Chapter 4 4

PARIS POV

The words landed like a blow, and the room narrowed until all I could hear was my own breath.

Selene had sold me, handed me over like a coin to pay her debt, and finally, the pieces of me that had tried to hold on fell off effortlessly and in a single breath. My knees became weak, my entire body became cold, and I felt as if the entire world fell around me like there was nothing left to hold on to.

He saw it all, the way my hands were trembling, my face losing color, and he stepped in a little closer, so close that I could see every line of his face, every shadow of his eyes and I could see the way power clung to him like a second skin. My lips opened without thought, the word slipping out as if that were all I could think to say. "My king..."

But he cut me short, his voice deep and firm. "No, darling. Call me Vincent. Not your king. I'm just Vincent to you now. Now strip."

He moved back with slow, steady steps and sat on his massive bed, his presence swallowing the room even as he leaned into the headboard. He pulled out a cigar, placed it between his lips, and with one flick of fire, lit it, the smoke curling around him like a crown of sin.

I knew who this man was now, the Mad Alpha, the one the whole realm feared, and I understood if I wanted to live, I had to play by his rules. My fury toward Selene would wait, I would lash out later, I would tear her apart when I got the chance but here and now I needed to survive him.

So with shaky hands, I did as he said, slipping out of my dress piece by piece until only my panties clung to me, and my heart pounded louder than the silence in the room. Hot tears burned my eyes, blurring my vision, and I hated myself for letting him see, but he caught them before they could fall.

"Oh, baby, don't cry," he murmured, his voice softer now like a cruel trick. "Come closer. I won't hurt you. You have no worries."

I hated how his words soothed me. Hated how my body betrayed me as I moved forward slowly until I reached him. hated even more that I didn't stop myself, even though I knew I still could.

I sat on his lap, my face inches from his, my breath unsteady, his heat pressing against me as his eyes held mine. This was no longer about the act, or the performance. It was about what I had already chosen to risk.

He dropped the cigar into a tray, leaned in, and his lips almost touched mine but at the last moment I shifted, pulling back, the weight of everything tightening in my chest. His low chuckle rumbled against my skin.

"Oh, girl, you do not want to go down that path," he said, his fingers tracing down the line of my neck, sending shivers racing through me, until suddenly he stilled, his hand brushing against the tattoo marked into my skin. He leaned in closer, reading aloud in a low voice. "Jareth Gleb."

The name froze the air between us.

"That's... my father's name," I whispered, my breath shaky, and the moment the words left me, I saw the shock flash across his face.

He grabbed my hands, pulling me off his lap so fast I stumbled. "What did you just say?" His eyes widened, burning with disbelief. "You mean, Jareth Gleb is your goddamn father?"

My lips trembled as I forced the word out. "Ye... s. He's my father."

Vincent dragged a hand down his face, cursing under his breath, his whole body stiff with something I couldn't understand, fear or rage or both, and then his voice cut sharp. "Put your dress back on. Now."

I obeyed instantly, my hands fumbling as I pulled the silk back over me, my mind spinning, my heart thundering, and just as I fastened the last strap, a loud crash echoed from outside the chamber, the sound of chaos rising like a storm battering at the walls.

His face snapped back to me "and who the hell is Selene to you. Vincent asked, because I know...

"She's my stepmother, I replied.

His face twisted with something wild, and his voice thundered, sharp and furious, "Oh fucking goodness, your step what?"

"My stepmother," I whispered again, my heart pounding so loud it drowned the silence, and in that instant he stormed out of the room, his steps like thunder, his curses echoing off the walls, each word filled with rage, "I'm going to kill Selene!"

Vincent was no longer simply Vincent, this was the Mad King that the world had spoken about, and the anger in his gaze was sufficient to burn. My body was frozen, my mind was too rattled to process anything, but all I knew was that Selene was in trouble, and I couldn't wait.

My legs pulled forward before my thoughts did, and I followed him down the long stairs, my heels clacking against the cold stone as I attempted to keep up.

As soon as I stepped into the great hall, my eyes went wide at the chaos before me. Guards were colliding with brute strength, their weapons clanging, and in the middle of it all was Liam, the beta of my pack, vibrating with potential energy, his muscles quaking as his wolf threatened to explode from his skin and his growls sounded like thunder as he tried to shove them back.

"Who the hell do you think you are walking into my home and causing problems?" Vincent roared, and the distance of his voice shook the walls right down to their foundation. He was frothing with fury. His fierce glare swept over his men as he bared his teeth.

"How did this fool enter here, and why the fuck is he causing trouble?"

I ran forward, pushing through the madness, my heart aching when Liam's eyes met mine, sharp and burning, but when he looked past me and his finger pointed straight at Selene, my breath caught.

