Chapter 69

Harper’s POV

I don’t know how silence can hurt, but it pierces my brain and makes my entire body ache.

Lifting my hands, I hold them close to the back of my head and let my healing magic work into the cut beneath my hair. I don’t use too much of my magic because I might need it later.

I sit back and stare at the cell door. One of the guards on duty walks by, sneers at me, then continues on his way. I glare at him, too. It’s all I can do. If I get too close to the bars, they shout at me, and I’ve had enough of that for today.

The ache in my chest starts up again, pulsing in time with the mark on my shoulder. I’m not sure why it’s acting up now, but I think it’s because of Lucas. Something about him going off on me and not believing me must be affecting the mark.

A door opening then slamming shut at the end of the hall makes me jump. I push myself impossibly closer to the wall, afraid that someone might’ve come to torture me, but nothing happens.

Several minutes go by, and I let out the breath I was holding when I realize no one is coming for me just yet. I’m not sure exactly how long it has been since they locked me in here, but in that whole time, Logan hasn’t made a sound.

The guards on duty ignore everything I say, especially when I tell them that I’m innocent. One of them even laughed at me, which only made me feel more confused and scared.

“I want to talk to Alpha Lucas!” I call out again. “Someone needs to listen to me!”

I know they won’t, but I can’t just sit here and wait for them to sentence me for something I didn’t do. If they won’t listen, then I’ll bug the shit out of them until they get so annoyed that they have to come for me.

A sound from somewhere off to my left, something like metal scraping against concrete, reaches my ears. Logan.

“I know you can hear me, Logan!” I shout, crawling to the left wall of my cell and smacking the cement wall. “Tell me what you did! I want to hear it from you, you bastard!”

He got me into this mess, and I still don’t fully understand it. Lucas said he was trafficking wolf souls, but where did he get them? He doesn’t have the rank and power to take wolf souls. Only Alphas and Betas have that power.

“Logan!” I scream, “At least tell them the truth that I wasn’t helping you! Or tell me you didn’t actually do this!”

Could it be that Logan is innocent too? Is that possible?

When he doesn’t answer again, anger fills me. Even if Logan really did do all the things Lucas said, he could at least tell them that I’m innocent.

“You’re a coward, Logan. Do you know that?” I snap, curling my hands into fists. “What do you stand to gain by dragging me into all of this? Huh? Tell me!”

Again, I’m greeted by silence, and I just burst. I scream out my frustration, letting all the pain, anger, fear, and helplessness seep into the cry. Tears cloud my vision as my throat burns, but I don’t stop.

I scream bloody murder, hoping someone upstairs will hear and come down. I scream so loud and so long that my throat feels like it’s tearing.

When I can’t scream any longer, I gasp for air and cough. Blood lightly splatters across my palm, staining it red. I crawl forward, and when I reach the front of my cell, grab onto the bars, and pull myself up to look out. The guards are standing two cells down with their hands over their ears.

Good. I hope I made their ears bleed.

“This isn’t right!” I shout, but my throat burns with the strain, and my words come out kind of raspy. Not wanting to give in, I touch my throat and let my magic heal me.

This time when I scream, I scream Lucas’s name. I scream until my throat is ripped raw again, healing it over and over again. I will get my point across. I won’t let them shove me down here and think that they’re done with things.

If Lucas would just agree to meet me, listen to what I have to say, or even show me the evidence he has, I could change his mind. I don’t believe, despite what happened upstairs, that Lucas is an impulsive and bad man. If he would just listen, he would know I’m innocent.

For one, I had never met Logan before coming back to the pack. I also didn’t know about wolf souls becoming physical wolves until Lucas told me about it. Shouldn’t he remember that?

Is he so blinded by anger that he forgot, or does he just not believe me?

Does he think that someone like me, someone who had their wolf ripped from them, could do the same thing to others?

I would never. The pain I felt that day was more excruciating than anything I’ve ever felt or probably will ever feel again. And Lucas knows that, so I don’t know why he’s treating me like this. I thought he was a better person than what he showed me today.

Then again, I must be a bad judge of character because I didn’t realize Logan was so evil. I don’t know what to think about the fact that he’s been using positions to create fake mate bonds, either.

Is that what is between us? Is that why it faded so quickly?

Coughing, I lean back against the wall and lift my hand to my throat to heal it again. So much has happened, and I don’t know how to process everything. It’s too much to think about when you don’t have all the information.

None of this makes sense.

Letting my head fall back, I stare up at the small window at the top of my cell. Golden sunlight pours through it, and my stomach growls, telling me it’s probably close to dinner time. If I’m right, I’ve been locked up here for three or four hours.

“Logan, I swear to the Goddess, if you don’t tell me what is happening, I’ll personally see to it that you are punished painfully before we both die for whatever crimes you accused me of!”

“Shut up, Harper,” he rasps.

“Excuse me?!” I glare at the wall separating us. If it wasn’t here, I’d wring his neck.

“You heard me.”

“I will not shut up. You damn well know I didn’t do any of these things, so you need to tell Lucas that you lied, you bastard!”

He sighs, only igniting my anger again. These bland, simple responses make it seem like he thinks this isn’t an issue.

“You should just accept it, Harper.”

“Hell no! I’m innocent!”

He sighs again and doesn’t respond.

A warrior stops in front of my cell with a tray of food, and I jump up, “I need to talk to Lucas! I shouldn’t be in here!”

The warriors drop the food off before leaving without acknowledging my pleas.

“They won’t listen to you now. We’ve been branded as traitors and will probably be executed because of it.”

“Executed!? This is your fault! I haven’t done anything?!” I scream. “Do you hear me, Lucas?! I didn’t do anything!” I scream as loud as I can, hoping he’ll hear and at least think twice about everything.

If not, then I hope that the guilt will eat at his insides until he dies.