Betrayed Luna's Second Chance Alphas
Betrayed Luna’s Second Chance Alphas – Chapter 54

-Riley-

Hiran was deemed guilty. Of course, he fu.cking was. Even if it wasn’t anything else, I would have loved to see him burn just for threatening my pups.

“Hiran Waites, you are guilty under the wolves’ laws. Selling and hurting other wolves for the sake of personal gain and selling them off to vampires is a big crime, and the penalty for that crime is death.”

Hiran looked defeated as he looked at the crowd.

“Riley. Save me. Where is Reid? Did he not- not come?” Hiran’s voice sounded desperate as he looked around. Dee had texted me that Reid wouldn’t come. I was hoping to see Dee and Reid when they visited, but I couldn’t blame Reid for not coming.

“What the fu.ck is wrong with this man? How can he even look us in the eyes and ask that after everything he has done?”

I shook my head as I looked down. How could he ask me that after all that he had done to me?

“It is the Vampires. I will- I will confess, I will testify against Ramsay. I will be your witness. Please, I don’t want to die.”

He looked at the king and the man preceding the trial. Adrian told me he was the head of the Red Watchers. Each organization in different countries had different leaders.

Roman’s dad looked like he was thinking.

“No, we can’t trust him to do any of that. He is manipulative and he did what he did knowing very well that it was wrong. He doesn’t deserve a pardon.”

“It is not a pardon, but we need witnesses when we bring the case to the supernatural court. We need evidence against Ramsay’s crime, and he is… he will be useful then.”

Roman gritted his teeth and his body trembled.

“No,” Adrian sighed next to me.

I would love to have seen Hiran die, but the king did make sense. They did need witnesses if they wanted to prosecute Ramsay.

“Sometimes you are too logical.”

“I learned from the best. You, Gem.”

She poked her tongue out. I loved that she was always there for me.

Adrian looked at Roman and Roman turned towards Adrian and me. I knew they were mind-linking right now.

“Do not lose it here. You know your dad is right. Ramsay is the bigger threat right now. Once that bastard is dead and rotting, we can kill this one,” Adrian mumbled under his breath. I was sure he was doing it for my sake.

I tightened my fingers around his hand as I nodded at Roman. He snarled before he walked away. The same two men who brought Hiran in walked him away.

Roman looked angry and frustrated as he walked towards us. I understood how he felt, but sometimes, you had to use the smaller fish to catch the big ones.

“Why did you stop me?”

“He did the right thing. Your dad is absolutely right, and I don’t feel the judgment is wrong. He did so many bad things, but we do need him to stop Ramsay. You said Feyona doesn’t have any evidence, right? So we only have Hiran right now.”

“How can you- how can you be so logical right now? I just want to kill him.”

“I want that too, but maybe later.”

Roman gave a curt nod when a guy walked towards us. He had dark blonde hair and a smile.

“Man, those creatures you bought…” He stopped talking when he finally noticed me standing there. “I am Dustin. You are?”

“Oh, you are the famous Dustin. I have heard about you a lot. I am Riley.”

“Hi Riley. You are new here, aren’t you?”

“She is, and she is off-limits,” Adrian growled under his breath, looking possessive suddenly, and it amused me. Dustin gave me a flirty smile before he turned to the guys.

“About those creatures… they are messed up. They keep grunting and slamming against the cages-“

“We will talk about it later.” Dustin ignored Roman, and continued, and both the Lycans looked anxious. They kept looking at me as if they were scared or something. Were they hiding something from me?

“It is dumb. They kept banging against the iron. It is a miracle that you two fought those monsters and lived to tell the tale.”

I blinked. What was he talking about?

“What creatures?”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Gem said with a worried look on her face. My stomach twisted. I felt nervous.

“Didn’t they tell you? The ones Ramsay is doing experiments on, they attacked Adrian and-“

My eyes widened as I whirled around to look at Adrian. Why did he hide it from me? My heart shuddered. I couldn’t imagine- my whole body felt so f*****g cold as I glared at the Lycan standing in front of me.

“How could you hide that from me?” I growled under my breath.

“I- I can’t lose Adrian and Roman. No, I just-” Gem’s breathing hitched as she gasped.

“And Roman went to save him, and he asked the Queen to call us.”

