Saved By The King’s Gamma novel Chapter 30

Gannon is off doing an errand for the King. He had been nagging me about Cassandra and what I wanted to do about her, but I still have no idea. I don’t like the idea of having someone’s life in my hands, especially when I’ve hardly had any control over my own. Yet, when Gannon goes off with the King, I wander around the castle. I explore the wine cellars and am getting ready to clean them when I hear a familiar voice calling out from the cells down the corridor.

The wine cellar runs what appears to be the entire length of the castle, with different underground corridors leading off in different directions, and the one to my left I know goes to the dungeons. Guards stand on either side of the arched tunnel leading to them, and I glance at them. They pay her no attention while she continues screaming out for them to set her free.

Finding the cobweb brush, I head back toward the stairs leading into the kitchen’s huge pantry. Only once I am halfway up do I stop. Cassandra has three children, which has been nagging at me. As much as I want the woman dead, I don’t want to punish her children for her crimes. Her husband and their father are dead, and her life is now resting in my hands.

Leaning the cobweb brush against the stairs, I walk back down the steps, over to the corridor, and stop in front of the guards.

“Miss Abbie?” one asks, and I chew my lip, glancing toward the dark dungeons.

“Can I see her?” I ask, looking at the man. He has a mustache and light blue eyes that are almost white they are that light. He glances at the other guard, who has a full beard, dark eyes, and long hair that cascades almost to his waist and is tied in two braids.

“One of us will come with you,” the other man says, and I nod. I start walking down the corridor when I hear her screaming out again, and I stop. Her voice grating in my head as memories of the same voice teased and taunted me while she would hold my head to stop me from trying to pull away from him. She is just as sick as him to do that to another woman. I hadn’t realized I had stopped moving until the guard’s hand falls on my shoulder. Only then do I realize I am shaking like a leaf.

“I’m right here. She can’t hurt you, Miss; I have mindlinked Gannon,” he says, and I swallow.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” I murmur.

“It’s up to you. No one will force you to go in there, Miss Abbie,” he whispers.

I look at the man, and his dark eyes look black under the dim lighting. I should feel embarrassed that he knows what she did to me, yet his gentle voice holds no contempt. I nod but force myself to keep going until I am stopped outside her barred cell. She sits in the cell’s corner sobbing, her head in her hands and knees to her chest.

Cassandra looks up, and I can tell she is about to scream out again, but her words die out when she notices me standing there.

“I suppose you’re here to gloat?” she says, resting her head back on the brickwork. She turns her face away from me. She looks like crap, her nails all chipped, her hair a mess, her clothes wrinkled, and she has no shoes on.

Turning to the guard, I hold my hands out for the keys, and he looks at me. “Abbie,” he asks questionably.

“Keys, please,” I tell him, and he pulls them off the key chain and hands them to me.

Cassandra looks at me and jumps to her feet as I put the key in, but I don’t turn it. Instead, I notice the bottled water just outside the cell door and pre-packaged sandwiches. I move to the small table and grab two of the triangle packages and a water bottle before tucking them under my arm. My hands shake as I open the cell, and my eyes move to her when I notice the chain around her ankle that is attached to the wall.

Cassandra watches me warily as I enter, closing the door behind me. This isn’t the same scornful, confident, and entitled woman I knew. This woman is helpless and looks petrified of me. She knows her life is in my hands. Gannon told her that much.

I take a step toward her, and she takes one back, her back hitting the wall. I hold the water bottle out to her, and she looks at me funny, tilting her head to the side. She reaches forward and grabs it like she thinks I will toss it at her.

She opens the cap and starts gulping it down thirstily. When she is done, I hand her the sandwiches, which she takes, and I watch her for a second before taking a few steps back and sitting next to the cell door. She eyes me suspiciously before also sitting.

“Eat. You look hungry. I am not here to hurt you, Cassandra,” I tell her, and her lip quivers. She seems shocked by my words.

“Why not?” she asks, but peels the wrapper back on her sandwich and moans as she takes a bite.

“Because I am not you, I am not a monster,” I tell her, and she stops mid-bite and looks at me. She chews slowly and swallows, picking at her sandwich with her fingers. I observe her, and she can’t be much older than me. Without all the makeup staining her face, she looks very youthful, making me curious about who she really is.

“How old are you?” I ask her.

“Twenty,” she answers with a sigh.

“Twenty!” I ask, knowing her oldest child was six years old.

“But Micheal is six,” I tell her, and she chews slowly and nods her head.

“I had him two days before my fourteenth birthday,” she answers, and I swallow. How different our lives have been, though that must have been tough to have a baby that young.

“I thought you and Kade were high school sweethearts?”

She laughs and shakes her head.

“No, that’s what he tells everyone. He is eight years older, although he doesn’t look like it. I was one of his working girls,” she says with a shrug.

“But you just said you were fourteen when you had Michael?”

“Yeah, I was also a rogue. Kade took me in when he met me at another pack, I was placed in when I was thirteen. He saved me.”

My eyebrows raise at that. Saved her? Knocking a fourteen-year-old up is saving her?

“I know it sounds bad because of the age difference, but he saved me. I was to be sold off to another Alpha regardless.”

“He bought you?” I ask.

“Yes, and I worked at his brothel for a couple of weeks.”

“That is not saving you,” I tell her, and she looks down at her hands.

“I know, but it’s better than who Alpha Dean would sell me to,” she says.

“Pardon, did you say Alpha Dean?” she nods.

“Yeah, my family was picked up outside his borders. He said I was old enough to be sold off, and he needed the money. He killed my parents right in front of me and handed me over to his son,” she says with a growl and shakes her head. A lone tear slips down her cheek.

“Then what happened?”

