Chapter 72
GAVIN’S POV
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I walked into the High House, the heart of my clan where only the higher ranks and the strongest lived, the ones I trusted the most. It stood deep in the northern mountains, hidden between thick forests and cliffs, far from the wolf packs and their rules. The other clan houses were built around it in a close circle, but the High House stood at the center,
Malik, my second, followed right behind me. Cyrus came in after him, my most ferocious fighter. I hadn’t been home for days. I had returned to the Brown league pack and stayed there longer than planned. It was only temporary, but if I was truly going take everything from Ace, then I needed to be inside the pack, close enough to see every move he made.
Malik watched me closely as I took off my jacket and dropped it on the table. “You stayed longer than expected,” he said. He has always kicked against my plan to fight Ace. Like me, he was interested in anything related to wolf packs, he was more than fine working from the clan.
“I had to,” I replied. “I lost in the fight with him and now I have to fulfill my own end of the bargain.”
Cyrus folded his arms. “You’re unbelievable. You challenged your cousin to a fight and you lost, and if that isn’t shameful enough, you’re fighting him again because of a woman,” he said bluntly.
Talk about the one person who never thinks twice before speaking his mind, and Cyrus would be at the top of that list. He doesn’t care how you feel. But he’s also one of the few who will stand by you, even in death.
I didn’t build my clan in a day. Each of them came with their own baggage and demons. I left the Brown League pack after my father died and threw myself into intense fighting and training, making sure no one I cared about would die in battle again. Cyrus’s pack was burned to the ground when war broke out. He lost everything, including his family, his mate, but he refused to stay down. He fought all their opponents until he had nothing left. That was when I stepped in to help. With nowhere else to go, he decided to follow me, and he hasn’t left my side since.
Malik, on the other hand, had been banished from his pack and was almost turned into a rogue before we found him. I had no intention of forming any group, but the three of us together were a force. We fought together, and little by little, we picked up other wolves who needed help, and a place to stay. Now our clan had grown to over two hundred, filled with the best fighters. Each of them had their own stories, their own scars and they found home with us, refusing to leave even when we asked them to.
“Yeah,” Malik said, turning to Cyrus. “Did he tell you that he proposed to the woman and she turned him down?” He said with a scoff.
“That’s not what happened,” I tried to defend myself. “She was shocked by the sudden request and hasn’t given me a reply yet.”
“And that reply… you’ll never get it,” Cyrus said matter of factly. Let’s focus on flushing out the Rougarous. You’re leaving that pack as soon as possible.”
“I’m not leaving the pack…”
Malik cut me off. “Oh, you will be leaving the pack soon. The news about you losing to Alpha Ace Virel is everywhere. That is shameful. You haven’t lost a fight in almost a decade, and your younger brother beat you to the ground. And might I add, the same little brother you trained when he was just starting out, back in the days before you left the pack.” He gasped, putting on a show of arrogance. “And let’s not even start on the fact that you had to get another Alpha to bring his men to help you before the fight. He defeated every single one of them… and still he put you down like it was nothing.”
I threw my head back and laughed, shaking my head at his ridiculousness. “First, Ace is really strong, even without his Alpha abilities. Of course, he beat me up. That was expected. But the fight wasn’t about me losing or him winning. It was about Charlotte seeing who he really is, the man behind the Alpha that she doesn’t know about.”
Malik leaned forward, smirking. “And how is that going for you? Will that really make her stop loving him?”
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Chapter 72
“She doesn’t love him,” I said, my voice came out faster than I intended, a little too defensive.
“Even if she did, she’ll stop the moment she knows the truth. Imagine if I tell her Ace is the same Alpha who rejected her in the first place, she’s going to hate him instantly.”
Malik nodded. “Yes, it might make her see the truth. But it’ll also make you look petty. She won’t fall in love with you just because you revealed that. She might even hate you for it.”
