Still Not Believed
Serafine POV
I go to follow Xander after he turns away from me, but he stops and then look back at me. His expression is hardened and his eyes are narrowed into slits. His gaze is full of suspicion. Great, here we go again, he’s going to argue that I’m lying when I’m not at all. The tension is rolling off him, and it’s clear that he’s angry. Every muscle in his body seems to be coiled tight like he’s preparing to strike if I say one more word that he thinks is a lie.
He doesn’t believe me, I can tell that is the problem. I thought I had got through to him but right now, it’s clear he thinks I’m lying. I don’t know why his distrust for me runs so deep, but for some reason, his inability to believe anything I say hurts.
“Do you really think that I’m naïve enough to fall for that story? Of all the things you could have said, you pick that?” His voice is quiet and deceptively calm, but it’s still edged with that cruel and ruthless confidence I’m beginning to recognise as him. He tilts his head slightly, studying me as if he’s searching for a weakness, a way to break me so I stop lying. He’s looking for a crack in my façade.
“It’s the truth, I’ve not lied,” I say, although my voice is trembling slightly. I quickly clamp down on my emotions and force the steadiness back into my words before I begin to speak again. “I wasn’t useful to my father. I was hidden away, not allowed to work, or do anything other than slave jobs when required.”
He looks at me like he’s finding it hard to believe. Maybe it would be more believable if he had met the ‘Serafine‘ that my father showed the world? Maybe he would believe it more if my father never used my name as a way to build his power?
“Convenient,” he murmurs with a cold smile. He takes a single step closer, and his presence is instantly heavy and oppressive. “Exactly what a woman like you would say. You would make yourself pathetic, broken, and isolated. You would play the wounded animal, in the hope that you could trigger some twisted sense of pity to gain what you want. But you forget one big thing, Serafine. You forget who I am. I may not be a rogue, but I’m still as ruthless as the stories say.”
My chest tightens, my breathing hitching painfully as he leans even closer, lowering his voice to a more dangerous level. “I‘ m not the kind of Alpha who feels pity,” he murmurs, keeping his tone low and dangerous. “And I’m certainly not the kind of fool who buys a sob story from a woman who was trained by a man like Gideon Nightbourne, your father.”
I shake my head, the frustration welling up sharply, but I bite it back knowing it won’t help. It’s pointless. He’s decided who I am, what I’m capable of, and nothing I say seems to be capable of changing his mind.
“You asked me for answers, and I gave them to you,” I say softly, unable to stop the bitter edge that creeps into my voice.” You can choose to believe them or not.”
He smiles, the curve of his lips cold and humorless. He reaches out suddenly and grips my jaw between his fingers. His touch isn’t gentle; it’s firm, commanding, and possessive. My pulse quickens, and I force myself not to pull away, not to back down, or look scared of him.
“What’s your next move, Serafine?” he whispers. His gaze bores into mine with a chilling intensity that I almost stop breathing. “If the innocent act doesn’t work, then what is your plan? Will you try seduction next? Maybe not, maybe you will play a frightened little victim, hoping that I soften toward you? Trust me, whatever tricks you’ve been taught and you’re considering using. I’ve seen them all, I’ve not been caught once, and a Nightbourne sure won’t trap me.”
“I. Am. Not. Playing. Games,” I manage to say through gritted teeth, his grip on my jaw becomes more forceful. “I’ve not lied, I’m not here as a trick, or a game. You bought me, remember?”
He releases me abruptly, pulling back with a small, dismissive shake of his head. “We both know that’s not true.”
Straightening, I swallow hard against the bitterness that rises in my throat. No matter what I say, he’s fixed; nothing I say will change his mind. All he wants to see is manipulation in my every action and lies in my every word. So why am I even bothering?
“Tell me, Serafine,” he says, his voice dropping dangerously, his eyes still fixed mercilessly on mine. “Did Gideon teach you this? Did he train you how to play this game, this careful balance between innocence and vulnerability? Or was it Jasmine, perhaps? I bet she’s very skilled at twisting Alphas around her little finger.”
I can’t stop it, anger surges through me, and it takes all my strength to strip it back and not let it show. I know that sho my anger would only confirm his twisted beliefs about me.
“I told you,” I whisper while lifting my chin in defiance. Meeting his cold gaze head–on, I continue speaking. “I barely knew her, I wasn’t trained. I was hidden.”
He scoffs, cold amusement flickering briefly in gege “Keep telling youre if that story. Eventually, maybe you’ll believe it. But let me give you some advice: drop the act. Successfully unlocked!
He steps back, brushing down the front of his shirt as though he’s removing any trace of me from it, like I was too close and dirtied him by my sheer presence. “You’ll teach the children. It’s a simple role, and perhaps you’ll surprise me and actually be useful. Make no mistake, though, I’ll be watching you very closely.” His eyes darken suddenly. “The moment you slip up, the moment your lies unravel, and trust me, Serafine, they will unravel. You’ll regret ever trying to deceive me, and
1/2
so will your father?
His threat hangs heavy and suffocating in the
between us i det spongyos say set the
suspicion. Its gestures coldly for me to follow turning hes back as die Aust stretches between us, sharp and bitter
yh
I’m not foolish enough to believe i can wyer convince him of the trek. The hat ihan manipulative women, who is the daughter of as my, and nothing saya change is less mind it’s dear from the way he sneers my father’s name that he dies tam
So now I’m wondering, why? What did my father do to Zander to see him so much? Why boy me if he hated my family name so much?
