Chapter 166 Her Mother's Trap 🪤

Chapter 166 Her Mother's Trap 🪤
My voice echoed through the enormous room and even Pete flinched. I looked between them, completely stunned.

My eyes filled with tears.

"You knew." Neither answered. "You both knew he was coming back."

Pete slowly stepped forward.

"Sweetheart...."

"Don't sweetheart me!"

He stopped. I pointed at him with a trembling hand.

"You weren't sick."

Pete's face crumpled slightly.

"I wasn't."

I laughed but it came out broken.

"All those years..." My voice trembled. "You couldn't walk. You couldn't even get out of bed. I thought you were dying. I lived in fear and did everything hard for you."

Pete swallowed.

"I know."

"I took care of you. I worried about you. I thought I was going to lose my father!" My voice cracked. "And you were just pretending?"

Pete looked devastated.

"It wasn't that simple."

"Then make it simple!" I screamed. "Tell me the goddamned truth!"

He opened his mouth but nothing came. I turned toward Armari.

"And you!"

His expression tightened.

"You knew too."

"I found out."

"When?"

He didn't answer immediately.

"How long?"

"Iris, I don't think ir matters...."

"HOW LONG?"

His eyes dropped. My heart shattered and I backed away from both of them.

"Oh my God." I covered my mouth. "You all have no pity for me."

I laughed bitterly. My tears spilled freely now and I looked at Armari.

"You tell me my father is dangerous." Then at Pete. "You pretend to be helpless."

I pointed at Armari's chest.

"You shoot him." Then at myself. "And somehow I'm the only idiot who doesn't know what's happening!"

Neither man spoke. That silence hurt more than anything. I shook my head.

"I hate you both."

Pete's eyes widened.

"Iris...."

"I hate both of you!" I screamed.

My voice broke.

"I don't want your protection!" I turned toward the door. "I don't want your secrets! I don't want your lies! I don't want any of this!"

Armari moved.

"Iris."

I spun around.

"Don't talk to me!"

He stopped.

"Don't follow me."

His expression fell. I wiped my cheeks angrily.

"For once..." I swallowed. "...just let me leave."

He remained still. Pete looked at him. Armari looked back at Pete. Something passed silently between them. Then Armari lowered his hand. I turned and stormed out.

The heavy doors slammed behind me.





I walked.

I didn't know where I was going. I just needed to get away. Away from the mansion, from Armari and from my father. Away from every secret that had been shoved into my life.

The evening sky had begun changing by the time I reached my old neighborhood.

Red melted into purple across the horizon. The streets were quieter here. They were so familiar. I slowed.

My tears had dried against my cheeks. For a moment, I simply stood beneath the strange, beautiful sunset. I remembered being a little girl here.

Running through these streets. Waiting for my father. Believing every word he told me. Believing he was fragile. Believing I had to be strong for him.

And now.... I didn't know what was real anymore. I couldn't tell who he was pr the things he could have done.

Footsteps sounded behind me. I didn't turn.

"Iris."

My eyes closed.

Of course.

Dad had found me.

I remained silent. Pete stopped several feet away. He didn't come closer.

"I won't force you to talk to me."

I laughed quietly.

"At least you can keep one promise."

He accepted the sting.

"I deserved that."

I looked toward the red-purple sky.

"Why?"

Pete was silent.

"Why did you lie to me?"

His voice was low.

"Because I was afraid."

I turned.

"Of what?"

He looked at me.

"Of what would happen to you or what you'd feel if the truth came out."

I stared at him.

"That doesn't explain anything."

"I know." He took a breath. "But it is the truth."

I folded my arms.

"Then start telling me."

Pete nodded.

"Okay."

He looked toward the sunset.

"But I need you to understand something first."

"What?"

"I never stopped loving you."

My throat tightened.

"Even when you lied?"

"Especially then." He looked back at me. "Because every lie was made because I believed the truth would put a target on your back and you'd be so vulnerable and unready."

