Sold To The Billionaire Alpha
Chapter 48

Orchid

I stiffened.

“Well, not completely anyway,” said Jaawws.

“I knew you were half werewolf!” He admitted.

He leant back on his stool, tossing his head back slightly as he cackled. He would not stop cackling. He laughed and laughed like a villain in a high school theatre play. So overdone! I wished he would lose his balance on that stool. My heart raced a little. The gears in my mind were turning. What did this mean? Had our whole relationship been a sham? Had he done something to me? To bury my wolf?

My wolf stirred. I saw red. There was a strange cracking noise. He turned sharply.

“Gotta check on my hydroponic garden,” he muttered.

He went through a door of the basement that led to another part of it. A large basement belonged to a large house usually. Were we in a mansion in Gregoire? Were we at the Marys’ house?

He returned, sniffling as if he had snorted another line.

“I grow my own stash,” he said casually.

I did not know which drug he meant specifically and I did not care.

“Are you really not going to talk, Babe?” He asked incredulously.

I refused to give him the satisfaction. I knew my lack of a response was killing him.

“You don’t want to know about how I knew you were half wolf?” He asked, stretching out his arms wide.

I closed my eyes and leant my head back against the walk. He chuckled.

“You’re boring me,” he said with a dramatic sigh.

He was taunting me.

“Here,” he said, unveiling one of the tall objects underneath the white sheets.

I opened my eyes to see a large potted plant. The pot was sitting on an end table which accounted for why it had seemed so tall when covered. I recognised the shape of the flowers. I inhaled sharply. They were orchids. Orchids reminded me of Orion and the pain of separation was sharper than ever. Orion would always fill the mansion with orchids and Perseus would fill it roses so every single room had a floral scent. I looked around the dimly lit basement. The flowers would wither not that Jaawws actually cared.

“These are moth orchids. They can bloom in the dark. Isn’t that wonderful?” He said as if responding to my unasked question.

They were beautiful, a deep purple shade with white centres, the colours merging together like a watercolour painting. I had not known there were orchids that blossomed without sunlight.

“You’re wondering why I’m being nice to you, huh, Babe?” Asked Jaawws.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again. Being nice to me? I was locked up in a basement.

“I know I never got you flowers while we were together,” he said. “But that was your fault. You never made an effort so I didn’t want to make one either. Anyway, here they are! Flowers.”

I leant forwards a little, actually curious about the orchid plant.

“Do you like them?” He asked, staring at me.

I nodded without making eye contact.

“I have someone new now just so you know,” said Jaawws smugly. “So don’t think anything of it. The flowers I mean. They’re not meant to be romantic.”

Ok, then. I knew he had someone. Did he not realise I was engaged to Orion? I looked at the ring on my finger. Surely, Jaawws was working with the Marys. They must have told him. I wondered if he was referring to the girl whose picture he had posted just six weeks after I had finally built up the courage to leave him. My silent question was answered immediately. I heard a door swing open and footsteps on the stairs. Someone else was coming down to the basement. It was her: his new victim. She was heavily made up in a way that suggested there might be bruises under the layers of concealer and foundation. She had long glossy dark hair and a very round face. She was wearing an extremely tight green dress. I immediately remembered a time when all of my clothes stopped fitting during my last relationship because I was eating my feelings and extremely stressed out.

“This is Ellie,” said Jaack.

“His girlfriend,” she added pointedly.

I wanted to feel sorry for her but I couldn’t. I would’ve never stooped this low: helping a lowlife boyfriend kidnap his ex. The reason behind it really didn’t matter. It didn’t exactly scream relationship material on his part that he was involving her in a kidnapping. Maybe, she was not as downtrodden as I had been and had more of a mean-streak. I would have to wait and replace out.

“And my fiancee once we get this money and bounce,” said Jaack, eliciting a huge smile from Ellie as though he were a catch or something.

Money. A popular motive. Orion was rich beyond reason so maybe this was a ransom situation. I could not see that going well. Even if they told him not to bring the pack police and to come alone, he could still rip them in half. He wasn’t human. This was dumb, even for Jaack.

Jaack headed upstairs, finally leaving me alone. I breathed a sigh of relief until I realised Ellie had not gone with him. I did not know if the silent treatment would work on her and I did not much care. I decided to question her instead.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked her.

