Chapter 28 HOW DID HE DIE?
The pack house was still buzzing when Mia found the letter.
Ivan was gone. The Council enforcers were gone. The great room had emptied out in waves of whispers and sideways glances. But the tension hadn’t left. It clung to the walls, to the floors, to the bond between her and Alex.
Mia didn’t go to bed.
She couldn’t.
She walked. Down the hall, past the great room, out to the old study on the east wing. The one Alex said hadn’t been used since his father died.
The door was slightly open.
Inside, on the desk, sat a single envelope.
No name. No seal. Just thick cream paper and her handwriting on the front.
Mia
Her blood went cold.
She knew that handwriting.
Mia picked it up with two fingers like it might bite her. The paper was heavy. Expensive. The kind of paper Ivan used when he wanted something to feel official and final.
She opened it.
The letter inside was short.
Ask Alex how your father really died.
You think it was the crash. It wasn’t an accident.
He knows. Ask him.
I’ll be waiting for your answer.
I.
No signature. He didn’t need one.
Mia read it twice. Then three times.
Her hands started to shake.
The crash.
The accident that killed her father and left her in debt to the pack.
The reason she was here.
The reason she said yes to Clause 7.
If that was a lie…
Mia folded the letter and shoved it in her pocket.
She didn’t go to Alex right away.
She needed to think. To breathe. To make sure she wasn’t about to tear the room apart based on Ivan’s words.
Ivan lied. Ivan manipulated. Ivan used truth and half truth and timing like weapons.
But what if this time it was real?
Mia found Alex in the training room.
He was alone, hitting the bag like it had personally offended him. Sweat ran down his chest. His knuckles were wrapped.
He stopped when he saw her.
“Mia,” Alex said. Breathing hard. “You okay?”
Mia closed the door behind her.
“No,” Mia said.
Alex’s eyes went sharp. “What happened?”
Mia pulled the letter from her pocket and held it out.
“Ivan sent me this,” Mia said.
Alex took it. Read it. Once.
His face went still. Not angry. Not defensive.
Guilty.
Mia saw it and her stomach dropped.
“Alex,” Mia said. Voice quiet. “How did my father really die?”
Alex set the letter down on the bench. Slowly. Like he was choosing every movement.
Mia waited.
The silence stretched.
Finally, Alex said, “Sit down.”
Mia didn’t sit.
“Alex,” Mia said. “Now.”
Alex looked at her. Really looked.
“The crash wasn’t staged by Ivan,” Alex said. “Not originally. Ivan wanted your father dead, yes. He wanted him gone so he couldn’t talk. But it was me who made the call that put him on that road that night.”
Mia went cold.
“What are you saying?” Mia asked.
“I was tracking him,” Alex said. “My father sent me. He thought your father was meeting with rebels. I was supposed to confirm it. I followed him to the highway. I was two cars back when it happened.”
Mia’s breath caught.
“It was raining,” Alex said. “His brakes failed. I saw it. I could have rammed him. Forced him to stop. I hesitated. I thought if he crashed, it would solve two problems. My father’s paranoia and Ivan’s threat.”
Mia stepped back like he’d hit her.
“So you let him die,” Mia said.
“No,” Alex said quickly. “I tried to save him. I pulled him from the car. He was alive. Barely. He was asking for you. He told me to tell you he was sorry.”
Mia shook her head.
“Then how did he die?” Mia asked.
“Ivan got there before the medics,” Alex said. “He was already watching. He saw me. He saw what I did. He let your father bleed out. He told the medics it was an order from the acting Alpha. He made sure it looked like an accident. And he made sure I knew he had me.”
Mia sat down hard on the edge of the bench.
“You kept this from me,” Mia said.
“I kept it from you because I thought if you knew, you’d hate me,” Alex said. “Because I was guilty. Because I wanted you to choose me without knowing I was the reason you were alone in the first place.”
Mia looked at him. Really looked.
The guilt in his eyes was real. Raw. It matched the guilt she’d seen in her own reflection for years.
“You tried to manipulate it,” Mia said. “You used the curse. You used the bond. You used me.”
“I know,” Alex said. “And I’m sorry. I was wrong. I thought I could protect you by keeping it from you. I thought I could make it right by making you Luna. By giving you power. By giving you me.”
Mia stood up.
“Get away from me,” Mia said.
Mia walked out.
She didn’t hear Alex call her name.
She didn’t hear anything.
Her head was full of two things.
Her father’s voice. Saying he was sorry.
And Alex’s face. Saying he was sorry too.
Mia made it to the roof.
The wind was cold.
She pulled the letter out again and read it once more.
Ask Alex how your father really died.
She had asked.
And now she had to decide what to do with the answer.
Behind her, the door opened.
Mia didn’t turn around.
“Mia,” Alex said.
“Don’t,” Mia said. “Don’t touch me.”
Alex stopped.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” Alex said. “I’m asking you to let me help you end him.”
Mia turned around.
“Why?” Mia asked.
“Because Ivan killed your father,” Alex said. “Even if I put him on that road, Ivan is the one who let him die. He’s the one who used it to control me for years.He’s the one who’s using it now to break us.”
Mia looked at him.
“You think I should trust you,” Mia said.
“I think you should trust yourself,” Alex said. “You know me now. Not the Alpha. Not the curse. Me. And you know I’d rather lose you than lie to you again.”
Mia was quiet for a long time.
Then she said, “You should have told me in Kyoto.”
“I know,” Alex said.
“You should have told me before we…” Mia stopped herself.
“Before Rome,” Alex finished for her. “I know. I was a coward.”
Mia walked past him and into the room.
She stopped at the door and looked back.
“We finish this tomorrow,” Mia said. “At the Council hearing. We bring everything. The records. The medics. Ivan’s messages. Your confession.”
Alex’s jaw tightened.
“If you tell them, I’ll lose everything,” Alex said.
“I know,” Mia said.
“And you’ll still do it?” Alex asked.
Mia nodded.
“Because it’s the truth,” Mia said. “And I’m tired of living in lies. Yours. Ivan’s. Mine.”
Alex nodded slowly.
“Okay,” Alex said.
“And after?” Alex asked.
Mia’s eyes were hard.
“After, I decide about us,” Mia said. “On my terms. Not the bond. Not the curse. Me.”
Alex nodded again.
“On your terms,” Alex said.
Mia closed the door.
Meanwhile, Ivan’s compound
Ivan read the reply from his spy.
She has the letter. She confronted him. He confessed.
Ivan smiled.
Perfect.
He picked up the phone.
“Get the medics ready,” Ivan said. “The ones from the crash. They’ll testify tomorrow. Against the Alpha. And against the Luna if she tries to protect him.”
“Yes, sir,” the voice on the other end said.
Ivan hung up.
He had both of them now.
Alex was guilty.
Mia was furious.
And the pack would tear them apart.
All he had to do was wait.
\---
Back in the pack house
Mia sat on the edge of the bed, the letter in her hands.
Alex was in the other room. Giving her space.
She could feel him through the bond. Quiet. Waiting.
Mia closed her eyes.
She thought about her father.
She thought about Alex.
She thought about the choice in front of her.
Hate Alex for what he did.
Or understand why he did it.
Trust him enough to finish this together.
Or let Ivan tear them apart.
Mia opened her eyes.
She folded the letter and put it on the nightstand.
Tomorrow, she would face Ivan.
And she would do it with Alex.
Not because the bond said so.
Not because the curse said so.
Because she chose to.
Even if it meant losing him.