CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

Edgar's face morphed into shock at her question. Ruby could see that she had taken him off guard. His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung gaped. She stared straight into his eyes—eyes she had always wondered why they were akin to Ophelia's but different from hers. Ruby always thought she looked more like her mother since she shared no traits with her father or sister, but now she knew it was all a lie.

Edgar regained his composure soon after. His lip tugged upward into a grin. His eyes, which had given away so much, reverted to an apathetic glare, which angered Ruby. She thought she had him cornered by her question, but it seemed like he always had the upper hand when it came to her. A dry chuckle escaped his lips as he took the seat beside the bed, shaking his head in amusement.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Ruby asked once more as a shiver ran down her spine.

The air around Edgar grew intimidating as it had always been. Years ago, Ruby knew better than to look him in the eye when he talked or walked into a room, but she felt different. The fear that haunted her in his presence still resided in her, but a tenacity she had developed when she was away from him brewed fiercer.

"You disappoint me once again, Ruby."

His tone was mocking. His words were meant to insult and condescend. Ruby remembered cowering away with tears, always wanting to please her father to avoid punishment. But when the exact words had been thrown at her time and time again, it meant nothing in the end. Just words hurled at her to break her will.

"I just want the truth," Ruby closed her eyes, conjuring the feeling of comfort Noah brought. She needed to calm her emotions if she wanted to face her father.

"You run away thinking you are strong enough to face the world, but once you are brought back to where you belong, you return with questions that show you don't even know who you are," Edgar replied, leaning back on his seat.

"I remember everything." Ruby opened her eyes, wanting to see his reaction to her revelation.

"Ah, I see your episodes have returned. What do you expect when you run away from the people who helped to contain your madness?"

"They were never 'episodes,' were they?" Ruby asked, feeling the rage building up, which ignited the little spark of energy still burning inside her.

She felt angry tears prick her eyes as she slowly gathered her thoughts. Noah's words rang in her head. Ophelia was Edgar's only child, meaning she wasn't related to him. Her so-called father brought her to the Redmoon pack when she was little. That only meant one thing.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

Ruby felt the hot tears run down her cheek. She hated how calm he looked—watching her with predatory eyes as she broke down before him. Ruby called on her wolf once more to lend her its strength. She wanted to curse him, to tear him apart until he told her the truth about her identity until he admitted what he had done to her mother and her all those years ago.

"You would have to be more specific, girl—"

Ruby cut him off, gritting her teeth while she spoke. "It was you all those years! You were the one who killed my mother. You were the bastard that snatched me away in the forest before my father could find me. You are the monster that always haunts my dreams."

Edgar hissed as anguish clouded his expression. He glared at her—his eyes darkening with such heated hatred she knew all too well; she always wondered why a father would hate his pup as much as he hated her. She always wondered why he treated her so differently from Ophelia. But everything was clear—she wasn't his pup. He stole her from where she belonged. But then why did he, when he hated her so much?

Ruby watched Edgar as he heaved, waves of anger ripping out of him at her words. And then he chuckled to himself: croaky, dry, and sardonic sound flowed out of his mouth before he looked up at her.

"I must say, my dear, I never expected you to remember everything that happened all those years ago, but then again, you are special, too special, and I had to have you," Edgar rumbled while pinning her with his gaze.

His stare was vicious and, at the same time, baring his true intent. The look he held her capture with was crazed, glowing with an animalistic, wanton intent—it was not a look a father gave directly to a person he considered a child he raised.

Ruby found herself involuntarily scooting back on the bed. Her insides blared with alarm as his gaze switched to that of a predatory watching his prey.

Edgar gave her a sickening grin when he sensed her discomfort. "Do you know how it felt to snatch the one thing every species created by the moon Goddess wanted from right under their nose?"

He asked in a gruff manner. Ruby watched a silent, triumphant glow in his eyes as he reminisced about the old days.

"My name should be cemented in history!" Another string of laughter escaped him. "No one suspected a thing. Hell, they all think poor, worthless Edgar died in the war. After all, he was nothing but a lowly slave."

Edgar bit out his last words. Hatred and venom dripped from his tone, and spittle flew from his mouth. His hands flared as he spoke and vibrated with the anger of his status in the past. Ruby's eyes widened at his word, and his grin grew wider, pleased that his revelation had come as a complete shock to her.

"You worked for my father?" Ruby's word was barely a whisper as she remembered the look of recognition in her mother's eyes when a person had walked into the room they hid in.