She was fetching something from a mini fridge in the corner. She tossed it into my cell. It was a sandwich wrapped up in plastic and a bottle of water.

“Are you working for the Marys?” I asked.

She snorted with laughter.

“That’s what they think,” she muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Jaack says I’m not supposed to talk to you while he isn’t here,” she snapped.

“Jaack has a lot of rules for you already, doesn’t he?” I commented nonchalantly.

She ignored me, picking up a magazine and sitting down to flip through it. Ugh. It seemed like they wouldn’t be leaving me unattended.

“You’ll end up dead, if you don’t help me,” I said bluntly.

“You threatening me?!” She chided.

“I’m informing you,” I retorted.

She rolled her eyes.

“Do you know who I am?” I asked, feeling like a stuck-up celebrity with that line but genuinely wondering if she knew who I was in the werewolf world.

“Jaack’s ex girlfriend,” she spat.

“Do you know what I am?” I asked.

“Half monster!” She stated plainly.

“I’m a Luna,” I said.

“A what?” She asked.

“It’s like a Queen. My fiancé is the Alpha or King of his pack or kingdom and this is treason. He’ll kill you or one of his warriors will,” I said, trying to impress the severity of the situation upon her.

She started at me blankly.

“Did Jaack tell you that?” I demanded.

“He told me you had delusions of grandeur,” she said simply.

“He’s confusing me with himself,” I muttered before I could stop myself.

“Shut up!” She snapped.

“Don’t be daft! Let me go and I can get them to spare your life!” I insisted.

She snorted with laughter.

“Ok, Queen, I’ll only be tried with treason if they live to tell the tale,” she said snidely.

“What?!” I asked sharply.

“You don’t get it, do you?!” Asked Ellie.

“Enlighten me,” I said.

“He never loved you. He loves me!” She said.

“No, I want to hear the plan! I don’t care. You can have him. He’s trash,” I said dismissively.

She was so annoying. I could not even replace the will to be afraid of this i***t despite the circumstances.

“f**k you! You’re just jealous he treats me so much better than he ever treated you!” She snapped.

“Why are you wearing so much damn makeup to sit in a dark basement and pretend to read magazines with only your boyfriend’s ex for company?” I hissed. “What are you hiding? A black eye? Two black eyes?” I guessed.

“Shut up!” She shrieked.

I sighed and leant my head back against the wall and fell silent. After a long silence, she spoke again.

“It’ll all be over soon,” she said ominously.

“What do you mean? You brought makeup wipes with you?” I asked.

“No! But we have wolfsbane and silver weapons!” She spat.

I stiffened.

“You actually think you can fight Orion and his men?” I asked incredulously.

“That’s the point!” She said.

“Why would the Marys ever want to hurt Orion? They’re head over heels for him,” I stated.

“Jaack does this for a living,” she said as though that should be obvious.

“What do you mean?” I asked quickly.

“He picks up strays,” she said snidely with an annoyingly smug smile on her face.

“Excuse you,” I said indignantly.

“Strays!” She snapped. “That’s what werewolf hunters call wolves who’ve grown up away from their pack and are unaware of their wolf b***d.”

My b***d ran cold, wolf and human b***d alike. All of me was tense.

“Then, why hasn’t he killed me yet? He had years of opportunities while we were together,” I said softly.

“He was hoping you would lead him to more werewolves. He had a hunch about you. A good feeling! Wanna know why?!” She asked with a wicked glint in her eye.

“Not really,” I shrugged, not giving her the satisfaction anymore by acting interested in this worrying turn of events.

Orion is strong, I kept telling myself.

“Because he said he had never had to use so much suppressing agent before on a single stray! That meant you were something. Some kind of rank. He figured if he held out they’d come looking for you or you would replace them,” she revealed.

I felt sick. I had wondered about this: if he had suppressed my wolf. Now, that I had the answer, it painted an even uglier picture than I had imagined.

“You were always his girlfriend. Even while we were together,” I said.

I wasn’t asking. I was putting two and two together. She clapped for me. b***h.

“So why did he let me leave him?” I asked.

He had been conning me from the start.

