Chapter 163: 163

Kenzo led me to the top floor of Cassius Marwood’s mansion, six warriors from the Blue Moon Pack trailing closely behind us as a precaution.

The place was eerily silent—no signs of life, yet that didn’t mean it was safe. Every floor was drenched in blood, the stench of death thick in the air. Mangled corpses littered the hallways, their torn and dismembered bodies painting a gruesome picture of what had unfolded here. The sight turned my stomach, but worse was the thought of what kind of monsters were capable of this carnage. The strongest fighters in the pack had been slaughtered like prey. And now, I was walking straight into whatever nightmare had left this massacre behind.

Kenzo’s grip on my hand tightened as we climbed, offering unspoken reassurance. He wanted to give me strength, to prepare me for what lay ahead with my father. I appreciated it—but in truth, my mind was elsewhere. My greatest fear in that moment wasn’t Cassius Marwood. It was the unknown force that had done this, the possibility that it was still lurking in the shadows.

Never in my life had I thought I would be on my way to face my father and wonder if he was still breathing. There were times I had wished him dead, but I had always imagined standing before him strong, unshaken, ready to meet him as his equal. I never planned to challenge him—I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill me, and I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to kill him either. Ending the life of the man who had brought me into this world, no matter how much I hated him, would break something in me beyond repair.

Justice had other paths. Kenzo had every right to claim vengeance for his father’s murder—to challenge Cassius Marwood himself. Would letting him do it make me a coward? Maybe. But if it meant keeping my own hands free of his blood, I could live with that. If I killed him myself, I’d be no better than the monster I had spent my life despising.

We reached the highest floor, and as soon as we stepped into the corridor, an icy shiver crawled down my spine. I yanked my hand free from Kenzo’s grip, crossing my arms and rubbing my shoulders as a suffocating aura pressed down on me. It was overwhelming, crushing, a darkness so dense it thickened the air. A thick, invisible fog of menace stretched toward the throne hall like a shadow marking the path.

I had felt this before. The day I found EH’s notes in my room. But this... this was worse.

“I think EH was here,” I whispered, my voice barely above a breath.

Kenzo turned to me, eyes narrowing. “How do you know that?”

“Can’t you feel it? This... darkness?” I struggled to take in a full breath.

He shook his head, his gaze searching mine. A flicker of confusion crossed his face. How could he not sense it? It was suffocating, impossible to ignore. I glanced at the warriors behind us, but none of them seemed even slightly disturbed. Was I the only one who could feel it?

We pressed forward until we stood before the entrance to the throne hall. I closed my eyes, focusing, sharpening my senses.

“There’s a heartbeat inside. Just one. It’s weak,” I murmured, reaching for the door handle.

Kenzo placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go.”

I pushed the door open.

The scent of blood hit me first, thick and metallic. A trail of red smeared across the floor, leading from the far end of the hall to the throne podium. My gaze followed the stains—until I saw him.

Cassius Marwood slumped on his throne, barely clinging to life. His body was a ruin of open wounds, his chest and stomach slashed so deeply it was a miracle he was still breathing.

I froze.

Kenzo’s voice broke through the haze. “Thalassa.”

I swallowed hard and forced myself to move, scanning the room with a calculated gaze. There were only three of us left alive in this place: Kenzo, my father, and me.

Cassius’ ragged breaths sounded hoarse, the powerful Alpha of the Southern Moon Pack reduced to a man on the edge of death.

“The bastard’s done for,” Kenzo muttered, his voice laced with venom. “No one recovers from wounds like that.”

I stepped onto the first stair of the podium and leaned forward, my eyes locking onto my father’s. His gaze widened slightly, recognition flickering through the pain. And yet, even now, drowning in his own blood, he still carried that same insufferable superiority.

“Hello, Father.”

It was the only thing I could think to say.

A slow, cruel smirk curled his lips.

“My child... came to kill me,” he sneered, his voice barely a rasp.

I inhaled sharply. Did he just—acknowledge me? After all these years? The realization was as sickening as it was infuriating.

“I should have known you’d only see me as your daughter in the moments before you died,” I said through clenched teeth.

His breath hitched, but the sneer never left his face. “Not you... You are nothing. A human.”

The scorn in his voice sliced through me, not with pain, but with finality. I had thought, for the briefest of moments, that maybe—even in death—he was seeking some twisted form of redemption. But no. How foolish of me.

His gaze darkened further, eyes locked onto mine. “Your eyes...” His voice dripped with loathing. “I want to rip them out. Because they look like hers. You don’t deserve them.”

Kenzo lunged forward, fury radiating off him. “Son of a—”

I blocked him with a hand. “No.”

On the outside, I was composed. Inside, my blood burned. Once, those words would have shattered me. Now, they only fanned the fire that had long since consumed any pity I had left for this man.

I laughed. A low, bitter sound.

“I don’t know who did this to you, Father... but when I find them, I will thank them,” I said, leaning in close. “Because your death might be the only thing that can wash away even a fraction of the sins you’ve committed.”

His breath shuddered.

“I wanted to thank you, too,” I continued, my voice deadly quiet. “For giving me your Alpha genes. Because despite your hatred, despite your rejection, they made me powerful.”

His eyes widened, disbelief flashing across his face.

“I defeated Merrick. I avenged Oberon.”

“You... couldn’t,” he rasped.

“But I did.” I met his gaze, my lips curving into a sorrowful smile. “So thank you... for the strength you never meant to give me.”

The shock of my words drained what little life remained in him. His body trembled, bleeding out faster. And yet, as he stared at me, something strange flickered in his eyes—something almost like regret. But I didn’t believe it.

I wouldn’t believe it.

I straightened, stepping back to stand beside Kenzo. “I will use this strength to undo the damage you’ve done—starting with returning the Blood Moon Pack’s lands.”

The last traces of disdain bled from his face. His gaze roamed over me one last time.

I had nothing more to say.

“Goodbye, Father,” I declared, my voice steady. “I hope, when you meet my mother—the mate you murdered—she drags you straight to hell.”

His lips parted, a final breath slipping out.

“Daughter...”

And then, Cassius Marwood was dead.