Louis stepped closer, his voice sharp. “You mean Great-grandfather Nathan’s cousin’s bloodline? Anthony’s Family?”
I roared and launched at him.
A pair of strong arms grabbed me from behind, yanking me off Damien and dragging me back.
He shoved again, managing to shift beneath me slightly, but I slammed him right back down.
He hesitated just for a second then said, “The Beckhams from the Nightshade Pack. And… the Blackwells from the Snow Moon Pack.”.
“But we already know all that,” I snapped, frustration building in my chest. “We’ve heard the happy version a thousand times. We want the truth.”
“I don’t get it,” Levi muttered, drawing my attention to him. His brows were furrowed in pain and confusion. “Why didn’t Olivia tell us? She had so many chances to.”
He didn’t get to finish.
“Tell us,” Louis added, stepping forward, “what caused the rift between us and the Beckhams. What created the enmity between our families?”
Despite hearing it for almost the fourth time, it still hurt to think that we were related to Olivia.
My breath came out ragged.
The air tensed again. We already knew that.
“Her life was complicated,” he went on. “Your great-grandmother. There were secrets. A lot of pain. And even more betrayal. She went through things… things none of us ever fully understood. But eventually, she found her way back to your great-grandfather.”
“My plan would’ve worked,” he added coldly. “If not for the threats I started receiving. That’s why I brought her here… and well, I believe you know the rest.”
“But-” Levi’s voice caught. “That doesn’t make any sense. The Blackwells are related to us through our great-great-grandfather Dominic’s sister, who got married there. How did Great-Grandmother Hailee have a child for Great-Grandfather Nathan’s cousin?”
“You fucking bastard!” I screamed, punching him hard across the face. “You caged her! You silenced her!”
“Like I said,” he began quietly, “your great-grandmother… she had children with other men before she ended up with your great-grandfather.” 2
“Let me go!” I snarled, and yanked myself away from his grip. I turned around and glared at my father. “You better start talking too,” I snapped, my chest heaving, “because I swear, if you don’t-I’ll forget you’re my father.”
“They cut it off. Thinking it was Olivia’s dead body. And then… Gabriel had it placed at your border, for you three to see.”
“She agreed,” he went on, almost casually. “The plan was simple. Take her in as my wife so the council would stop pressuring me to marry-while I still continued my search for Sofia. He cast a quick glance at Sofia, who was now sitting silently on the couch, shoulders shaking as she sobbed quietly.
Father nodded slowly. “Yes. That one.”
“You don’t get to act like the hero now just because you kept her alive. You still broke her. You broke us. And for that…” 1
Lennox’s POV
“According to him, Olivia’s enemies are looking for him. Although they don’t know him, once they see him, they will know he is the one… they knew Olivia is still alive and they wanted her dead, so they have been looking for him in order to get to her, so he asked me if he could remain in the cell for now. I agreed to his request.
But it was too late. We were caught.
They nodded and disappeared down the hall. The room remained tense-thick with all the questions that had no answers yet. Minutes later, the guards returned, practically dragging Anita’s father in. He stumbled forward, confusion all over his wrinkled face. “What is going on-?”
My mind reeled at the layers upon layers of secrets.
His lips parted, but nothing came out. His eyes darted between me, my brothers… and then our parents.
Father looked at us with guilty eyes. “Everything we did… everything I did… was for your best interest…’
“1
“No!” Levi angrily cut her off. “Don’t even think of apologizing, Mother…” he said through gritted teeth.
My frown deepened… so making Olivia and her mother Omega was Mr. Parker’s request.
“That’s why,” she said softly, “when Parker told your father which family Olivia came from… we thought it was best to separate you all.” She looked down for a moment, guilt flashing across her face.
“He said Olivia’s father, his best friend, would never rest in his grave if he knew we allowed a bond to form between our families. He reminded us of the hatred-of the danger. He said the Blackwells and our family were never meant to be connected. No link should ever exist.”
I turned to Father and glared at him. “What happened to Mr. Parker?” I demanded.
