Leah's POV
Finn didn't say a word, but his actions spoke volumes. This woman was his mate, and now, she was trying to attack me. My head buzzed with confusion and dizziness washed over me. I collapsed into a chair, struggling to comprehend the unfolding chaos. This scenario felt all too familiar - the man I loved clutching yet another deranged woman in his arms, and she wanted me dead. Nausea churned in my stomach.
"Finn..." I steadied myself, "Is this woman your mate?"
"Yes, she is," responded a voice from behind the door. I looked up to see Alpha Kyle entering the room.
"You should have heeded my warning, Miss Lewyn. You should have fled while you still had the chance," he said, his gaze fixated on the woman in Finn's arms.
Recognition hit me—this woman looked familiar.
"Is she your..."
"Daughter. Yes, she is," Alpha Kyle confirmed, taking his daughter from Finn's arms with a look of utter disgust. He shoved her towards his servants.
"Lock her in her room," he ordered them. Then, turning to me, he said, "I'm afraid you've uncovered too much of my dark secret, Miss Lewyn."
"Your daughter is epileptic," I stated. "She needs medical treatment immediately. You can't keep her hidden away like this forever."
The woman's body twitched violently. The servants hesitated, looking nervous as they tried to restrain her, but she started to struggle.
"Is that why you're certain this old man won't kill us? Because you're his daughter’s mate?" I asked Finn.
"He wouldn't dare," Finn replied coldly. "If I die, his daughter dies too."
"But that's impossible! A werewolf can’t stay away from their mate for long. There will be -"
"Excruciating pain. Yes, you're right, Miss Lewyn,” Alpha Kyle interjected in a detached voice. “That’s why Nina lost her mind after I sent Finn away years ago. Sometimes, the pain of separation is just too unbearable.”
The horrifying truth behind this slave market dawned on me, suffocating me with its cruelty. Poor, poor Nina. When her wolf emerged, she discovered Finn was her mate. Yet her father, too proud to accept that his precious daughter was mated to a lowbred slave like Finn, degraded him and sold him to Sak Doyle.
"How could you do something so monstrous? She's your own daughter! You’d rather watch her descend into madness than let her be with her mate!"
"Does your father, the Lycan King, know about you and Finn?" Alpha Kyle asked.
"My father has always taught me to follow my heart," I replied.
A cruel sneer crept across Alpha Kyle's face, distorting into a twisted smirk.
"And look where following your heart has led you: a failed marriage, rejection, and a reckless elopement with a man who used you like a whore."
"Shut up!" I roared, my Lycan blood boiling. "A man like you has no right to judge me. You must free your daughter now. She leaves with us."
"In that case, no one leaves, Miss Lewyn," Alpha Kyle said, his voice dripping with malice. "After tonight's dance, you'll be sent to Alpha Mick's bedroom. I'm sure he and his fiancée will show you a 'good time' on their wedding night. As for you, boy…”
He turned to Finn.
"I gave you a chance to escape all this, yet you still crawled back from hell. You're not going anywhere. You’ll stay here and be my slave for the rest of your pathetic life."
Finn roared with fury.
As Finn prepared to attack Alpha Kyle, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air. His daughter, Nina, broke free from the servants and launched herself at her father.
"Die, father, die!" she shrieked, relentlessly plunging her sharp claws into his chest.
Within moments, Alpha Kyle's torso was a shattered mess of flesh and blood, pooling ominously on the floor. The servants fled in terror, shouting for the bodyguards.
Nina staggered to the door, her movements erratic but determined. She slammed it shut and locked it, then turned to us, eyes blazing.
"Push the piano against the door!" she commanded.
Finn and I stood there, stunned.
"Do it now!" she insisted, her voice cracking with urgency.
We scrambled to push the massive piano against the door, barricading it as best we could.
"You need to escape now," she said, her eyes shining with a strange clarity.
Finn seemed paralyzed by the scene, but he pulled Nina into his arms. "What's happening? Are you... are you cured?"
"I felt your presence, Finn," Nina said, tears streaming down her face. "The moment you were near, I was free."
Finn wrapped his arms around her, looked skyward, and howled, his voice a haunting mix of agony and relief. "I'm back... You're back... Everything will be alright..." He leaned in to kiss her.
But Nina pressed her lips together, wiping away her tears with a steady hand. "You must leave now," she said firmly. "There’s no time. My father's guards will break in any minute."
"I won't leave without you, Nina. We can—"
"Finn," she interrupted, placing a finger on his lips. "You have to go with her. She’s the daughter of the Lycan King. I'm just a madwoman who killed her own father."
"How did you know who I am?" I asked, my voice trembling with shock.
"I saw you at your father's birthday party," she replied softly. "You were dancing, and I dreamed of being you. In the end, I couldn't."
"No, Nina. Please, come with me," Finn pleaded, his voice breaking.
Nina smiled tenderly, touching his face. "You're still so handsome, Finn. From the moment I saw you as a little girl, I loved you. I prayed to the Moon Goddess at the shrine that you would be my mate, and she answered me."
"Nina, what's happening...?" Finn’s eyes widened as he noticed blood trickling from her mouth. Her face was pale, deathly pale.
"The wolfsbane chains my father used... they poisoned me. I’m dying, Finn. But I had to see you one last time. I’d rather die in your arms than be chained forever."
Realization hit me like a physical blow—she wasn't strangling Finn earlier; she was just trying to hold him. Tears filled my eyes.
Finn cried out in anguish, clutching Nina tighter. "No, Nina. I'll find a doctor—”
"Finn," Nina whispered urgently, "you must reject me. If I die mated to you, your life will start to fade. You have to say the words..."
"No. No. No. Nina, I can't—"
"Please, Finn," Nina coughed, blood splattering from her lips. "This is my last request."
The guards were pounding on the door now, shouting to be let in.
Finn hesitated, anguish tearing at his every feature, but finally, he spoke the most gut-wrenching words I’d ever heard.
"I, Finn Ryths Farrow of the White Walkers Pack, reject you, Nina Lilith Thortone of the Moonhowlers Pack..."
Wait. What?!
Finn's last name was Farrow?! That meant... He was my husband Lucas Farrow's...