"You mean to tell me," Liam's voice carried like a whip, his chest heaving with fury, "you came here, lured your stepdaughter, and tried to sell her off to pay a debt? Is that how low you've become, Selene?"

Gasps filled the hall, my knees weakened, but before I could find words Mason suddenly appeared from the shadows, his face twisted with confusion, his voice rising, "What is going on?"

But Liam snapped, his rage cutting him down like a blade, "Shut up, boy! What the hell are you even doing here?"

Before Mason could open his mouth again, Vincent's fury doubled. He stepped down from the stairs where he stood, his presence swallowing the entire hall, his eyes fixed on Liam. "What the hell do you want?"

Liam froze, his chest rising and falling, then suddenly his voice cracked as he whispered, "Oh my gods... Vincent?"

Vincent's eyes narrowed, sharp suspicion flaring. "How do you know my name? Who the fuck are you?"

Then, before I could blink, Liam dropped to his knees, his body trembling, his eyes wet with tears I had never seen on him before. "Vincent... you don't remember me? It's me Liam, Jareth's beta, your closest friend back in those days."

For the first time, Vincent stilled, his furious eyes softening, his chest rising with disbelief. "Liam..." he whispered, and then, with a sudden crash of emotion, he pulled him up and hugged him, both men holding onto each other like brothers pulled apart for years. "Oh Liam..." Vincent breathed out, his voice almost breaking. "Why are you here, and what is the issue?"

Liam pulled back, his eyes sharp again, and when he turned toward Selene, his voice dripped with hate. "This evil witch," he spat. "Once I heard from my spies the reason she was traveling was that she planned to hand Paris over, to pay her debt.

I couldn't stay away. I had no idea you were the Mad King the world spoke of. "If I had known..." his voice was shaking with fury, "I would have come with an army to burn her to the ground."

Selene drew herself smaller into the corner, shaking, and pale. "I... I didn't mean to," she tried to say, her body shaking as if even her own lies were betraying her.

I couldn't breathe. My whole chest heaved sobs as the truth settled in. My life, my pain, everything was shattered into pieces, and the word tore from my throat. "What did you just say?"

Then Liam shifted his gaze towards me, his eyes dark and his voice filled with remorse. "Paris, I'm sorry...I didn't mean for you to find out like this."

Vincent's voice pierced mine, catching both of us mid-sentence, "What did you just say?"

Liam swallowed, tears sliding down his face. "Paris is Selene's stepdaughter," he said, his voice breaking, "and your late brother's daughter."

The air in the hall cracked, silence falling so deep it almost deafened me. My legs buckled beneath me, my chest shook violently as I cried harder, my voice breaking. "No... no... no..."

Vincent's face twisted with shock, his hands clenching, his jaw tight, his eyes locked on me as if the whole world had shifted.

And then Mason, with his nosy mouth, his voice cutting sharp, spoke out, "Dad, you mean this king is late Alpha Jareth's brother?"

But Vincent didn't even let him finish, his voice snapping like thunder. "Liam, you have a son? I don't recall you ever getting married."

Liam's face turned pale, his eyes darted between Mason and Vincent, and then his voice broke. "He's your son, Vincent."

My heart didn't just stop; it fractured. I looked from my uncle the man who owned me to Mason the man who betrayed me and saw the mirror image: the same dark fury, the same possessive coldness. Mason wasn't just a traitor, he was the son of the Mad King, the child of the man who had just bought my life.

I hadn't just lost a boyfriend, I had been sleeping with my captor's blood. Everything I had tried to escape was, and always had been, locked inside this room.

I finally fell, my knees hitting the expensive floor. The tears stopped. All I could do was stare at the polished floor, seeing only the reflection of the chain that now linked me, by debt and by blood, to every single monster in this room.

The hall was still shaking with the weight of what had been revealed, but Vincent hadn't taken his eyes off me.

Not since Liam spoke the words. Slowly, dangerously, Vincent turned toward me. His gaze wasn't shocked anymore.

It was sharp. Calculating. "You knew," he said.

The words cut through the hall like a blade.

I lifted my head. Vincent took a step closer, his voice low, lethal. "You knew Selene was selling you and you walked straight into it."

Silence swallowed the room.

"Yes," I said.

The word echoed.

A muscle jumped in his jaw. "Why?"

I pushed myself to my feet, my legs shaking but my spine straight. My voice didn't waver.

"Because power like yours doesn't just consume," I said. "It destroys."

His eyes darkened.

"And guess who I wanted to destroy."

The name left his mouth without hesitation.

"Selene."

For a heartbeat, something like understanding flickered across his face.

Then I shattered it.

But I had no fucking idea," I said, my voice cracking as the truth finally tore out of me,

"that I was about to have sex with my father's brother

or the boy that I loved and have been fucking is his son."