The Beast's Possession
22: What’s so special about you?

**Bane

pov**

I couldn't believe that luck as such could ever shine upon me. Who would have thought that I had the only weakness of that asshole Killian right in the palm of my hand?

Surely, if he was willing to pay that much money and even hand the best of his lands, he saw something in this girl. But what was it?

I took my time taking her in as if I was doing it for the first time. She wasn't exceptionally gorgeous, but undeniably beautiful.

Most of the time, I saw her cover away like a scared mouse, trying to escape a predator, but in some rare moments, she let the Alpha in her shine through, which was pretty interesting to watch. Looks and title aside, I couldn't help but wonder why Killian wanted her. What was it that made him go out of his way to actually come up with a contract and have it signed prior to time? Seeing how she wasn't budging and didn't offer more details, I decided to call her bluff. There was no way she was telling me the truth. She simply didn't want either of the options I gave her. The smug smile on my lips didn't fade as I walked around my office desk and grabbed the little black notebook with phone numbers of other Alphas.

I sat in my chair, found his number, dialed it and waited, keeping my eyes on her.

After the first three signals, he finally picked up my call.

"Killian," he growled out his name as if he hated it. Ha, if only he knew that he wasn't the only one who felt the same about the damn name. A good number of Alphas couldn't stand his guts.

"Killian, buddy, how are you? Long time no see?" I sounded so cheerful, he had to understand I was faking it.

A low, annoyed chuckle left him before Killian let out a breath and spoke again. "Alpha Bane. Long time, indeed. Tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure of this sudden call?"

He was unhappy and that fact alone made me feel incredibly giddy. I almost started giggling like a schoolgirl as the moron on the other side of the line started breathing a little louder, waiting for an explanation and a chance to end the call sooner.

"Well, I was wondering why I haven't received a wedding invitation yet. Am I not invited?" I winked at the reject as I dragged the words.

Killian stopped breathing. I believed he did because his line became so silent all of a sudden, I could probably hear a pin drop.

It took him far too long to gather himself, which was the very moment when I realized the reject wasn't lying. She was telling me the bloody truth. It seemed that my comment about hitting the jackpot turned out to be more true than I thought.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, Killian finally came to his senses and spoke. "Alpha Bane, I have no idea how you found out that there were any marriage plans to begin with, but I suppose that detail is not of importance anymore. The wedding has been called off."

He sounded tired. But more than that - devastated. And Goddess, did I enjoy listening to his misery.

A sudden sense of happiness filled me, but I quickly shook it off and cleared my throat. "Oh? May I ask what happened? You see, I have been hearing the talks about the upcoming marriage of the greatest Alpha known, so it truly upsets me to hear about the change of plans."

The sharp intake of breath gave out just how much he hated listening to my words. And yet, for some reason, he didn't hesitate to explain more. "My bride's pack was attacked, viciously wiped off the face of Earth. We are still trying to figure out who attacked and there is an investigation going to replace out if she died along with the pack members or if she is missing."

My eyes focused on the reject. I had a choice to make here. I could tell him I had her right this moment, but I didn't doubt she would spill the beans about the attack the moment I sold her off.

I knew Killian, as powerful as he was, had no chance to stand against me. But even with that knowledge, I wanted to avoid any possibility of starting a war, especially over a damn woman. "Oh, no, that sounds awful. I am so sorry about this," I lied through my teeth.

"Thank you for the support. I'm sorry if I come across as rude, but I wonder if there is anything else you wanted to address. Surely the invitation couldn't be the sole reason for this call. As you probably can imagine, I'm not quite myself after the tragedy struck."

"No other reason at all. I was calling just to pull your leg in a friendly way, that's all. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." With the words leaving me, I leaned back in my chair and grinned at her.

Honestly, I was surprised she didn't utter a word yet. It almost seemed like she didn't want Kilian to know she was here and alive.

Now, that detail made me ever more curious than I was earlier. Why did she bring it up not to use the chance to get out of here the moment Killian answered the call? Clearly, she managed to get rid of my previous conditions, but now, I wondered how she planned to escape Killian.

Just on cue, he spoke up. "I hate to ask for help, you know that, Alpha. However, if you insist, I wouldn't say no to more eyes paying attention to people who come and go around the territories. My bride's name is Aife. Unfortunately, since I agreed to her father's condition, I haven't seen her for a couple of years, so I can't give you many details about her appearance. The only thing I can rely on in this situation is that no one could mistake her for someone else - Aife is an Alpha female."

"I will give you a call if I happen to replace your bride, Alpha Killian," I grinned and pulled the phone away from my ear.

He started thanking me profusely, but I didn't listen to more than I needed to and ended the call.

Finally, I had an actual advantage over that asshole.

I wanted to celebrate, to jump to my feet and scream my heart out in happiness, but the prospect of my moment was ruined when her voice echoed against the walls.

"See. I told you, I've been promised to him. I didn't lie."

At this point, I feared that if I kept grinning like this, I would split my face in half. "You, my dear reject," I started as I stood from my chair and walked around the desk to approach her. "You are my ticket to a lifetime ride in the promised land." She furrowed her eyebrows but didn't utter a thing. I could never stop complaining about the lack of intelligence this woman possessed, but despite my own words, I knew she wasn't dumb.

Every move she made, at least for most part, was well-thought and calculated. Even now, I could see it in her eyes - she was planning how to get out of the mess she had created.

Except, I never said that I was truly handing her over to Killian. I could do that in a heartbeat. But, if I did, would anyone tell me why she was so important that he actually went out of his way to investigate her disappearance and dig through the ruins of her pack?

It seemed that every time I thought I had figured her out, I was hit by twice as many questions than she answered.

"Why does Killian want you? What's so special about you?"