Chapter 62 Chapter 61

Chapter 62 Chapter 61
Archer’s POV
The Smith mansion loomed before me like a fortress, its towering walls illuminated by cold, white lights. 
My chest tightened as I approached the gates, my mind racing with everything that had led me here.
I had stepped into the lion’s den willingly, knowing the danger, but I know doing this will stop them from harassing Katrina and her family.
I will finish this once and for all, without dragging her. 
Inside, the air felt heavy, oppressive, as if the mansion itself carried the burden of the family’s sins. Alpha Steven led the way, his broad shoulders stiff with authority.
“You’ll abide by what I say from now on,” Steven said, his tone clipped, as he turned to face me in the grand foyer. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction, a predator toying with its prey.
I met his gaze, my jaw tight. “I’ll do what you ask, as long as you keep your word and leave the Browns out of this.”
His lips curled into a cold smile. “Good boy. At least you’ve learned your place.”
I clenched my fists at the insult but said nothing. There was no use in arguing with a man who thrived on power plays.

We entered the dining hall, an extravagant space filled with chandeliers and polished mahogany. But the opulence did nothing to hide the tension crackling in the air.
And that’s when I saw her.
Lily Smith—my biological mother. Her face was pale, her eyes rimmed red with tears. 
She stood at the far end of the room, clutching the back of a chair for support. The sight of her made something inside me twist, but I shoved the feeling down, burying it beneath years of anger and betrayal.
“Archer,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
She took a tentative step forward, her hands reaching out as if to touch me, to bridge the chasm between us. 
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice breaking. “I… I didn’t know. If I had—”
“Stop,” I said sharply, taking a step back. Her words felt like shards of glass, cutting into wounds I had long tried to ignore.
“Please, let me explain,” she begged, tears streaming down her face. “I didn’t know they took you. I thought you… I thought you were gone.”
“And that’s supposed to make it better?” I snapped, my voice rising. “You let them make me believe I was nothing. You let them send me to prison for something I didn’t do. Where were you then?”
Her sobs grew louder, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Every step she tried to take toward me, I countered with one backward, refusing to let her close the distance.
“Archer, I’m your mother,” she said, her voice desperate. “I’ve spent every day since learning the truth trying to find a way to reach you, to make it right.”
“You’re nothing to me,” I said coldly. The words tasted bitter, but I meant them.
Her face crumpled, and she sank into the nearest chair, her shoulders shaking with grief. But I didn’t linger to watch.
Steven’s voice broke the silence, a sharp contrast to Lily’s broken sobs. “Enough of this melodrama,” he said, his tone impatient. “We have more pressing matters to discuss.”
I turned back to him, my face hard. “Then let’s get to it.”
Steven gestured toward a chair at the long dining table. “Sit. You’ll find that obedience suits you better than rebellion.”
I didn’t sit. Instead, I crossed my arms and stared him down. “What do you want from me?”
Before I could answer, Lily snapped her husband.
Lily wiped her face with trembling hands, her gaze darting to me before returning to Steven. 
“Pressing matters?” she repeated, her voice still shaky. “What could possibly be more important than this?”
Steven sighed heavily, as if burdened by the weight of leadership. “The inauguration of the new Alpha,” he said, his words clipped.
Her eyes widened. “You’re already moving forward with that? But Damien—”
“Damien,” Steven interrupted, his voice dripping with disdain, “has proven himself unfit. His recklessness has brought shame to this family and jeopardized everything I’ve built.”
Lily flinched at his words, her hands clutching the armrest of her chair. “Then… who will it be?”
Steven turned to me, his gaze sharp and calculating. A slow, deliberate smile spread across his face, one that sent a chill down my spine.
“It will be… him,” he said, nodding in my direction. “Archer.”

The announcement came like a thunderclap.
“I am proud to announce,” Alpha Steven declared, his voice strong and commanding, “that Archer is not just my chosen successor but also my biological son.”
The room erupted into murmurs, the gathered audience—pack members, allies, and reporters—staring at me with wide eyes. 
My jaw tightened, my hands clenched at my sides as Steven’s words settled in the air.
He didn’t even mention Damien. Not once. It was as if he had erased him from existence, as if the son he had once touted as his pride and joy was nothing more than a rock.
A reporter raised their hand, stepping forward with a challenging expression. 
“Alpha Steven,” she began, her voice cutting through the noise, “there’s a rumor circulating that Damien was beaten by the omegas—Archer’s former allies—because Archer served the sentence for Damien’s crime. Care to comment on that?”
Steven chuckled, a cold, dismissive sound that made my stomach churn. “That’s an absurd rumor,” he said smoothly, waving a hand as though brushing away an annoying fly. 
“Don’t believe everything you hear.”
The reporter didn’t press further, but the doubt lingered in the room.
I just have to endure this… for Katrina.

The car ride back to the mansion was tense, the silence heavy inside.
Steven sat beside me, his presence suffocating, while two guards flanked us.
The car slowed as we passed through the pack’s main square, a gathering place where many of my old friends used to spend their days. I tried to ignore the stares, the judgmental eyes that followed the sleek black vehicle.
Then it happened.
A glass bottle shattered against the window next to me, spraying shards of glass and foam. The car screeched to a halt, and I turned my head to see who had thrown it.
It was Leon.
My heart sank as I saw him, his face contorted with rage and betrayal. He stood in the middle of the street, his fists clenched, his chest heaving as he glared at me with eyes that once held nothing but camaraderie.
“Hey, you traitor!” he shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. “Is this how you want to get revenge for your mother and baby Emily?! By becoming one of them?!”
The guards stepped out of the car immediately, moving toward him.
“Are you so thirsty for the Alpha position that you’d throw away your dignity and self-respect?!” Leon’s voice rose, desperation seeping into his words.
One of the guards grabbed him, twisting his arm behind his back. Leon didn’t resist, but his eyes never left mine. “You’re no better than them, Archer,” he spat. “You’ve become everything we fought against.”
They dragged him to the ground, and one of the guards landed a heavy blow to his stomach, silencing him.
I formed my hands into fists, every fiber of my being screaming at me to intervene, but I stayed rooted in place. 
My breath came in sharp, shallow bursts as I stared at Leon, his words slicing through me like a blade.
“Get in the car,” Steven said coldly from behind me.
I hesitated, my body trembling with barely contained fury. Then, slowly, I turned and climbed back into the vehicle.
As the car pulled away, I pressed my forehead against the window, my reflection staring back at me like a stranger.
 Leon’s words echoed in my mind. 
Had I really become one of them?