Sold to Bastard Alpha after My Divorce!-Chapter 181

Rebecca’s POV

My throat was on fire.

Every breath felt like swallowing glass. My body ached everywhere. The kind of deep, bone-level pain that came from collapsing in the desert and getting dragged across rocks.

But none of that mattered right now.

Because I was staring at a ghost.

Magnus Blood Crown stood on that raised platform. Looking down at me with those terrifying red-gold eyes. The same eyes his son had. The same predator’s gaze.

But Magnus’s eyes held something Kael’s never did.

Pure, absolute madness.

"You—" The word came out as a croak. My voice was wrecked. "You... you..."

I couldn’t finish the sentence.

Couldn’t make my brain process what I was seeing.

Magnus Blood Crown was supposed to be dead. Or at least—gone. Disappeared. Kael had defeated him. Driven him out of the territory. Everyone said he’d probably died in exile.

Everyone was wrong.

He laughed.

The sound echoed through the stone chamber. Deep. Rich. Completely insane.

"Cat got your tongue, little Rebecca?" He descended the steps slowly. Each footfall deliberate. Measured. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

"I... I thought you were..." I swallowed hard. Tasted blood. "Dead."

"Dead?" He reached the bottom step. Stopped just a few feet away. "Oh, my dear girl. I’m very much alive."

He gestured around the cavern. At the dozens of rogues watching us. At the torches casting flickering shadows across stone walls.

"More alive than I’ve been in years, actually."

My mind was racing. Trying to understand. Trying to piece together how this was possible.

"But Kael—"

"Kael." Magnus spat the name like it tasted bad. "That ungrateful whelp thought exiling me would be enough. Thought driving me into the wasteland would kill me."

His smile turned sharp. Vicious.

"He was wrong."

I stared at him. At this man who should have died out there. Who should have succumbed to the heat and thirst and endless nothing.

Instead, he was here. In this underground fortress. Surrounded by followers.

"How?" The question came out barely audible.

Magnus tilted his head. "How what?"

"How did you... how are you..." I gestured helplessly. "All of this?"

He laughed again. That same insane sound.

"You think being an Alpha King for thirty years taught me nothing?" He started pacing. Hands clasped behind his back. "You think I didn’t make contingency plans? Didn’t prepare for the possibility of betrayal?"

He stopped. Turned to face me directly.

"I had resources. Hidden caches throughout the wasteland. Supplies. Weapons. Everything I needed to survive."

My stomach dropped.

"And followers." He continued. His voice getting harder. "Wolves who were tired of pack law. Tired of rules and hierarchy and playing nice. Rogues who wanted power without restraint."

He gestured at the men surrounding us.

"I gathered them. Trained them. Built something new out here in the forgotten places." His eyes blazed. "Something stronger than what Kael has. Something pure."

The word made my skin crawl.

Because I could see what he meant. Could see it in the scarred faces of the rogues. In their vicious grins. In the way they looked at me like I was meat.

This wasn’t a pack. This was something else. Something darker.

"You..." I forced my voice to work. "You’re planning to go back."

It wasn’t a question.

Magnus’s smile widened. "Smart girl."

He stopped right in front of me. So close I could smell him. Blood and iron and something rotten underneath.

"And when that day comes—" His voice dropped to a whisper. "I’m going to rip my ungrateful son’s throat out. Take back what’s mine. Rule the way an Alpha is supposed to rule."

Horror washed over me in waves.

"You... you’re going to kill your own son?"

Magnus laughed. The sound was completely devoid of warmth. "He stopped being my son the moment he betrayed me. The moment he chose to believe I was too harsh. Too cruel. Too old-fashioned."

His hand shot out. Grabbed my chin. Forced me to look at him.

"He’s nothing to me now. Just an obstacle that needs removing."

The casual way he said it made my blood run cold.

Magnus released my chin. Stepped back.

"But enough about my idiot offspring." His expression shifted. Became calculating. "Let’s talk about you, Rebecca Silver Fang."

My breath caught.

"You have potential, little Rebecca. Fire. Ambition. The kind of ruthlessness that’s becoming rare in the soft, civilized packs."

His eyes bore into mine.

"So here’s my offer." His voice was smooth now. Almost gentle. "Join me. Become part of my pack. Help me take back what’s mine."

My mouth opened. Closed. No sound came out.

"And in return—" He paused. Let the silence stretch. "I’ll make you my Luna."

The words hit like a physical blow.

Luna.

His Luna.

I stared at him. At this man who was supposed to be my father-in-law if things had gone differently. If Kael had married me like he was supposed to.

Now he was offering to make me his mate instead.

The wrongness of it made my stomach churn.

But...

My eyes drifted to the cavern entrance. To the darkness beyond. To the wasteland I’d barely survived.

If I said no, he’d let me go. I knew that. Could see it in his expression.

He’d release me back into that hell. Give me a few hours’ head start maybe. Let me walk back out into the sun and heat and endless nothing.

I wouldn’t last a day.

Would be dead before nightfall.

The rogues were watching us. Waiting. Some looked hopeful. Some looked hungry. Some just looked bored.

They didn’t care what happened to me. Didn’t care if I lived or died.

No one did.

Not anymore.

I’d lost everything. My status. My pack. My future. Even my pride was gone now, stripped away by days of crawling through the desert.

What did I have left?

Nothing.

Except one thing.

Rage.

Pure, burning rage at the people who’d put me here.

Kael. For choosing Aria over me.

Aria. For existing. For stealing everything that should have been mine.

The thought of them happy together made something twist in my chest. Hot and vicious and absolutely consuming.

They’d destroyed my life. Ruined everything I’d worked for. Everything I’d been.

And they were probably celebrating right now. Probably laughing about how pathetic I was. How I’d been exiled. How I was gone forever.

They thought they’d won.

But what if they hadn’t?

What if I came back?

Not alone. Not weak.

But with an army. With power. With a way to make them suffer the way I’d suffered.

Magnus was still watching me. Waiting for my answer.

My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking.

But my voice came out steady. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Clear.

Final.

"I accept."

Magnus’s smile was terrifying. All teeth and madness.

"Excellent." He reached for my hand. Pulled me to my feet. "Welcome to the pack, my dear."

The rogues around us started laughing. Cheering. The sound bounced off stone walls and became something monstrous.

"I want Kael dead. And Aria." My voice got stronger. More certain. "I want them both dead."