Chapter 314: It Was Me All Along
Discover the story in "Mated To The Crippled Alpha" Chapter 314: I couldnât help it. A laugh slipped out, sharp and tired."Who in their right mind... Continue exploring!
I couldnât help it. A laugh slipped out, sharp and tired."Who in their right mind loves someone so much that theyâd peel their skin, break their bones, and reshape them into a statue?" My voice shook at the end, like my body couldnât decide if it wanted to cry or fight.
Yael didnât laugh back. He just looked at me, calm in a way that made my stomach twist.
"I know you wonât believe me," he said, steady as stone, "but Iâve known you for a long time. Iâve seen your work. All of it. Since the orphanage."
The orphanage.
Something in my head clicked so hard it felt like pain.
It wasnât our first meeting at school.
Heâd been there before one of those students who came in groups, all wearing the same uniform, all smiling like they were doing something kind for a day.
I hadnât noticed him. Not really.
I was older. Seven or eight years older, at least.
Back then, after my miscarriage, I never fully came back to myself. My body healed, but something inside me stayed thin and fragile. I spent a lot of time at the orphanage because the noise kept my mind busy. The kids didnât ask too many questions. They just wanted someone to listen.
That day, I got dizzy. The room spun. I remember reaching for the edge of a table and missing.
He caught me.
I remember his hands too young, too careful. I remember him guiding me to a chair like he was afraid Iâd break. He brought me water, stayed close, and kept talking softly, like he was trying to anchor me to the moment.
I must have fallen asleep in a rocking chair for over an hour.
When I woke up, he was still there, sitting beside me like heâd been assigned to watch over me.
I thought he was just a kid.
I thanked him and left.
But he remembered.
And now, sitting in this car with the air feeling too tight, I realized heâd been carrying that day like a secret.
I stared at him. "So was it your plan all along? To get close to me?"
Yael sighed. For a second, he almost looked guilty.
"Yes," he admitted. "At first it was. But I didnât expect to actually fall for you. Elena, youâre kind. And Julian never deserved you."
Something dark flickered in his eyes. Not rage. Not exactly.
More like hunger.
"I alone couldnât save you," he said. "The only way to keep you in this world is to make you... permanent. To turn you into the most beautiful work of art."
Cold crawled up my spine.
My instincts screamed at me to run, but my body stayed still. Like it understood something my mind was still trying to accept.
"When did you find out I came back?" I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper.
"Two days ago."
My throat tightened. "Does Theo work for you?"
"Not exactly," he said. "He was sent to protect Lewis. He doesnât know the full plan."
"Then why did he betray Carl?" I pushed, forcing the words out.
Yael didnât hesitate. "Because someone wanted you dead. Theo thought handing you to me might give you a chance to survive."
My hands went cold. "Itâs Amber, isnât it?"
"Yes."
The answer landed like a slap.
So thatâs why Amber looked at me like she wanted to erase me. The moment she realized who I was, she decided I shouldnât exist at all.
I swallowed hard. "Whatâs her relationship with Lewis?"
Yaelâs jaw tightened. He turned his face slightly away from me, like even saying her name too much tasted bitter.
"I wonât tell you the rest."
And in that silence, something else hit me.
Theo wasnât my enemy.
Not truly.
He was stuck between loyalties, and he chose a path he could live with.
Lewis had wanted Theo to rescue Whitney and take down the Blackwell brothers. At the same time, Amber who had Theo tied to her side ordered me dead.
Theo didnât want to kill me.
So he took a gamble.
He handed me to the one person in this whole nightmare who claimed he liked me.
A messed-up kind of mercy.
I looked at Yael. "Youâre not planning on killing me, are you?"
It didnât make sense. Why care for someone... feed them... then kill them like they meant nothing.
Yael shook his head. "No."
A weight shifted off my chest, just a little. Not peace. Not safety.
Just room to breathe.
Then the panic came back, sharp and urgent.
"Yael," I said quickly, "you have to help me. Send a message to Carl for me. Please. Iâm scared heâll do something drastic if he thinks Iâm gone."
Yaelâs eyes locked on mine. "Elena, do you think Iâm a saint?"
"You could try to be," I shot back, too tired to be polite. "Let me guess. Youâre not going to kill me. You havenât hurt me yet. The most likely thing is you want to keep me with you."
I lifted my hands slightly, showing I wasnât reaching for anything. "So hereâs my proposal. I wonât run. Iâll stay with you."
My mouth tasted like ash as I forced the next part out.
"But my only condition is this tell Lewis Iâm alive. Thatâs it."
Yael blinked, like he didnât expect me to offer myself up so easily. "You really want to stay with me?"
"At least itâs safer than going back to Lewis right now," I said bluntly, even though it hurt to say it.
Because if Amber wanted me dead, going home would be walking straight into her hands.
And if Lewis thought I was taken, heâd burn the whole city down trying to find me.
I needed time.
Time to understand what this organization really was. Time to find where Whitney was being held. Time to figure out why the Morrigans kept ending up at the center of blood and fire.
And maybe... just maybe... time to find a way to change the ending.
Yael didnât answer. His gaze stayed on me, but his mind felt far away, like he was already planning the next move.
Outside the window, the landscape shifted. Green vegetation. The ocean in the distance. A place that didnât match any part of the city I knew.
My stomach tightened again.
We stopped, got out, and he led me toward the water.
A speedboat waited there, rocking gently like it was impatient.
An island.
Of course it was an island.
Hidden places always sit where people canât reach easily. No neighbors. No police. No random help.
I stayed agreeable. I smiled when I had to. I kept my voice soft.
But my thoughts were a mess.
Lewis.
Has he noticed Iâm missing yet?
If he has, heâll be tearing through every door, sniffing out every lie, turning every ally into an enemy just to get to me.
By the time we reached the island, it was pitch black. The air smelled like salt and wet wood, and something old underneath it like the earth had secrets buried deep.
I couldnât hold it in anymore.
"Yael," I said, my voice shaking, "please. Just promise me this."
He didnât answer right away. He stepped closer, and his stare pressed into me like a warning.
"Have you thought about it?" he asked quietly. "That person wants you dead. If she finds out youâre still alive, donât you think sheâll come again? Harder?"
He moved closer still, until my instincts rose like a wall inside me, bristling, ready.
"Elena," he said, low and sharp, "I donât want you to die again. I need you to work with me. If you donât..."
He didnât finish.
He didnât have to.
That unfinished sentence carried teeth.
In that moment, I saw it the resemblance I didnât want to see.
He wasnât like Vito on the surface.
But the darkness?
That was the same.
The same cold control. The same sense of ownership. The same way they looked at people like they were pieces on a board.
I forced myself to nod.
For now, cooperating was survival.
He led me into a wooden cabin that looked normal from the outside. Cozy, even.
Then he opened a hidden door and guided me down narrow steps into a basement.
The air changed immediately. Colder. Drier. Heavy.
The lights flickered on.
And I froze.
The basement was full of statues.
Stone after stone after stone, lined up like a silent crowd.
Every one of them had a face.
And every face...
was mine.