? And in secret?" Neoma's voice made me coil again.
Vanessa turned to Neoma sharply, her brown shoulder length hair bobbed. "Leave. Now. I shall deal with you later."
"But mother—"
"Leave!!" The old woman in the wheelchair shrieked.
Neoma's dark gaze turned on me. Cold. Vile. Then she turned around and left, the men from earlier following her.
"Please." I begged. "I'm not here to deceive anyone. My husband is Kaelen and we got married yesterday. But I don't know any Al—"
"Hush, child!" The old woman interrupted.
She had sleek grey hair pulled back and she looked small, her folded hands rested in her lap. But her dark eyes were fixed on me with an intensity that made my chest tighten.
Her lips curved in a warm but very light smile as she spoke "She needs rest." She said calmly. "We will talk tomorrow."
"Of course, Mother." Vanessa, said giving a bow to the woman on the wheelchair.
Two suited women stepped forward. They helped Rudina and I stand before leading us away.
"Wh-what's happening, Amari? Who are these people?" Rudina whispered amidst tears. I clutched her closer.
"It's okay. It's okay." I comforted. My voice sounded way stronger than I felt.
Kaelen had told me he had no family and that he lived in our Moon Pack's Capital alone.
Did he have some work here, in River Pack Capital? For these people?
I was startled to realize we had arrived at a serene and well-lit bungalow. We walked up the front stairs, the door was opened and we stepped in.
"Leave us now." Vanessa commanded and we were left alone with her.
Rudina's face was buried in my chest as I held Vanessa's gaze. No one said a word for the first few seconds and I was starting to restrain panic.
She walked closer, then stopped. I noticed, in the brightly-lit room, that her eyes were tired and swollen.
Her gaze moved over me—my clothes, my trembling hands. Then went back up and lingered on the marks around my neck. She said nothing.
"Did you really marry Kaelen?"
"Yes." I answered wrapping my veil tighter around myself to hide the bruises. "We got married, just yesterday. He was going to come back for me—"
My voice seized. I was speaking in defense until my reality dawned on me all over again. Kaelen's death.
"That's enough." Vanessa said quietly.
Silence.
"There's a bell." She gestured to the table. "Use it if necessary."
I stepped forward.
"Why am I here please? My husband is Kaelen Blackwood but he is only a simple—"
"Just as said," her voice turned stern and imposing. "We will talk tomorrow."
I nodded.
She nodded back and left the room.
Once her footsteps faded away, Rudina looked up immediately.
"Amari, what is all this? What have we gotten ourselves into?"
Her eyes were red. So was her whole face. She looked terrified. And I had no answers for her.
"I think there's a mistake of some sort. But let's sleep, okay? We will surely sort this out tomorrow, I promise you." I told her.
But Rudina did not look convinced. "We left our bags in the car. We can't even call mother."
My body weakened. Elara would kill me if she found out my sister was in danger.
"We will call her tomorrow. Now please stop crying." I begged. "Or I shall cry with you."
She complied to that.
"Come on. Let's put you to sleep."
I took her to the first room which was exquisitely furnished, and led her to the bed. In less than five minutes, she was asleep.
I watched her breathe for a long time. Her face, peaceful. Innocent.
I would get her out of here. I didn't know how. But I would.
But I couldn't sleep.
I tossed and turned. Not wanting to wake Rudina, I went back to the living room where I sank into a cushion.
"What is going on?" I whispered to myself.
My hand went to my neck. I hissed. A reminder that I had almost been strangled for the accusation of being married to the Alpha of River Pack.
"What Alpha?" I whispered into the silent space with a cracked voice.
Almost immediately, as if answering me, there came a sharp series of knocks on the door.
I gasped and rose.
The door swung open. I stopped breathing.
No. It couldn't be.
"Kaelen?"
He took steps closer.
It was him.
Alive.
Or was it a ghost? Some sort of city sorcery?
I froze. Then he stepped closer. Relief crashed into me.
I dropped to my knees and for the first time today, tears that weren't born of sorrow, streaked down my face.
"Thank you Goddess."
He closed the space. His hands pulled me up and I lunged forward, sobbing.
"Oh thank you G-"
But he caught my wrists, stopping me, and then he pushed me back.
I froze.
Then, I reached for him again.
His hand shot out and gripped my wrist.
"Now." His grip tightened. "We need to talk."
I looked in to his brown eyes. They looked different. Sterner.
I didn't fight as he led me to another room.
The door clicked shut. The lock turned.
And then I was alone with him. I pulled my hand free from him and moved back.
He had Kaelen's face—the same chestnut hair and clefted chin—but the man standing before me felt like a stranger.
His silk shirt was unbuttoned at the collar.
He took a step towards me and I took many hurried ones back.
He sighed and took quick strides to me. Before I could move, his strong hands held me in place.
"You must listen to me." His voice had softened a fraction. A flash of the man I married.
He made me sit on the bed and then crouched before me. I shifted away.
"Stop crying."
"They said, you died." I croaked.
"I didn't die." He said calmly, holding my eyes. "But the Alpha, Kaelen did."
My hands tightened into fists.
"I am Talon. Not Kaelen." He finished.
"Are-Are you twins?" I asked, desperate for a break.
"No, he was my uncle."
The room felt colder and more suffocating. I
squeezed my eyes shut. The words didn't make sense. They couldn't.
"Y-you didn't marry me yesterday?"
He was staring directly at me as he spoke.
"I married you. With Kaelen's identity."
Only the sound of the clock ticking in silence.
"You are his widow."
I processed his words in the heavy silence.
My husband was truly dead.
And he was not who I married yesterday.