“Then Anita declared she was pregnant. I used that,” she confessed. “I thought it was a good opportunity. A way to end the bond before something worse happened. I wanted you three to mark Anita and end your bond with Olivia. Not because I hated Olivia. f never did.” She looked me right in the eyes now.
“Guards!” I barked toward the open door, my voice shaking the walls. Within seconds, two guards rushed in.
“We are sorry,” Mother replied, but it only fueled my anger.
“Until Mr. Parker-Olivia’s guardian-reached out to us,” she continued, “and warned that what we were doing wasn’t right.” She took a breath.
Mother nodded. “Yes. Despite her bloodline. Despite everything. I accepted her.
“It wasn’t her. It was the bloodline. The war. The fear. I didn’t want my sons to be caught in that again.”
My throat tightened.
“So you accepted Olivia?” Louis asked, a bit surprised.
“You should’ve trusted us,” Louis finally said, his angry voice booming in the air. “You should’ve told us everything from the beginning!”
Father nodded slowly. “Because I faked his death.”
“I’m going to ask you a question,” I said coldly. “And you will tell me nothing but the truth. Do you understand me?” He swallowed hard.
“Yes or no!” I roared. He flinched. Then, finally, he nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“Now,” I snarled. “Did you cast a spell on the letters sent to us? Did you enchant them- yes or no?”
Mother stepped forward then, her expression unreadable.
I scoffed.
Louis raked a hand through his hair. “All this happened under our nose, and we had no knowledge of it,”
We all looked at Father, whose brow was furrowed as if he was trying to recall. Then he nodded. “YES… Anita’s father was there.”
“So we forged the letters,” she admitted. “But we didn’t bewitch them. We only forged the letters, and it worked. But the Moon Goddess played a cruel trick by mating her with you three anyway.”
I snarled and glared at him. “We didn’t ask you to… we never asked you to do any of the things you did,” I spat angrily.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Because if you dare to lie to me,” I continued, my tone like a knife, “I will not only kill you…” I stepped closer, my voice dropping into a low growl. “…but I will wipe out your entire family.” Gasps echoed behind me. I didn’t care. My fists were clenched. My eyes were burning. He trembled slightly under my glare.
I stared at her. At the woman who raised us. Who smiled through our victories… and stood tall in our defeats. And yet right now, all I could see was betrayal. Not the kind that bruised. But the kind that shattered. 1
“I-” he stuttered. “I can explain-” 2
“Bring me Anita’s father. Now,” I ordered sharply. “Drag him here if you have to.”
“As you know, he was accused of stealing one of the family heirlooms. It was found in his possession. He got arrested, but I didn’t believe it… I wanted to release him, but he strangely told me not to…”
The room went deathly silent. Until Louis muttered the exact thing we were all thinking.
“Mr. Parker…” he continued, “asked one thing of me before he was taken.” We listened closely. “He told me, if I truly cared about Olivia’s safety-even just a little-I should make his entire family Omega and let them stay in the packhouse. That way, she will be protected.”
“He could’ve benefited from all of this.”
My eyes narrowed. “But no one ever said he was freed…”
“I have a question,” Louis spoke, and I turned my attention to him. “You said you gave the letter to the guards who gave them to us. Was there anybody there?” Louis asked, and I understood where he was going. If our parents didn’t spell the letter as they claimed, then someone did it.
I believed her. Mother was nice to Olivia at a certain time. T
“He had everything to gain from us staying away from Olivia,” Louis added darkly. “Everything.” My wolf stirred, growling low in my chest.
Father inhaled deeply before he spoke.
Mother stepped forward with tear-filled eyes. “Sons… please…”
I blinked in shock.
“Shut it,” I snapped, stepping toward him with slow, threatening steps. “I’m not in a good mood.” His eyes widened as I stopped inches from his face, every ounce of anger I felt leaking through my voice.
Mother continued. “We are so sorry, sons… we should have just told you three the truth, but we were worried that even with the truth, you three would still want her, so we did what we had to do.” 6
Silence filled the room again. So much deception. So many tangled lies.
My heart clenched. She looked back up, her eyes heavy with regret.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.