Chapter 160

[Third-Person’s POV]

To say Alexander was shocked was a complete understatement.

He had a hard enough time trying to wrap his mind around Evelyn wearing his mask piece. It became instantly clear that this had been the reason why she had called for Oliver before. Were the scars truly that horrible that she saw fit to hide away?

It still caused his heart to ache in his chest, knowing that she felt as though she couldn’t confide in him this way. But what was even more upsetting was bearing witness to such a heartbreaking and terrifying side to Evelyn he never knew existed.

She’d reached a new level of her own anger. Untapped rage.

It was raw. Unyielding. Captivating. Lethal.

It was something he had only seen a small handful of times. But, even so, it was never anything like this. Evelyn came into that drawing room murderous—something he should have easily anticipated but hadn’t. Mainly because in his eyes, his Evelyn could never harm a fly much less another person...

Although, he was fairly certain that she’d meant every word she told Michael when he was still held up in the cells. She’d made it crystal clear that if anything were to happen to Edward she had promised to kill him.

And he knew she meant every word of that promise. Alexander just hoped that such a day would never happen.

Of course, the moment he heard Evelyn’s voice break through the tension-filled air that something wasn’t right. Her tone was hollow and sharp; her movements were swiftly calculated. Alexander had already been nervous over the idea of having Samantha and Evelyn in the same room as one another. The last thing he wanted was to trigger her and send her into an emotional spiral.

Too late for that.

Before anyone knew what to do, Evelyn had Samantha by the neck and backed her up into the wall. Neither he nor anyone else knew how to react. His heart slammed within his chest as he watched the chaos unfold.

Samantha was fighting actively to keep the air in her lungs while Evelyn kept her hold firm. And as if things couldn’t get any more shocking, Evelyn had gone ahead and taken things a step further. She fearlessly, and without a single ounce of hesitation, smashed the glass frame above her and Samatha’s heads.

Alexander snarled at her careless behavior toward her own well-being. It wasn’t as though he cared about the frame—that could be easily replaced. No, he was more frantic about the possible chance that she ended up hurting herself.

For Christ’s sake, she just got over healing from her last horrible set of injuries!

As he watched her take one of the large shards of glass in her hands, he knew right then what her intentions were.

“Tell us where Isabella and Fiona are. Or I’m going to carve the word ‘ugly’ into your face,” she’d said.

Alexander found himself able to move. He headed straight for Evelyn and snagged a hold of her wrist before she could keep good on her promise.

When Evelyn glanced over her shoulder to glare back at him, Alexander felt as if he were seeing another person. Her eyes were so desolate that there was hardly any color to them at all. Just darkness from her pupils being overly dilated.

The situation had fallen completely into his hands. If he didn’t find some way to defuse it, it was going to end up getting exceedingly ugly.

Needless to say, he had little to no care about Samantha’s well-being. Only Evelyn’s. This feeling she was experiencing wasn’t going to last. At some point, all the anger was going to burn out and she would be left to deal with the emotional repercussions.

Would she be able to live with herself, knowing that she had physically hurt someone? Deep down, he knew that Evelyn wasn't naturally a vicious or violent person. She was in such a delicate state of mind, the last thing she needed was to live with this sort of regret as well.

I can’t have her hating herself even more. Even if Samantha is deserving of such consequences.

“Doing this to Samantha isn’t going to change anything,” he said calmly. “This isn’t who you are—”

Evelyn’s lips pulled back in a sneer. “Maybe you don’t know who I am,” she bit out.

Her words felt like taking a slap to the face. He knew he couldn’t relate to her pain. Not really. He’d been living behind a mask under false pretenses whereas she was wearing it to bear through the ongoing nightmares.

It pained Alexander to no end, knowing that he wasn’t able to take the pain from her, much less be able to shoulder some of it.

The two of them were locked in their own battle of wills. He refused to let go of her wrist while Evelyn refused to let go of Samantha.

The silence which had fallen over the room was deafening. It wasn’t until Liam spoke out that some of the tension finally broke.

“Isabella has been staying with us,” he admitted.

Samantha gasped and sputtered, likely trying to tell her foolish husband to keep his mouth shut. But no one paid any attention. They all turned their heads toward him.

“I didn’t think anything of it at first, but perhaps I should have,” Liam explained shamefully.

Alexander raised a brow. “Did she not say anything to you that made you feel like something wasn’t right?”

Liam could only shrug. “It wasn’t as though Isabella had ever come to visit the pack before, so it didn’t make much sense why all of a sudden she’d become so insistent on wanting to visit now. She claimed that she wasn’t used to living on her own since Leonard left on some business trip. She claimed that she left behind a note for him, letting him know that she would be staying with us for a little while. Honestly, the whole situation never really sat well with me, but who was I to complain? Samantha has proven herself to be an utterly useless Luna and I was desperate for the help.”

“What exactly is Isabella helping you with?” Evelyn questioned tightly.

Alexander noticed the way Liam had actively avoided her gaze.

“She’s helping me rebuild the pack’s inner structure.”

Liam’s answer made Evelyn scoff, raising yet another red flag in his mind. However, it was enough to make Evelyn lower her hand that held the glass shard.

“What about Fiona? Has there been any word of her?” Alexander inquired.

“That, unfortunately, I don’t know,” he answered.

There was a great deal of tension and excess energy flying through Evelyn’s body. But she relinquished her hold on the glass and let it fall to the floor. By doing so, Alexander finally felt comfortable to release his own death grip on her hand.

They all watched as Evelyn pulled back from Samantha’s neck, finding a circular bruise above her collarbone. Samantha gasped and choked on the much-needed air that was finally able to come in. Evelyn glared at her Stepsister in hatred.

Before anyone could properly react, she curled her hand into a tight fist and swung her arm back, aiming to hit Samantha directly in the face. The grueling sound of a bone snapping echoed off the walls as her Stepsister flailed backward.

A stream of blood covered both her hands and face. “You bitch! You broke my nose,” she cried out.

“You deserve far worse than that,” Evelyn said coldly.