Chapter 75

Silver’s POV

“I don’t know what kind of delusional theory you came up with, but I’ll never join you,” I hissed at my brother. His eyes narrowed and he didn’t look shocked to hear me say that. Instead, he smirked and folded his arms across his chest.

“You could have anything and everything you want, Silver. I don’t think you understand the kind of impact you could have on this world. With the powers that you have, you could be so much more than what you are. Don’t you want to truly learn to use your abilities and use them for the good of humanity?”

My heart thudded against my chest.

Of course, I would want to use my powers for good, but I knew that Scott’s intentions were anything but good. I didn’t trust him, and I wasn’t going to let my guard down. Whatever happened to him during this lifetime changed him and turned him into a complete monster. I won’t fall victim to him.

“I want to return home to my husband,” I demanded.

“Don’t you understand the kind of man you married? He’s the true monster, Silver. He and his family. You married into the family that killed our family. They were the reasons our parents killed themselves. They were the reasons you were switched at birth and had to endure that horrible life. They are the reasons my adopted mother died!” Scott said, practically shouting. “They are the true monsters. They don’t deserve to be a pack; they don’t deserve to live, and we can make a difference. We can end the Crown family once and for all and form a new pack.”

I shook my head as tears burned in my eyes.

“Elliot had nothing to do with any of that. He was only a boy when his sister had the prophecy. He didn’t order the hit on the rogues. He didn’t kill anyone,” I told him, my voice coming out stronger than I felt. “You already killed his father, the man who was truly the cause of all of this, shouldn’t that be enough?”

“It will NEVER be enough!” Scott growled, making me shudder. “It won’t be enough until that whole family is gone. I already tried to change his scent, but his Alpha scent is way too strong. So, I’ve been sending my rogues after his pack.”

“So, they truly were targeting the Crown pack,” I whispered more to myself than to him.

“But with the two of us combined, we could change his scent Silver, and his own pack will be the ones who kill him. If we work together—”

“No!” I practically shouted, stopping his words. I didn’t want to listen to anything he had to say anymore. I was fuming.

His eyes darkened as he glared at me.

“No?” He asked, his voice deepening. “You have the choice to make a difference and make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future. Do you really think a man like Elliot Crown loves you?”

His words were like a slap in the face, and I had to fight to keep the old insecurities from invading my mind. A week ago, I wouldn’t have believed that Elliot truly loved me. But I saw him during his most vulnerable state. He knelt on the ground in front of me and bared his heart out. He told me he loved me with such sincerity that I chose to believe him. I wasn’t going to allow my estranged brother to tell me otherwise.

He knows nothing about me and my marriage despite what he might think.

“You are deranged,” I muttered.

Before I knew what was happening, Scott had his hand wrapped around my throat and he was squeezing tightly. I choked and gagged as the air was cut from my lungs. I could see the anger burning in his eyes and fear consumed me.

“I am the only sane one here,” he said through his teeth. “He brainwashed you, Silver. And you’ll see soon enough. He doesn’t care about you, and he never has. He’ll turn his back on you.”

I tried to speak but I couldn’t even breathe. As specks of darkness clouded my vision, he grinned and released me. I coughed, rubbing my aching throat as air slammed into my chest.

“I’ll prove to you that he doesn’t care about you,” Scott said, stepping away from me.

I managed to look at his smug face, wondering what it was he had planned.

He left the room for a moment, leaving me with my thoughts. I stared at the closed door, confused. And then he returned with a couple of rogues standing by his side. I narrowed my eyes at them, they looked oddly familiar. Then, someone else walked through the door and my entire heart fell deep into my stomach.

“S…Shirley?” I stammered.

I realized quickly that the “rogues” that stood by Scott weren’t rogues; they were part of Shirley’s pack. Their scents had been changed to resemble rogues. My heart hammered against my chest as she walked over to me. She looked beautiful as ever and I hated her for it. I gritted my teeth as she stopped only inches from my bed.

