Chapter 215
Cassian's POV
The weight of Elowen's body against mine should have brought comfort. Instead, it felt like holding sand—precious, fragile, slipping through my fingers no matter how tightly I tried to hold on.
Her breathing was soft, even. Exhausted sleep after what we'd just done. What we'd taken from her.
My jaw clenched.
"You don't have to do this," Zero said in my mind, his voice unusually quiet. "You're just too much of a control freak to let her handle it herself."
"I'm not a fucking control freak," I snapped mentally, careful not to disturb Elowen's sleep. My fingers moved through her hair that caught moonlight streaming through the window. So beautiful it hurt.
"Then what do you call planning to fake-betray your pregnant mate to trick a goddess?" Zero's tone dripped with sarcasm. "That's not controlling at all."
I wanted to argue. Couldn't.
Because he was right.
But what choice did I have? Moon Goddess Selene had made it crystal fucking clear—either Elowen rejects us, or the twins disappear. Our children. The two heartbeats I could sense even now, faint but undeniable, growing inside her.
"The only way people will believe we've given each other up," I whispered to Zero, "is if we betray her. Or she betrays us."
Elowen had asked so many questions tonight. Those eyes searching my face, looking for answers I couldn't give. Not yet. She'd sensed something was wrong—of course she had. Our mate bond made lying impossible.
But Casper had already started pulling away.
I felt it through our twin bond, that unique connection only we shared. He'd been... distant. Cold. Ever since Raven left and we'd made this godforsaken plan.
"He's angry," Zero observed. "At you. At this whole thing."
"I know."
"You should tell him the details. They think you're giving up."
"They?" I frowned.
"Leo and Casper. They feel you pulling away. They think you're abandoning her."
My chest tightened. I looked down at Elowen's sleeping face, peaceful in a way she never was when awake anymore. The标记 on her neck—both sides, mine and Casper's—gleamed silver in the moonlight.
She'd asked why people would believe we didn't care about her anymore. Such a simple question. Such a devastating answer.
They wouldn't. Not after Casper killed our father for her. Not after she stood up to the whole pack. Not after everything we'd done, said, shown in front of everyone.
Which meant anyone with half a brain would know she was our weakness.
Our vulnerability.
A weapon to be used against us.
"She and the children will be seen as leverage," I'd told Casper earlier. "Targets."
"For the pack?" Zero asked, catching my thoughts. "You really think your own people would—"
"For anyone smart enough to want control over the future Alphas," I cut him off. "Which is everyone."
But that wasn't even the worst part.
The worst part was the ultimatum Selene had given us. The one I hadn't told Casper yet. The one that made this whole fucked-up plan necessary.
Because if Elowen didn't reject us, the twins would vanish. Just... cease to exist. And not just if we stayed in Thornwood Pack. Not just in this territory.
Everywhere.
The condition wasn't limited to our pack. It was the price of Father being alive at all.
Moon Goddess didn't play fair. She didn't have to.
Movement beside me. Casper stirring.
I went still, watching through the darkness as my twin's eyes opened. He didn't look at me. Instead, his gaze went immediately to Elowen, checking that she was still there.
Still ours.
For now.
His hand reached out, almost desperate, touching her arm as if to confirm she was real. Then his eyes shifted to me, and the pain in them—fuck, it was like being gutted.
I touched Elowen's cheek, memorizing the softness of her skin. Through our bond, I sent to Casper: "I'm not trying to hurt you."
He shook his head, refusing to meet my eyes again. Then he was moving, carefully extracting himself from the bed, pulling away from Elowen with a care that made my throat tight.
He grabbed pillows, arranging them around her like a fortress. Making sure she was safe, protected, even in sleep.
Even from us.
Then he was gone, heading for the door.
"Let him go," Zero advised. "Give him space."
But I couldn't. Not when I felt the jagged edges of his pain through our twin bond. Not when I knew what I had to tell him.
Not when time was running out.
I pressed a kiss to Elowen's forehead—one last touch of softness before the hard conversation ahead—and followed my brother out into the hallway.
"Casper," I called quietly.
He kept walking, shoulders rigid. Like a child pretending not to hear.
Stubborn ass.
I made sure Elowen was surrounded by blankets and pillows, safe and warm, then went after him. Found his bedroom door locked.
Of course.
"He doesn't want to talk," Zero said unnecessarily.
"Too bad."
I drove my elbow through the door. Wood splintered with a sharp crack.
Casper spun around inside his room, eyes flashing. "You're going to wake her up," he hissed.
I checked through our bond with Elowen. Still sleeping, exhausted from everything we'd put her through tonight. "She's fine."