“Because he was getting impatient and he thought maybe you would hurry up and replace your wolf people faster if you were single. He would purposefully take you to places where werewolves hang out, masquerading as humans in the human realm, hoping you would…I don’t know…meet whoever you were meant to meet? I don’t know how it works. Jaack knows all about it though. He comes from a long line of werewolf hunters, and now that you’re bringing us an Alpha, we’re gonna be rich. You get paid for every werewolf you kill in our community and an Alpha is worth a million dollars at the very least,” she said triumphantly.

“You dumb b***h!” I snarled. “Orion is a billionaire! Why don’t you just ask for a million dollars ransom and then f**k off if all you care about it money!”

“All I care about isn’t just money! I wanna rid the world of monsters like you!” She snapped.

“There’s an amoral monster in this basement but it isn’t me,” I said bluntly.

She snickered.

“The Marys couldn’t have known all of this,” I said.

“They’re idiots,” she said.

Fair enough.

“So you double-crossed them?” I clarified.

“Yeah,” she said, flipping a page of her magazine.

“How?” I asked.

“We approached them with an offer to make you go away so they could have their Orion back. You know he used to sleep with them before you came in the picture right?” She said, sneering at me.

I was quiet. This was a sore spot for me. He had never explicitly admitted to that but I had had a feeling.

“They wanted you gone but they didn’t realise we were getting a two for one special. They’re gonna feel like fools when they realise they helped us lure their precious Orion here,” said Ellie.

“You’re no match for him,” I said coldly. “Neither of you even deserve to speak his name.”

Even though I was suddenly furious at Orion because of his lying by omission when it came to the Marys, I was still madly in love with him and somewhat confident that he would rescue me. Ellie chuckled.

“Is his mother in on this?” I asked, horrified.

“I think she’s the one pushing the Marys but we’ve never done any interactions with her. She’s pretty stealthy. I’ll give her that. If she is involved with the plan to get rid of you, she surely doesn’t like to get her hands dirty,” said Ellie.

I stared blankly at her.

“Jaack followed you, you know, back when you got kidnapped. He knew about the Caro House and the auction. He even had a man on the inside but your monster boyfriend killed him,” said Ellie.

“Boris,” I gasped.

She nodded. I regretted ever feeling sorry for Boris.

“So what, you’re just waiting for Orion to show up? What makes you think he’ll show up alone?” I asked.

“He’ll do what we tell him to!” Said Ellie simply. “To keep you alive! Or he’ll get your ring finger in the mail with that engagement ring on it!”

“I’m not afraid of you,” I said, and I meant it.

“You’re just like I was. Werewolf, human, whatever, none of that matters. We’re both women and Jaack is incapable of respecting any woman he gets intimate with. How can you put so much faith in someone who hits you?” I snarled.

She got up and was about to storm out.

“Wait!” I shrieked.

She stopped at the foot of the stairs.

“What did Jaack inject me with?” I asked.

“Wolfsbane. What else?!” She said.

“And the paternity test! Did you mess with it?!” I asked.

“You’re pregnant?!” She asked incredulously, sounding truly shocked.

She did not know about the paternity test and Talus and the Hawthornes! She had assumed I meant paternity test as in for my baby. My nonexistent baby. This could be useful.

“How far along are you?” She asked, a modicum of concern appearing in her eyes and seeping into her voice.

I shrugged, knowing fully well I was not pregnant, but I was more than willing to tell whatever lie would help my situation and Orion.

“Well, the baby would be three-quarters monster anyway so we’re doing the world a favour,” she said decisively.

Words could not express how much I hated Ellie in that moment and all over an imaginary baby. I heard a loud cracking sound, similar to the one before. This time dust rained down from the ceiling overhead.

“Ugh! Not again!” Shrieked Ellie, shielding her hair and face from dust. “First, that room and now this one!” She griped.

She slowly looked up when the dust shower was over. I did not care much for what was going on with their infrastructure. I was in big trouble. I could not get my hand without the silver bangle to become a paw with claws. I could not shift any part of me. They must have given me a lot of wolfsbane while I was knocked out. I sighed. Ellie let out a little gasp.

“What the…” she began, but another shower of dust clouded her from view.

When this second shower subsided, I looked up, searching for the source. Maybe the place would come crashing down and knock the cell open without knocking me out. It was wishful thinking but anything was possible. I furrowed my brow at what I saw. There was a hole in the ceiling through which a tree branch was poking its way into the basement. My eyes widened. How very strange indeed.