Chapter 99
Elowen's POV
I watched the brothers standing united in their grief, their shoulders touching as they stared down at their father's body. The sight should have brought me comfort—family coming together in tragedy—but a terrible thought had been gnawing at me since the attack, growing more insistent with each passing moment.
Something about the masked assassin's movements had been bothering me. The precision, the deliberate targeting—this wasn't random. This was planned.
I hesitated, my throat tight. Looking at Casper's grief-stricken face, at the way Cassian's hands trembled at his sides, I wanted nothing more than to let this moment of unity last. To give them this one piece of peace before the storm continued. But the memory of those fluid, practiced movements wouldn't leave me alone. The assassin had moved with purpose, with knowledge. And that precision kept replaying in my mind like a warning I couldn't ignore.
We need to know, Juno whispered urgently in my mind. If there's more to this, we can't afford to wait.
She was right. As much as I hated to shatter this fragile moment, the question burning inside me wouldn't be silenced. Not when lives might depend on the answer.
"Casper," I said, my voice barely audible even to my own ears. "There's something I need to ask you."
He turned to me, his face still a mask of shock and newfound determination. "What is it?"
I took a deep breath, steeling myself. "Did you know someone was targeting your family? Specifically Ethan?"
His eyes widened slightly, just enough for me to know I'd hit a nerve. A flicker of guilt passed across his face before he lowered his gaze.
"Casper?" I pressed, my heart hammering in my chest. "Tell me you didn't know about this."
"I..." he hesitated, running a hand through his hair. "I heard rumors that Drake was planning something against Ethan. But I didn't know if it was true. I tried to look into it privately, but I found nothing concrete. I thought he was just running his mouth again, like he always does."
The admission hit me like a slap. My mind reeled, thoughts spiraling in disbelief. He knew? All this time, he knew something might happen?
"You knew?" I backed away from him, voice rising with each word. "You fucking knew someone might try to kill Ethan and you kept your mouth shut? What the hell, Casper?"
Juno growled inside me, her anger matching mine. How could he hide this? This is pack safety!
Cassian's head snapped up, his eyes narrowing at his brother. "What the fuck, Casper? You knew and kept quiet?" His voice was deadly calm but edged with fury. "Our father is dead! If you had said something—"
"I didn't know it was real!" Casper shouted, his hands trembling. "I investigated! There was nothing—no evidence, no proof! Just Drake's usual posturing!"
"And you didn't think that was worth mentioning?" I couldn't keep the betrayal from my voice. "That's the kind of secret you don't keep, Casper! Not from your family, not from me!"
Casper's shoulders slumped. "I was going to tell you—tell everyone. But everything at the party happened so fast, one crisis after another. I never got the chance." He looked between us, desperation in his eyes. "And besides... Ethan has royal bloodline. Killing him would be practically suicide for Drake or anyone else. The consequences would be catastrophic. The entire Starfall Pack would declare war. I thought the threat itself was protection enough."
My chest tightened with anger and confusion. Our mating was so new, our bond still forming—was this how it would be? Secrets and half-truths?
"That wasn't your decision to make," Cassian snarled, taking a step toward his brother. "You don't get to decide what threats are real!"
"Oh, like you're so forthcoming?" Casper shot back, grief morphing into defensive rage. "How many secrets are you keeping, brother? Should we start counting?"
I stepped between them, hands raised. "Stop it! Both of you! Your father is lying dead ten feet away, and you're at each other's throats!"
The brothers fell silent, the weight of my words hanging in the air. Grief and guilt mingled in the space between us.
I shook my head, trying to process everything while piecing together what I'd witnessed. "It couldn't have been Drake anyway," I said firmly, needing to redirect their focus.
Both brothers turned to me, confusion evident on their faces.
"What do you mean?" Cassian asked, his voice hoarse.
"The person I saw—the assassin—they moved like water, quick and light on their feet. They weren't injured at all." I looked directly at Casper. "Remember, you stabbed Drake earlier tonight. He was bleeding, weakened. There's no way he could have moved like that or had the strength to change into that black robe and do all this."
Casper's eyes widened with realization. "Then who?"
"I don't know," I admitted, wrapping my arms around myself. "But I'm afraid it's someone else entirely. Drake is injured right now. He simply couldn't have done this."
The killer is still out there, Juno whispered in my mind, her anxiety bleeding into mine. And we have no idea who they are.
A heavy silence fell between us as the implications sank in. If not Drake, then who? And why?
Suddenly, Casper looked around the room, his brow furrowing. "Where are Ethan and Cindy? They were here just before everything happened."
My blood ran cold. If the assassin's primary target had been Ethan all along, then Alpha Austin's death might have been a distraction—or worse, just the beginning.
"Right after Ethan was stabbed, Cindy got him to the medical room," Cassian said, his voice tight with urgency. "They left just moments before Father..." He couldn't finish the sentence.
The three of us exchanged horrified glances as the same thought occurred to us all.
"If that assassin's real target was always Ethan..." I couldn't even finish the sentence, terror closing my throat.
"We need to go. Now." Casper's voice had taken on an authoritative edge I'd never heard before. "If the assassin's primary target was Ethan, they won't stop until they've completed their mission."
"The killer is still in the Pack House," Cassian confirmed, already moving toward the door despite his injuries. "And Ethan and Cindy are completely vulnerable."
Juno snarled in my mind, her protective instincts surging. We need to hurry. They're in danger.