I let out a long, defeated sigh. “What do you want me to do? I’ve loved that woman for the longest time. Yes, I stopped when I found my mate, but she died, leaving me alone again. And now my cousin is all over her because of who she is, the famous doctor Graves.” I shook my head, bitterness curling in my chest. I hate myself for leaving her in the first place.”
There was no need to hide anything from them. They already knew it all, the same way I know everything about them, our weaknesses, our strengths. Maybe that’s why we’re stronger together. But Cyrus, after losing his family and pregnant mate, he’s least interested in anything to do with love.
Cyrus leaned back, arms crossed, his eyes unreadable. I didn’t need him to say it out loud, I knew what he was thinking, “Ace will never lose his Alpha position to you, you stand a chance of being the next Alpha king because you’re of a direct royal bloodline but taking Ace position won’t be easy.”
“I’m not planning a coup or anything like that,” I said, ignoring the glance Cyrus gave me. “Ace has to make difficult choices. and if he doesn’t,” I shrugged, “he risks losing his position. Though I’m not holding my breath. The guy will always find a way out of everything. But I’m going to make him feel every second of it.” I let my gaze harden. I’m not really after being the Alpha. I’m after being the new Alpha King. That immediately puts Ace under me and he will have to answer to me. I still hate him for what he did to Charlotte.
“Let’s stop talking about love and Ace, it’s becoming boring,” Malik mumbled with a yawn, stretching his arms. “Let’s talk about flushing those animals out. We’ve been tracking them for months, even before they started killing people recklessly.”
We sat there for a few hours, planning and discussing the easiest ways to draw those guys out. Cyrus already had their location, but what surprised me was discovering one of the people sponsoring them came from Ace’s own pack. I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my lips. I wonder what he’s going to do when he finds out.
Before I left, we set a plan to meet again in a few days. Right after Ace gets back from London, just before the festival which will happen in a week, the celebration will be the biggest one yet, especially with the Rougarous gone for good.
“Please don’t do anything stupid,” Cyrus warned as I climbed into my car, his tone bossy. “You know, picking stupid fights with your cousin like a child.” Malik chuckled at that, shaking his head, clearly amused by Cyrus’s warning.
“I don’t pick fights.”
“You might,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “When you see the woman you love with the brother you hate. I’m telling you now, I don’t see any future with you and the doctor.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, his jaw ticking. “By the way, we should get our guy back from the hospital. He’s awake now. The doctor. she’s really good at what she does. We still don’t know exactly what happened to him in that bush, but somehow she found a way to bring him back to life. Almost like nothing could stop her once she set her mind on it. I can see why the world is chasing after her.” Cyrus doesn’t compliment anyone, this was the first time I ever heard him do that and that made me proud for loving Charlotte.
On getting back to the pack house, I saw Moon walking toward my car, her heels clicking against the pavement. She knocked on the passenger door, and I wound down the window.
“Can I come in?” she asked in her sweet voice, it was soft, and annoyingly polite. I hesitated before unlocking the door. I didn’t like her, never had. My dislike for her had begun to make sense, after I saw how she treated Charlotte years ago. She was cruel, manipulative, the kind of woman who’d lie and twist everything for her own gain. And my cousin, either he was stupid or blind. Choosing her over Charlotte was the single most foolish thing he’d ever done in his life. She had him completely wrapped around her little finger, spinning lies about Charlotte, claiming she poisoned her food and caused her baby to die.
I stared hard at her face, the fake smile plastered perfectly across it. “What do you want?” I asked, my voice coming out harsher than usual.
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Chapter 72
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“To get to know you,” she inurmured, her tone becoming softer noticed you’ve never said a word to me since you moved back to the pack. You didn’t speak to me while you lived here either, I mean before you left the pack the first time. Her face softened even more, and I had to wonder how she did that. She played her games well, that was for sure.
“Why would I want to talk to you? We have no business together My hands tightened on the wheel, the anger rolling through me.
