Chapter 216
Cassian's POV
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."
Casper turned back to his dresser, yanking open a drawer with enough force that the handle came off in his hand. He stared at it for a moment, then threw it aside with a bitter laugh.
"Casper—"
"I don't want to talk," he said flatly.
I crossed the room in three strides, pressed my hand over his mouth before he could say anything else. He tried to jerk away, but I held firm.
"I don't want you to talk," I said. "I want you to listen. And if you have a better idea after hearing me out, I'll consider it. I promise." I swallowed hard. "I don't want to do this either."
His eyes—so much like Elowen's—blazed with fury. But he gave a short nod.
I lowered my hand. "Say what you need to say. Fast. Before I change my mind."
Before my resolve broke.
Because looking at my twin, seeing the devastation in his face, knowing I was about to make it worse—it took everything I had not to say fuck it all and run away with Elowen instead.
But we couldn't run from a goddess.
And we couldn't let our children disappear.
So I took a breath and started explaining the plan that would destroy us all.
"Do you remember," I said slowly, "what happened at the ball? When you—when Leo—lost control?"
Casper flinched. "I didn't kill Father."
"I know. But that's not what the pack saw." I held his gaze. "They saw you attack him because someone insulted Elowen. They saw her stand up to the most feared wolf in the pack without hesitation."
"So?"
"So do you really think people will believe we just stopped caring about her?" I let the question hang. "When you nearly killed our father over a comment? When she's been marked by both of us? When the whole pack knows she's carrying our children?"
Casper's jaw worked. "We can make them believe—"
"No." My voice came out harsher than intended. "We can't. And anyone smart enough to see through it will use her against us. Use the twins against us."
"You're the expert on using people, Cassian," he shot back.
The words stung. But I couldn't argue. Couldn't even defend myself, because in a way, he was right.
"She and the children will be targets," I said instead. "Leverage. Weapons to control the future Alphas."
"Then fuck the pack!" Casper's voice rose. "We can go somewhere else—"
"And do what?" I cut him off. "Run? Hide? Spend our lives looking over our shoulders?"
I shook my head, feeling the weight of what I had to say next settle on my shoulders like a physical burden.
This was it. The part I'd been dreading.
"Moon Goddess gave us a choice," I said quietly, "Selene demands that we make a choice—either Elowen rejects us, or the children disappear."
The color drained from Casper's face.
My throat tightened just thinking about it. Losing the twins. Those two tiny heartbeats. The future I'd started imagining despite myself—teaching them to drive, watching them take their first steps, protecting them from every threat...
Gone. Just gone.
"And it's not just about staying in this pack," I continued, forcing the words out. "It's the condition for Father being alive at all. Anywhere. Everywhere."
Understanding dawned in Casper's eyes, followed by horror.
"Tell him through the mind-link," Zero urged. "Selene might be listening."
Good point. I switched to our mental connection, the twin bond that even a goddess couldn't easily penetrate.
"We need to make people—make Selene, make everyone—believe those feelings are gone," I sent to him. "We need them to truly think Elowen doesn't matter to us anymore."
"How?" Casper's mental voice was raw.
This was it. The moment that would change everything.
"The only thing that could make us separate," I said through the bond, "is if she cheated with Drake... or we cheated with..."
I couldn't finish. Couldn't say her name.
But I didn't have to. Through our twin connection, Casper saw the full horrific plan laid out in my mind.
Saw us with Sarah. Pretending. Making it look real enough to fool a goddess.
Breaking Elowen's heart to save her life.
"Sarah," he breathed, and the devastation in that single word nearly broke me.
"I'm sorry," I sent back. "But I can't see another way."
The silence between us was deafening.