Chapter 140: What We Did to Aria

Two days later;

Connor stood at the window, staring down at the quiet courtyard.

He had failed.

Not just Ivy—but himself. His pack. Everything he was supposed to protect.

And now, he was paying the price.

He had rejected her back then. The one person who would have loved him more than any other. And now he has lost her completely. Nothing he said or did would bring her back.

So he would live with that.

The only thing he can do is to let her go, and carry the regret like a scar for the rest of his life.

But he wouldn’t carry it alone.

No.

Lila would burn with him.

She started the fire—he would make sure she felt every single flame.

And it starts now.

The scent of rot was thicker on the east side of the dungeon.

The damp, suffocating air clung to Connor’s skin like guilt, yet it was nothing compared to the rage simmering just beneath his surface. He’d contained his wolf. Barely. For two days, the beast within him had clawed at his insides, demanding blood, demanding vengeance.

But not yet.

There were two others who deserved the first crack at retribution.

“Get me Elizabeth and Tom. Now.” His mindlink was sharp, cutting through the silence like a blade. Within moments, he was at the bottom of the east stairwell, the iron-bound door to the dungeon looming ahead.

They were already there, waiting. Two shadows of the people they used to be. Elizabeth and Tom stood with their heads bowed, not in deference, but in shame.

“Alpha,” Tom said, voice cracking like splintered wood. “I failed… I failed as a father. I should’ve known. I—I should’ve seen it. I’ll never forgive myself… for what we did to Aria.”

Elizabeth didn’t speak. She couldn’t. Her shoulders were shaking, arms wrapped around herself like she was trying to hold the guilt in. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks.

“I was… so angry,” she whispered hoarsely. “So consumed by rage that I didn’t think. I didn’t even ask if there was something more. I didn’t want there to be. I wanted someone to blame, and she was… there. Just a kid.”

“Exactly,” Connor growled, voice like thunder echoing off stone. His eyes glowed gold, unrelenting. “Exactly! We didn’t question it. We didn’t protect her. We should’ve—but we didn’t. We treated her like the criminal.”

He stepped closer, eyes burning with something more than fury now—shame.

“We all wronged her. This pack wronged her. Every damn one of us. For all we did. For all the tears she shed. For the years of silence we forced her into.”

Tom flinched. Elizabeth sobbed harder.

“And to think she tried to kill herself… when Mr. Blackwood found her?” Connor’s jaw clenched. “He took the little girl we threw away and turned her into someone we should all be begging for forgiveness. But that’s not why I called you here.”

He turned sharply, coat swaying behind him as he stalked toward the cell.

“This is why.”

They followed. Past empty cells and rusted bars. Past silence heavy enough to press against their bones.

When Connor stopped, the two of them hesitated.

Behind the bars, chained to the wall, her once shiny black hair matted and skin pale from the cold, was Lila.

She didn’t look like a monster. That was the terrifying part.

She looked like Ivy.

But Ivy never had eyes that cold.

“There she is,” Connor snarled. “The mastermind behind it all. The monster.”

Elizabeth stepped forward. Her lips quivered. Her eyes were wild, not with grief—but vengeance.

Tom was a step behind, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

Lila raised her head slowly. Her lips twitched into a soft smile, almost childlike. “You’ve all gone mad,” she whispered sweetly. “Ivy’s been whispering lies to all of you, hasn’t she? Maybe she used magic. Maybe she—”

The first slap landed with a sharp crack.

Then came the second.

And the third.

Elizabeth’s hand trembled, but her fury did not. “You twisted little witch,” she spat. “You made us believe Aria was a murderer. You made us believe she was dangerous. You manipulated us! Lied to us! And we—” her voice cracked—“we believed you.”

Lila reeled from the slaps, blood trickling from her lip. She blinked slowly, dazed but defiant. “You’re fools,” she hissed, and her voice dropped low. Dark. “All of you. You want to treat me like you treated her? You’re just as stupid as you were then.”

Elizabeth lunged at her, grabbing her by the hair and forcing her chin up. “Look at me!” she screamed. “I don’t care about your lies anymore. It’s over. I swear, Lila, I will drag you to hell with me before I ever let you hurt anyone else again. You are nothing but a monster! An animal!”

Lila grinned through the blood on her teeth.

“And what does that make you, huh?” she snapped. “You believed me because you wanted to. You never even questioned me. Deep down, you knew she was innocent. But it was easier to pretend. So stop acting like you’re some goddamn saint!”

The slap that followed wasn’t from Elizabeth.

It came from Tom.

His palm struck her so hard her head snapped sideways.

He looked sick. Hollowed out. Like every word was a dagger lodged in his own chest.

“How could you be so cruel?” he choked. “To your own sister? Your twin? How could you do this?”

“Because I should’ve been better than her!” Lila shrieked, her voice raw. “How dare she share the same face with me? She’s worthless! She was always just… my shadow! I just helped you all see that faster.”

Then she laughed.

It wasn’t a human laugh.

It was twisted. Gritting. Mocking.

A sound that made the hairs on the back of Tom’s neck rise. That shattered whatever fragile restraint remained in his chest.

His wolf surged forward.

One moment he was still. The next, his claws were out. There was a blur of motion, a snarl that echoed like a death knell—

Then a scream.

Lila’s scream.

Blood gushed, hot and fast, splattering the stone walls.

Her left hand hit the floor with a thud.

She screamed again, thrashing against the chains, eyes wide in horror, agony painting her face.

Elizabeth stumbled back, hand to her mouth. Her knees nearly gave out.

Connor didn’t move.

He just stared at the severed hand, at the blood pooling like spilled truth, and smiled coldly.

“Good,” he muttered.

Tom stood above Lila, chest heaving, eyes glowing amber. He was still trembling—whether from rage or the wolf within, he didn’t care.

But his voice was steel when he spoke.

“Now you don’t look like her anymore,” he snarled.

Lila screamed, a sound so deep it scraped her throat raw.

“I hope you’re happy with your new look, Lila.”

She curled into herself, cradling the stump where her hand used to be, blood running between her fingers. The pain etched itself into every corner of her face—but it couldn’t hide the venom in her glare.

“You’re all going to regret this,” she rasped, spitting blood at their feet.

Connor didn’t even flinch. He stepped closer, crouching down so he was eye-level with her.

“No,” he said calmly, eyes glowing gold. “You’re the one who’s going to regret it.”

He turned to Elizabeth and Tom.

“You can go now. I’ll take it from here.”

They hesitated. Elizabeth opened her mouth to protest, but Connor’s glare silenced her.

When the cell door slammed shut behind them, silence returned to the dungeon.

Connor knelt beside Lila. She whimpered, still cradling her wound.

He didn’t look at the blood. Or the severed limb. He looked at her.

The real her.

The face beneath the lies.

“You broke her,” he said quietly. “You shattered the little girl in her. And still… she would’ve fought by your side if you had asked her to.”

He leaned closer.

“Ivy survived you. And now you’re going to survive me.”

Then he stood.

And he didn’t look back.