Chapter 79 79
Denzel’s POV
I was genuinely surprised when Tyrell found the nerve to barge into my office.
Love had a way of stripping people bare, reducing even the proudest men to desperation, and I could feel his fear rolling off him in waves. If I’d harbored any lingering doubts about Fabian not being Jalisa’s biological father, Tyrell’s confession erased them completely. No true father would even consider using his daughter that way.
The idea of forcing her away from her fate of tearing her from her mate to hand her over to a madman was vile. Fabian had no right. Tyrell and Jalisa had already claimed each other. That bond was sacred. No Alpha, no king, had the authority to sever it and sell her off to Tremaine whoever the hell that was.
Beyond Tyrell’s plea, I knew I couldn’t ignore the situation. Fabian wasn’t the type to make such a move just to disband a clan. There was something else at play, something buried beneath the surface. So I linked Devon and instructed him to investigate quietly. I needed answers.
Venessa and I were deep in the honeymoon phase. We spent the entire week tangled together like rabbits, and I loved every second of it. I’d never felt anything like this in my life. It made me feel young reckless, alive, hopeful in a way I hadn’t known since adolescence.
There truly was no substitute for love.
If one week with her could lift me this high, I could only imagine what a lifetime would have felt like. I tried not to think about time, about the invisible clock ticking away, but sometimes the thought crept in and hollowed my chest with quiet sadness.
I blamed myself.
If I had loved her properly from the beginning if I had accepted her then none of this would have been necessary. We would have had decades together. Still, fate had granted me a second chance, and I clung to it fiercely.
That night, we made love until exhaustion claimed us. Nigel was restless, fired up, and we didn’t stop until our bodies simply gave out.
I woke in the early hours of the morning to relieve myself and that was when everything went wrong.
Venessa was cold.
Unmoving.
Panic slammed into me. I tried everything to wake her calling her name, shaking her gently, then harder. Minutes stretched endlessly. Thirty of them. I forced myself to wait because of what she’d told me before, but when nothing changed, fear overrode reason.
I was about to link the pack doctor when she suddenly gasped.
The relief that flooded me was overwhelming.
She threw her arms around me and broke down, crying like she’d stared death in the face and barely escaped. I held her tightly, stroking her back.
“It’s okay, darling,” I murmured. “You’re here. You’re safe.”
She clutched me harder, and I knew without a doubt that she had seen something. Nyla felt different too. Heavier. Stronger. I’d felt her Alpha strength before, but this… this was something else entirely. As if something new had fused itself to her core. Maybe her wolf was finally becoming whole. She was half Lycan, after all.
“Talk to me,” I said softly. “What happened?”
When she finally pulled back, her eyes met mine, haunted.
“They all died, Denz,” she whispered. “I saw it.”
My brow furrowed as she rushed on, words tumbling over themselves.
“When you died and I was beheaded life went on. Fabian killed Tyrell and Jalisa and did whatever he wanted. Everyone died. Only bandits survived. That’s why I was sent back. The woman said it was to save the important pieces… to stop that future.”
I pulled her into my chest, urging her to slow down. It took time, but eventually her breathing steadied. Then she told me everything her vision, the being who spoke to her, the gifts she’d been given, and the truth about how little time she had left.
It shattered me.
All I could focus on was one thing: whatever Fabian was planning had to be stopped. That was the key. The problem was, we didn’t know where to begin.
Even so, I pushed my fear aside and focused on her. She needed calm. Strength. We had a long, dangerous road ahead.
I linked the servants and asked for hot chocolate I’d noticed she liked it and wrapped her in my warmth when she kept shivering. Slowly, she recovered enough for us to rest before our journey to the Lycan Kingdom.
Later that morning, we showered together. It was late, but she seemed steadier. There was resolve in her eyes now. The shock had worn off, replaced by determination.
I teased her lightly under the warm water, earning a soft giggle.
“Have you figured out your gifts yet?” I asked.
She smiled. “Vision, hearing, strength, healing, speed. That’s all I know so far.”
I grinned. “You forgot being irresistibly sexy. That’s definitely a superpower.”
She laughed, cheeks warming as I continued, “All those nights showing off your body… me lurking at your window…”
She blushed harder. She knew exactly what I meant.
Venessa had driven me insane more times than I could count. It had taken every shred of self-control not to claim her back then. Now she was mine fully, completely to love and to devour.
We dressed and prepared to leave. She left Tonya in charge of her duties while Rayon took over mine. I’d noticed a spark between the two of them, but I decided to wait. If there was something there, Rayon would tell me when he was ready.
In the car, Venessa leaned into me. I covered her hand with mine.
“Nervous?” I asked.
She nodded.
I noticed the bronze locket resting against her chest and brushed my fingers over it. She smiled softly.
“It was my mother’s,” she said. “It’s all I managed to take before she died.”
She curled her fingers around it and tucked it back beneath her dress.
I’d seen that locket countless times, but now I understood its weight.
It would have been nice to have children with her. To build a life slowly. Naturally.
If I had known, I would have chosen her from the moment she stepped into my pack.
But that time was gone.
All that mattered now was what we did with what remained.