Chapter 43
Elowen's POV
I stood frozen in Casper and Cassian's embrace, their warmth surrounding me while my insides turned to ice. The words my mother had just spoken echoed in my mind like a broken record, each repetition slicing deeper into my soul.
Your father was a bastard. He killed himself. He left us alone.
My entire life had been a carefully constructed lie, built on the foundation of a dead man's cowardice and my mother's desperation. Dad hadn't died of cancer when I was barely walking—he'd chosen to abandon us, but not before trading me away like a poker chip in some twisted game I never knew I was playing.
"Elowen?" Casper's voice cut through the fog of my thoughts, gentle but laced with concern. His hand cupped my cheek with infinite tenderness. "What happened with Jessica? What did she say to you?"
The truth clawed at my throat like a living thing, desperate to escape, but I swallowed it down. How could I tell them that I'd been promised to Drake's family before I could even walk? That my entire existence had been reduced to collateral for gambling debts and failed investments? That everything I thought I knew about myself was built on lies?
"Nothing new," I forced out, my voice barely above a whisper. The lie tasted bitter on my tongue. "Just the usual 'come home' speech."
Cassian's eyes narrowed, those steel-gray depths seeing too much. "Then why was she screaming? And why do you look like someone just ripped your heart out?"
I turned away, wiping at cheeks I hadn't realized were wet. "She brought up my dad. It's been years, but..." I let my voice break naturally, using my genuine pain as cover for the deeper betrayal I couldn't voice.
Not entirely a lie. It did hurt—more than ever now that I knew the truth behind his "heroic" battle against cancer was actually a coward's escape from the mess he'd made of our lives.
I'd spent my entire childhood weaving fantasies about the father I'd never known, creating a saint from scattered memories and my mother's carefully edited stories. On birthdays, I'd imagined him watching from heaven, proud of his little girl. During school plays, I'd scan the audience for his face, somehow believing love could transcend death itself.
All of it—every cherished memory, every whispered prayer to his spirit—built on lies. He hadn't loved me enough to stay. Worse, he'd bartered away my future before taking the coward's way out, leaving my mother to carry out his devil's bargain.
"Your mother is a piece of work," Cassian growled, his arms tightening around me with protective fury that made my chest ache. If only he knew how right he was.
I nodded absently, my mind spinning like a hurricane. The Reid family—I knew so little about them it was almost laughable. Drake had always deflected questions about his background, claiming his family lived "up north" and that he preferred not to discuss them. I'd assumed it was typical rich-boy embarrassment about overbearing parents.
Now I wondered what shadows lurked behind his evasions. If they were powerful enough to reduce my mother—proud, stubborn Jessica—to barely contained panic, if they held agreements that survived death itself... who exactly were these people? And what kind of arrangement transcended the grave?
A darker thought crept in: Why would Alpha Austin allow a family with obvious ties to another pack to maintain such a presence in Thornwood territory? Unless...
"Where's Cindy?" I asked suddenly, desperate to derail my spiraling thoughts before the twins' supernatural senses picked up on my growing distress. "Shouldn't she be back from her meeting by now?"
Casper's thumb traced gentle circles on my cheek, the gesture so tender it nearly broke my resolve. "She mentioned something about meeting with the pack elders, but knowing Cindy, she probably got distracted and dragged Ethan off on some romantic adventure."
My mind raced, formulating a plan I knew was reckless but felt inevitable. If I was going to get answers—real answers, not the sanitized version my mother would feed me—I needed to confront Drake directly. The twins would never allow it; they'd sooner tear him apart than let me within a mile of him. But I needed to understand what this arrangement entailed, how deep the debt ran, and exactly what the Reid family expected from me.
The idea that crystallized in my mind wasn't just bad—it was potentially catastrophic. But I was drowning in lies and half-truths, and sometimes you had to swim toward the shark to find your way to shore.
