Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 64 The Darkness in You
“Oh? Enlighten us then, which method can be used to fake a bond because in all of my life I have never heard of such a way.” Ann answered nonchalantly.
If they were to be convincing in this ploy, then she had to call her bluff. Ann knew she was lying and as much as she tried to avoid it in her everyday life, this was the Pack’s well-being that was at stake as well as Adam’s position.
A chosen mate didn’t make you a bad Alpha, and with Adam’s unique situation with the curse that consumed his bond with his wolf and his mate, what other choice did he have?
Esmerelda didn’t answer and instead scowled at her furiously. Ann was sure that if looks could k*il*l, then she would be dead in a second, but thankfully, that was not a possibility.
So instead Ann smiled serenely, the calm att*itude that she exuded infuriating Esmerelda further.
Ann leaned in a little closer towards her and smiled widely as she stared confidently into her eyes, seeing the look of unease that flitted across the woman’s face. “Don’t think that I don’t know what you are…” Ann grinned.
Esmerelda blinked in shock and the color seemed to drain from her face.
“What!? What are you talking about?!” She protested shrilly, the panic bleeding into her voice.
Ann chuckled before her face set into a cold mask, all humor was gone in a second.
“The darkness in you… I see it… I feel it.” Ann almost whispered with a knowing glint in her eyes.
Esmerelda’s eyes widened fearfully as she stammered her weak protests before Ann laid a solitary finger on her lips.
“Hush. There’s no denying your true nature anymore. I am curious about one thing though.” Ann said with a smirk as she raised her voice just enough to be heard by the rest of the a*s*sembled Pack.
“Just what exactly is a dark witch doing consorting with and influencing the Elder’s of a long-established, and powerful Pack, hmm?”
Esmerelda was silent as she tried her best to gauge whether or not Ann truly knew or if she was merely bluffing in an effort to f0rce her to reveal her ident*ity. She snorted internally.
This foolish princess had no idea who she was up against.
Esmerelda glanced to the side and watched in seething silence as Tomas and his supporters were gathered up and led away. Every single one of them looked miserable and downcast, all of their earlier bravado now gone.
All of her years of hard work had been destroyed in mere seconds.
She could feel the oppressive stares of the remaining Pack members focused on her as Ann stood before her arrogantly.
One thing was for sure, Narcissa and that half-breed of a daughter of hers had vastly underestimated Ann’s capabilities.
There was no possible way that both Ann and Adam were fated mates.
Unless their pitiful little goddess had decided to get involved.
Esmerelda’s stomach twisted p@infully at the thought of the possibility but she quickly discounted it.
The werewolf’s pathetic little goddess had abandoned her children long ago. There was no power left in her priestesses, which was exactly why Tomas had believed in her schemes so easily.
It hadn’t taken much to win him over at all.
A bitter old man, desperate for affection yet mistrustful of outsiders was an easy victim for her misdirection and seduction.
It hadn’t taken her long at all to worm her way into his good graces and become his constant, and faithful bed companion, available whenever he called and whispering her schemes into his impressionable little mind.
It had been a stroke of genius of her own making, once she realized that the coven’s hopes for this operation hinged on her rival Narcissa and her half-wit of a daughter.
A few sly words to the coven mother had been all it took to ensure that she was available as a backup plan, and now, with this one mistake, nearly 20 years of hard work was gone in an instant.
She had been so close to taking control…
Esmerelda laughed suddenly and grinned, earning a few growls and a mild look of confusion from Ann.
“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” Esmerelda sneered at Ann, the serene demeanor that she displayed infuriating her further.
“Do you have any idea the plans that are in motion? You pathetic wolves are nothing anymore without your precious goddess. You’re fit for nothing more than slavery. It is you who should kneel at the feet of your rightful masters like the f*uc*king dogs you are!” She spat angrily to a chorus of furious snarls.
Ann remained in front of her, completely unmoved by her outburst, and smiled warmly.
‘Let me rip her face off! Just a bite! I’ll still leave enough of her to question later…’ Maeve snarled viciously in her mind as Ann shook her head gently and ignored her pleading.
“Now now, since when did the darkness ever prevail, hmm?” Ann asked Esmerelda with a wry grin. “Has the history of our kinds not taught you anything?”
“Ask your precious Alpha! He should know! The darkness lives inside him and rots him from the inside out! He’ll never find his true mate! You are an imposter!” Esmerelda shrieked as she pointed a shaking finger at Ann’s face.
Ann glanced across in Adam’s direction. His face was as still as a fine marble sculpture, but the set of his shoulders told Ann just how anxious he was.
As nonchalant as he appeared, she could almost feel the waves of panic rolling off him, but none of the a*s*sembled wolves seemed to have noticed.
If she didn’t act quickly, then they risked his secret being revealed to the entire Pack, and who knows what that would do to them collectively?
Ann swept her eyes across the remaining wolves and smiled warmly at each of them as her eyes drifted over them.
“An impostor?” Ann chuckled humorlessly. “You dare to continue to call me an impostor when even now I wear his mark proudly on my body?”