Chapter 82
Chapter 82
My mother sipped her coffee, watching me over the rim of her mug.
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“He was a good Alpha,” she said. “Not a perfect man. But a good one. And he trusted his instincts. Even when they made things harder.”
I nodded again, chewing my bite of bacon without tasting it.
“I think he would’ve hated this rogue threat,” I said. “Not just because it’s dangerous. But because it’s unpredictable. No honor. No code. Just fire and chaos.”
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“He would’ve hated it,” she agreed. “But he also would’ve known how to deal with it.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “And he wouldn’t have let his personal life get in the way.”
At that, she raised a brow. “Ah,” she said, sitting back. “So we’ve arrived at the real problem.”
I gave her a look.
“Derek,” she said, voice softening, “You think I don’t know you?. I know that tone. That guilt.”
I sighed. “I just-”
“Regret is something you’ve been living with for six years. You think the rest of us don’t know it? That we don’t live with it too?”
I flinched.
My mother didn’t push.
Instead, she stood and moved toward the fridge, giving me space. “Cassandra’s been in love with you since she was fifteen,” she said as she pulled out eggs. “You’ve known it. Everyone’s known it.”
Chapter 82
“Maybe it’s a sign,” I muttered.
“Of what?”
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“That it’s time I stop chasing things that were never going to work,” I said. “That maybe should think about what’s good for the pack. Marry someone from a strong family. Someone loyal. Someone who’s always been there.”
She cracked an egg on the side of a bowl.
“Is that what she is?” my mother asked lightly. “Someone who’s always been there?”
“Cassandra has never done anything to hurt the pack,” I said defensively.
“That’s not what I asked.”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t.
She glanced at me as she whisked the eggs, then poured them into the pan.
“Elena was…” she started, then seemed to mull her next words carefully. “I imagine it was hard. For both of you. Not knowing anything about her past,” she finished.
I looked up at her.
“But she made you stronger. She challenged you. Made you rethink things. Cassandra? She’s never challenged you a day in her life. She follows where she thinks power will go. And if you do marry her, I hope it’s not because you think your father would’ve wanted it.”
I looked at her sharply. “He respected her father.”
“He tolerated him,” she corrected, flipping the eggs. “Because he had to. Because you
made a vow to her, and he supported you.”
I stared down into my coffee cup.
“Did you ever love her? Do you still?”
“Elena?” I asked, too quickly.
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Chapter 82
My mother smiled knowingly. A little sadly.
“Cassandra,” she said softly.
“If I married her it wouldn’t be about love,” I said.
“No,” she agreed. “But it should at least be about truth.”
We finished breakfast mostly in silence. But the words lingered.
Truth.
Loyalty.
Regret.
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After my mother left the kitchen, I sat for a long while at the table, staring out the window at the sweeping forest edge in the distance. Somewhere out there, rogues were waiting. Planning. Testing our limits.
And I’d been too consumed with my own mistakes to see the truth staring me in the face.
I stood suddenly, pushing my chair back, and headed straight to the study.
***
Brock had left the tribunal transcripts on my desk like I’d asked.
I opened the folder.
Pierce.
The former Gamma of Silverclaw. Exiled. Loyal to no one but himself.
I skimmed pages of testimony,
At first, it was all things I’d heard in passing. Allegations of disloyalty. Rumors of arms dealings. Discrepancies in resource inventories.
Chapter 82
But then-
Something caught my eye.
My brow furrowed. I went back. Read it again.
And again.
My breath caught.
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A cold sensation crept down the back of my neck, like a warning. I sat up straighter in my chair, the leather groaning beneath me as tension filled every limb.
My heart started to pound.
- rd. Relentless. Like a drumbeat sounding an alarm.
nd suddenly, I wasn’t just reading history.
I was staring at a threat that had never gone away.
One that had been waiting in the dark.
Waiting for me to finally see it.
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