Mated To The Crippled Alpha-Chapter 247: She Talks

"Dad, I’ve served this pack for years!" Vicky cried, her voice shaking. "How can you treat me like this?"

"Served?" Jeffrey let out a hard laugh, leaning on his cane like it was the only thing stopping him from tearing the room apart. "Do you know how much my son has spent keeping you comfortable? With that kind of money, I could have fed and housed a hundred loyal hands and never blinked."

He stepped closer, his scent turning sharp, warning. "Everything you’ve done has been for a bond mark and a title, hasn’t it? You didn’t want family. You wanted a claim."

Jeffrey’s eyes went cold. "A woman who schemes the way you do will never truly belong to the Hales."

I had to admit it—Jeffrey had been right from the start. He’d seen through Vicky long before anyone else did, and he’d fought their mating for years. Looking at her now, shaking under the weight of his stare, I understood something clearly.

If Jeffrey had ever softened, the Hales would have ended up like the Morrigans. Broken. Buried. Cursed from the inside out.

"You’ve stayed around us for a long time," Jeffrey said, voice steady as stone. "So I’ll give you one last chance. Speak now, and I might show mercy. But once the pain starts, regret won’t save you."

Vicky lifted her chin with stubborn pride. "I have nothing to say."

Jeffrey didn’t blink. "Fine. Bring the pliers."

The room went still.

"We’ll start with your front teeth," he said calmly. "One by one. If you keep quiet, we move to fingernails. Then hair. Then skin. I have all night, and I’m not in a hurry."

I swallowed.

Now I knew exactly where Lewis got that brutal patience from.

I took a step forward, letting my voice turn soft and cutting at the same time. "Vicky, why are you doing this? Adam has treated you well for years. His son died under strange circumstances and you act like it’s nothing. Do you feel nothing for him?"

I felt Lewis’s gaze slide to me, like he knew what I was doing.

And yes—I was stirring the pot.

Sometimes you don’t fight poison with kindness. You fight it with a sharper blade.

Vicky’s eyes burned when she looked at me. "Riley, it’s your fault I’m in this mess! You—"

Before she could finish whatever curse she was about to throw, Theo slapped her so hard her head snapped to the side.

The sound cracked through the room.

Theo didn’t hold back. Ever. When he moved, it was quick, clean, and final—like the kind of discipline you learn growing up under strict pack rules.

Lewis, beside me, was quiet. Too quiet.

With me, he was gentle, almost too careful, like he was afraid his strength would bruise my heart. But when he turned that same cold stare on Vicky, it felt like the temperature dropped.

"Vicky," Lewis said, voice low, "just because I speak to you politely does not mean you’re safe."

His eyes flicked toward Theo. "Do what needs to be done."

"Understood," Theo answered.

He stepped in with the pliers.

Vicky tried to jerk away, but the guards held her still. Theo gripped one of her front teeth and yanked.

Blood sprayed.

Vicky screamed, clutching her mouth.

Lewis covered my eyes with his palm, like I was something fragile. "Don’t look," he murmured. "It’s disgusting."

I almost laughed through the tension.

He could order violence without blinking, but couldn’t stand me seeing it.

Theo didn’t pause. In seconds, he pulled out two more teeth. Vicky’s sobs turned wet and broken, her fingers slick with blood as it ran down her wrist.

Lewis’s voice sharpened. "Are you going to speak, or not?"

Vicky turned to Adam, eyes wide with panic. "Honey... you’re really going to stand there and let them do this to me?"

Adam stared at her for a long moment. No rush. No softness.

Then he spoke, calm but heavy. "Vicky... Riley is right. I gave you kindness. I gave you protection. Now my son is dead, and you’re still hiding things. Do you truly care about me at all?"

His words landed like a weight on her chest.

"I can’t protect you in this," Adam continued. "And I won’t. My son didn’t get peace in life, and he doesn’t deserve dishonor in death. Even if he never called me father, I will still seek justice. If you know anything, speak now."

That was the final crack.

Vicky stopped fighting. Tears slid down her cheeks quietly, mixing with the blood on her lips.

"Fine," she whispered. "It’s gone too far. I’ll talk."

Jeffrey’s cane tapped once against the floor. "Don’t play games. If you lie even once, you’ll beg for a pain we won’t give you." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Vicky lowered her gaze to her manicured nails, breathing unevenly. For a second, she looked like someone who had finally run out of hiding places.

Then she spoke.

"Back then... I left carrying a child," she said, voice thin. "I gave birth alone. But I couldn’t protect her. Those years were hell."

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.

"Then one day, a girl the same age as my child appeared in front of me. That girl was Camilla."

"At first, I treated her like my own," Vicky continued. "But something was off. Her past didn’t add up. She disappeared often."

She glanced toward the window like she could see the memory there.

"One night I followed her. I saw her meeting strangers. I heard screaming behind a door... and I saw blood seeping out from under it. I realized it wasn’t normal, not human-normal, not even pack-normal. I panicked."

Adam’s voice stayed steady. "Who were they?"

"A group," Vicky said, lips trembling. "Not a pack. Not police. Not anything official. Just... people who moved in shadows."

She shuddered. "I fainted from fear."

"And then?" Lewis asked.

"I woke up," Vicky said, "and Camilla was there. And someone else. A masked person. They asked me if I wanted to make a deal."

My stomach tightened. "A man or a woman?"

"I couldn’t tell," Vicky admitted. "The mask hid everything. The voice was altered. The scent... covered."

She took a shaky breath. "The deal was simple. I had to raise Camilla. And I had to get myself bonded into the Hales."

Jeffrey’s eyes narrowed. "And you agreed."

"I didn’t have a choice," she whispered. "There were no windows. No exit. I knew if I refused, I wouldn’t leave alive."

Her hands trembled. "But I thought it was impossible. Jeffrey never accepted me. How could they promise I’d get in?"

She swallowed again, tears falling faster now.

"Less than six months later," she said, "Adam’s wife died in a car crash."

The room went dead silent.

Vicky’s voice grew quieter, like she was ashamed to say it out loud. "With her gone, the barriers fell. I crossed paths with Adam on purpose. He was grieving. He was vulnerable. Old feelings came back. And... you all know the rest."

I held my breath. "After you entered the Hales, what did they want from you?"

"They wanted me to marry Adam," Vicky said quickly. "But it took years. Jeffrey never approved, and Adam never gave me the bond mark officially. They also wanted me involved in the pack’s business, but I couldn’t understand the reports. No matter how they tried to teach me, I couldn’t keep up."

For the first time, I almost believed her stupidity was real.

I stepped closer, keeping my voice even. "That’s not all. What about Silas? What about Juilan? How did they switch places? And that masked person—who are they?"

Vicky’s eyes flicked up, and something like fear flashed through them.

Every time we met," she whispered, "the masked person wore a disguise. Always covered. Always changing. And I..."