Captive of The Beast Alpha: Drugging the CEO Was a Mistake.-Chapter 49: Hansel: the implication II.

My heart sank at the realisation, and Maris must have noticed the horror on my face because she quickly added.

"Not to worry, I’ll make sure no child is conceived."

"Thank you," I said gruffly, lowering my head to hide my shame. To change the subject, I asked Maris again. "But what might be the problem? Why is the mark on her neck red and inflamed?"

"Her body is in shock," Maris explained. "The bond formation during a Crescent moon is intense for Direwolves, talk more of a mere human. To be sincere, I don’t know how she survived mating with you. In any case," she looked up at me. "You need to leave so we can examine her properly, and we can’t do that with you hovering."

"I’m not leaving her."

"Alpha," Maris said firmly. "You’re making this harder. Your presence is affecting her through the bond. She needs space so her human body can try to heal from your mark, but if that is impossible, we might want to consider other options."

I stared at Maris for a few minutes, wondering if she was joking with me. "Consider other options? What do you mean? We had sex and..."

"And you marked her, Alpha. You’re a Direwolf, possessing the strength of a Raze; even one of our kind would have ended up in the hospital. But her vitals are good, let’s keep our fingers crossed, and you need to bridge the bond."

I nodded and took a step back, even though every instinct in me was screaming at me to stay and protect my mate.

"You’ll tell me the moment she wakes up?"

"The moment," Maris smiled, "and bridge the bond before then, it’ll help her recover well."

I walked out of the healer’s quarters on unsteady legs. My hands were shaking. Our bond felt muted and distant, like someone had wrapped it in cotton.

When I reached the main pack house, I found my father pacing back and forth across the entrance hall. His footsteps were echoing on the marble floor.

He looked up when he heard me enter. Relief flashed across his face, quickly followed by anger.

"Hansel—"

"I’m tired," I cut him off. "I want to rest."

I moved toward the staircase, desperate to get to my room. I wanted to be alone and figure out what was happening with Naya and me, and why the bond felt strange.

I’d barely taken the first step when his voice stopped me cold.

"Really? You marked a human?" His voice was filled with disappointment. "Don’t you ever learn?"

All the anger that I’d suppressed for years hummed to the surface.

I turned slowly, feeling rage build in my chest. "Don’t I ever learn?" I repeated and walked back down the step, moving toward him. "Are you seriously asking me to learn from your mistakes?"

"Hansel—" he warned.

"No." I stepped closer, getting in his face. "You stood there and did nothing while they killed Mom. You did nothing to stop it."

"That’s not—"

"You and your wife tortured her for years!" My voice rose, echoing through the hall. Years of anger poured out, coupled with years of resentment I’d kept bottled up. "She disappeared in the middle of the night, and all you got was some flimsy excuse, and you just accepted it. You didn’t question it or look for her."

"Hansel, that’s enough—" My father’s voice dropped to a growl.

"And then weeks later, her body turns up in the river." I was shouting now. "She was dead. She’d been dead for days, and it was clear that someone had killed her. But what did you do? Nothing. You claimed to be an Alpha, and yet you couldn’t save the one thing you said you loved."

"You don’t understand—"

"I understand perfectly!" I slammed my fist against the wall. "You chose them over her. You chose your pack, your reputation, your perfect little life with your wife over my mother. She was human, and she didn’t matter to you. She never mattered."

"That’s not true." My father’s face had gone red, and his fists were clenched at his sides. "I loved your mother—"

"Then why didn’t you fight for her?" My voice cracked. "Why didn’t you demand an investigation? Why didn’t you tear apart anyone who laid a hand on her? You’re supposed to be the Alpha. You’re supposed to protect your mate. But you just let them take her. You let them hurt her for years, and you let them kill her."

My father’s eyes flashed with annoyance, his jaw working like he was trying to find words and failing.

"She deserved better than you," I said quietly. The anger had burned itself out, leaving only cold truth behind. "She deserved someone who would have burned the world down to keep her safe."

I turned back toward the stairs.

"I won’t allow you to be with that human girl."

I stopped and turned slowly. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." My father’s voice was hard now. Final. "I won’t allow it. End that bond before it’s too late."

I stared at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

. "You don’t have the right to dictate my life. You lost that right the day you let my mother die."

"I’m still your father—"

"You’re nothing to me." The words came out cold. "You stopped being my father a long time ago. Besides, you have a lot of sons begging for your affection. Why do you always single me out?"

"The council will declare you rogue," he said. "Do you understand what that means? You’ll lose everything. You’ll lose your status and protection and open yourself up to being hunted by our enemies. Is this what you want?"

"Good." I smiled. "I never felt like family to any of you anyway. Being declared rogue would make it official."

"Hansel, please—"

"I’m done having this conversation."

I turned and climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time. My father called after me, his voice getting louder with each step I took.

"You’re making a mistake!"

I didn’t respond.

"She’ll end up just like your mother! Is that what you want?"

My hands clenched on the bannister, but I kept walking.

"Hansel! Get back here! I’m not finished talking to you!"

I reached the second floor and headed down the hall to my room. My father’s voice still echoed up the stairwell, but I shut it out.

When I finally got to my room, I slammed the door and locked it behind me. Then I leaned against it, breathing hard.

My hands were shaking again, not from fear or rage but from years of suppressed anger finally breaking free.

I could have easily told him that Naya was my Veylar, but I needed to be sure she would accept me.

In the meantime, I needed to know what happened when I was a Raze. Did I kill anyone this time around?

I sat on the bed, took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to connect to Elon. I didn’t know where my phone was.

"Elon?" I said as soon as he opened up his link for me.

"What’s up?" he crooned. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Are you busy? Can you come to my room real quick?"