Chapter Fifty Eight.

Chapter Fifty Eight.

Jhelani's POV

“Jace,” I whispered, slipping into my clothes, “how does he even know about me? About what I am...when we've not met.”

He froze for a heartbeat, then looked up at me with that same haunted expression I’d seen once before.

“He was once part of the High Council,” Jace said quietly. “He knows about the prophecy, about the cursed girl who is behind the issues we're having in the Pack. You, Jhelani. You’re not just some myth to him...you’re a threat to the old order and the Pack. That's why they want to get rid of you.”

I swallowed hard. “And you brought me here knowing that?”

He looked away, guilt flickering in his eyes. “I thought we had time. I thought he wouldn’t be back this soon.” His jaw clenched. “I was wrong.”

Before I could say anything, a deep voice echoed faintly from downstairs. It was commanding, and dangerously calm.

“Jace.”

Every muscle in my body went rigid. Even through the thick walls, his father’s tone carried weight. Authority.

“Hide,” Jace hissed, already moving toward the door. “Now, Jhelani. Behind the curtains. Stay quiet, no matter what.”

He didn’t wait for me to argue. He ran a hand through his hair, and then erasing the last trace of what had just happened between us, the smell of sex faded and was replaced with an old wooden kind of perfume mixed with blueberries. Smelt strange but nice.

He pulled on his shirt in one swift motion. His eyes met mine, burning with unspoken things before facing the door and I slid into the wine thick, looming curtains that stretched up, almost reaching the ceiling.

I felt the air change instantly. I didn’t have to see him to know his father had entered after the door was pushed open. The man’s presence was suffocating. I heard his boots on the floorboards, slow, deliberate steps. My heart thrummed hard in my chest. I was scared for my life.

“I didn’t expect you home yet,” Jace said evenly.

“That much is clear,” his father replied, his tone edged with quiet suspicion. “I could smell her scent before I even reached the stairs. Care to explain why a human female’s fragrance lingers in my house, Jace?”

My stomach dropped.

For a second, there was silence. Then Jace answered, calm and convincing, “She’s no one. Just a worker from the hospital. I brought her here to tend to a wound of mine.”

His father chuckled, low and humorless. “A wound? You expect me to believe you brought an ordinary human to your room for medical attention when you could have simply done that there in the hospital?”

The tension stretched taut in the air. I could barely breathe.

“I don’t care what you believe,” Jace said at last, his tone dark. “She’s gone now by the way.”

“You’ve grown reckless. Just like your mother before she died.”

I heard the shift in Jace’s breathing, sharp, controlled fury. “Don’t,” he said, voice dangerously calm. “Don’t bring her into this, Father.”

“I’ll bring anyone I damn well please into this,” his father replied coolly. “As long as you’re under my roof, you’ll follow my rules. I smell deceit on you, Jace. You're using your mother's spells, aren't you? And if you think you can hide anything from me…” His voice dropped to a chilling whisper. “You’ve forgotten who trained you."

I heard footsteps retreating on the floorboards then stopped again. “One more thing. If the girl’s still here... if you’re foolish enough to hide her, you’d better pray I don’t find her, Jace. Because if by any chance she's the same girl we've been searching for—"

"She isn't."

There was a long pause of silence before it broke. "There. And that's exactly how you rat yourself out, son." He let out a dark, knowing chuckle. "She's the one. You can't lie to me. You've never been good at it. You're almost just like your Mom–barely no difference at all."

"I think it’s high time I left," Jace said, his voice low but trembling with anger. "I thought coming home would help me relive some good memories. Maybe find a bit of peace, but thanks to you, that’s ruined completely. You and your damned presence that I’ve always despised, Father. I’ve never known happiness with you around, and I don’t expect that to change now."

The venom in his words hit hard. I could hear the loathing, the disappointment, the regret woven into every syllable. I’d never seen this side of him before. Jace what always the one who laughed, who cracked jokes even in chaos, who tried to make everyone else happy. Now he was standing there, broken and angry.

Maybe what they said was true. The ones who smile the most are often the ones bleeding silently behind the mask.

I bit my lip. Maybe too hard. The sharp sting and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as my nails dug into my palm.

The pain was grounding, but it didn’t dull the ache in my chest. I was disappointed… in him, in myself. How long had we known each other, and I was only finding out about all this now? Did he think I wasn’t worth knowing the truth? I wasn't worth telling or confiding in about it? Fuck it.

"And the same goes for you," his father’s voice cut through the air, deep and commanding. "You need to grow up, Jace. Accept reality. Take responsibility as the future Alpha of this Pack. You’re twenty-five, nearly twenty-six, yet you’re out there reckless on that damned motorcycle, smoking, supporting a dumb motorcycling club, and following a cursed girl around like a housefly after a corpse when you have better things to do. The Pack awaits you, and the only way you’ll ever lead it is if you reject her and choose a respectable, noble she-wolf as your Luna and chosen mate."

"That’s never going to happen," Jace snapped back, his fury barely contained. "I won’t abandon her the same way you abandoned my mother. You locked her away in a basement for years just because you found out she was a witch. You never gave her a chance, never let me see her again! All so you could run off with your pathetic dimwitted mistress!"

"Enough!" his father barked. "Don’t drag the past into this. It’s over. I won’t let you repeat my mistakes. If I’d known what your mother truly was—a snake hidden under the grass—I would’ve never married her."

"She’s not a snake!" Jace’s voice cracked with rage. "She’s my mother! She gave up everything...her magic, her life, her freedom—just to be with you. She tried to change, but you never saw that, did you? All you ever saw was the word witch. A label she could never escape or change if she wanted to."

His father scoffed. "None of that matters. She lied. Lies come with consequences. And you, boy, would do well to remember that. The council already warned you and your little group to stay away from that girl. If they find out you’re still in contact with her, even I won’t be able to save you. The Pack doesn’t forgive traitors, no matter who they are."

With that, he left the room with a slam at the door that echoed in the room.