Chapter 53
Gradel
"Happy birthday, Father," I wished him with a curt tone and inclined my head.
Iris did the same and smiled at him, but her eyes held fear and her body brimmed with anxiety. I wondered what made her so uncomfortable to want to stay away from my father.
I knew that he didn't have a good history of being warm to her, but she could at least pretend, except something else had happened in my absence.
"I hope you continue to live long for the pack," She spoke, quietly.
As expected he snubbed her but I did not comment as I didn't intend to stand all night behind him. Iris and I had a tutorial session and I couldn't wait for another lesson.
My body went taut with anticipation as a bulge slowly formed between my legs.
"You seem happier than before, what's the secret?" He observed, his eyes scanning my face meticulously.
Oh, that? I didn't want to be reminded about it because I was on the verge of beating my twin for what he had done, but my eyes met Iris's and she batted her lashes softly, a soft reminder of my promise.
"I'll give you an answer when I'm done interrogating your son here," I growled coldly and turned my attention to Devin whose expression was as stoic as ever. "Why did you do it?"
He frowned. "Do what?"
I lifted my hand and brandished my diamond bracelet at him. A gasp erupted from his throat and his eyes widened in disbelt.
"How... How did you... How did you get that?" He stuttered and gulped, pointing his finger towards the bracelet.
"Mr Alfred... I'm sure his name rings a very loud bell," I said distastefully.
"That bastard," He muttered under his breath in realization but he wasn't so good at making his voice inaudible.
"Maybe he is, but don't you think that you are the greater bastard here for taking what doesn't belong to you? You know how important this bracelet is to me. It's the only connection that I have with our late mother, yet you took it without remorse. Why did you do it?" My voice was laced with pain and discovering that he was behind my bracelet's disappearance solidified my decision never to make up with him.
He cocked his chin proudly and shrugged. "You've been a menace lately and I wanted to hurt you, especially after I realized that Father didn't even care about my existence or maybe he did but he still wants you to be his successor after everything you've done. So I took it,"
I took a predatory step forward and he shrank backward. Iris quickly held my arm and I froze, taking deep breaths to suppress my rising temper.
"You see, that's why Father will never allow you to become Alpha because you allow your emotions to get to you easily. I warned you that if you do anything unreasonable, I'll change my decision and stay back and now I'm really tempted." I informed him.
Horror blared in his eyes as he clenched his teeth. I enjoyed the fear he exuded and that was just the beginning.
Within two weeks, he had trespassed twice, attempting to hit my woman and then taking my bracelet. He had to be taught a lesson.
Then my father interjected at that point, his nose flared in anger. "You both speak as if I'm just a statue. How dare you?" He thundered, lowering his voice so that the pack wouldn't sense any mishap.
I glanced at them and sighed in relief when I saw them dancing wildly as before. Since the Alpha hadn't addressed them, they could do what they wanted until he said otherwise.
"If you hadn't killed your wife after she found out that you had dishonored your mating vows, we wouldn't be in this situation." Devin blurted, his face blank without any emotion.
I staggered backward, my chest tightening so I couldn't breathe. Once again, Iris was there to steady me but I'd become taut with anger, I didn't want anyone around me.
What did I just hear?
"You don't joke with the death of our late mother, Devin. You know that she loved the both of us," I growled, balling my fists.
He snorted and his lips stretched into a wry smile. "But I'm speaking the truth. Why don't you ask our father here? I'm sure he has something to say about this matter,"
Filled with fury, I gazed at the man I once thought to be my hero and hatred burst at the seams for him. If it was the truth then he was dead to me.
"He is lying, isn't he?" I asked carefully, hoping that he would debunk Devin's claims.
But the man remained tongue-tied, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. His silence was an answer that cut my heart into pieces and at that moment there was only one thing stopping me from engaging him in a duel.
"Tell me, Father!" I barked. "How and why did you kill mom?"
Loud gasps rose from the crowd and the partying took an immediate pause as all attention turned to us. I didn't want that since it was a family affair.
I took a microphone and swallowed, "We are sorry for the interruption. I assure you that everything is fine, just continue with the party and expect more refreshments."
The serenity only lasted for a while and then they continued partying again.
Then I faced my father. "Now tell me, why did you do it?"
"Don't use that tone on me!" He warned but when I took a step close to him, he realized that his warning had fallen on deaf ears. "I didn't mean to do it, but the night that you found her dead we had an argument that lasted for hours. I never loved her so it wasn't hard for me to hit her. She could have fought back but she was too shaken to do anything, but I promise that I didn't kill her. I couldn't have,"
Now the story wasn't making any sense and I didn't know what to believe.
"If you didn't kill her? Who did and why didn't you investigate the matter?"
"Of course, I did look into her death and I discovered that she had been ingesting little amounts of Briom in her tea. That was what stopped her from healing..." He trailed off.
Briom was one of the deadliest poison in our packs. It could kill the strongest of Alphas in one sitting but to give my late mother a slow and unsuspicious death, it had to be added in bits.
"Who could have done this?" I lamented.
"You can ask your mate, after all, her mother was my mistress." My father spurt casually and I spared her a backward glance, shaking my head in disbelief.
She froze, her lips stretching and gradually she retreated and broke into a run.