Born Mine
Chapter 46

"I expected that," Ian said as he rubbed his jaw where a bruise was forming. "I'll take your hits as long as you can admit that I was right."

"Take her home, Ian."

"I'm right here." I waved my hands dramatically. "Stop talking to me or about me like I'm invisible. I'm not leaving and I don't care if you order Ian around for years, I am not leaving."

Darius narrowed his eyes at me as if he were debating whether or not to carry me over his shoulders and deposit me outside his house. I crossed my hands over my chest and stared at him to show I was not intimidated by him and I was not going to let him walk over me. Amid our stare-off, I heard a cackle. It started as a cackle but it quickly dissolved into a coughing fit.

We turned to the source of the noise which was Liam. He was still lying on the floor in a heap of his own blood but he was smiling. Blood coated his teeth and he was gripping his sides in pain but he was cackling with pure and undiluted glee. If I had any doubts that Liam was crazy before, they were expelled at that moment.

"It seems like there's trouble in paradise," he managed out with a groan. "You really know how to pick the spicy ones, Darius. You would have been a feisty one. The other girls didn't put up much of a fight but you- you would have given me a run for my money."

Darius growled and he moved towards him presumably to bash his face in but I grabbed his arm and kept him in place. Liam was goading him and he was falling directly into his trap. Liam knew what buttons to push to get Darius to the point where he would react and Darius was being played like a fiddle.

"Why did you want me here, Liam?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest. "You asked for me, now I'm here. What do you want?"

"I didn't think he would bring you," he admitted. "But now that you're here, I have one question for you."

"You're not the one asking questions here," Darius growled but I held up a hand to stop him and nodded towards Liam to encourage him to go on.

Liam smirked in Darius' direction as if to say that I had chosen him. Darius looked downright pissed and I had no idea why. I felt out of my element dealing with a werewolf squabble but I was going to do it as best as I could. I was bound to make mistakes and I was willing to deal with it as long as Darius didn't blow a fuse.

"Why did you trust me?" Liam asked and I opened my mouth to respond but he cut me off. "Everyone probably told you not to believe me but you chose to. You were stopped from seeing me on multiple occasions and for a while I thought you were a spy but I realized you were with me of your own accord. Were you so unhappy with your mate that you were willing to jump into the arms of the first man who showed you affection?"

"How dare-"

"Stop!" I ordered then I turned to Ian and Darius who looked like they were about to explode. "Get out, both of you."

"What are you talking about?" Darius asked. "I am the one in charge here. You have no right or jurisdiction to send me away."

"I'm taking over," I said with a sickly sweet smile. "Now get out, now."

He looked like he wanted to protest but Ian leaned in and whispered something into

his ears. Darius shoved him off but stormed out of the basement. I shot Ian a thankful look and he squeezed my shoulder.

"I hope you made the right choice," he said although it sounded more like a warning than advice.

He left soon after and it was just Liam and I. I made my way over to the cell bars and placed my hands on them. Liam looked surprised when I did so but he quickly controlled his expression. I was confused as to why he did that until I realized that the bars were pure silver. He couldn't touch them because he was a wolf but I was human and it wouldn't harm me.

"You want to know why I chose to believe you," I began and I saw his interest piqued. "It was because I was stubborn and I wanted to piss Darius off. You were the easiest person to do that with. It wasn't because I liked you or trusted you."

"That's stupid."

"Maybe." I shrugged, not denying it. "I have a question for you though. Why did you come here? Why did you choose to kill those girls? Why did you take an interest in me?"

"Those are three questions not one," he sassed. "But I will answer them on one condition. You have to do me a favor."

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"What's the favor?"

"You need to let me end myself- do it on my own terms."

My eyes widened at his request but I nodded. "You have a deal."

He forced himself into a sitting position and I noticed the extent of his injuries. His skin was peeled in a lot of places as if someone started to skin him alive but grew bored. He had a few fingers missing and there were carefully created cuts all over his body. He wasn't healing properly and I knew it had something to do with the silver knife that was hanging on the wall next to me coated in blood.

"I was told to come here," he began. "I don't know who sent me. It was an anonymous message and I was paid well for it. It came as an email and I was given Darius' picture and told to make his life a living hell. When I found out you were his mate, it just made things easier."

"I was just a pawn in your game," I deduced and he nodded. "What about those girls? Were they just collateral damage?"

"It was a battle sweetheart, people die, that's life. If it makes you feel any better, they were all wolves. I didn't harm any of your precious humans."

"It doesn't make me feel better," I spat and he attempted to shrug. "Where can I replace the email you were sent?"

"It should be on my laptop back at the house. If you can crack the passcode then everything on it is yours. Is that all?"

"You would have been a good guy, Liam."

"I was never a good guy, you were just too stupid to notice."

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I should have blanched from his insult but I couldn't bring myself to. He was right. Instead, I reached up for the silver knife and I tossed it into his cell. He glanced at it on the floor in front of him as if shocked that I honored my promise.

"You're not like them," he said after a beat. "You wouldn't survive in our world. They will eat you up and spit you out."

"I don't want to be one of you," I told him and it was the truth. "I'm perfectly happy being human and I made a promise so I'm going to stick to it. Rot in hell, Liam."

I turned on my heels and walked out of the basement. As I made my way up the stairs, I heard the sickening sound of flesh ripping and I had to close my eyes to stop myself from picturing it. I should have been happy that Liam was gone but I couldn't help but believe that there was something far bigger at play than Liam and I was going to see it sooner or later.

Darius and Ian were pacing at the top of the stairs. In addition to the bruise on his jaw, Ian had a black eye and his nose was broken. His shirt was wrinkled and out of place but Darius looked untouched.

"From the looks of things, it wasn't a fair fight." Both men turned to me immediately. I leaned against the wall with a small smirk trying to hide the inner turmoil. "You could have at least tried to get a punch in. I would pay to see Darius with a shiner." "You'd be waiting a long time," Darius mused as he moved over to me. "How did it go with Liam?"

"He's dead."

There was silence. Ian blinked, Darius stared and I stood there under the watchful eye of both men. Their faces were carefully blank and I could not tell what either of them

was thinking. Ian broke the silence first by dissolving into a coughing fit.

"Did you say he was dead?" he asked and I nodded. "How? Darius didn't hurt him enough to die."

"He asked that he could end it himself once we were done. I gave him the knife." I tried to walk past them but Darius grabbed my hand to keep me in place.

"You had no right to do that. He was my prisoner."

"Well he's dead now and you can either bitch about it or you can get rid of the body. Either way, it's your dungeons that are stinking up."