GIVEN TO THE TWIN ALPHA KINGS - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Delaney
Silence. The kind that stretched until one lost the sense of time enveloped us. I held my breath as my words hung in the air, waiting for Kai and Ronan's reaction. Would they lock me up or exile me from the kingdom? I waited for their insults, blood rushing into my ears. Kai's shoulders were rigid while Ronan's eyes roamed over my body, probably wondering what the hell I was.
"You are not joking." Kai was the one who broke the silence, his voice monotonous.
I nodded, not trusting my voice at that moment. My cheeks were itching from the streams of tears on the skin, but I didn't have the strength to lift up my trembling hands and wipe them.
"How is that even possible?" Ronan's voice echoed in the air, sharp, cutting through like a sword.
"Your blood is of pure alpha heritage," Kai added, an edge in his voice.
"Don't you think I know that?" I snapped, my stomach churning.
Kai cleared his throat. "How long have you known?"
"What do you think? Since I turned 18, four years ago," I responded, wrapping my arms around myself.
"And Thorne, does he know?" Ronan pressed.
"Yes, my father knows, and Maribel too." With every word that left my mouth, I felt exposed. I wanted to hide my face and never show it. I wished my dad was there to hug me, to tell me that everything was going to be alright. But I had to suck it up and deal with whatever they would throw my way, alone.
"No wonder..." he trailed off, almost as if he had realised something.
"No wonder you were frozen as the rest shifted into their wolves," he finished, his words making me bite the inside of my cheek. It felt like I was in a court of law, facing heavy scrutiny for something I had no power over or even answers to.
"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" He turned to his brother Ronan, whose eyes widened.
"Yes, it wasn't a coincidence; the death of Lucy was her defence mechanism," Ronan spat. I opened my mouth to speak, but every word jammed in my throat. I wasn't ready for the same accusation to be shoved down my throat again.
"She cast a spell on Lucy's wolf to protect her secret," Kai agreed, the tone of his voice clipped. They talked about me as if I wasn't there, every word they spoke punching me straight in my chest. With a trembling hand I covered my open mouth, shaking my head in slow moves.
"I di..." I tried speaking, but only a strangled cry left my mouth.
"You lashed out when we accused you of the crime because you knew we were right. The fear of us finding out you have no wolf pushed you to kill, and create a distraction from you," Ronan spluttered the words, stepping away from me.
"Do you know what we do to murderers?" Kai asked, standing close to me. I stood in place as he bent over until his face was on the same level as mine.
"We lock them up, torture them until we are satisfied, and then hang them in the capitals' town square," he whispered, eliciting a whimper from me. The mere thought of being killed because of something I didn't do had my head pounding, almost exploding.
"Call Rick, tell him to prepare one of the SUVs. We are taking her to the dungeons in town." I watched as Ronan nodded to Kai and fished out his phone, scrolled, then placed it on his ear, his gaze filled with so much disdain as he looked at me.
"Pl-ease," I begged, the lump in my throat growing.
"I didn't ki-ll Lucy," I cried as each man held me by my forearms and dragged me outside, not bothering to listen to me. Was it my fate to die in the capital?
I was pushed in the backseat, positioned between them as Rick drove away. Every attempt to speak my innocence was futile, and all I could do was cry. I don't know how long it took for us to get to the town's capital because it felt like my world was stuck in the same place. Every breath that I took sent pain spreading in my tight chest.
"Now we know why the rogues wanted you," Ronan spat as they dragged me down to the dungeons. The staircase was dark, carving down into what seemed like an underground basement, with cells on either side of the narrow hallway.
"So don't think your dad and Maribel are the only people who knew about you. The rogues must have known too. If we had known that you'd kill one of our own, we would have just left you to be mauled by the damn rogues," Ronan added as one of the guards in the dungeons opened up a cell at the furthest corner, away from other cells.
"You are a disgrace to the werewolf community. Somehow born without a wolf but granted magic," Kai stated as they threw me inside, my back coming into contact with the concrete wall. The pain that radiated was nothing compared to the emotional pain the alpha kings were subjecting me to.
"Maybe she sought dark magic when she realised she was a freak." Even as Ronan suggested, the fear of being labelled as a freak and an abomination was being actualised by the men who swore to protect me.
"My dad, he's your friend," I reminded them, hoping that the mention of him would at least do something to change their minds.
"Make sure she gets what all murderers deserve," Kai instructed the guard, ignoring my plea.
"Please don't leave me here." I pulled myself to my knees, stretching my hand at them as they stepped out of the cell. My vision began tunnelling as the silver cell door was locked.
"Goddess, plea-se," I cried out, my shoulders shaking. I couldn't believe it, not after both alpha kings touched me like I meant something to them. Maybe the rumours about them being ruthless and feared by other werewolf kingdoms were true.
Kai spoke, his voice void of any emotion. It wasn't the same voice I had listened to as he caressed my thigh the previous day. "You will be hanged tomorrow in the morning, the same time you killed Lucy."