Chapter 194
Elowen's POV
The door closed behind us with a finality that echoed through my chest. I could still feel Austin and Ella's shocked faces burned into my retinas, their expressions of regret and horror doing nothing to ease the fury coiling in my gut.
Good fucking riddance, Juno snarled in my mind, her presence a comforting weight of pure, unfiltered rage. They had their chance. Multiple chances.
I stumbled slightly as we reached the stairs, my legs suddenly feeling like they were made of water. The adrenaline that had carried me through that confrontation was starting to fade, leaving behind a hollow ache.
"Elowen." Casper's voice was soft, careful, as his hand found the small of my back. "Baby, are you okay?"
Through our bond, I felt Cassian's immediate attention snap to me, his concern threading through the connection like a lifeline. The dual sensation of their worry wrapped around me, steadying me even as my vision blurred with unshed tears.
"I'm fine," I managed, but my voice cracked on the last word.
Liar, Juno huffed. We're a fucking mess.
Casper's hand tightened on my waist, and I felt him exchange a look with Cassian over my head. Ronan had moved ahead, giving us space but remaining close enough to intervene if needed.
"You're not fine," Cassian said quietly, moving to my other side. Through our twin bond with them, I felt his attempt to sense exactly what I was feeling—the storm of emotions churning beneath my skin.
I stopped on the landing, forcing myself to take a breath. When I looked up at them, both sets of eyes—Casper's warm amber and Cassian's ice blue—were fixed on me with an intensity that made my throat tight.
"I'm just..." I swallowed hard. "I'm so fucking angry. They lied to you. Both of you. About something so fundamental—about who you are, Casper. What you are." My hands clenched into fists. "They deceived you—the two people who were supposed to protect you above all else."
Casper's jaw tightened, his eyes flickering with that telltale gold that meant Leo was close to the surface. "Elowen—"
"No." I shook my head fiercely. "They had no right. No right to make deals with demons, to let some... some thing into you without your knowledge or consent. And for what? To maintain their precious control over the pack?"
Tell them, Juno urged. Tell them what we figured out.
I felt Cassian's hand slide down to grip mine, his fingers threading through mine with a possessiveness that should have irritated me but instead grounded me.
"What are you thinking, babe?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
I looked between them, these two men who had become my entire world in such a short time. My mates. The fathers of my children. The only people I could trust completely.
"They did it to consolidate their control," I said softly. "When they took over this pack. It wasn't about protecting you, Casper—not really. It was about making sure their bloodline, their legacy, remained powerful enough to hold what they'd taken."
Bullshit power games, Juno spat. And they lost most of those packs anyway!
"Juno says it's bullshit," I added, and despite everything, a bitter smile touched my lips. "And she's right. They talk about family, about protection, but really? It was all just... calculated manipulation. An abuse of power."
The silence that followed was heavy. Through the bond, I felt Casper's pain—raw and jagged—mixing with a growing fury that made Leo growl in response. Cassian's emotions were more controlled, but I sensed the cold rage building behind his usual composure.
"They failed you," Cassian said finally, his ice-blue eyes finding mine. "They failed all of us. But mostly—" His thumb traced circles on the back of my hand. "They failed you most of all."
I wanted to argue, to say it wasn't about me, but the words died in my throat. Because he was right, wasn't he? I wasn't their child. I wasn't their priority—Cindy was. And I'd been nothing but a political pawn, a tool to be traded away when it suited their purposes.
But we're free now, Juno reminded me gently. We have our mates. We have our babies.
My free hand moved unconsciously to my still-flat stomach, and both Casper and Cassian's gazes followed the movement. Their expressions softened immediately, protective instinct flaring through the bond so strongly it nearly took my breath away.
"When these two are born," I said quietly, "I'll do anything to protect them too. I understand that much about being a parent." I looked up at them, making sure they could see the truth in my eyes. "But I would never do what they did. I would never lie like that. Never trade away someone else's child for my own gain."
Casper made a sound low in his throat—part growl, part groan—and suddenly his arms were around me, pulling me against his chest. His scent—pine and smoke—surrounded me as he buried his face in my hair.
"We're not them," he said fiercely, his voice rough with emotion. "We're nothing like them, little freckle."
Through the bond, I felt Cassian's agreement, his hand settling on the back of my neck in a gesture that was both possessive and comforting.
"Would we do what they did?" Cassian asked softly, the question clearly rhetorical. "Would we ever agree to use you as a bargaining chip? Trade you away to secure an alliance with Cindy's mate?"
"Never," Casper growled against my hair, his arms tightening. "We'd burn the whole fucking world down first."
I felt my eyes sting with tears—the good kind this time. These men, these complicated, possessive, sometimes infuriating men, had chosen me. Truly chosen me. Not because I was useful, not because I could secure their power, but because we were meant to be together.
Our mates, Juno purred, satisfaction radiating through our connection. Ours.
"Come on," I said softly, gently extracting myself from Casper's embrace even though every fiber of my being wanted to stay there. "We should keep moving. I can't... I can't stay in this hallway."
Too many memories. Too many years of feeling small and unwanted in these walls.
Cassian nodded, his hand sliding down to grip my waist as we started up the next flight of stairs. Casper took my other side, and together we moved as one unit—a constellation of three instead of the broken fragments we'd been before.
Ronan waited at the top of the stairs, his green eyes sharp and assessing. "Everything okay?"
"Fine," Cassian said shortly, his tone brooking no argument.