Chapter 24 Chapter 24
Ava's POV
The video looped in my mind, a venomous cycle of betrayal. Rachel, the woman I had trusted, the woman who was supposed to be helping us, holding a gun to Garry’s head while my cousin, Nathan, smiled. Marcus had exploded into a cold, silent rage, locking himself in his office with Kael, planning a war. He had shut me out, his protector instincts overriding our fragile partnership.
But I couldn't just sit and wait. The name Livia, my mother’s name, was a brand on my soul. Rachel’s words about the contract, the billion-dollar payment for a child, echoed in my ears. My father had the answers. And I was going to get them.
I used my authority as Luna, a power that felt heavier and more real with each passing day, to get past the guards at the secure apartment tower where my father was being held. It wasn’t a prison, not really. It was a gilded cage, a luxury penthouse with invisible walls, where he could do no more harm.
When I used my key to let myself in, the smell of smoke hit me first. I found him in the grand living room, kneeling before the marble fireplace. He was frantically shoving papers into the flames, his movements jerky and desperate. The man who had always been the epitome of control was a frantic, terrified stranger.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice cold.
He spun around, his eyes wide with a wild, hunted fear. “Ava! You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.”
“I’m the Luna of this pack, Dad. Everywhere is my territory,” I said, walking toward him. I held up the small silver locket that Nathan had planted on me. “You recognize this, don’t you? It’s mother’s. I believe the man who gave it to me is a close, personal friend of yours.”
He flinched, scrambling to his feet. “You don’t understand. He’s not what you think.”
“Oh, I think I’m finally beginning to understand,” I said, my voice shaking with a rage I could barely contain. “Livia. That was her name. A Royal Lycan from an old bloodline. And you and Richard Stone signed a contract, a billion-dollar contract, to give her child to the Silvercrest pack. Was that me, Dad? Did you sell me?”
“No!” he cried, his voice cracking. “Never you! It was for him! For Nathan!”
“So the stories are true,” I whispered, the pieces clicking into place with sickening clarity. “Marcus has a twin. A brother you and his father gave away. Why? Why would you do that?”
He ran a hand through his thinning hair, his eyes darting around the room as if the walls were listening. “You have to get away from him, Ava. From Marcus. He’s the danger. Not Nathan.”
I stared at him, incredulous. “Marcus is my mate. My Alpha. Nathan tried to kill us. He is holding you hostage, he took our company, and you’re telling me Marcus is the one I should be afraid of?”
“Yes!” he insisted, grabbing my arms. His grip was surprisingly strong. “You have to leave him. We can run, you and I. We can go somewhere he’ll never find us. Somewhere the curse can’t reach.”
“The curse?” I asked, my blood running cold. “What are you talking about? What curse?”
He looked at the locket in my hand, then at my face, his expression one of utter despair. “The Royal Curse. The reason your mother had to go into hiding. The reason she made me promise to protect you, to keep you small, to keep you from ever finding a true mate.”
“My mother was a Royal Lycan,” I said, the words from Nathan’s text feeling strange and foreign on my tongue.
“Yes,” he whispered, his eyes filling with tears. “The last of her line. A line that was haunted by a terrible curse. And now it’s woken up in you. That flash of gold in your eyes, Ava, it’s the beginning of the end.”
I pulled my arms from his grasp, shaking my head. “This is insane. You’re not making any sense. Marcus and I, our bond… it’s making me stronger.”
“No!” he shouted, his face a mask of frantic terror. “Don’t you see? That’s the trap! That’s how the curse works! It lies dormant for generations, waiting. Waiting for the perfect catalyst.”
He lunged for me again, his fingers digging into my shoulders, his eyes wild and pleading. “The bond, Ava! The true mate bond you share with a Lycan of the Stone bloodline! It’s not a gift from the Goddess!”
His voice dropped to a horrifying, ragged whisper that shattered the last remnants of my world.
“It’s the key that unlocks the cage.”