Chapter 121 121
Denzel’s POV
Venessa asked me a question through the mind-link that sent a cold ripple straight through my spine.
She wanted to know if I could see anyone at the table who looked… off.
That alone unsettled me. Venessa didn’t ask pointless questions. And she wasn’t enhanced for curiosity’s sake. If she noticed something unusual, then something was very wrong especially since I lacked her heightened perception. If she was seeing something, I knew it wasn’t harmless.
“Is it serious?” I asked her silently, my jaw tightening.
“Yes,” she replied.
My stomach sank.
King Donovan’s earlier explanation echoed in my mind the way corruption spread quietly, insidiously, often unnoticed even by those affected. He hadn’t understood the full truth, but he’d unknowingly described the process almost perfectly. It was exactly why Eshera had been so pleased with herself… and why it mattered that we had caught Kimberly when we did.
Ever since then, a shadow had settled over me.
I’d been angry furious, even at the cruelty of a universe that would demand my wife as payment. Angry that Venessa and I were expected to make the sacrifice while the rest of the world carried on untouched. No matter how often I tried to reason with myself, to see the bigger picture, the truth remained unbearable: I was being asked to live the rest of my life without her.
Alone.
“The Elder wearing the blue tunic,” Venessa finally said through the link. “He’s corrupt. But don’t panic every Elder here is guarded.”
I casually shifted my gaze toward the man she indicated. He looked perfectly normal. Calm. Respectable. Harmless.
Still, I believed her without hesitation.
We continued eating as though nothing were amiss, careful not to draw attention or alert him that he’d been noticed. The last thing we needed was suspicion.
“So,” Craig said eventually, turning to Venessa, “will you be taking on responsibilities after your coronation?”
She frowned slightly. “What responsibilities?”
“Well,” Craig explained, “the Lycans no longer have a Luna. Their welfare will now fall to you as our princess.”
Venessa nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll do my best.”
Craig smiled. “We’re confident you’ll do wonderfully.”
Then the corrupt Elder raised his hand.
King Jamar gave him his full attention, but I noticed Venessa stiffen alert now, watchful.
“Sire,” the Elder said, “there are rumours circulating. King Fabian is said to be gathering support to question the legitimacy of your heir. Some have already accepted his claim.”
Craig swore under his breath.
“That power-hungry mongrel,” he snapped, drawing laughter from several Elders.
“All this noise because he thinks the throne belongs to him,” another scoffed.
King Jamar’s expression hardened.
“Even if I had no heir,” he said evenly, “Fabian would never have been my choice. I would have chosen Denzel or Keon before him.”
The room fell silent.
None of them had expected that. But Jamar meant every word.
“I don’t need to prove anything,” he continued. “My daughter carries my command. All will answer to Venessa unless they belong to the Tremaine pack. Her wolf is more Lycan than werewolf, and she bears my mother’s face. If they demand proof, I already have DNA results. If necessary, a neutral practitioner may confirm it.”
Craig shook his head firmly.
“That won’t be necessary. One look at Venessa, and I see Nadine reborn. Fabian is treading a disgraceful path and if he isn’t careful, it will end in ruin.”
Many nodded in agreement.
Then the corrupt Elder spoke again.
“What of Rochelle?” he asked. “Ashani and Jahlil’s fates have been decided. But you’ve remained silent on Rochelle, Sire.”
King Jamar smiled but it was not a warm smile.
“I will decide her fate after my daughter’s coronation,” he said. “Until then, her name will not be spoken. I won’t have my day spoiled.”
No one argued.
It was clear Jamar’s anger toward Rochelle still burned fiercely perhaps unforgivably so.
After breakfast, we joined the King in his private sitting room. The day crawled past, the palace buzzing with preparations for Venessa’s coronation. Servants moved tirelessly, determined to make the following day unforgettable.
As much as we wanted to tell Jamar the truth, we held back. He deserved peace at least for a little longer.
But when evening fell, Venessa finally spoke.
She told him everything.
All of it.
What we had discovered. What we feared. What lay ahead.
Jamar was stunned.
Like anyone hearing such revelations for the first time, his initial reaction was fury rage at the gods, at fate, at being dragged into a war he never asked for. He worried about how corruption spread… how quietly it infiltrated.
But what shook him most was learning the truth about Tremaine.
That he was a demi-god.
And his half-brother.
“So that’s why my father was ill,” Jamar said quietly. “Until the day he died.”
Venessa nodded.
“Your mother tried everything,” he went on. “She said his illness was unnatural, but no one believed her. She was young too young for the elders to take seriously. They told her some things couldn’t be cured.”
His voice cracked.
“She never gave up. She helped him manage the illness, kept him alive even after he set her up and had her exiled. And not long after she was gone… he died.”
He exhaled slowly.
“I see it now. Punishment.”
Regret weighed heavily in his eyes. There was no doubt his mate haunted him still. Rochelle would never have stood between them if she hadn’t murdered her. That was a wound Jamar would never forgive.
“So,” he finally asked, “what is the way forward?”
I answered him plainly.
“We warn others. And we build an army capable of resisting Tremaine’s power.”
He nodded, approving.
“But,” Jamar added slowly, “we must first protect ourselves from destruction within before worrying about enemies beyond. Look at Fabian. I’m not saying he’s corrupt… yet. But his hunger for power leaves him vulnerable.”
He looked at us both.
“She used him once to destroy Atabey’s army from within. She will do it again. Fabian is already walking that path by challenging my decision to crown Venessa.”
I understood then.
He wasn’t wrong.
And that realization sat heavily in my chest.