Chapter 225
Casper's POV
Elowen's eyes narrowed, and I felt her mind working through the implications. "That scares you," she said softly. Not a question. A statement.
"I fear no child," Selene replied, but there was a crack in her perfect composure.
"Liar." Elowen's voice was steady, certain. "She scares you. Why?"
The sweet, melodious tone the goddess had been using vanished, replaced by something harder. Something real. "Watch your tongue, little wolf."
"Careful," Elowen shot back, and I couldn't help the surge of pride that filled me. "Cursing doesn't suit a goddess, does it?"
I barked out a laugh before I could stop myself. Beside me, Cassian's lips twitched despite the gravity of the situation.
And suddenly, I understood. It clicked into place like the final piece of a puzzle I hadn't known I was solving.
"You're afraid of losing control," I said, my voice low and dangerous. "She'll challenge you, won't she? Our daughter. She'll be powerful enough to—what? Overthrow you? Replace you?"
Selene's perfect mask cracked further. "If she inherits her father's... rebellious nature," she said carefully, "it could be... problematic."
"Which father?" Cassian asked, his analytical mind already working. "Both of us? Or—"
"That remains to be seen," Selene cut him off. She turned to Elowen, her entire presence shifting. The air grew heavy, oppressive. Angry. "Tell me, Elowen Hartley. Do you plan to reject the mate bond? To sacrifice your connection to these men and keep the child?"
"Wait," Cassian tried to interject, "let's go back to discussing the other option you mentioned—"
But I'd had enough. Enough of her games, her manipulations, her fucking cosmic puppet show. The anger I'd been holding back—years of it, decades of it—exploded out of me like a dam breaking.
"You know what?" I snarled, stepping forward. "Fuck this. Fuck you."
"Casper—" Cassian grabbed my arm, trying to pull me back, but I yanked free.
"No!" I rounded on the goddess, and I didn't care that she could probably obliterate me with a thought. "I'm so fucking tired of this. I grew up hearing stories about you. About how you protected us. How you blessed us with the gift of the wolf, watched over our kind..."
I laughed, and it was a bitter, broken sound. "But that's all it is, isn't it? Stories. Lies and bullshit to make us worship some aging crone who just wants to play with us like we're her toys. Control us. Torture us."
"Casper, stop," Elowen's voice carried a note of warning.
"Or what?" Selene's eyes flashed dangerous white. "What will you do, little Alpha's son?"
"You control our wolves," I continued, my voice shaking with rage. "But you know what's funny? I don't have a wolf. You never gave me one. An Alpha's son, born without a wolf... did you enjoy watching that? Was it entertaining to see me grow up different? Wrong?"
The room trembled. Cassian's hand found mine, squeezing hard. Elowen moved to my other side, her presence a warm anchor.
"Because maybe," I choked out, "if you'd given me a wolf like you gave my brother, my sister, everyone else in the pack—maybe then my parents wouldn't have had to make a deal with a demon. Maybe then they wouldn't have had to stuff some hellish creature into my body just so I wouldn't be fucking useless."
Leo whimpered inside me. Actually whimpered. I could feel his longing, his desperate need to be accepted. To be wanted. I closed my eyes against the ache of it.
When I opened them again, Cassian was looking away, his jaw clenched. He couldn't meet my eyes. Because he knew. He'd always known I was different, and he'd felt shame about it. About me.
"So don't come here," I said, my voice breaking, "and tell us this is our fault. That we need to make impossible choices because of our actions. Because let's be real—all of this? Every fucking problem we have right now? It's because of what you did. What you didn't do."
I was shaking now, my whole body vibrating with fury and grief and a pain so old I'd forgotten it was there until this moment.
Selene was quiet for a long moment. When she finally spoke, her voice was different. Softer. Almost... sad?
"I did give you a wolf, Casper Thornwood," she said quietly. "Your argument isn't with me..."
She sighed, and her eyes flicked toward the door behind us. Toward my parents' room. Toward the pack house. Toward everything I thought I knew about my life.
"It's with those much closer to home."