Chapter 359 359
Sabine POV
I was alone. I was an orphan.
My mother was gone, and now my father too dead. And the man responsible, the culprit, stood right in front of me, wearing his authority like armor, behaving as though he had done nothing wrong.
“I don’t know who you think you are,” I said, my voice shaking despite myself, “but you aren’t God.”
He certainly behaved as if he were.
“No,” he replied coldly, “but I am the King, so you’d better learn to accept it if you wish to remain here with my family.”
He stepped closer, his sheer presence meant to cow me, to force submission. My wolf stirred, restless, but I forced it down. Somewhere inside me, my human side surged forward again, stronger than instinct, stronger than fear. I didn’t bow. I didn’t look away.
“I’m not staying anywhere near you,” I said, letting out a sharp, humorless laugh.
“Oh really?” he sneered. “And where do you think you’re going? Back to the farm?”
“No.” I lifted my chin. “I’m going to Maurice’s pack. I’m going to live with him. He kept the truth from me, yes but in some twisted, painful way, I understand why. He was trying to protect me from heartbreak. You were only trying to protect yourself.”
I couldn’t look at Damien anymore. I couldn’t stand to share the same room, the same air, the same roof.
“Sab…” Aurélie’s voice caught, tugging painfully at my chest.
“I’m sorry, Aurélie,” I said, turning to her at last. “I’m sorry I used our shopping trip as an excuse to meet Clémence, but I needed answers. I deserved the truth.”
My voice broke, but I kept going.
“For years, I’ve been lied to. For years, I’ve been hidden away, underestimated, told it wasn’t safe for me to leave, that I was too ill, too fragile.” My hands clenched at my sides. “My own father drugged me with fake tablets to suppress my wolf. My mother was taken from me when I was barely old enough to remember her. And now” my gaze snapped back to Damien “you’ve taken my father from me too.”
He scoffed, turning away as if my pain bored him.
“Yes, you hated him,” I continued, the words pouring out now. “I know he hurt you. He hurt me too. But he was still my father. Our father. And you acted alone. You decided I didn’t matter. You decided I didn’t deserve to know. And that that is what hurts the most.”
“You call him a monster, Damien,” I said quietly. “But from where I’m standing, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“Get out,” he snarled. “Before I throw you out myself.”
I braced, expecting his fist, the violence I’d seen simmering beneath his skin. Instead, everything happened at once. I was yanked backward, slammed into Fabrice’s chest as his eyes glazed over lost to a mind-link. The sudden movement made my stomach lurch, nausea rolling through me.
Across the room, Aurélie was frozen in her own mind-link. Lucas stood between Maurice and Damien, both of them straining forward, teeth bared, barely restrained.
Fabrice didn’t waste a second. He propelled me from the room, up the stairs, into my bedroom, where he immediately began throwing my things together.
“You need to leave, Sab,” he said urgently. “Maurice will take care of you. I know everything feels unbearable right now, but remember things aren’t always what they seem.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“I can’t say more,” he admitted, his jaw tight. “But he’s going to need you in the weeks ahead. Don’t turn your back on him.”
He reached under the bed for my rucksack, but I snatched it from his hands.
“Fabrice,” I whispered, “he killed my father.”
“Yes, but” He stopped himself, shaking his head. “Forget it.”
“No,” I pressed. “What do you mean?”
“Aurélie will need you,” he said instead. “Don’t forget that.”
“Everything okay?” Maurice’s voice cut in as he stepped into the room.
I hadn’t even realized my hand was gripping Fabrice’s arm until a low growl rumbled from Maurice’s chest.
“Yes,” I said quickly, stepping back. “Let’s go.”
“We can wait until morning,” Maurice offered gently, searching my face, making sure I was truly ready.
“No.” I swallowed hard. “It’ll only make it harder to say goodbye to the kids. Maybe…” I hesitated, suddenly unsure of his world, his home, whether children even belonged there.
“Yes,” he said immediately. “They can visit us. Of course they can.”
Relief loosened something tight inside me.
“Good luck, Sab. Alpha Maurice,” Fabrice said, nodding before handing Maurice a holdall stuffed with more of my clothes. I hadn’t realized I’d accumulated so much.
“Thank you, Fabrice.”
“Bee” Maurice began.
“Not now,” I said softly. “Let me finish packing. Let me say goodbye to the children, and then we’ll leave. Yes, you should have told me but I understand why you didn’t. You were torn.”
“Never torn between choosing you,” he said firmly. “Never. I was only torn over how you would survive the truth.”
“Come on,” I murmured.
I lifted my hand and cupped his face. His stubble scraped lightly against my palm rough, real, grounding. He should have shaved, but I didn’t mind. He had kept secrets, yes but he had also proven, again and again, that he was someone I could trust.
And this time, I chose him.