“You have said enough, Dustin. Go,” Roman said with a shake of his head and Dustin bit his tongue as he gave him an apologetic look. He had finally caught up with what was really going on here.

“You two. Back to YOUR dad’s study, NOW,” I said as I walked away, knowing very well they would follow. I punched the elevator button with enough force to break it, and they both winced. I glared at them as we all entered the elevator.

Adrian cleared his throat and adjusted his shirt. “I really have to pee, and I can’t-“

“You can keep it in, or you can pee right here. I don’t mind,” I said with a growl, and he gulped and looked at Roman.

“What, don’t look at me? You asked me to-“

“Don’t you dare lie, you traitor. You are trying to push me under the tractor now.”

“Are you calling me a tractor?” I looked at him, tilting my head and Adrian shook his head, his eyes wide with bewilderment and fear.

“No, not you. I only meant-” He stuttered.

“Riley, calm down, Kitten. It is nothing.”

“No. I know it is not nothing. You two almost died and you think it is nothing?” I gripped the handrail in the elevator tight as my body trembled. Fear and panic gripped me. “Is it after you ran away?” I said as I let out a deep growl. My heart raced like a bullet train, refusing to quiet down.

The elevator stopped with a ding. We entered the study, and I locked the door behind us. The two Lycans looked like they were worried for their safety.

“What? What do you think I am going to do?” I hissed and they shook their heads in sync. “You shouldn’t have run. If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have run into them.”

“But now that we have these creatures in our control, everyone is safe,” Roman said as he placed his hand on my back. “It is alright. See, we are grown a*s men, and we can take one measly creature down.”

“He said two things.”

“Okay, yeah, two.”

“I just- I don’t want anything to happen to you, Adrian,” I said and he nodded.

“Nothing will happen to me, Red. Nothing will.”

“But that is not all of it, right? Go on, spill.”

“When you attacked Hiran… your eyes flashed red. These things… their eyes are permanently glowing and red like how yours looked.”

“Oh. So it is confirmed I am a freak.”

“You are not,” Adrian said quickly.

“I think… the vial my father gave Alpha James, it is some kind of drug to keep that side of me repressed. I haven’t once lost my s**t like that, and then years of not taking the drug… and that happened.”

“That does make sense. Also, maybe that was why your dad was so worried about your safety,” Roman said.

“But who did that to me? What happened? Why don’t I remember anything?”

“I think you do. At least, subconsciously,” Adrian said as he motioned me to sit down on the couch, before he handed me the glass of water. “Your dream… the one you said where Claire was in a glass room. What if- what if it was you?”

My body shuddered. He might be right.

“That girl did have my eyes. In that nightmare, I heard voices talking. A woman’s voice. Two men.” I nodded with a frown. I couldn’t fully remember the dream now, but I was sure that the girl changed and it was me. I took a long gulp of water.

“Oh, Riley,” Roman whispered as he sat next to me.

“If the dream wasn’t really a dream-“

“You have spent the first few years of your life locked in a cage? I am so sorry, Red. I wish I knew how to comfort you.”

I stood up and blinked. “I am alright. We have a dinner to get ready for, right?” I looked at Adrian and he shook his head.

“No, we don’t have to go.”

“I want to go. I can’t- I want a distraction. I want to get the hell out of my head and- just run.”

“Let’s run, then,” Roman said as he ran out, motioning Adrian and me to follow him. Adrian shrugged and did. We ran down the stairs, until we reached the ground floor panting and dizzy and smiling.

Some of the people wandering around the lobby gave us weird looks, but I just didn’t care. I had too many things going on in my life to let these looks bother me.

We ran to the long stretch of lawn that leads to the woods. The smell of trees and wood filled the air. We ran deeper before Roman stopped.

“Let’s strip and shift.”

Gem howled in my head, looking excited. “I can’t wait to meet the wolves. They must be gorgeous.” Gem was dancing in happiness.

“Karl is excited.”

“So is Clay. But I am warning you, Clay, do not fight with Karl,” Adrian said and I smiled.

We stripped and my eyes feasted on both men. Damn. They are hot as hell, and they are both mine.

And soon they shifted into their wolf forms. Not the primal, Lycan ones, but the wolves.

