I feel Kane stiffen at his words. Even I'm taken aback by them.
I was right all along. Anna was responsible for this. She made sure that her threat came true. At least she tried to make it come true. Her plan may just have backfired on her. I can feel the tension flowing from Kane's body, and I think everyone inside of here could feel it as well. Judging by the looks on his men's faces, they were all terrified of what was to come. Would he also punish them? He seemed to be pissed at everyone right now.
I wasn't sure if Kane would let this slide or punish her for her actions. I've never seen him punish her before, and I'm not getting my hopes up.
"Get Anna in here." He says in the most dangerous tone I've ever heard from him since the day I met him. Even I shiver from his voice.
This wasn't going to be easy to watch. He wasn't in a good mood, and if I didn't hate Anna so much, I would have felt sorry for her.
His men do as he says, and a few minutes later, Anna is being forced into the room. She takes one look at me and then at Kane, and her face screws up in the ugliest way possible.
"Is it true what they are saying?" He says in that same dangerous tone again. The look on his face is chilling; I'm glad I'm not the one he's looking at right now.
She looks at the men and then back at him, "depends on what they said. I'm not sure what this is about. Why don't you try telling me so that I can have an idea and not be so lost right now."
She was brave for speaking that way after knowing what she did. What she didn't know or failed to realize was that Kane wasn't in the best of moods right now. Playing him like this was not playing it safe at all. She should know that after knowing him for longer than I did. Maybe she didn't care. Perhaps she knew that he wouldn't harm her.
Kane chuckles, and it sends a shiver down my spine. Even that tiny chuckle is hard to listen to. He looks like he wants to murder someone, and I wouldn't be surprised after the way he got rid of those men that tried to hurt me.
"If you want to play dumb. I'll play along." He tells her. "There were men in my home. Men who came purposefully to get rid of Maya. I've been told that you are the one who ordered this. You are the one to tell everyone that I gave permission for this to happen when I wasn't even near you today to give you such orders. Does that ring a bell for you, Anna? Or do I need to use violence to jog your memory?"
Her lips part, and she crosses her arms. She tries to look unbothered, but her legs are definitely shaking now. Maybe now she understands the trouble she's just made for herself.
"I thought that's what you wanted," she whispers. "I thought that you wanted to hurt her. I was doing this for you. I didn't mean to disobey you or make you angry. I swear, I did it all for you, Kane. And I'll do it all again because I care about you. I will always do whatever it takes to make you happy. We all know you wanted this. Everyone here knows it. Even if you don't say it, I know that you want to get rid of her."
She attempts to walk towards him, but he pulls back, and his glare makes her stop walking. "Please," she begs. "Don't be angry with me. I'll try to make it up to you, I swear. I was just angry with what you had to go through because of her and her family. What they did—,"
"SHUT UP!" Kane roars.
What was she speaking about? What did I do to Kane? What did my family do to him? It's the first clue I've gotten as to why Kane had kidnapped me. However, I'm more confused now than ever.
"I've had enough of your tantrums and lies." He snaps at her. "I've been too kind to you in the past. I've let you get off easily whenever you went against my words. It's my fault that this happened today. It's a mistake that I will never make again; believe me when I say that. Your day has finally come, Anna; it's time that you understand that there are always consequences for your actions. You must be severely punished for your actions today."
She drops to the ground in horror, "no, please. I won't do it again. I swear to you. Just give me one more chance, Kane, please."
"It's Alpha Kane to you." He roars.
"I want her to experience exactly what she did to Maya. Trap her in a room and do what you must for her to realize the trauma she just caused. When you're finished, she is to never step into our territory again. You will no longer be a part of our group." He shouts. "Do you understand me?"
Anna is trembling from head to toe, and she looks like she wants to run for help.
"Why are you doing this?" She cries. "I've been loyal to you all along. I've done everything for you. You're going to hurt me over a girl that you hate? A girl that destroyed your family? It would be fantastic if you were happy that I did what I did when it was all for you. Instead, you're punishing me and pushing me away when you should be doing that to her? She doesn't care about you as I do. She hates you just as much as I know you hate her. Don't let her get to you, Kane. Don't let her trick you. You'll live to regret it, I swear to you. She will only hurt you. I was protecting you from her. That was all. Protecting you! I still can't believe that you're doing this for her! After everything she did to you, how could you be so stupid?”
How did I destroy Kane's family? I would never destroy someone's family! There were so many trying to hurt my family that I would never even dream about doing the same to someone else.
Two men drag Anna out of the room while she screams for him to change his mind. Kane's eyes are cold and heartless; he doesn't seem bothered by her words at all.
I can sense the tension in the room as he glares at his men. They know that their turn is coming as well.
"How could you believe her so easily?" he questions with venom in his voice. "Anyone can say to you that I gave an order, and you'll follow through it without confirming with me first?"
"I'm sorry, alpha." They apologize to him.
"What do you think your punishments should be?" he asks.
"You don't have to punish them for something they didn't do." I stop him. "I'm fine now; nothing happened to me. It's not their fault that Anna lied to them. It would help if you did not let them pay for something she did. It's not right."
Kane's jaw tightens, and there are many surprised looks around the room. No one expected me to say that. After how they treated me, I'm sure that they never expected me to protect them.
"If anything like this happens again, I'll make sure to punish you severely." He finally says, letting them off on a warning. I'm surprised that he actually listened to me, but then again, Kane has surprised me a lot lately.
They all nod in understanding, but their eyes are glued to me, and I can see the look of relief on their faces. They're thanking me even though the words aren't coming out of their mouths.
He barks a few orders to them, and I hate that my kind heart is worried about Anna. She deserved her punishment, but I would hate for someone to go through what I did.
Kane walks with me to a room I haven't been to before. He places me on the bed and checks my body one more time. I know that he's pissed when he sees the bruises that were still there.
"How much does it hurt?" He asks me.
I don't answer him; there are too many things bothering me.
He senses that and stops staring at my body so that he can now look at my face, "what's wrong?"
"What did Anna mean when she said I destroyed your family?" I ask him.
I had to know.
Maybe there was a misunderstanding somewhere. Maybe Kane thought I did something when the truth was that I didn't. Perhaps he was lied to. It was the only explanation for all of this.