“His son was done with me, and Kade was visiting. He offered me to Kade, but then Kade said he would buy me off him under the table, that no one had to know. They have been dealing in sales of the flesh ever since.”

“You mean trafficking?” I ask, and she swallows.

“I know what I did was fucked up, but,” she stops.

“When he brought me back, you figured I would replace you,” I tell her.

“I didn’t want to go back to work, and I have children now. What would become of them?” she asks before stopping, hearing footsteps coming down the corridor, she glances behind me and gets to her feet, and I hear a thunderous growl echo off the walls and I stand quickly. Gannon steps up next to the guard.

I want to run to her, but my body locks up, and I feel a strange pressure wash over me—her command. My feet refuse to move, my muscles straining against the invisible force. Azalea’s face crumples in realization, and she groans softly.

“You can go to her, but when we get home, we are going to have to work on you removing the command over them,” I hear Kyson murmur to her. His voice is low, but it carries easily in the stillness of the cellar.

“You will teach me?” she asks, sounding almost hopeful.

“I don’t have a choice,” he grumbles, and I catch the edge of frustration in his tone. His body is tense, like he’s holding back something more. His words make me wonder why he’s so uncomfortable with the idea of her learning to use her command. Could she control him, too, if she wanted to? I’ve heard stories about Landeena’s blood and its power, but seeing Kyson’s unease makes me wonder if there’s more to it.

Azalea reaches out to me, her hand trembling slightly, and the moment she touches me, the command releases, and I find myself stumbling forward. She pulls me into a tight hug, her arms wrapping around me with a desperation that matches my own. I cling to her, burying my face in her shoulder for a moment, breathing in the familiar scent of her.

As we hold each other, I quickly explain what happened with Cassandra—how Gannon found her, and how I couldn’t let him kill her, not when she has children waiting for her. Azalea listens, her expression thoughtful and pained, and I can see she understands.

I glance over her shoulder at Kyson, who is standing just inside Cassandra’s cell. His entire body is tense, his aura practically crackling with the force of his suppressed anger. He’s glaring at Cassandra, and I know he’s fighting the urge to end her right there. His eyes flick to Azalea, then back to Cassandra, and I can see the struggle in his jaw, the barely controlled violence in the tightness of his posture.

“You will endure the same punishment,” I hear him growl at Cassandra, and my stomach twists with anxiety. I can’t let this happen—I may not like her, but I don’t want more blood on my conscience.

“Kyson!” Azalea’s voice rings out, and I flinch at the raw edge in her tone. She steps forward, catching his attention, and I feel the tension shift. Azalea is standing up for Cassandra, just like I did, and I know she sees the same pain in her that I do.

Kyson turns his head, his expression hardening as he meets Azalea’s gaze. “Let her go; I am fine. Enough blood has been spilled. Leave it be,” Azalea pleads, and I can hear the determination in her voice. Kyson’s eyes flicker with something unreadable before he growls, his hands clenching at his sides.

He glares at Cassandra one last time before bending down to grab the chain that’s wrapped around her ankle. My breath catches when he yanks it hard, tearing it clean off the wall with a growl. Cassandra shrieks in terror, her voice echoing through the dim cellar, and my heart stutters in my chest. For a moment, I think he’s going to use the chain on her, the way he looks at it with such cold fury. But then he drops it with a metallic clang, reaching out instead to grab her face.

“You come anywhere near my mate or Abbie, or I hear even a whisper of their names coming from you, I will have my guard hunt you down and string you up. Then I’ll make your boys watch as I kill you for it. Understood?” His voice is low and deadly, the calmness making it even more terrifying.

Cassandra nods, her body trembling like a leaf, and he releases her roughly. I can feel the wave of his aura as it crashes over her, like he’s wrapping a noose around her throat with nothing but his will. She chokes on a breath, gasping for air, as he issues his final command. “You will come nowhere near Azalea or Abbie. You will never speak or utter their names again,” he says, each word like a knife cutting through the air.

He shoves her away before turning to the guards, his gaze locking onto Dustin. “Dustin, run her back to her pack and get back here to help Liam and Gannon,” he orders. Dustin steps into the cell, grabbing Cassandra’s arm and dragging her out.

Something tugs at me, and I hurry over to the small card table by the wall, grabbing some sandwiches and a bottle of water. Without thinking, I run after them and thrust the food into Cassandra’s hands. She stares at me, stunned, and I know she’s feeling the weight of Kyson’s command keeping her from coming closer. But for this moment, I don’t care.

“Thank you,” she whispers, her voice breaking as she stares at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. I nod stiffly and step back, watching as Dustin hauls her away. I wander back toward Azalea, my mind heavy with uncertainty.

“That didn’t feel right,” Gannon mutters, his gaze still fixed on the place where Cassandra disappeared.

“It wouldn’t have been right to punish her either,” I tell him, my voice barely a murmur. My legs feel weak, and I grimace as I shift my weight, the pain in my back flaring up again. I wish I could be stronger, for Gannon’s sake and for mine.

Azalea moves toward me, and I try to take a step closer to her, but the remnants of her command keep me from closing the gap. I groan in frustration, hating the distance it forces between us. She reaches out, taking my hands in hers, and I feel some of the tension ease.

“I wish you could come with me. I don’t want to go back there by myself,” she tells me, her voice filled with a sadness that matches my own.

I give her a small, strained smile, shaking my head. “And play this tug of war? I can’t move to you, only you can come to me—that would be an issue. But it’s okay. I don’t think I could go back there, anyway. I never want to see that place again.” My voice trembles, and I know she understands. We’ve both been haunted by that place, but she’s braver than me, ready to face it head-on.

Kyson is already moving again, speaking to Trey about cameras and security, but I hardly hear them. All I can think about is how much I wish things were different. How much I wish that somehow, we could all just escape these chains that keep pulling us back to the past.