The Mad Alpha's Substitute Bride-Chapter 39: Not Your Prisoner

(CORRINE)

I’m running in the forest. The monsters are chasing me. I can see the Veil, but I’m too far away. And the monsters are gaining on me.

"Mom! Mama!"

I hear Finn shouting my name. I have to hurry to get to him.

I feel a burning sensation on my back before I smell the hot, wet scent of my blood in the air.

I’m falling.

He’s screaming for me. "Mom!"

I can barely walk, crawling now. I have to get to my baby. I have to protect him.

But I’m surrounded. They’re approaching me now, vicious-looking monsters with terrifying faces and teeth so sharp.

"Mom!"

I can barely move. "Mama, help!"

The terror in my son’s voice has me jolting upright, my eyes flying open. "Finn!"

A wave of dizziness hit me, and I would have slumped back down had someone not caught me. "Easy."

I’m lowered to the bed, and I look around with a pounding heart. I’m not in the Misty Forest. I’m home. I’m in my house, in my bed.

But where is my child? "Finn," I mumble.

"He’s in his room," comes the familiar voice.

This time, I recognize it, and my heart nearly stops in my chest. My head lifts so I can see the foot of the bed, and there is a large, looming man sitting there.

As I stare at him, the events of the night come flying back to me. The attack. Locke showing up.

"You," I breathe.

"You could be a little more grateful, Corrine," Locke says arrogantly as he pulls his chair closer to my head. "I did just save your life."

My body hurts, but I manage to scowl at him. "And I’m sure you want something in return."

"Have I ever asked you for anything in return?" he asks coolly, and I open my mouth, but I have no answer.

"Why were you there?"

"I was following you," he answers shamelessly.

I close my eyes, astounded by how he considers stalking me to be no big deal. I finally glower at him. "Why? Didn’t Erik tell you to stay away from me and his son?"

"You mean our son, don’t you, Corrine," Locke says quietly.

I go still, panic filling me. No. He’s just testing me. He can’t know for sure.

"He looks just like me." Locke holds my gaze, his own unwavering. "And I conducted a blood test."

"You made my son bleed?!" My voice rises in fury, and his eyes narrow at me.

"Our son, Corrine. And I didn’t do anything to hurt him. I pricked his fingertip. It’s an age-old ritual, one that didn’t even leave a mark on him. But it confirmed my suspicions. Finn is mine. Mine and yours."

It’s over. He knows. My heart sinks as I look at him. How could I be so careless? Why didn’t I just leave Finn at the palace? What was I thinking?

Locke is smiling. In fact, he looks proud. "He’s a strong, strapping boy. Handsome, too, just like his father."

I blink, taken aback by his reaction. I’ve never seen Locke look so pleased.

"He—I won’t let you do anything to him." My wolf paces inside me, worried and tense.

Locke’s smile fades. "Do anything to him? He’s my heir. Why would I do anything to him?"

He reaches for me, and I bat his hand away, my eyes flashing. "Don’t touch me! And don’t you dare touch my son!"

Locke freezes at the venom in my voice.

"He’s the same child you would have killed for having tainted blood! Bella told me as much!" I snarl at him. "So, you stay away from Finn! He’s not yours. He’s mine! He’s only ever been mine! I won’t let you do anything to him! You—"

Locke grabs both my arms, his upper lip curled in fury. "I would never hurt my child! I don’t care what Bella said to you. That woman lied! I never ordered your execution! I never wanted you dead! If you had stayed... If you hadn’t become so impatient and left that hut, If you had just waited for me, Corrine—"

The anger fades from his eyes, replaced by a bewildered agony, and he sinks off his chair to the floor, still clutching me. His voice is hoarse. "You were never replaceable. No matter what I said, you were never replaceable, Corrine. If you had just waited, I would have proved it to you."

My heart trembles at his words. "Proved it to me?" The wound that I have been covering up for years begins to bleed once again. "How? Would you have made me your mistress? Or would you have taken my child from me and raised him yourself, stashing me somewhere far away? Tell me why I should’ve believed that you would have spared my life when you had the real Princess Ravenna. You always told me I was a substitute. You always told me that my worth as a fated mate was nothing in your eyes. Did you really expect me to believe that you were not going to get rid of me the moment you found the true princess?"

Locke’s jaw tightens, and his eyes are filled with anguish as he looks at me. "The true princess? I still see you in every room of the castle. I closed up the greenhouse because it belongs to you. I have not taken that woman to my bed. I denied her access to my chamber because that was your rightful place."

His words reach out and grab something deep and vulnerable inside me, twisting it. He releases my arms and cups my face. Seeing this proud man bend in front of me has my stomach in knots.

"I admit I made mistakes, Corrine. I was harsh. Perhaps I was cruel. But I have never had eyes for any woman but you. Everything Bella told you was a lie. I should’ve trusted you and listened to you back then when you felt uncomfortable with me leaving her in charge. It was my mistake, and I paid dearly for it."

I push him away, not wanting to believe his words. "You sent her a letter. It had your seal on it. You told her to get rid of me—"

"Bella had my seal!" Locke explodes. "She forged that letter, and she admitted as much. I was going to kill her. If the pack elders had not intervened, she would have died in the same manner that she had planned for you. Both she and the princess. Ravenna is not you, Corrine. She can never be you."

My wolf wants to believe him. But my heart has become so jaded that I find the idea difficult to believe. What if this is another trap? What if he’s just trying to get me and Finn to go back to the North with him, and he’ll hurt us there?

I shake my head at him. "No. I don’t trust you. Bella told me that if I had slept with you on the night of the full moon and conceived, she would have enjoyed killing our child. How could she possibly have said something like that without your backing? How can I be sure you’re not just saying all this so that you can harm us and get rid of the impurity in your bloodline?"

I ignore the way he flinches.

"I can’t trust you, Locke. You never gave me a reason to. I was a prisoner back then, and I will not be one again."