That day, I had gone to Moon’s family house to see Charlotte. I hadn’t seen her in months, and I missed her more than i could put into words. I just came back to the pack after a few months of being away. I was still distracted by thoughts of her when I felt a soft, small body crash into me. I instinctively bent down, lifting her face, and my body went still, It was
1
Charlotte. Tears streaked her cheeks, her face red from crying. Fresh bruises marred her skin, and her cheeks were redder than usual, marked with fingerprints, clear signs someone had slapped her. My heart twisted, fury and helplessness knotting together as I took in the sight of her pain.
My body didn’t know how to react, so I pulled her into a hug, letting her cry again in my arms. I wanted to find out who had hurt her, wanted to make sure it never happened again. After a few minutes, she pulled away, wiping her tears. “I have a lot of work to do,” she said softly. She left, and I rushed to her basement room, desperate to see what had happened.
What I found made my blood boil. Her room was a mess, expensive dresses scattered across the floor, papers torn, everything thrown around. It looked like a storm had hit it.
I rushed back to the main house with some medication to clean her wounds and help her with her work. I had always helped her like this, spending time with her while making sure she didn’t overwork herself. When I couldn’t be there, I sent some of my people to help, giving her the chance to rest.
At that moment, I saw Moon push her down the stairs. Charlotte had stumbled and fallen, unconscious for days. Moon never showed up at the hospital, and Ace, he never came either, even after Damien told him. He didn’t care. He never had. Why would he bother buying her gifts if he didn’t care? Nothing made sense. Damien was the only one who stayed by her side, constantly, along with Kathryn, her best friend who slept in the hospital with her.
When Charlotte finally woke up, Moon lied, claiming she had fallen while cleaning. She knew I had seen her, but she still lied. And no one doubted her.
Now, she’s sitting in my car and acting like we were ever friends. You can’t possibly still hate me for what happened that day. It was a mistake, we were arguing and I pushed her a little, I didn’t know she was going to fall.” She spoke casually as if it was normal to hurt someone like that.
“I don’t like you either, never have and never will. So unless you have anything serious to talk to me about, I’ll ask you to step down from my car.”
“You’re going to flush out the Rougarous, I want to help.”
I arched an amusing brow at her. “You want to help me, how? And why?”
“Those animals have been killing people in our packs and I just want to know how you intend to flush them out. What is your plan?”
I blinked, caught between disbelief and irritation. Was she seriously asking me that? Why would she want to know my plans?
“And why would I give that information to you?” I asked, letting my gaze lock on hers, intensely. She shifted back in her seat, a little uncomfortable under my stare. “Are you planning to give them the information? Help them out?”
“What?!” She gasped, her fake shock on full display. “How could you even say that? I don’t know the first thing about them, and I want to help.” Her voice shifted into that annoyingly soft, sweet tone she always used. “I want to help my husband for the first time in my life. I want to do something that’ll ease the tension between us. The Rougaros have been a serious problem, and that’s caused him so much distress.”
Her eyes shimmered with fake tears. “Can’t a wife help her husband anymore?” She wiped at her cheeks, trying to make herself look innocent. “I heard that once you set your mind to something, you achieve it. You’ve never failed at finding or capturing anything.”
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Chapter 72
I nodded, keeping my hands on the wheel, thinking of nothing keep you updated.”
She smiled, the fake sweetness still in place, and opened the doc want to know how everything is going to play out.” She shut the her face.
I stared after her, disbelief tightening around me. Did she seriou
Inselded, keeping my hands on the wheel, thinking of nothing else but getting her out of my car. “I’ll think about it and keep you updated.”
She smiled, the fake sweetness still in place, and opened the door. “I’ll come back tomorrow to check on your progress. I just want to know how everything is going to play out.” She shut the door behind her and walked away, that irritating smile on her face.
I stared after her, disbelief tightening around me. Did she seriously just ask me to give her my plan? Unbelievable.
