Chapter 430
Four hundred and thirty-two
Alexander POV
Six days left. Six days until the trial, and there was still no sign of who we needed to make my innocence weightier.
The powerlessness of being trapped within these four walls, not knowing what those outside were doing or how far they had gone, was enough to drive me mad.
Lucas was terrific at finding people, but he was a rogue, and without help from Emma, it would be almost impossible to find the Cook. Emma had assured me when she visited that she would do whatever she could to get me out of here, and I was banking on it with everything I had.
They moved us out of the cell block at noon for a surprise search. The guards lined all of us up in the main hallway while they flipped our mats and searched our stuff. Kobe’s eyes met mine, and I dodged through the crowd to reach him while acting as if I wasn’t heading his way. After our last separation, it was obvious the head guards were keeping a close eye on me.
Kobe leaned sideways just enough. “Six days, huh p>
“Yeah,” I replied, keeping my eyes fixed straight ahead.
He smiled at me, and the wrinkles on his forehead from years of working here loosened. Fifteen years ago, Kobe was a buff guy, probably around my current age. He never smiled while on duty, but a few of us knew he was nothing like his mean bodyguard facade once he was off it. Now he looked like an old man with silver hair and weathered skin.
“I have help coming from the outside,” I assured him.
“Who p>
“My people. And my mate. She’s from an Alpha House p>
Kobe seemed shocked but covered it almost instantly. His laugh came out as a dry chuckle.
“If you had a mate from an Alpha House, why are you here p>
“Long story,” I muttered. “We just met p>
“Then don’t be stupid, son. Don’t rely on a privileged girl to save your life just
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because you share a bond p>
“She knows I’m innocent and is handling it,” I insisted.
“You don’t get it,” Kobe’s tone turned warning. “Even your mate can be manipulated easily and pushed until she backs out p>
He had a point.
Emma could be a brat, and rightfully so. She was used to a soft life, and our bond was really the main thing keeping us tied together. But I didn’t want to focus on the bad side. She had come here alone to see me. She was carrying my baby and refused to get rid of it, risking everything just to drop off a border pass.
If her family or Zachary tried to scare her or turn her against me, it would hurt like crazy. But I wasn’t going to hold it against her, and I definitely wasn’t giving up.
I would fight until my last breath.
“Shut up down there!” a guard yelled, shoving the guy next to Kobe. Our small window to talk closed.
When they finally locked me back in my cell, I noticed the chest pain again. It was a strange sharpness on the left side of my chest, like something foreign had been inserted there. I’ve always been prone to bad chest colds and depended on medication from Kamala, but this felt different. It was so sharp I couldn’t even lie on my stomach. I had to stay on my back or lean on my right side just to breathe without feeling that pressure.
I figured it was just the awful mattress making my body ache. But then I looked around the cell and stopped.
They had brought in a proper mattress while I was out in the hall. In the corner sat
an aluminium flask full of hot water, something I always had to beg the guards for.
My mind raced as I stared at it. What was going on?
When dinner came, the guard opened the hatch at the bottom of the door and pushed a tray inside. The food wasn’t the usual watery soup. It was a massive plate of rice, heaps of roasted meat, and even a bottle of alcohol, like a home-cooked meal, if not better.
Was this Emma’s doing?
“Why the lavish dinner?” I asked the guard as he walked away.
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The guard mocked me instead. “Shouldn’t you be happy you’re being fed well
stead of asking useless questions p>
He walked away. I didn’t touch the plate.
This whole setup reminded me too much of fifteen years ago.
Back then, my stepmother, Georgina, had started treating Cherry and me with a subtle kind of abuse. She starved us without making it look obvious. I was a growing teenager, training hard every day, needing double the food to keep up my strength yet the kitchen barely gave us anything. Zachary was the only one who ate like a real Alpha’s kid, while I had to share my small portions with Cherry so my little sister wouldn’t go hungry.
Kobe was the one who noticed something was wrong in our house back then. He used to secretly give me food or hand me spare cash because he saw an Alpha’s son being treated like trash in his own home.
Then, out of nowhere, my stepmother started acting overly nice. Three nights in a row, she served me lavish meals, claiming I looked too thin. On the third night, my father was stabbed to death, and they framed me for it.
Now, here I was in prison. They had tried making me uncomfortable, and it hadn’t worked. Was this lavish food their new way to finish me off before the trial?
I left the tray sitting on the floor, untouched.
By morning, Wilson opened the cell door to check on things. He was a guard I couldn’t fully figure out, either a godsend or someone playing a dirty game with Zachary, acting nice just to exploit me later. So I stayed careful around him.
He looked at the tray on the floor, his eyes widening when he saw all the meat and rice sitting there cold. He pulled open the cover on the second plate, looking genuinely confused.
“Why didn’t you eat?” Wilson asked.
“Who gives a prisoner a feast like this?” I asked, looking right at him. “It could easily be poisoned p>
Wilson stared at the food, the confused look staying on his face for a second before he spoke.
“Better watch your back around here p>
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He took the tray and left.
By midnight, the pain in my chest was so distracting that I couldn’t fall asleep. I lay flat on my back, listening to the silence of the prison.
Then I heard a faint, sneaky sound right at my door. Someone was trying to unlock my cell without making noise.
I lay still on the bed, pretending to be fast asleep while watching through my eyelashes.
The door creaked open. Two men walked in quietly, wearing black masks over their faces. In the dim light, I saw the long daggers in their hands. They moved toward my bed, ready to sink their blades into me while I lay there.
My instincts kicked in. Before they could reach the bed, I shifted instantly into my wolf form. My wolf burst out, slamming hard into the concrete wall because of the tight space, and let out an aggressive roar-howl that rattled the whole room.
The two men panicked but lunged forward with their daggers anyway. I snapped my jaws shut on the first guy’s arm, crushing down hard while he screamed. I thrashed my body around, using my weight, the bunk bed, and the flask on the floor to smash them back.
“Fucking bastard,” the wounded man hissed while the other tried to stab me.
Outside, the noise woke up the whole block. Other prisoners started banging their metal cups and hands against their cell bars, making a loud, chaotic ruckus.
“GUARDS! THEY’RE ATTACKING HIM!” someone shouted down the hall.
I kept fighting, biting and throwing the masked men against the iron bars in pure self -defense. I didn’t even notice when one of their daggers sliced deep into my wolf’s side.
Footsteps thundered down the corridor. Bright torchlights flooded into my cell as a group of guards rushed inside to stop the chaos.
My lungs felt like they were burning, and the sharp pain in my chest suddenly turned into a freezing coldness. My wolf’s legs wobbled.
The last thing I remembered before everything went completely black was the banging on the cell bars, the flashing torchlights, and guards shouting as they rushed into the room.
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Cedella
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella’s storytelling style is immersive and addictive—perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.