Chapter 3 Killed by the gallows

14th of October, 2016

"Evelyn..." Ajax turned to me with wide eyes. "Evelyn this isn't you-"

"Oh please." I dismissed him with a wave of my hand. "You have no right to speak to me, Ajax, I wonder why you're her in the first place." I looked at Elder Markus again. "What happens if I don't do as the contract says?"

"Then you will be killed, by the gallows."

I paused for a second, thinking about it. Then I leaned in to whisper my answer "Then take me to the gallows."

Slowly, he got up and adjusted his tie, then led us out the study. "You don't have to do this, Eve. You can always just-"

"You should know by now that I would rather die, than be with my sorry excuse of a mate." I simply replied, glancing through the corridors as we passed them. A few turns later, we stood in front of the door to the dungeon. Markus opened the door, leading us down the stairs. On the last step,someone grabbed my arm and I could feel the tingles that it sent straight to my knees.

Xavier spun me around and looked down at me. His voice deepened as he spoke to me, I could tell he was trying to control his wolf. "You would rather die, than spend a year with me? Am I really that bad?"

"Oh." I chuckled lightly, "You're way worse, but who am I to tell you?"

"I am still your Alpha you know," His grip on me tightened. "I won't have you disrespect me."

"I move solo, Xavier." I laid emphasis on his name. "I don't owe you anything. I was nice." I whispered. "I was good. The perfect little mate." I shook my head, smiling lightly. "But now... there's a darkness in me." I could see my eyes turn red as his eyes reflected them. "And I really don't want to control it. Don't think I'll die though. I mean, I will, but I won't."

"What do you mean?" His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. I tried not to be affected by the pleasure our body contact was giving me.

"I mean," My voice came out slightly breathy. "I'll die, but only the version that was born eighteen years ago." I gave him a smile. "I'll come back, but not the version you know." I moved closer to him, feeling his breath on my face. I whispered, "My soul will be darker. My heart will shrink. And best of all, I won't have any connection to you. You'll feel the pain of losing a mate, but I won't. And then, you won't feel it anymore. We won't be mates anymore. Anything tying me to you will be completely..." I flashed a brilliant smile. "Gone" I leaned in close to his ear, placing my palm of his chest. I could feel the beating of his heart against my finger. "Nobody ever loved me." I whispered harshly into his ear. "So I stopped loving everyone."

"Evelyn-" He starts to say, but I cut him off.

"That's Eve to you, Alpha." I looked into his eyes. "Wicked Eve." I started to walk away, when he spoke again.

"I'll pay you!" I turned around and raise and eyebrow at him. "I'll pay you."

Pay me? That would be the solution to everything! I could complete Phase Two in four months... depending on how much I could squeeze out of him. "How much?"

"Uh... a million each month."

I placed my hands on my hips with a raises eyebrow. "Come on Alpha, you can do better than that."

"2 million."

"Really?"

"Five million. That's my final offer."

I pretended to think about it for a while. "Deal." I said, then yelled out to Elder Markus, still looking at Xavier. "Elder Markus?! Never mind about killing me!"

Ajax and Elder Markus came into view. "Oh, that's a relief." He smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Eve."

"I'm not doing it for you. I'm getting paid."

"Oh, well. Okay." Markus and Ajax walked away, leaving Xavier and I alone, locked in a staring contest.

"I thought you were different." He glared at me. "But you're just like the others. If I'd known you were a gold digging bitch like the others, I would have gotten you back here a long time ago. You're only interested in my money." He spat.

That hurt. A lot more than it was supposed to. Before my face could fall, I stood tall and flashed him a smile. "Well, you aren't worth anything but your money."

His face crumbled. I needed him hurt. I needed him in pain. So I pushed past him with a smirk.

Phase Two, was in motion.

***

We were all back in the study, because I asked Elder Markus asked us to review the terms and conditions of our deal.

"Xavier is to pay me 5 million dollars each month for the next twelve months, starting from the day I move into the pack."

"Err... Eve, I think you're forgetting something..." Markus trailed off.

"What?"

"You have to..." He rubbed his face with his palm. "You have to get married to Alpha Xavier."

I breathed out softly, pondering on it. Marrying Xavier would "Well now the gallows sound a lot more appealing." I muttered under my breath. "Yeah, sure." I remembered something, then my heat shot up. "But wait, I can always annul the marriage right?"

Xavier took in a sharp breath of air.

"As soon as the year is up, you'll be free."

"Perfect." I smiled. "So when do you want the wedding?"

"That will be discussed between you and Alpha Xavier." Markus chuckled lightly. "That will be all for today." He looked at me, "Eve, it was a great pleasure meeting you today. You and Ajax are free to leave. Xavier, please stay back."

Ajax and I left, but I was still curious, something about Elder Markus' tone told me that they were going to discuss about me. After walking a few steps, I paused and strained my ears to hear what they were saying.

"You need to tell her the truth, Alpha Xavier, before it's too late!" I heard Elder Markus cry out. "No one knows what he'll she'll rain on us if she finds out what you did to her parents."

"I can't tell her. She'll leave me again, Elder. I just got her here. That's my final decision."

Tell me what? What secret were they keeping from me?

Maybe it was a good thing I was getting married to the idiot. There was so much about the pack that I needed to know, but first, I needed to get Phase Two rolling.

I made my way to the dining room, and it was filled with people. They stopped and stared as Iplopped down on a seat, pulling out my phone to scroll through it. I made my scent visible so that the people I needed to find me would get there quickly, and in a few minutes, they did.

"Evelyn?" I heard a small voice whisper, and looked up from my phone. Elena stood in front of me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, and standing beside her were Talia and Amira.

"It's Eve now, actually." I looked up from my phone. "Hey, Elena."

