Their Secret Obsession by Pippa Moon

Chapter 0311

Chase's POV

"Connie... the girl..." he began hesitantly as we moved through the tunnels. I closed my eyes, a wave of frustration washing over me. The last thing I wanted was to hear about her.

"Not about her... about my sister," I started to say, but he held up a bony hand to silence me. His fingers were thin and skeletal; the skin stretched taut over knuckles that jutted out sharply. They trembled ever so slightly, whether from fear or urgency, I couldn't tell. "She is not your mate. She knows..." he stated plainly as he began to walk through the simmering darkness again. Following, I sighed as the relief exploded inside me, a sudden lightness piercing through the heavy atmosphere.

"She knows she is not my mate?" I asked to clarify, my heart pounding. Could it be that Connie had been deceiving me all along? That she was lying about the bond I thought we shared?

"Yes." He nodded. "She knows about your sister's deal... She knows everything. She is working with Astaroth. They all are." Compassion flickered in his eyes as he delivered the devastating news. My hands clenched into fists at my sides, anger boiling within me. "Lottie... How do you know that?" I demanded, my jaw tightening as rage coursed through my veins.

"Because I was there when she came to see him with an older man, an alpha. Astaroth agreed to their deal," he explained.

My mind reeled with the information. Shock and horror collided inside me, each emotion battling for dominance. Hatred seared through my veins like molten lava. Connie had been conspiring with Astaroth and an alpha to harm my sister. The betrayal cut deep, sharper than any blade.

"To what end?" I asked through gritted teeth. "What is it she wants?"

"She wants to be Luna." He sighed, his gaze distant. "She knows she cannot be Luna to the alphas while they pine for your sister. She cannot move against them without it blowing back on her, so..."

"I'm going to kill her," I seethed, not needing him to finish. The thought of Connie plotting against Lottie ignited a fury I hadn't known I was capable of.

it seemed convincing," he continued. "Although the plan is still very much set in her mind, she will not remember meeting him." I tried to process this. Connie wants to be Luna,

could I have been

a hand through my hair, I felt the lingering aches of my still-healing wounds. The soreness served as

they will want her-Connie. She wants it all done big, dramatically, so it's

this infernal place, yet

you..." He met my gaze steadily. "No one ever notices me. They do not see me; they see him. I am just part of the furniture, filth to be ignored and dismissed. I hear all sorts of things," he nodded, a hint of bitterness in his voice. It seemed he was both amused and saddened

the man you saw was an alpha?" I pressed, wondering who it could be. Alpha Sebastian, no doubt. He'd wanted Lottie gone for so long. She had replaced him, and now she carried pups. He had fallen lower in the line of succession. There was only one way to fix that: eliminate the babies before they

with fear, and he pulled back. We broke into a run,

vast cavern, a swirling vortex of light suspended

about you?" I asked, concern

place is here." He shook

me.

over the entrance we had just emerged from. A monstrous figure, all

"Elias..."

portal was mesmerising-swirls of pink and purple light intertwined, scattered with flecks of gold. It radiated warmth and a strange, comforting energy,

more time, pausing at the threshold.

so

darkness of this place, he had shown