Chapter 80
The moon hung low and heavy that night, casting silver light through the tall windows of Brittany’s chambers. She sat at her vanity, brushing her long hair in slow, deliberate strokes, the motion calm and practiced. Her belly, round with seven months of pregnancy, rested beneath the silk robe she wore like a crown.
The door flew open with a bang.
Sebastian stormed in, eyes bloodshot, fists clenched. He had been drinking again, but the alcohol had only sharpened his anger, not dulled it.
Brittany didn’t flinch. She continued brushing.
“You’re making a scene,” she said coolly. “The packs will talk.”
Sebastian slammed the door shut behind him. “I don’t care about the packs. I care about the truth.”
He stepped closer, voice low and trembling with fury.
“Someone is asking questions beyond the river. About a girl who washed up six months ago. No memory. Healed too fast. Dark hair. Pale. Taken in by royals. Sound familiar?”
Brittany’s brush paused for half a second—barely noticeable—then resumed its rhythm.
She met his eyes in the mirror.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Sebastian laughed, bitter and broken.
“Don’t. Just… don’t. Hardin’s scouts picked up the trail. A hooded stranger. Paying for information. Asking exactly the right questions about Rhianna.”
Brittany set the brush down slowly. Turned on the stool to face him fully.
“Rhianna is dead, Sebastian.”
The words landed like a slap.
“She fell into that river. She was weak. Broken. The current took her. There’s no body because the river doesn’t give them back. She’s gone.”
Sebastian shook his head violently.
“Someone is looking for her. Someone thinks she’s alive.”
Brittany stood, graceful despite the weight she carried. She walked toward him, placing a hand on his chest—gentle, almost tender.
“You’re being delusional, my love.”
He flinched at the word.
She continued, voice soft but unyielding.
“You see ghosts because you can’t forgive yourself. You think if she’s alive, you can fix what you did. But she’s not. And even if some poor lost girl washed up somewhere, it’s not her. Rhianna would never forget who she was. She would have come back clawing for revenge. She didn’t. Because she’s dead.”
Sebastian’s eyes filled with tears he refused to let fall.
“You sent the men. You chased her into that river.”
Brittany’s expression didn’t change.
“I did what needed to be done. And it’s done.”
She stepped closer, her hand sliding up to cup his face.
“Look at me.”
He tried to pull away. She held firm.
“Look at our future.” She placed his hand on her belly. The pup kicked—strong, insistent, alive.
“This is what matters now. Our son. He’s growing inside me. Strong. Dominant. He will be Alpha one day. But only if his father is strong.”
Sebastian stared down at her stomach, throat working.
Brittany’s voice dropped to a whisper, soothing, hypnotic.
“Do you want him to know his father as a weakling? A man who spends every night drunk and broken over a dead woman? A man who let his brother steal the title because he couldn’t let go of a ghost?”
Sebastian’s breath hitched.
Brittany pressed on, relentless.
“All you have to do is one thing. Frame Hardin. Show the council he’s unfit—obsessed, reckless, willing to risk war over a fantasy. The elders already doubt him. The warriors are tired. One push. One carefully placed rumor. One ‘accident’ on a patrol. And the title comes back to you.”
She leaned in, lips brushing his ear.
“We leave happily ever after. You, me, our son. The pack secure. No more searching. No more pain. Just power. Just family.”
Sebastian stood frozen, hand still on her belly.
The pup kicked again—harder.
Brittany smiled softly, triumph flickering in her eyes.
“He’s telling you yes,” she murmured. “Listen to him.”
Sebastian pulled his hand away slowly.
His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.
“I can’t do that to Hardin.”
Brittany’s smile faded.
“You already did worse to Rhianna. And she’s gone. Hardin is just a man. Your brother. He’ll survive. Or he won’t.”
She turned back to the vanity, picking up the brush again.
“But if you keep chasing shadows, Sebastian… if you keep being weak…”
She met his eyes in the mirror once more.
“I will make sure our son never knows you at all.”
Sebastian stared at her for a long moment.
Then he turned and walked out.
The door closed quietly behind him.
Brittany exhaled slowly.
She touched her belly, smiling at her reflection.
“Soon,” she whispered to the pup. “Very soon.”
Outside in the hallway, Sebastian leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
He had come for answers.
He had left with a choice.
And for the first time, he wasn’t sure which path led to redemption—and which one led to damnation.