Chapter 196
DEREK
The cemetery was quiet.
The kind of quiet that settled into your bones, that made your thoughts louder, your memories sharper.
I stood alone, one hand tucked into my coat pocket, the other wrapped around the slim stem of a white chrysanthemum. It was early–too early for mourners or caretakers. The dew hadn’t yet burned off the grass. The sun filtered through the pines at an angle, gilding the headstones in soft gold.
My father’s grave was near the back of the Silverclaw grounds, in the family section. The stone was simple. Elegant. His name carved in clean serif letters. The date. The title of Alpha. And beneath that, the phrase he used to say in almost every lesson he taught me:
“Lead with strength, protect with honor.”
I knelt and placed the flower at the base of the headstone, brushing away a few stray pine needles with my fingertips.
It never felt like enough.
There were so many things I wished I’d said to him. Things I wished I’d asked. Warnings I wished he’d given me.
Not about ruling, not about the Council or the rogues or the Summit—but about people. About what to do when someone betrayed you and smiled through it.
About what to do when the people closest to you couldn’t be trusted.
I stood and folded my arms, staring down at the grave, letting the quiet sink in.
And then I heard it.
The soft purr of a luxury engine pulling into the gravel lot.
I didn’t need to turn around to know whose car it was. That distinctive red convertible coupe was as subtle as Cassandra herself.
She parked just off the path, slammed the door shut, and walked across the grass in four–inch heels like it wasn’t a ridiculous choice. Her perfume preceded her–rose and spice, too heavy for morning.
“You’re a hard man to find,” she said lightly, brushing wind–tossed hair from her cheek.
“I wasn’t trying to be found.”
She stopped beside me. “Joe and Caroline said you were here.”
I didn’t look at her. “Remind me to have a talk with Joe and Caroline about just who’s Beta they are.”
She smiled, tight–lipped. “Don’t be mad at them. I insisted.”
“I’m not mad,” I said coldly. “I’m disappointed. Which is worse.”
She glanced at the headstone. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“You came to a cemetery. You parked your red sports car beside my father’s grave.” I finally turned my head slightly, just enough to look at her from the corner of my eye. “Did you think that by coming here, you might avoid my making a scene?”
“A scene?” she echoed, feigning confusion.
I faced the grave again. “Have you been reading the Wolf Whistle lately?”
Cassandra gave a breathy laugh. “That gossip rag? Please.”
“The same one you and Caroline can’t seem to put down,” I said flatly.
Chapter 196
+25 BONUS
She didn’t answer.
“I went to La Scala last week,” I said. “Had a lovely conversation with a waitress who looked remarkably like the ultrasound Atechnician you brought to my estate.”
The silence stretched.
Then, without missing a beat, Cassandra said, “Did you enjoy your meal?”
I turned to look at her fully for the first time that morning. “No. I lost my appetite.”
Her mouth opened just slightly, like she might try for another deflection, another disarming quip.
I didn’t give her the chance.
I knelt down and touched the headstone again, fingers pressing against the cold granite as I bowed my head.
“Moon Goddess,” I murmured quietly, “grant me strength. Not for her sake–but for mine.”
I stood slowly.
Then I looked her dead in the eyes.
“You made me believe I had a child,” I said, my voice low, sharp. “And then you made me grieve for that child. You watched me unravel. And you let it happen.”
Cassandra’s face twitched. “I—”
“No,” I snapped, stepping closer. “You faked a pregnancy. You hired someone to lie to my face. You orchestrated an entire fantasy.”
Chapter 197
Chapter 197