"Worked?" Edgar sneered. "I was nothing, equal to a rat. Alpha Eric never noticed me. How could he remember a servant who never trained but only did every menial work he could find? The only one who ever knew of my existence was Kaiah."

Ruby watched the look of yearning replace the rage in his eyes.

"She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on," Edgar continued. "You could feel her divine aura just by looking at her, and she smiled at me—said only kind words to me."

Ruby felt disgusted by the look in his eyes. He was one of the people obsessed with the Goddess. "You loved my mother."

Edgar glared at her—her voice had broken his trance, which annoyed him even more. "Love?" He scoffed. "What I felt for the Moon Goddess was something more than the trivial feeling of love. I adored her; I would have groveled at her feet, worshipped the ground she walked on if she let me."

"But she belonged to someone else—an Alpha." Ruby let a smile of pure joy lift her lip when she saw his expression turn gloomy. "Someone you could never equal to."

Edgar said nothing but just stared at her. His anger didn't subside, but his features didn't grow annoyed by her mocking glee. But she didn't let his inexpressiveness faze her. She was going to gouge the truth out of him. He was already willing to talk; she only needed to press a little more.

"But then she brought a part of her to the world. She blessed the rest of us who couldn't have her with a gift."

Ruby felt her inside boil with anger. "A child is not a prize you could take as you please."

"Then she should have known not to bear one!" Edgar retorted. His tone was brusque. "She knew the consequences but still did it. What wrong did I do? I saw my opportunity for greatness, and I took it. Someone else would have taken you away if I didn't. The death of the Goddess and the destruction of the Moon pack were bound to happen. It pained me to end Kaiah, but you were the bigger prize. I took you and my family away and hid your identity while creating a respectable life for myself here at Redmoon. A servant may be worthless to many, but as I served, I listened, getting enough information to land the position of a councilman."

Edgar stood from his seat and strolled towards the window barricaded with a metal nook. "I had so much planned. I could have become an Alpha with you, but I had to wait until you came of age. But until then, I had to make sure my daughter got the life she deserved. Ophelia was destined for greatness, so I had to ensure she got what she deserved. But then you grew up to ruin my plans," Edgar spat.

"I never chose to be mated to Aiden."

Edgar grew agitated as he walked back toward the middle of the room. "I knew it was the moon's Goddess way of punishing me for what I did, but I couldn't let it ruin what I had worked so hard to accomplish. Ophelia was to become the Luna of Redmoon while I took you away and fulfill my fate to become the strongest man who ever lived.

"You are disgusting," Ruby spat. Her skin crawled from how revolting his intentions were.

Edgar grinned at her as he towered over her sitting form. "A man's got to do what he can to achieve greatness.

Ruby felt the waves of the energy inside her grow brighter. Her heart swelled when she heard the familiar sneer of her wolf echo in her mind. Tears welled in her eyes as Ruby felt her beast stagger upwards from its lying position. Waves of joy flowed through her as she felt the fear of losing her beast drift away.

A look of shock marred Edgar's face as he sensed her risen beast. "Ah, I see your beast has overcome the drug fed to you by the rogues."

A flicker of aggression flashed through her eyes as she gazed at the man before her. He was the one responsible for her wolf's silence. He had tried to kill her wolf-like he had almost done if she didn't run away.

"By the Goddess, I will make you pay for all you have done."

Ruby felt the aura of her wolf; although it was not as potent as it had been, as it was still subdued by the poison, it begged her to hurt the man who had hurt her from the beginning.

Edgar scowled before dipping his hand into his pocket. "I am sure you will, but in the meantime, let's prepare you to meet the man who thinks he can take what is mine."

Ruby felt her heart thud rapidly in her chest when Edgar retrieved a syringe similar to the one she had seen countless times. She tried to run, but Edgar was faster. Ruby clawed, scratched, and flared her arms around. She wasn't going to let him retake a part of her. She begged her weakened wolf to fight—one last time, to help her save herself. But her beast crumbled down in exhaustion.

Ruby let her tears fall when she felt the tip of the syringe pierce her arm.

"Please," she begged weakly as the warm liquid entered her body.

Her wolf let out a loud whine before it fell silent. She felt weakened as her body collapsed in the revolting arms of Edgar before he threw her back on the bed. She quaked at how violently she sobbed.

"Noah," Ruby muttered as the little hope she had left began to fade. She knew he was coming for her, but she didn't know how much more she could take.