Chapter 182
Cassian's POV
I knew this conversation was going to go badly. Hell, I could feel it in my bones—that cold certainty that settles in when you know someone's about to get hurt, and there's not a damn thing you can do to stop it.
He can handle it, Zero murmured in my head, his voice surprisingly steady. You need to give Leo more credit.
That made me pause. Zero—my ice-cold, calculating wolf—trusting Leo? The same Leo who'd just been revealed as some kind of demon-spawned entity attached to my twin brother?
I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
Casper stood across the room, arms crossed, that bitter half-smile playing on his lips—the one he wore when he was trying like hell to pretend he wasn't bleeding inside. His eyes found Elowen, and something flickered there. Pain. Recognition.
"At least we can bond over that, huh, cutie?" His voice carried false lightness, but I could hear the crack in it. "Both raised on lies by the people who were supposed to protect us."
Zero stirred, uneasy. That smile is a mask. He's breaking.
Mom cleared her throat, her hands still twisted together. "Casper, what do you mean—"
"It means," Casper cut her off, his voice dropping to something darker, "Elowen and I can bond over how our families have failed us and raised us on lies."
His gaze drifted to Elowen's stomach—barely showing, but we all knew what was there. Two heartbeats. Two tiny lives that would need better than what we'd been given.
The weight of that realization hit me like a fist to the chest.
Dad moved to sit beside Mom, his hand settling on her shoulder in what should have been a comforting gesture. Instead, it looked rehearsed. Practiced. Like he was already preparing his defense.
Why? Elowen's voice whispered through our bond, sharp with suspicion.
Casper's response came quickly. Don't worry about it, little freckle. He's deflecting.
I felt Zero's attention sharpen. Your father is terrified. Not of the truth—of losing his sons. Specifically, of losing them to Leo.
That observation sent a spike of anger through me. Dad's carefully neutral expression, the way he avoided direct eye contact, the controlled set of his shoulders—it all suddenly made sense. He wasn't calm. He was scared shitless and trying to hide it.
"Why what?" Casper's voice cracked like a whip through the room.
When nobody answered, something in him snapped.
"Why what?" He slammed his fist on the coffee table, the sound explosive in the tense silence. "Why did you think making a deal with a fucking demon was a good idea? Why did you lie to us our entire lives? Why—"
"To save our child!" Dad's voice finally broke, raw and desperate.
"I was wolfless, not dying, you fucking idiot!" Casper shot back, his voice rising to a shout.
I saw Mom flinch, saw the way her eyes went wide with hurt. But Casper wasn't done. He was trembling now, his hands clenched into fists, and I could feel Leo stirring beneath his skin—wild and hurt and dangerous.
"Casper," Dad's voice dropped to that Alpha tone, the one that used to make us straighten our spines as kids. "You will watch your tongue, or I will remove it."
The threat hung in the air, and for a moment, everything went still.
Then Casper laughed—harsh and bitter. "Sure thing, Austin."
The deliberate use of Dad's first name—the blatant disrespect—made Mom gasp. I saw the flash of pain in Dad's eyes, genuine and deep, before his face hardened into stone.
He's losing them both, Zero observed. And he knows it.
"Boys," Mom tried, her voice shaking. "Please, let me explain—"
"Then explain," I cut her off, my voice colder than I intended. I felt Elowen shift beside me, her hand finding mine, and I drew strength from that touch. "Explain why you thought it was okay to make deals with demons while lecturing us about the same thing."
Mom's composure cracked. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she looked between us. "Your father... he's not just an Alpha. He rules over four packs. We have enemies everywhere, constantly testing our borders, threatening our family. When Casper reached the age to receive his wolf and nothing came..." She swallowed hard. "The whispers started. The challenges. Other Alphas saw weakness."
"Oh, that must have been hard on Daddy's reputation," Casper sneered, and I could hear Leo in his voice now—sharp and mocking.
Careful, Zero warned. Leo is close to the surface.
Elowen must have sensed it too because she moved, her hands framing Casper's face, forcing him to look at her. "Listen with your head, not your heart, stud."
I watched, a twisted knot of pride and jealousy forming in my chest, as Casper's breathing slowed. As the gold in his eyes dimmed back to that deep amber. She was sitting in his lap now, her presence acting like a balm to both him and Leo.
She's ours, Zero reminded me, sensing my jealousy. And she's the only thing keeping Leo from tearing this room apart. Be grateful.
I was. But it still stung, watching her calm him when I couldn't.