Bonds

Chapter 132 -Maya's POV- The cruel smile on Ivan's face widened, "The boy wasn't a fool," he said, his voice dripping with a twisted satisfaction. "He knew he wouldn't be able to take Damon Thorne on in a straight fight. But he also knew, no matter what happened, he was going to make him feel his pain. Make everyone who meant anything to him know what it felt like to hurt then something profound happened. He discovered the gof chess." A memory flickered through my mind, a sharp image of us playing chess together on a rainy afternoon. The way his brow furrowed in concentration, the way he moved the pieces with a calculated precision that belied his usual carefree demeanor. The truth had been there, right in front of me, but I'd been so caught up in a fairytale that I'd chosen not to see it.

"He becobsessed with it," Ivan continued, his voice a low murmur. "Moving the pieces around from a position of power, controlling the board. And then the plan started to take shape. Damon Thorne took his parents away from him, leaving him to drown in a sea of pain. So Damon Thorne would too. And then his focus shifted to Alex Thorne - his son. Blood for blood." The pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place, a horrifying picture emerging from the chaos.

"As the years passed, he started moving the pieces. Setting the stage for the final act. And then, when you met Alex, the boy who had beca man, knew the tto strike had come. So," he shot a glance at Adrian, “he made those photos and sent them to him." My gaze darted to Adrian, searching for a flicker of remorse, a hint of humanity in his cold stare. But there was nothing. Just a detached amusement, as if he were watching a particularly gruesplay unfold.

"Don't look at him," Ivan scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. "Adrian already made peace with whatever role he played in this twisted game. Now he's just here to see Alex suffer the way he made him suffer." He threw his head back and let out a harsh laugh that echoed in the cavernous room. "Isn't it all fascinating? A real-life gof vengeance, played out over years." I stared at him, a hollow numbness settling over me. My body ached from the ropes that bound me, but the emotional pain was far worse.

It was crushing, suffocating.

How could I have been so blind? Ivan's laughter subsided, replaced by a dark smile. "Anyway," he drawled, "he was going to ruin Alex's life. How dare the man be happy when his father had taken away the man's happiness. As it turned out, Alex did most of the work himself by throwing you out. By doing that, he made himself utterly miserable. But that wasn't enough. The man discovered something else a few years later - Alex had children. Another line carrying the blood of a monster flowing through them." My breath hitched in my throat, a strangled gasp escaping my lips. The room seemed to tilt on its axis, the "Ivan, I swear on the moon goddess if you've done anything to my children-" walls threatening to cave in on me.

He cutoff with a roll of his eyes, dismissing my threat with a sneer. "Oh, shut up with your empty threats, Amaya. You're in no position to make any demands." He leaned closer, his breath hot and fetid against my ear. "Don't worry about yourself. My children are perfectly fine." "They're not yours!" I roared, my voice hoarse with fury. I thrashed against the ropes that bound me, the desperate need to protect my children fueling my struggle.

He rolled his eyes again, as if my words were nothing more than an annoying fly buzzing around his head. "Not another word from you," he snapped. "Where was I? Ah yes, when the man found out about the children, he wanted to bring them here, end their lives in front of Alex, and then finish Alex off in front of his father. He wanted Damon Thorne to finally feel the pain he'd inflicted." He paused, his eyes gleaming th a twisted amusement. "But what fun would that be?" "Do you want to know what he did instead?" His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, his eyes sparkling with a manic delight. "He went to your father and proposed a marriage that would lead to a merger of the packs. Then he'd have control of two packs." Two. Two packs. The number echoed in my mind, a drumbeat against the rising tide of terror. My father. The way the merger felt rushed, preordained. It hadn't been about strengthening the pack, it had been about giving Ivan power. Power he could use to destroy Alex, to fulfill his twisted vendetta.

The words slammed intolike a physical blow and more puzzles fell into place, "The video... the messages... the man Ivy saw... that was all you?" I stammered, my voice cracking with every revelation.

A cruel smirk played on Ivan's lips. "You are finally using your brain. This would have been a proud moment for us under different circumstances," he mocked, his voice dripping with a twisted satisfaction.

"Was your company really failing?" I blurted out, another question tumbling out of my desperate need to understand.

1/2 E Cuna He cast a sideways glance at Miranda, who stood across from me, a flicker of annoyance crossing his features. "My darling sister here," he began, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "was supposed to be my secret weapon, my inside woman in Alex's life." He narrowed his eyes at her, his gaze heavy with disappointment. "Unfortunately, she turned out to be bad at her job. So, I needed another way in, a way to get inside his head, to exploit his weaknesses." "So I fueled his ego by begging for his help, painting myself as a damsel in distress. He, too busy basking in his own self-importance, never noticed that by intertwining himself with my company, he was handinga roadmap to his entire operation - his thought processes, his business strategies, the key to dismantling his empire from the inside out." He paused, his eyes gleaming with a twisted pride. "That, dear Amaya, is still a work in progress." There was a beat of silence between us, we both stared at each,with disbelief and pain and him with gleaming satisfaction, "Anything else you'd like to know, Amaya?" "You're doing all this because of what Alex's father did to you," My voice trembled with a mix of anger and despair. "Your problem is with him, with his family. Why are you draggingand my innocent children into this?" He scoffed, a harsh, dismissive sound. “Innocent? You were already wrapped up in this mess the moment you were predestined to be his mate. And don't play coy with me, Amaya. I know everything - every stolen glance, every whispered secret. Every single moment you spent with him, a betrayal of the trust you thought I placed in you." He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a low hiss. "I was truly hoping for a showdown, a bloody one at that. Alex and your father locked in a fight to the death. It would have broughtsuch sweet satisfaction.”

His words were a punch to the gut, a stark reminder of the monster I'd fallen for. But even as despm threatened to consme, a spark of defiance ignited within me. "You're wrong, Ivan. My relationship with Alex, whatever it was, isn't the cause of your twisted vendetta."

"You've always been at the center of it all, Alex's one true weakness." He threw his head back and let out a chilling laugh, a sound devoid of any warmth or humor, "Andyour@gbing to die knowing that your stupidity, your insatiable need for attention, led you to this very moment. Knowing that your children are in my hands, that I can do whatever I please with them. And when I break the news to Alex, just before I finish him and his monster of a father, you will all feel the pain I've endured! You will all know my wrath!"

With a final, menacing glare, he straightened up and turned to walk away. Panic surged through me, a primal fear for my children clawing at my throat. "Ivan, stop!" I screamed, "They've done nothing to you! Please, let them go!" I thrashed against the ropes that boundbut the struggle was futile. My gaze darted to Miranda, noticing the gun gleaming in her hand. Ivan leaned in, a twisted tenderness in his eyes as he kissed her forehead.

"You know what to do, darling," he murm mured. Her voice, devoid of emotion, echoed in the tense silence. "Two silver bullets. One in that heart that beats for him. One in her naive little head." as Ivan A shiver wracked my body to me, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "Goodbye, Amaya." With Adrian, he disappeared into the, ows leavingalone with Miranda and the chilling weight of his final words.

X My heart hammered against my ribs, a desperate plea for escape. But the only sound was the soft click of the gun being cocked. Tears streamed down my face as a horrifying truth settled in my gut: I would never see my children again and I was going to die.