I stared at him. The anger was still there. The hurt was still there. But for the first time, I was listening. Pete took a slow breath.

"And there are things about your mother...."

My heart stopped.

"My mother?"

He nodded.

"Things you were never told."

I stepped closer.

"What things?"

Pete looked toward the darkening sky.

"Your mother may not be dead."

My breath caught. The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

"What?"

Pete looked at me. And for the first time that evening, I wasn't angry. I was stocked and terrified at once.

"Then tell me everything."

The sunset was fading quickly now, the red bleeding into deep purple above the rooftops. I stared at my father.

"My mother may not be dead?"

Pete nodded slowly.

"She's alive."

My heart slammed against my ribs.

"W-where? How did you know?"

He looked away.

"We don't know exactly."

I stepped closer.

"Then how do you know she's alive?"

"Because she sent a message."

My breath caught.

"To you?"

"To both of us."

"Both?"

He nodded.

"Armari received it too."

My expression hardened again.

"Of course he did."

Pete sighed.

"Iris, listen to me. Armari is the one...."

"No. You listen to me."

I pointed at him.

"First you pretend to be crippled. Then I find out Armari shot you. Now you're telling me my mother is alive and apparently everyone knows except me?"

"I know how this looks."

"It looks insane!"

"It is."

His honesty stopped me. Pete's face was grim.

"Because I don't trust the message."

"Why?"

"Because I believe it's a trap."

My anger faltered.

"A trap?"

He nodded.

"Your mother didn't simply say, 'I'm alive.' She sent an invitation."

"To where?"

"The territory of the Whiteborough Pack."

I stared at him.

"Why would she be there? So you know who that is?"

Pete hesitated.

"Yes. I know him. She's about to marry their Alpha."

I went completely still.

"What?"

"She's with him."

"She's marrying another Alpha?"

Pete nodded. "Apparently."

My chest tightened and I swallowed hard, still in shock and my mind spiralling.

"Then why would she invite me? Just like that. Why isn't she so eager to see me?"

"That's what frightens me." He looked directly into my eyes. "Because if this were simply about seeing you, she could have come here."

"She didn't."

"No."

"Why?"

"She says she can't."

My heart and my voice became bitter.

"Of course."

Pete shook his head. "She claims she can't come for you yet because of her situation there."

"What situation?"

"She's preparing for the marriage."

I stared at him.

"So she's alive..." My voice trembled. "...she knows I'm here..."

"Yes."

"And she's marrying someone else? Without seeing me?"

Pete's eyes softened.

"Yes."

I looked away. A strange mixture of relief, anger and grief twisted inside me.

I'd spent years believing my mother had abandoned me. Now I was being told she was alive. And somehow that hurt almost more.

"Does she want me though?" I asked, quietly, my heart bleeding and everything suddenly feeling so lonely. Pete's face fell.

"She says she does."

"Then why isn't she coming?"

"That's the question."

I wiped my cheeks.

"And you think it's a trap."

"I do."

"Then why tell me at all?"

Pete took a long breath.

"Because I can't keep making decisions for you."

I looked at him. He swallowed.

"I've already taken too much from you by hiding the truth."

His voice cracked.

"If your mother really is alive...." He stepped closer. "....you deserve to know."

"And if it's a trap?"

"Then we prepare."

I shook my head.

"You sound like Armari."

Pete gave a sad smile.

"Maybe that's why the two of us argue so much."

I almost laughed. Almost. But I didn't. Then I looked toward the darkening road.

"When does she want me there?"

Pete's expression tightened.

"She didn't give you much time."

My stomach sank.

"How much?"

"She wants you to come soon."

I stared at him.

The red-purple sky had almost disappeared. My mother was alive somewhere inside Whiteborough territory. About to marry another Alpha. And she wanted to see me. Yet my father believed the invitation might be a trap.

I closed my eyes. For years, I'd wanted one thing. An answer. Now that one might finally be within reach and I wasn't sure whether reaching for it would save me or destroy me.