"Wow, Evel- Eve, you look..." She trailed off, giving me a once over. "You look..."

"Wait, who is she?" I heard Talia ask.

"That's Evelyn" Amira softly said. "She was the pack's..."

"I think the word you're looking for is slave." I inputted. "Anyways...I'm back for a while now."

"Wait what do you mean for a while?" Elen asked, her eyes wide open. I stayed quiet for a while, letting the moment build. "Tell me!"

"Oh, now you want me to talk?" I smiled cheekily. "Honestly I'm surprised, this is the most you've said to me in a long time."

"Evely-"

"Elena, who is this and why are you talking to her?" Thalia interrupted with an annoyed tone.

I stood up, slightly towering over her. "I'm the girl, that you made eat literal ashes." The anger started building up, and I felt my fingers start to tingle. "I'm the girl, that you made sleep in the shed with the cow." Windows started opening and slamming closed. The wind started howling. I could see my eyes turn red in her terror stricken ones. "I'm the girl, that you locked out of the pack house when I was nine."

The darkness started to creep in as tears filled my eyes.

It wasn't fair.

Kill her. A voice in my head said. Kill her!

"I want you dead." My voice came out as a whisper, my grin was wide. I could hear people screaming, but I knew that none of them would be able to control me. "I want to feel your lungs begging for air." Elena and Amira where on the floor, shaking.

Far from danger, right?

I clenched my fists tight, and she started spluttering. I felt like I was physically choking her. "Pl-Please" She coughed out. "Please!" Tears streamed down her face, her lips quivering.

I clenched my fist harder, seeing her eyes roll back-

"EVE!!" I heard a voice yell. My wolf, Skylar, took control so I was stuck staring helplessly. I tried to take control of my body but Skylar wouldn't budge.

"Skylar, stop!!"

"She deserves it, Eve." She calmly replied, like she wasn't trying to commit murder.

"Please Skylar, please."

She rolled her eyes and slowly drifted into the background, letting me take control.

But I still couldn't take control of my body. A soft hand on my arm pulled me back into reality.

"Eve," Xavier called softly. "Eve, calm down."

I felt my resolve weaken. I didn't want it to. I didn't want him to have an effect on me.

But I just couldn't help it.

I closed my eyes and felt the burning in my eyes stop burning. Xavier wrapped his arm around my waist to keep me from falling, and I couldn't find it in me to stop him.

The noises stopped, then it was quiet. Perfectly silent.

Thalia took in a deep gush of air from her position of the floor, and Amira and Elena moved to help her. All the pack members stared at me in wonder, like I was some kind of freak.

But I knew they were just scared.

Just like I used to be. Shivering in their shoes, uncertain of what was going to happen next.

"Next time, Thalia" I bent down in front of her and whispered. "Don't upset your Luna."

"Luna?" She croaked out.

"Yes, darling. Xavier and I are getting married. Didn't you know? I'm his mate." I placed a finger under her chin and lifted it up slightly. "And I swear I'm going to bring hell to these bitches."

Her body trembled in fear under my touch as her skin paled. Xavier softly lifted me up with my arm and led me out of the room. The sky was dark, but it had started to clear up a bit. We walked into the gardens, and he sat me down at a bench.

Silence reigned between us, anchoring us down, as I stared at the colorful birds that fluttered around.

Xavier finally spoke, "Are you okay?"

"Shouldn't you be asking Thalia that?" I said, defiant. He wasn't going to win me back. Even if I was grateful that he didn't officially reject me that day, he would have at some point. I wasn't going to let my heart get trampled over again.

"Look, Eve." He started, turning to face me. "We're going to be living together for the next few months, so lets call a truce."

I stared at him. He was crazy if he thought I was going to give up just like that. The plan was only going to work if he believed me though, so I decide to play nice.

Just a little nice.

"A truce?" I echoed. "Really? And how would that benefit me?"

"Look," He said. "This darkness...won't be controlled if you hate me so much. Last time, I barely got you back in reality. It's getting stronger every time you get angry. We need to come to an agreement."

I thought about it for a while, then came up with my rules. "The first thing you are going to do is introduce me to the pack as your Luna."

"Okay, sounds fair." He paused for a few moments before he spike again. "Am I... am I going to mark you?" A faint, almost non-existent pink hue stained his cheeks.

I chuckled. "No way in hell." There was no way I was letting him mark me. Even if it could be removed, I didn't want it.

"We'll talk about that later." He cleared his throat. "Living arrangements?"

"I'll buy my own house not far from yours." I shrugged.

"Eve... I think you should move into mine." His tone was cautious.

"Do you have an extra room?"

"I mean sleep in my room."

"Oh." My eyes widened a bit as my cheeks started to warm against my will. I hadn't even seen him without socks! How was I going to manage seeing him shirtless?! "Uh" I cleared my throat. "Yeah, sure."

"Cool." He nodded his head. "Now, the wedding."

"I want a big one." He said.

"I want a small one." I said at the same time.

I rolled my eyes.

"No way am I having a big wedding."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because what?" He asked. "Don't you want a fairy tale wedding like every little girl dreams of? Getting married to your Prince Charming in a huge white dress-"

"I didn't have time to dream as a child, your people made sure of that." I snapped.

"But still-"

"Besides, what's the point of having a big wedding? You seem to forget it's all going to be annulled the second the year is over."

His face fell a bit, and he sat up a bit straighter and raised his chin. "Right."

"Well," I said standing up. "I have to go now, have stuff to do." I fibbed.

"Yeah" He cleared his throat. "So how am I going to contact you?" I knew he was indirectly asking for my number, but being me, I wouldn't let him have it that easily.

"You'll see me." I ruffled my hair a bit, letting the wind blow through it. "When you see me."

Without turning back I made my way to my car and drove home.