Chapter 98
Elowen's POV
"Mom?" Casper moved forward, his hands still shaking from the aftermath of Leo's control. I could feel the guilt and horror radiating through our link as he approached Luna.
Luna looked up at the sound of his voice, her face streaked with tears, eyes vacant with shock. She clutched the body in her arms tighter, flinching away as Casper drew near.
"Don't," she whispered. "Just... don't come near us right now."
The rejection hit Casper like a physical blow. I felt his pain sharp through our link—hurt layered upon the guilt already consuming him.
"Mom, please," he begged, his voice cracking. "I remember fighting with Cassian, attacking Drake... but there's more, isn't there? What else happened while Leo was in control?"
From the floor behind us, Cassian called out weakly, "Mom."
Luna turned her face to Cassian, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Through our mental link, Cassian's voice reached me, tired but determined. He needs to know everything.
Luna's response was immediate and fierce, her thoughts reaching us in fragmented bursts. No! He's already devastated. This will destroy him!
I understood her fear, but Cassian was right. He deserves to know, I sent back to Luna. This is something he has to face.
I've lost my husband tonight, her thoughts trembled with grief. I'm no longer the Luna I was. I can't lose my son too.
I squeezed Casper's hand. "I'll tell him," I said aloud, my voice stronger than I felt. "Luna, why don't you take the others and—"
"I'm not leaving," Cassian interrupted, struggling to sit up. His shirt was torn, revealing the almost-healed gash across his chest. "I won't leave my brother."
Luna looked at her sons for a long moment. Her gaze lingered on Casper, a mixture of fear and heartbreak in her eyes. I can't bear to look at him right now, her mental voice was a choked whisper. Not while Austin is...
With visible effort, she gently laid her husband's body down, her hands trembling as she arranged his arms. She pressed one last kiss to his forehead before rising unsteadily to her feet, needing to brace herself against the wall. Without another word, she walked past Casper, her body curved inward as if physically holding her grief.
The moment she was gone, Casper grabbed my shoulders. "Elowen, please," his voice was raw with desperation. "There's something terrible I don't know yet. Mom can barely look at me."
"Hey," I said, cupping his face in my hands. "Look at me. Focus on me."
I stood between Casper and his father's body, trying to prepare him for what he was about to see.
"Did I hurt someone else?" he asked, the fear in his eyes palpable. "Did Leo do something worse than what I remember?"
"No, this wasn't you or Leo," I assured him, thumbs stroking his cheeks. "Nobody blames you for anything, okay? Leo was just trying to protect me."
Juno's voice filled my head. Leo knows now. He won't lose control again.
I took a deep breath, gathering my courage. "Casper, in the middle of all the chaos, a masked assassin appeared. He attacked Ethan first, injuring his shoulder, but then immediately targeted your father." My voice broke as I continued, "Your father tried to protect everyone, but... he didn't make it. I'm so sorry, Casper. Your father is gone."
Confusion crossed his face, followed by disbelief. "What do you mean 'gone'?"
"Your father was killed," I said softly, my hands dropping from his face. "I watched it happen. The assassin knew exactly who to target."
As the words left my mouth, I stepped aside, no longer blocking his view of the floor where Luna had laid his father's body.
Casper's eyes widened in horror as he saw the still form. He stumbled forward, dropping to his knees beside his father.
"Dad?" His voice was barely a whisper as he reached out with trembling hands, touching his father's still-warm face. "No. No, this can't be..."
He looked up, eyes wild with desperation, searching for some sign that this wasn't real. "This can't be happening."
Cassian took a pained step forward, wincing from his injuries. "It's true," he confirmed, his voice hollow. Despite his pale face and the blood on his shirt, he met his brother's gaze steadily. "Dad's gone, Casper."
Casper knelt frozen beside his father, the shock of this new horror piling onto his earlier guilt and confusion. I could feel through our link how the remorse over Leo's actions was now being overwhelmed by grief so powerful it seemed to steal his breath.
"So while I was out of control," he said, his voice eerily calm, "someone killed my father."
"Yes," I said, kneeling beside him and grabbing his hands. "A masked assassin stabbed your father. This had nothing to do with you or Leo."
Casper's body shook, but no tears came—he seemed too shocked to cry. He stared at his father's peaceful face, one hand still resting on the Alpha's chest.
After a long moment, Casper looked up at his brother. Despite everything, despite his own pain, he reached out a hand to help Cassian stand. Cassian hesitated before taking it, and the brothers stood face to face, connected by shared grief.
"The person who did this," Casper said, his voice low and dangerous. "Why target Dad? Why Ethan first?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. It doesn't make sense. The assassin seemed to know exactly who to go for, switching targets so quickly and deliberately."
Casper's eyes hardened with resolve, and I saw in that moment the Alpha he would become. "We'll find who did this," he promised, his voice barely above a whisper. "And they'll pay with their life."
I nodded, feeling the weight of his words settle over us. Everything had changed tonight. The world we'd known was gone, shattered like the champagne glass that had started this nightmare.
And I feared this was just the beginning.