My Fated Alpha

Isabelle POV:

The Soul Tether pulsed, it held me suspended in the air, a phantom forced to watch the bodies of my family, my pack, were scattered like broken dolls.

Jalon, the man I had loved with the foolish, all-consuming passion of a girl who knew nothing of the world,two of his men dragged a woman before him. Catherine Wells, his aunt by marriage.

"Why, Jalon?" she sobbed, her voice cracking. "We took you in. We loved you like a son. Why?"

Jalon let out a soft, almost musical laugh.

"My name was never a gift, Catherine," he murmured, his voice a low caress that sent a tremor of ice through my soul. "It was a curse. And the Blackwoods, the Wells... you were the source of it."

He didn't explain further. He didn't need to. The casual cruelty in his tone was explanation enough.

"I have a blood debt to settle," he said, his voice barely a whisper above the roar of the flames. "And both your families are on the ledger."

He looked at Catherine. "Did you really think adopting me was an act of charity? You were just keeping a closer watch on a relic of your vengeance."

Catherine's face went slack with horror. "No... we treated you as our own."

Jalon shook his head slowly. He raised a hand, and one of his men handed him a silver dagger.

"I'll make this quick," he promised her, his voice gentle. "You did, at least, give me access to Isabelle Spears."

Hearing my name from his lips now was like a physical blow. My soul contracted, a knot of pure agony.

He didn't hesitate. The silver blade slid into Catherine's heart with a sickening wet sound. Blood sprayed across his impassive face, crimson drops on pale, perfect skin.

I was forced to watch. The Soul Tether seared me with a white-hot pain, a punishment for trying to look away. It wanted me to see every detail of his betrayal.

Jalon rose to his feet, wiping the blood from his cheek with the back of his hand. His gaze lifted, cutting through the smoke and flames, and found me. He saw me. He knew.

"I know you're watching, my love," he said to the empty air where I hung.

The words plunged me into a cold deeper than any death.

"This is my grand finale. For you," he continued, a terrifying tenderness in his voice. "With no family to bind you, no pack to distract you... you will belong only to me."