Chapter 98
Chapter 98
ACE’S POV
1 st vouchers.
Moon’s father, Nicholas, has been locked in the prison cell for the past three days while the investigation continues. The investigation was just a formality, I fucking knew he was guilty while he lied through his teeth every fucking time. This morning I sent some men to their house and had every single thing they owned thrown out. I won’t have traitors living in a place meant only for the well–respected.
As of now, her mother is back in their old mansion.
At this point, I don’t give a damn what anyone has to say about it. If they have a problem, they can take it to the council court for all I care. I was getting ready to leave for my company, maybe even sneak into Graves Hospital to see the woman who makes my heart beat, but Damien mind linked me earlier to say someone was coming to see me.
The person is supposed to be here in two minutes, yet my patience is already wearing thin.
I haven’t seen Charlotte or my son for days, and it’s starting to show in the way I snap at people. Every little thing is beginning to irritate me, and the longer I sit here waiting, the worse it gets. My fingers drummed against the desk as I glanced at the door again, wondering who the hell thought it was a good idea to waste my time today.
At exactly two minutes, my door opened without a knock and Damien walked in with a young lad. He looked no older than nineteen or twenty–one, blonde hair falling over his forehead, tall and lanky like he hadn’t fully grown into his body yet. He stood in front of me stiffly, his shoulders tight, his hands hanging awkwardly by his sides like he didn’t know where to put them.
“What is this about?” I asked Damien, letting the impatience show clearly on my face.
“This boy has been trying to see you for the past few years to no avail. He met me yesterday and claimed he had something to tell you.”
My anger snapped instantly. “You wasted my time because some young lad had something to say to me? Are you serious?” I didn’t bother lowering my voice. They could both hear the irritation in it. The sun would set in a few hours, and crossing into the human world, even at the highest speed, would still take time. Every minute I stood here was another minute I wasn’t on my way.
“He could have told you whatever it was and you tell me later.”
“He’s the chef’s son.”
I stared at Damien like he had suddenly grown two heads. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with that information?”
The boy flinched at my voice. His head dipped even lower, his gaze fixed on the floor like he was afraid looking up would make things worse. His fingers curled into his palms and his shoulders drawing in on themselves.
“Look at me,” I commanded. His head lifted slowly, his eyes came up but still not meeting my gaze. “Why have you been looking for me all these years?”
“Four years, Alpha.” His voice trembled but he forced the words out. “I’ve been trying to get your attention. I’m the son of the chef that was killed in prison before the investigation started four years ago. The woman who was involved in the death of your unborn pup…” he took a deep breath. “The one that led to the exile of Charlotte.” He hesitated for a second before adding quietly, “The Pack’s Ugly Duckling.”
He must have said that so I would remember properly, but the name still ticked me the wrong way. Hearing it out loud made something tighten inside my chest. That was the name people used for Charlotte for years, the only way they remembered her. The Ugly Duckling.
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Skapar et esileting the ache thar uddenly sentent in my chear
Hey Tiefsee the dient white she one still in prison/” he said. She told me that the Ugly Duckling was
air dhe ne idea what happensent far fr
Then
iny her didn’t chee, if rinther Tecame thicker, spreading fast
ners Then He had gone ai Helind the hoy, his face polled up in anger.
sher and it use your wife who had jou Become your flamebe hack then. She told my mother to add some drugs into Marian cang Charlotte prepared. My mother didn’t know what the drug was and she refused to do it” He swallowed
de invinning. That the Turia said she would ruin our lives if my mother didn’t do it. My mother still refused. Then the The new the younger deter’s life cupport was our off in the hospital. She was already in a critical condition His voice Bite Thr was why my mother did it. She cried the whole day and the days after that.”
Sage hande started shaking My te suddenly fer tight around my neek. I yanked it off, my fingers gripping the edge of the
The fee the only thing keeping me upright
Moon did on that food that night, so there was no way she was poisoned. It was all a set up. My mother was going to center appling car you four years ago, that was why they took her out?
Moon Ride the food that night asked dowly
The Parle didn’t end it she wasn’t even in the room when Charlotte got there. Charlotte walked into an empty room Where My mother we the one who knocked her from behind before she could see anything.”
He placed lining his head a linte So when she said she knew nothing about what happened that night, she was telling the
My Body went cold Bigheads of sweat formed on my forehead and began sliding down slowly, soaking through my shirt
HOW my back and chest felt damp My knees suddenly felt weak and I dropped heavily into my seat.
they the chef died, had suspected some kind of foul play. But I clung to the lie I had built for myself, that Charlotte
Ahing that did to her because Believed she killed my unborn pup. It made sense to me and the guilt was Free teary if Murde me feel leve like a monster for what I had done to my mate. Even when I met her again, I still held
Hat He
Taliste lane Charone then, I did feel things for her that were damn confusing but I was never going to choose her back New: Beeved didive love her even mough somewhere inside me I knew I was lying to myself. I refused to choose the Saughter of a woons & mought was a whore, a home breaker. I blindly convinced myself she would become exactly like her Heater Phur Belief stayed wat me in the day I took her innocence away.
Marvey Howw melt tried to convince myself that my mate was guilty, she wasn’t.
1 epeked in pariem Wathend food and water for days. I watched as she was whipped repeatedly, the leather tearing her skin wwwth every werke i show her voice can of my head while she cried and screamed for my mercy. I banished her, sending www wwe www the secident that neatly took her life. The driver wasn’t the one who nearly took her life, I was.
1er did we break her feat the found her way to live without me, forgetting everything about me and now I can’t live
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9:08 pm P PPD
Chapter 98
A selfish monster.
“Why are you telling me this now?” I quizzed.
“Aren’t you afraid I would punish you for your mother’s crime? Or for speaking against your Luna?”
I was trying to keep my voice steady. I didn’t want him to see how much his words were already breaking everything inside
- me.
He dropped immediately to his knees, his forehead touching the floor.
“You can punish me if you want, Alpha, but please spare my little sister,” he begged. “I have carried this burden for so long and I just can’t hold it anymore. Every time I think about what might have happened to Ugly Duckling because of my mother, my world breaks.”
He lifted his head slightly this time and forced himself to meet my eyes. I could see the raw pain he was fighting inside him. “The Luna did not eat the poisoned food that night. And my mother said her pup did not die because of any poison Charlotte wasn’t aware was in the food. If the Luna was poisoned, then she did it herself just to frame Ugly Duckling and get her thrown out of the pack.” He swallowed. “I might have been too young to understand everything back then, but everyone knew the Luna hated her step sister. She wanted Charlotte out of the pack. Making her prepare the food was the easiest way to achieve it. You only did what she wanted you to do.”
He lowered his head again. “I don’t deserve mercy, Alpha, but please have mercy on my little sister. She is too young to suffer for our mother’s crime. My mother was forced into doing it just to save her life.”
Damien led the boy out of the office and closed the door behind him. The moment the room was silent, a sharp throbbing pain started pounding inside my head relentlessly like something was trying to break through my skull. The ache that followed spread through my chest and through my body, but I didn’t try to fight it or push it away. I deserved it and I will let it consume me.
The only question that kept repeating inside my mind was whether Moon was truly pregnant back then or if that pregnancy had also been part of the same plan.
Moon played me like a game of chess and I was the fool who fell for it.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