I shifted too. Gem looked at the wolves with adoration and wonder as Clay and Karl bumped against her and licked her fur, trying to flirt with her.

“Oh my God, our mate is so f*****g sexy. So is Karl,” Gem said as she looked at Clay and Karl.

“We are indeed lucky,” I said to the wolf. I felt her emotions, and I felt her attraction for Clay. But she loved it when Karl licked her, too. She was just as much a glutton as me.

Oh, she was glowing and preening at the amount of attention she was getting from the two handsome wolves.

“Hmm, they should stop licking my fur. There are places that need more attention,” Gem said with a snarky smile and I laughed. This b.itch was… um… worse than me. “Well, I have been waiting for a long time for this.”

***

“Are you ready?” Adrian asked, and I opened the door. He gasped as he saw me in my dress. Roman’s mother helped me pick it up from a boutique right here in Nightshade. It was a soft blue dress that fit perfectly. “Now, I want to rip it off your body and stay right here. Let’s tell my parents that we can’t come.”

“Not happening,” I said as I walked out. He was wearing a shirt rolled up to his elbows, and he looked handsome as hell. My body tingled when he grabbed my hand in his and pulled me closer to him and kissed me on my lips. “Do not wrinkle my dress,” I said as he finally pulled away.

“Who cares?” he whispered. “So, are you ready?”

“Is Roman not coming?” I asked and Adrian nodded.

“Yes. He says he has some work, but I know he just wants us to have a night alone with each other.”

My heart thundered as I nervously looked at him.

“If you don’t want to, it is alright. I can wait for a decade and some. We will just talk the night away.”

“Wait for what?”

“To get you into my bed, Red, but I promise I will…”

“Well, I am not that patient,” I whispered as I gave him a heated look, and Adrian laughed as we walked towards his car. He opened the door for me.

“We have time, right?” I said and he nodded.

“Can we go- you know… On the Subway?”

“Tourists…” he said with a teasing grin and nodded. “Of course, Red. Anything and everything for you.”

We drove around the city for a while before we stopped at the subway station. When he got out, he handed the key to a man waiting right there.

“Do you know him?”

“He is from my pack. He will drive it to my parent’s place.”

I shook my head. “I still can’t get over the fact how rich you two are and still so down to Earth.”

“It is just money,” he shrugged as we walked through the sea of people and sweaty bodies. I smiled. It is different. I think Crystal Park has less people than the people in this subway station.

Adrian bought the tickets and then we waited for the train.

“So, are your parents nice like you?” I said as I leaned closer to him. Adrian put his arm around me and pulled me closer.

“They are amazing and they will love you.”

“Adrian?”

“Yes, little Red?”

“Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me for anything.”

The train arrived and we boarded it. We took a seat and I started to look out the windows. It was strange that I had never seen this or anything like this. My life had probably started in a cage, and then… even when I was out of that cage, I was in a different kind of cage afterwards.

Even Crystal Park was a cage. It had this illusion of not being a cage, but it was. Hiran made it into a cage with his rules, with his words. I was just too blind to see it and break free from it.

For the first time, I felt free. Different. I felt like flying. The train was so fast.

The woods eats the woman and dumps her honey-body in the mud…. hmmm…

Someone was singing. It sounded familiar. The voice was a soft hush, but I heard it loud and clear. My body trembled. I looked around, trying to find who was singing. It was a man. He was leaning against the seat, his eyes half closed as he kept mumbling the song.

I- I had seen that face somewhere, but I didn’t know where.

Her dress floats down the well

I saw a flash in my head. My body burned. Everything in me ached. My b***d felt like hot liquid scorching through my skin. A soft whimper left my lips.

“Baby? Riley?” Adrian’s touch was cool on my heated skin. “You are burning up. Oh….” he gasped as I looked up at him. Sweat dripped down my face. I shook my head.

“Adrian, help me. Stop me. It- it is happening.”

Random, unconnected thoughts filled my head. Dark. Pain. The song. Loud voices arguing. Beep. Beeping.

“One more, for mommy, baby girl. Come on, you are my strong little girl, right?”

The girl shrieked as the needle was pushed inside her veins. She didn’t want that.

I closed my eyes tight. No. I heard a loud roar in my head. No, not here. I couldn’t lose it here.

And it assumes the shape of the body of a little girl…

!!!