“Oh, Silver Such a shame to see you in such a position like this,” Shirley said, giving me a fake pout. “I’ve heard a lot about you from your darling brother. It’s a shame you don’t want to join him.”

“What are you doing here, Shirley? What could you possibly get out of this?”

“Elliot’s pack of course,” she said simply. “He has the largest and strongest pack in the world. That’s always been my goal. Having him and his family out of the way would make that way easier. Scott has a foolproof way of making that happen, so I agreed to help him. In return, I’ll give him some strong warriors and the rest of my pack.”

“You’ve been helping him?” I asked, my brows furrowed. This whole time, Shirley has been helping my brother and the rogues attack the Crown pack? “But you’ve been helping Elliot…”

“I’ve been giving Elliot the old turnaround,” Shirley said with a sly grin. “I was never truly helping him. How do you think his rogues have been entering his pack undetected?

I glared at Scott.

“Why did you need Shirley’s help? Why not just keep changing the scents of rogues to get them access to the pack?” I asked.

“Because eventually they would have figured it out and the element of surprise would be gone,” Scott answered, shrugging. “I only use my powers when I think it’ll be beneficial. Using Shirley allowed me an easy way into the pack without using my powers.”

“You will never get away with this,” I hissed. “Once I get out of here, I’m telling Elliot everything!”

I probably shouldn’t have said that out loud, but I was so angry that I couldn’t help it. I was furious on behalf of my husband and my pack. I wasn’t going to let them get away with this and if I have to fight tooth and nail for them to release me, then I would.

Shirley chuckled and glanced over her shoulder at Scott.

“Is she for real? Does she really think we are that stupid?” She laughed.

Scott rolled his eyes.

“She’s naive; just like I told you,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

She laughed again and held her hand out for one of her minions. He handed her what looked like a syringe. My chest tightened at the sight of it.

“What is that?” I asked, my voice coming out breathy.

“Oh, this?” She asked, holding up the syringe. “This will erase your memories. Then, we’ll throw you back in the forest for your darling husband to find you.”

My heart dropped.

“Erase my memories?”

“Only from the last several hours. So, you don’t remember any of this,” Scott clarified. “I’m going to prove to you that Elliot doesn’t care about you. He won’t hesitate to throw you to the wolves if he thinks it’ll protect his pack. Just like his father’s beta killed his father, Elliot will do the same to you!”

“I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” he muttered. “You don’t know how to use your powers, so I’m not worried about you being able to reverse things. At least not right now. But you’ll see soon enough that your husband doesn’t care about you.”

I felt a stabbing pain in my neck and then the warm liquid entered my body. At first, I felt a light tingling sensation. But it didn’t last long because my entire body went numb, and I felt completely paralyzed. I could feel my memories escaping my mind; I tried to hold onto them, desperate to remember something about this encounter. But like pieces of a thread, they unraveled and disappeared into the orbit of my mind.

Specks of darkness clouded my vision, and I suddenly couldn’t remember where I was or what I was just talking about. I couldn’t remember the faces that were once in front of me. I was staring up at the ceiling, my mind going completely blank, and my body still numb from all feeling.

A stranger stood above me; his dark eyes resembling mine and they narrowed as he examined me. Why does this man look like me? What was going on?

“I’ll prove to you, Silver, that Elliot doesn’t love you. He will throw you to the wolves the first chance he gets,” he told me. I would have furrowed my brows together if I could feel my face, but like everything else, my face was numb.

What was this stranger talking about? Elliot loved me. Where was Elliot? How did I get here and where was here?

“Once you find out the truth, I know you’ll do the right thing by joining me. We can destroy him together, just as it always should have been,” he continued.

I wanted to ask him who he was, and why he was speaking such nonsense. But I couldn’t speak. Soon, I felt incredibly exhausted. I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep.

His smile was the last thing I saw before everything went black.