Beloved (The Playlist BOOK 2)

Song - You’re Somebody Else by flora cash

The door creaks open and Chase steps in front of the chairs we’re chained to.

He steps forward and grabs my chin roughly in his hand, yanking my face to the side so he can see my mark.

Slow, angry breaths make his chest rise and fall noticeably. The skin under his fingers begins to sting as his nails bite into it.

“He fucking marked you. I knew we were losing him.”

He angrily pushed my face away and pulled at his hair before turning to me again.

“We sent him to your pack to look for holes in your defenses. I fucking knew he couldn’t handle it. Spewing all this bullshit about how welcoming everyone was,” he groans angrily, “then I sent some guys out to attack. It was a test that he fucking failed. I know he warned your dad. There is no way all the warriors would have been waiting for them otherwise. We were meant to be the resistance!” His screams echoing through the large empty room.

“He was going to be King and everything was going to change. We were going to mobilize, take charge, make wolves pay for their crimes against us! Then he met you and everything was ruined. He was suddenly doubting everything I taught him! You tricked him with the bond.”

My mind is racing. He came to visit me because he was spying on the pack? I could feel him though, it didn’t feel like he was lying to me. Was this what he thought I would hate him for? Plotting to destroy us once he became King? A shudder runs through my body at the thought.

I force myself to push the doubts from my mind. He told me he was stuck, that he was trying to change things, maybe this was what he wanted out of.

My conversation with my dad plays over and over in my head. Grief makes you do irrational things. I felt him, his feelings for me, where there was hatred, it was stomped out. When he marked me, his heart was in it, I felt it.

Don’t let him make you doubt yourself.

I focus on what he couldn’t hide, on the truth that I felt.

“He’s here, Chase,” April calls from outside. My heart starts to pound in my chest. I hope it’s Leo.

I can’t turn my head but I know it’s him as soon as he steps through the door. His smell calming me instantly. I can’t connect to him but I feel better as soon as he’s near.

“What the fuck, Chase! This was never part of the plan!” He hisses angrily.

“You can’t stick to the plan so the plan changed! You marked her! You accepted a fucking wolf as your beloved. You betrayed us!”

“I didn’t betray you. You just have no fucking patience. We could have made this work to our advantage but you had to start kidnapping fucking Alphas children.”

I hear him behind me, stepping closer.

My breath hitches with each step. What does he mean we can use this to our advantage?

Don’t doubt him.

Trust him.

“How could we have used it to our advantage?”

“If I could have made them trust me, we could have easily accessed different packlands.”

“You warned them about the attack in Montana!”

“No! I fucking didn’t,” he screams angrily, “I told you they were airtight. I told you they would capture anyone you sent in seconds. You just don’t listen.”

“You were getting sidetracked.”

“No! I wasn’t. You were being paranoid and overreacting!”

“Why did you mark her? And she marked you!”

“Ok, I’ll give you that one,” I can hear the laughter in his voice, ” I got carried away. The bond makes sex...I lost control for a minute.”

Chase looks torn. Leo is being pretty convincing. My heart is pounding so hard I think it might fracture my ribs.

Trust him, trust him, trust him.

“Are they chained tight enough?”

I feel his hand against mine, something small and cold touches my fingers as he yanks the chain roughly with one hand while linking our pinkies with the other.

When he steps away I rub my fingers over whatever he put in my hand. A small key, maybe? I hide it against my fingers. Finally, he steps around so I can see him. He doesn’t look at me but I can feel where he touched my skin, where he locked our pinkies together. I’m just going to sit tight and trust him.

He moves over to Andrew and the girl, yanking on their chains.

“What are we going to do now? You’ve got the entire wolf council searching for you, I’m sure. You’ve fucked us! We were completely under the radar, waiting to move until we had the power to do real damage. Fuck, Chase!”

Chase looks down at the floor. He believes him. I feel around in the chain holding me to the chair. There is a lock but I can’t reach the keyhole. I keep slowly and quietly searching for a way to be able to remove the lock.

I’m able to move my head slightly and Andrew is seething. His eyes are trained on me and he looks like he wants to kill me.

I look down at the floor in front of me. There isn’t anything I can do right now.

“Where is everyone?” Leo asks him, anger still clear in his voice.

“I called a meeting for noon. Everyone should be here soon.”

April skips over to Leo and places her hands on his chest. I have to close my eyes. I can’t lose control, I can’t shift, this collar will kill me.

I bite down on my lip until I can taste blood. She’s got her hands on him, he’s whispering lowly to her and she’s giggling.

I know he’s trying to act like everything is normal but more than anything so far, this is almost too much to bear.