The Beast's Possession

**Aife

pov**

My jaw dropped. So did Amelia's, but apparently, she was better at hiding it. My eyes snapped to her as Amelia dropped to her knees and averted her gaze. "My Alpha, welcome," she greeted him.

Amelia's hand shot up to grab my wrist. She tried to pull me down, clearly to repeat the same shit she was doing. Well, deep down, I understood why she acted like that and also got the hint that I was supposed to follow her lead. However, as always, against my better judgment and any survival instinct I might have left in me, I remained still and didn't drop to my knees.

Survival was pretty important, but so was my damn pride. He had stripped me of everything but that. Besides, he wasn't MY Alpha and I refused to feed into his delusions by addressing him as such.

I looked away from Amelia to stare at the monster himself who now had a satisfied grin across his lips. Slowly, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow at me. Forcing my lips in a thin line, I shook my head. He could die waiting, I still wouldn't do it.

The next moment, his eyes clouded. He was out of it for a few seconds until he glared daggers at me all over again. "Living room, ladies. Corden is about to arrive, we have some rather interesting shit to discuss here." After barking the words, he spun around and walked out of the kitchen.

I instantly helped Amelia to her feet. She grabbed my shoulders, dug her nails into my flesh and shook me. "What is wrong with you? Are you suicidal? Don't you know what he is capable of?" She whisper-yelled at me. The corner of my mouth twitched. "Maybe death is the freedom I truly seek," I whispered, placed my hands over hers and slowly peeled them away from me. "Let's go, your Alpha is waiting." Amelia's face fell, but she did her best to hide how upset she was at my words. I didn't intend to come across as rude, but a part of me really wanted to rub in the words. That man wasn't our Alpha. He just wasn't. He was someone who killed our families and took us from them in the process. Someone like that didn't deserve to be addressed as an Alpha. He was a criminal who washed his hands in the blood of innocent people. Amelia hid behind me as I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

He sat on the couch and just as I was about to sit down on the one opposite of him, he shook his head. “No. You sit next to me, Amelia sits there and waits for Corden. You have some explaining to do. All of you." Honestly, I wasn't bothered by his presence as much as I was with the tone of his voice. That man sounded too calm.

Worst of all, he didn't only sound calm, he also looked unbothered. Men like him didn't wear expressions as one on his face right now. If he sat there looking stoic, completely deprived of emotions, I wouldn't feel scared. Amelia nudged my side, effectively breaking the bubble of my thoughts as she did. Slowly, I walked around the coffee table and sat on the couch, keeping as much distance between me and him as I could. But of course, the asshole had to make the situation much worse by moving closer.

At one point, he was so close his knee brushed mine. As if it wasn't enough already, he threw his arm around me and gripped my shoulder tightly enough to leave a bruise of his handprint on it.

"Amelia," he started, still silently torturing me. "Maybe you want to start before Corden arrives and we can pick up with him from where you leave? You see, I am very interested in how this situation came to life." While the monster smiled, Amelia looked like she prayed that the ground would open and swallow her whole just to get out of his sight.

I understood why she reacted like that. I wasn't too fond of his presence either, especially when he was this close. In fact, at this point, I too hoped the ground would open, but instead of Amelia, it should swallow the monster and rid us all of his presence for good.

It was a shitty thing to think, I knew that much, but without any regret, I could admit that I truly thought that the world would be a better place without him.

"I would rather not, if it's okay with you," Amelia muttered, her gaze cast to the floor.

The asshole actually had the audacity to chuckle. "I mind, I very much do mind. I need answers, Amelia, the sooner the better. You know that I'm a busy man and not the most patient person around here, so start talking while I'm still nice." Seeing the fear in Amelia's eyes as she gazed up and sensing it radiate from her, I couldn't let her take the blame. Here I was, all over again with the ages old bullshit, the forever savior complex.

I knew that the words I was about to say would land me in trouble beyond anyone's imagination, but I still went for it. "It's my fault," the words spilled out of my mouth just as the front door of the house flew open and a very frantic Delta joined us.

To my surprise, he glared at the so-called Alpha without a word and immediately joined Amelia, grabbing her face and checking her for any signs of injuries as he so often did.

How the man that sat next to me couldn't see how much Delta loved Amelia was beyond me. Those two were meant for each other in any sense of the word, and honestly, I felt truly sorry for everyone trying to stand in the way of the happiness they shared.

"Welcome home, Corden. A little birdy told me that whatever is happening behind my back, in your house, is her fault," the monster announced.

Delta tore his gaze away from Amelia and looked at me. I tried to give him a pointed look, but the best I could muster had to be a somewhat pitiful glare.

Sighing, Delta released Amelia and told her to head to their bedroom. To my surprise, their stupid Alpha didn't stop her from leaving. If anything, his only reaction was to grip my shoulder with more force, nearly making me wince in pain. The only thing I wanted was to get his dirty, disgusting paw off of me. If I had as much as a butter knife in my reach, I would try to cut off his hand just to get it away from me.

I managed to zone out while Delta came clean about everything. I knew I should have paid attention, but instead, I chose to pretend that I wasn't here, sitting next to the man who had killed my family, friends, and destroyed the only place I had known as home.

Only when the bane of my existence, who ironically was named Bane, started shaking me, I came back to my senses. The asshole had the gall to wink at me when I shook my thoughts away.

When he knew I was present enough to follow his words, he turned his attention back to Delta and spoke up. "I don't care how you twist this situation, Corden. You fucked up. Amelia fucked up. And most importantly, this little birdy fucked up - big time. I will take your words with a grain of salt simply because we are friends and you tend to say things just to remain on my good side. This one, however," he dug his nails in my shoulder.

Delta tried to interrupt him, but the arrogant ass just raised his hand and shook his head. "I barely know her, but she tends to spit her raw thoughts right in my face. This time, I will forgive you and Amelia. As for what comes next for you two, well, that depends on the birdy. I just decided that she's coming with me and her ability to behave will determine your future."