Bye, My Ruthless Alpha
Chapter 44: Just Kill Me

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Just Kill Me

Tori’s POV

The days seemed to pass in a blur after I got the confirmation from Kas about Cayden’s secret plan.

And as much as I wanted to lay here day after day and cry my eyes out, I couldn’t.

Kas and I had talked things over. Even though she didn’t tell me as much, I knew she had confronted Jace, because Jace stopped coming to check on me, and if we happened to be in the same room, he wouldn’t look me in the eye anymore.

“Tori?” Caroline’s voice intoned softly as she walked into my room. “I was coming to see if you wanted to go down for lunch.”

Forcing a smile on my face, I turned to her.

I knew very well that Cayden didn’t want me to leave my room. And ever since I had arrived at the Drogomor pack, I had made sure to comply with everything he asked me to. But, at this moment, I didn’t care.

“That sounds wonderful,” I replied, faking cheerfulness and following her out of the suite.

If I was going to die, then I was going to do it on my own terms, and live the rest of my life the way I wanted to.

I was grateful that I still could keep my friendships with Kas and Caroline, but I wasn’t going to allow Cayden to make me feel like less than I was anymore.

Walking down the halls, I saw Jace approaching us from the opposite direction. His eyes landed on us, and he turned to me.

“Hey, um...what are you doing?”

“She is–” Caroline started, before I cut her off.

“I’m going to eat lunch with my friends. Is there a problem with that?” I quickly replied, meeting his gaze.

Jace seemed surprised by my outburst, his mouth opening and closing. He looked at Caroline, silently asking for help, but she only shrugged innocently.

“You’re not supposed to leave your room...” he replied in a voice I could barely hear.

“Why, because Cayden said so? I’m pregnant, Jace. I want food and company. Both of which are in the restaurant downstairs.”

I didn’t wait to hear Jace’s reply. Instead, I looped my arm through Caroline’s and started walking off with her.

She probably felt bad for Jace, so she patted him on the shoulder as if she was comforting him while we walked past. However, her gesture just seemed to make him even more tense.

After we’d gotten a few more steps away from him, Caroline rounded on me, surprised. “What the h*ll was that?”

Sighing, I turned to her, letting a small smile cross my lips.

“As you’ve told me before, I should come out of my shell a little.”

Caroline froze, then burst into laughter as we continued walking.

“I knew I would teach you something useful eventually. I like it. A new Tori. It suits you.”

I wasn’t too confident that it did. In fact, I hated acting that way toward Jace. I knew that he’d tried to stand by my side that night, and he was duty-bound to obey Cayden. But still, the fact he’d known for so long...hurt.

As I walked into the restaurant, I refused to let anyone intimidate me. I held my head high and ignored the whispers of the people around me. I wouldn’t even let Sophia on the far side of the room stop me from enjoying my lunch with Caroline and Kas.

“Tori?” Kas said in shock as I took my seat across from her at the table.

“Good afternoon, Kas. Caroline invited me... I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay. I just didn’t think Cayden would let you leave the room.”

Caroline chuckled, shaking her head.

Kas turned to her, confused. “What?”

“We ran into Jace in the hallway, and, in not so many words, Tori basically said ‘f*ck Cayden’.”

I choked on my water.

“I didn’t think I was that bad.”

Kas turned back to me, giving me a dubious look.

I smiled. “I’m living how I want to, remember?” I raised a brow in question.

“Of course, if that’s what you want,” she replied simply. “Now, shall we have appetizers?”

I was thankful that Kas was quick to change the subject. The last thing I wanted was to continue having the conversation on what I was and wasn’t supposed to do.

I had been quiet and timid my entire life, always scared of everyone around me.

For once, I wanted to do something for myself.

Plus, what was Cayden going to do about it? I was pregnant with his child.

***

Jace’s POV

I never expected Tori to speak to me in the way that she had.

I tried not to act indifferent toward her, but it was hard when I couldn’t even look her in the eye without feeling the guilt of what Cayden was planning.

I had betrayed her, and she knew.

As I walked out of my room, carrying the file that Cayden wanted, I watched him exit Tori’s room with panic in his eyes.

“Alpha, are you okay?”

“Tori’s missing. Send the guards,” he ordered.

I quickly shook my head. “She isn’t missing.”

He turned toward me with a dark glare. “Where the hell is she then?” he roared as if the world was ending and he needed someone to lash out at with all of his anger.

Taking a deep breath, I spoke carefully and slowly so that I sounded calm. “I just passed her and Caroline in the hall. They were meeting Kas in the restaurant for lunch.”

“YOU let her go?” He emphasized the word, and his fists clenched as if he wanted to hit me. “She was ordered to stay in her room, for her safety!”

I saw people down the hallway turning to look our way. I walked over to Tori’s room, opened the door, and gestured for him to finish the conversation in private.

When we were both inside, I shut the door behind me and turned to face him.

“What do you want me to do, Cayden? She’s pregnant. I can’t manhandle her. And she was pretty adamant that she was going, even going as far to say, in not so many words ‘screw you, I’m going’.”

“Excuse me?” Cayden replied as if he hadn’t heard correctly.

I sighed. “Cayden...she has guards with her. I made sure two followed her down the stairs after I saw her with Caroline. I’m not that stupid. But, honestly, if you plan on killing her, what harm will it do to let her have some type of freedom?”

“She is f*cking pregnant, Jace!”

“Yes, sure, but she isn’t disabled.” I was trying to calm him down–something I hadn’t needed to do since we were boys.

He just stood there with anger in his eyes. I looked back at him, waiting for his reply.

“She hasn’t been willing to see or talk to me much for days, and now she thinks she can do whatever she wants! What’s going on?” he finally spoke.

I decided not to answer his question directly. “Cayden, please...just let her have this one thing. She’s been locked inside for almost a month now. She just wants something normal. I will make sure she’s taken care of, and Kas mindlinked me and told me that she is coming straight back here after lunch.”

There was a moment of silence.

Then a knock at the door drew both of our attention.

“Come in,” I said, opening the door.

It was Mary with a full load of snacks in her arms.

“Alpha, Beta!” Mary did not expect to see us, and she bowed nervously. “Miss Tori asked me to stock the fridge in the room.”

Fruit, yogurt, candy and ice cream. Okay, at least half of them were on the recommended list.

Cayden’s expression grew even darker.

“Go put them down,” I directed, and Mary escaped as fast as she could from us to open the fridge.

“Move,” Cayden growled, pushing past me and walking out of the room.

I followed him immediately, thanking the Moon Goddess that Tori wasn’t here at the moment. I wouldn’t want to witness him unleash his frustration on a pregnant lady.

Unfortunately, I soon learned I’d spoken too soon.

“Miss Tori...please, wait,” the voice of one of the guards echoed down the hall.

Oh, great, just f*cking kill me.