Claimed By My Three Alphas
Chapter 176

AMERY'S POV

I couldn't have heard him correctly

My mind has to be playing tricks on me.

"Wh- what?" | stammer.

"Ah, don't play dumb." He says, leaning back in his chair, " It's unbecoming of my bride-to-be, and I can't have that."

I shake my head, my mouth opening and shutting repeatedly as I stare at him. Is this the same man who my birth mother had been running from? The man who brought me here called him Casper. There's no way it could be a coincidence. "I'm glad you came," he says. "It's of the essence that we complete the ceremony at the full moon's prime. Do you have any personal requests?"

"What is happening right now?" My voice comes out weak.

Inch back, subtly trying to move away from him.

"There's no need for you to be alarmed," he says, "Or scared. I have no intentions of causing you harm."

"You're the one who had the girl give me the letter?"

"I'm the one who did a lot of things."

"You wanted to have the boys kidnapped, me as well. Why?

What do you want with them?"

"The Princes?" He lifts his brows, "Nothing."

"Then why-"

"Questions," slightly, he shakes his head, "You ask many questions. Are you not aware of who I am? Of what I want?

"I've never seen you before." I say, "I don't know you."

"Ah, but I know you."

"How? Why am I here?"

It's almost a whisper, spoken so low I'm surprised I even hear it, "ve looked for you everywhere."

My breath catches.

He tilts his head, staring at me intently, "For nineteen years I've searched for you. For nineteen years you've evaded me.

I almost don't believe it was so easy."

My throat burns, and I grind my teeth, trying to hold back the tears. He almost doesn't believe I could have been so stupid.

I swallow, "You're King Casper Taxiar."

He grins, "So you do know me."

"I know of you."

He nods,

"I'm assuming my reputation precedes me."

"Why am I here? Why have you been looking for me for so long?"

"I told you, didn't I? I've brought you here to take as my bride."

Suddenly the drug induced haze is clearing away. "Are you insane?"

He arches a brow.

"Are you crazy?" I'm shouting now, standing on both feet as I look up at him, "What on earth makes you think I'm going to marry you? What made you assume I would ever agree to this?"

"I have a lot to offer you." He tells me nonchalantly, waving a hand at the large room we're in, "You wouldn't just be my bride, you would also become my Queen."

None of this makes any sense.

All this time, and he's been looking for me for... marriage?

With every second that passes in his presence, the fog in my brain lifts more and more. My thoughts are clearer, and my vision is almost back to normal. I still feel really weak, but I'm standing on my own two feet. That's a good sign. "Where are we?" I ask him.

"My kingdom." He says, "My home. Soon to be yours."

My mouth curls, "Where are my parents? What did you do to them?" All that blood, are they even still alive?

I didn't harm them." He tells me, "After all, our wedding needs guests."

"Where is my father?"

He arches his brow, again. Then, smiles, "Ah," he's grinning ear to ear, "Your father."

"Where is he?"

"He was of no use to me."

I can't hide my confusion, "He was of no use to you?"

"He didn't know where you were. I never had intentions of using him as leverage, I had him brought to me because I thought he could lead me to you. He couldn't, therefore he was of no use to me." "So where have you been keeping him?"

"I disposed of him."

I feel my heart climb up my throat, I can barely get the words out, "What- what do you mean you disposed of him?

His mouth juts, and he looks at me as if he's confused.

Shaking his head, like what couldn't I be understanding, he says, "I killed him."

I wasn't prepared to hear that.

My lips párt, my hands tremble at my sides. "What?" His eyes dart playfully around the room, "I killed him. What don't you understand?"

"You- you didn't," I stammer, "You're lying!"

He blows out a breath, folding his hands in front of him, " What makes you think so?"

"You struck a deal with Emelda. You were going to hand him over if she gave you the Princes!"

He lifts a hand, scratching at his jaw casually, "Yes that." He sighs, "Well, I'd tell you now that I meant his body but even I don't know where my men put it."

My mouth falls open, I feel the tears burning the backs of my eyes. I barely knew him, infaret, I didn't know him at all.

Yet...

"How could you?" I cry, "You had no right! How could you?

He did nothing wrong."

"That's where you're wrong. He chose death, over offering up any information. I simply gave him what he'd asked for."

I almost double over.

He chose to die, than to tell him I was in the human realm and save his own life.

He chose to die, to keep me safe.

"You're a monster!" I scream.

He rises to his feet, "I've been called worse. But all that is of no relevance now," he claps his hands, "We have to prepare, tonight must go as planned. We can't leave anything to fate."

I back away from him as he steps down from the dais. "Is this some sort of sick joke?"

Part of me feels like this is all some sort of prank.

He's brought me here to be his bride? Is this what he's wanted me for all along?

"Don't pretend like you don't know who you are." He frowns,

"Like you don't know your value or what you can do."

He's talking about my gifts

My powers.

And then I remember that I do have powers. I lift my palm, holding it up in the pair, facing his chest. He pauses, then barks out a laugh.

"You think I was unprepared? Go ahead," He nods his head at me, "Try."

And damn it, I do.

But nothing. I've been undergoing training, I understand my powers more, but nothing is working, no matter how much I will him to be shoved away.

He marches right up to me, grasping my wrist and pressing my hand against his chest. "You're weakened."

The drug.

His thumb grazes my cheek, bile rises in my throat and I jerk away from his touch. It only makes his smile widen," Such rare gifts," he muses, "Such potent power. Do you why it is you're of so much value to me?" I don't a say word, I don't even move a muscle.

"Not only will you be my greatest asset, but you will also make me just as powerful. You are a gift. For the realm, for whomever you choose." He leans into my personal space, his hot breath fanning my nostrils, ,"And you will choose me."

"You're sick!" I growl, "I will never marry you! This is all a waste of your time!"

He pulls back, his face suddenly devoid of any emotion.

He regards me for a moment, eyes narrowed. Then he turns around, looking over his shoulder to the corner of the room.

Following his line of sight, only then do I notice the burly man standing in the corner.

He stands with his hands at his back, still as stone. A scar runs down the side of his face, over one of his eyes.

The king only nods at him, and the man marches out of the room, through a door on the wall opposite the one I came in.

Moments later, he returns, tugging in two other people by their forearms. They have brown sacks over their heads, but I recognize them instantly.

The cry slips out of me, "Mom! Dad!"

They're okay. They're alive.

The relief is almost crippling.

I try running to them, bait Casper grabs me by the back of my neck. He moves to stand behind me, and I watch as the man rips the bag off their heads.

They have ropes secured between their open mouths. Both eyes widen as they take me in. Shock, relief and above all else, fear, dancing in their expressions.

"It'll be okay," I shout, my eyes darting between both of them, "Everything will be okay. Don't panic."

Casper hums behind me, his grip on my nape tightening, "I wouldn't be so sure."

The burly man behind them pulls out a jagged blade.

My heart lurches.

I can't even react, I can't even blink. It feels like everything happens in slow motion.

He kicks my Dad to his knees, grasping a handful of his hair before pressing the blade to his throat.

No

The words die on my tongue. In one swift motion, he drags the blade through the skin of his neck. Blood spurts from the straight gash, gushing like a broken faucet from my father's neck as he chokes on his blood My mom shrieks through the muffle, her face growing red, tears streaming down her face as she falls to her knees.

The man lets go of my father's head, his lifeless body falling to the ground face first, blood pooling underneath him.

Stare, eyes wide, destroyed.

Dad...

He just...

No way.

No way.

I whimper, shaking my head back and forth.

"Now," he whispers in my ear, "About that wedding."