"I should go shopping with Cindy," I announced, injecting false brightness into my voice like I was painting over cracks in a wall. "I desperately need to update my wardrobe. These clothes make me look like a college dropout."
Casper chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest where I pressed against him. "We can have Sophia handle whatever you need. She has excellent taste, and you won't have to deal with crowds."
"No," I insisted, adding a slight pout that I knew melted both their resolves. "I want to go with Cindy. Girl time, you know? Plus, there's that new artisan chocolate shop near the Council Hall that everyone's raving about. I'm dying to try their lavender truffles."
Cassian raised an eyebrow, his detective instincts clearly pinging. "I can just call her and—"
My heart nearly stopped as he pulled out his phone. I held my breath, sending up desperate prayers to whatever deity might be listening: Don't answer, don't answer, please don't answer.
The phone rang once, twice, three times. Cassian's frown deepened with each unanswered ring before he finally hung up.
"Straight to voicemail," he muttered, concern creeping into his voice.
Relief flooded through me so intensely I nearly staggered. "Can you guys go find her? Please?" I wrapped my arms around Cassian's waist, looking up at him through my lashes with the expression that had never failed to work on them. "And maybe grab some of that barbecue from Tony's food truck? I've been craving his pulled pork all day."
Cassian's stern expression melted like ice in summer sunshine. He tapped my nose gently, his eyes soft with affection. "Anything for our princess."
But Casper wasn't so easily swayed. His gaze sharpened as I felt the familiar tingle of our mind link activating.
What are you hiding, beautiful?
I met his stare directly, pouring every ounce of sincerity I could muster into my mental voice. Nothing dangerous. I just need some space to process what happened with my mom. All these revelations... I need time to think without you both hovering.
He studied me for a long moment, those blue eyes seeming to peer directly into my soul. Finally, he sighed, resignation replacing suspicion.
Fine. But you don't leave this house. Not with Drake still skulking around like a rabid dog.
"We won't be gone long," he said aloud, pressing a lingering kiss to my forehead that made my chest tight with guilt. "Stay here, understand? With Drake and his family situation getting more complicated, I don't want you alone and vulnerable."
"I promise I'll be right here when you get back," I said, choosing my words with the precision of a lawyer. I would be here when they returned—I just wouldn't necessarily stay here the entire time they were gone.
The moment their car disappeared down the driveway, I began my countdown. One hundred seconds to ensure they wouldn't return for forgotten keys or second thoughts. My hands shook as I reached ninety-eight, ninety-nine...
One hundred.
I grabbed my phone with trembling fingers and scrolled to the contact I'd hoped never to need again. My thumb hovered over Drake's name for a heartbeat before I forced myself to type:
Are you home?
My heart hammered against my ribs as I waited, each second stretching into eternity. The familiar weight of dread settled in my stomach like a stone.
Three dots appeared, then his response: Yes. Why?
I closed my eyes, took a shuddering breath, and typed the message that would change everything:
We need to talk. About my father's debt. About the arrangement with your family.
The response came so quickly it made me jump: How the hell do you know about that?
My fingers flew across the screen: I'll be there in 15 minutes. Don't tell anyone I'm coming.
As I hit send, I moved with sudden determination. From my dresser drawer, I retrieved the small knife Cindy had given me as a "just in case" gift months ago—back when Drake's possessiveness had first started setting off alarm bells. The weight of it in my palm was reassuring and terrifying in equal measure.
I wasn't the same broken girl who'd let Drake manipulate and control her. I wasn't the naive child who'd been bartered away before she could walk. I was Elowen, marked and claimed by two of the most powerful wolves in the territory, and I would not be anyone's victim ever again.
But to become who I was meant to be, I needed to confront the ghosts of who I'd been forced to be.
Juno whined anxiously in my mind as I slipped the blade into my jacket pocket. Even my wolf knew this was dangerous territory we were entering.
We need to know, I told her silently. We need to understand what we're fighting against.