SIXTY

SIXTY
DARRAGH’S POV
The morgue smelled like death and chemicals. I found my mother standing beside the metal table where Gamma Killian's body lay, her back straight and her face set. She did not know a thing about what had just transpired and I was about to rock her world. I approached as the pack healer worked quietly in the corner, preparing the embalming solution with practiced hands.
"Mom," I said from the doorway. "Let's talk."
She didn't turn around immediately. Her fingers traced the edge of the table, and when she finally looked at me, her expression was guarded. "Culture says you shouldn't be here, Darragh. Death preparations are not for the young Alpha's eyes. Neither are they auspicious."
"Mom." My voice came out rougher than I intended. My eyes felt raw, probably looked it too. "I said I want to talk to you."
The healer glanced between us, reading the tension in the air. My mother's jaw tightened slightly, but she nodded toward the old woman. "Don't worry about us. Continue your work."
The healer bowed her head respectfully. "Of course, Luna Dayo. I'll handle everything."
My mother followed me out of the morgue, her steps measured and careful. We walked down the corridor until we reached a small alcove where no one could overhear us. The morning light filtered through the narrow windows, casting long shadows on the stone floor.
"What's troubling you?" she asked, turning to face me fully.
The tears I'd been holding back started building again. My throat felt tight. "Did you know?"
Her eyebrows drew together. "Know what?"
I took a breath. "About Father. Did you know he was cheating?"
The change in her face was instant. The warmth drained away, leaving something cold and distant in its place. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she looked away from me.
"It's true," I said. "You knew."
She was quiet for a long moment. When she spoke, her voice was steady but tired. "All the Omegas were paid off and sent on their way. I never wanted you to know this." Her eyes snapped back to mine, sharp now. "Who told you this?"
The words slipped out before I could stop them. "There were more other than Sara?"
My mother's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes going wide. "Sara?"
Fuck. I'd given myself away completely. But I was too angry, too hurt to care about being careful anymore. "This has to be it. This is why you disappeared. This is why you abandoned me."
"What do you mean by that?" She stepped closer, studying my face like she was trying to solve a puzzle. "You've said that before, and I thought you were being delirious or something, but..." She shook her head slowly. "You're serious about this."
She reached up to touch my face with gentle fingers, the way she used to when I was small or had nightmares. "Why would I ever abandon my boy?"
Her touch almost broke me. I wanted to lean into it, to pretend everything was normal, but the weight of what I knew pressed down on me.
"I've stayed by your father's side because of you," she continued, her voice soft but firm. "Because leaving would mean tearing this pack apart, and you would inherit chaos instead of stability. Because I knew that one day, when you became Alpha, you would need a foundation to build on, not ruins to clear away." Her thumb brushed across my cheek. "Everything I've done, every choice I've made, has been to protect your future."
At the expense of hers?
The sincerity in her voice cut through me like a blade. "So is there something you know that I don't know, Darragh?"
I stared at her, this woman who had sacrificed so much for me, who had endured my father's betrayals in silence to keep our family together. How could I tell her the truth? That I'd lived this life before? That in my other timeline, she had vanished without a trace, leaving only a letter behind? That I now suspected my father had killed her?
I couldn't. The words wouldn't come.
"I know someone," I said instead, the lie tasting bitter on my tongue. "A healer. Her connection to the source allows her to see visions. Flickers of what might happen in the future." I swallowed hard. "In one of them, you're not there. You drop a letter and never look back. Not even a call. It felt like you were dead, and you have no idea how terrifying that world was. How angry it made me. How empty I became."
Her face crumpled with understanding and pain. Without hesitation, she pulled me into her arms, and I let myself sink against her. She smelled like the lavender soap she always used, like home and safety and everything I'd lost in my other life.
"I would never leave you," she whispered fiercely into my hair. "Death would have to snatch me first before that happens."
Death. The word echoed in my mind, cold and final. That was probably exactly what had happened. In my original timeline, death must have been the thing that snatched her away and I had no idea. My father had made sure of that before Gamma Killian's wolfsbane poison could claim him.
I couldn't bring myself to imagine the details. Couldn't picture how he'd done it or why. The thought made my stomach turn.
I pulled back from her embrace, trying to compose myself.
"Where is Sara?" my mother asked suddenly.
The question caught me off guard. "Why would you ask about her?"
"Because Sara is a victim too, and I need to—"
"No." The word came out sharper than I intended. "Sara is not a victim. She was complicit, and with the bed she made, she has to lie in it." I met her eyes steadily. "I'm ostracizing her from this pack with my power as Alpha blood after Gamma Killian’s funeral. The rogue shouldn't be part of this family."
My mother took my hand, her grip gentle but insistent. "Sara is practically orphaned with a grandfather who's just as bad as your father. Do you really believe she had much of a choice when your father chose to proposition her, a minor, into his antics?"
"Yes." I pulled my hand away. "Nothing you say will change my mind."
I turned and walked away before she could argue further. My mother's voice followed me down the corridor, calling my name, but I kept going. I couldn't listen to her defend Sara. Not when the image of them together was still burned into my memory.
When I was far enough away that she couldn't hear me, I pulled out my phone and called Ciara.
"I was just about to call you," she said as soon as she picked up. "I got news about Saraphina's grandfather. How are you feeling?"
I leaned against the wall, suddenly exhausted. "Do you ever think this new life revealed things your soul hoped to never know?"
"We got a second chance," she said, her voice thoughtful. "A one in a million opportunity. If you learned it, it's for the best."
"Will you come for the funeral?"
"My father will be against it, but I'll make sure I'm there."
I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "There's something I want to ask of you."
"What?"
I hesitated, then forced the words out. "I know your visions don't always work on autopilot." I took a breath. "But when you come, can you try it with my mother?"
"Why?"
The silence stretched between us. When I finally spoke, my voice was barely above a whisper.
"I think my father is the one who kills her."