186

186
Scarlett
“What?” The word escaped my lips like a desperate gasp as everyone around me froze in stunned silence.
My heart plummeted to my stomach, and I stumbled backward, my legs suddenly weak beneath me. What the hell was he talking about?
“So!” Mother’s voice sounded colder than ever. It was as if she had predicted this. “How did you do it?”
Father’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “It was Alpha Patrick,” he confessed, his voice hollow and pathetic. “He was the one who gave me the potion to make it seem like I was your fated mate.”
His eyes darted nervously around the place as he continued. “I’m just a lowly rogue, and I longed to rule. How I wanted a pack of my own, but conquering one was impossible because I was...” his voice cracked, “...weak.”
The crowd erupted in anger as he confessed, their howls reverberating through my chest. The man I had always known as Father now faced their wrath.
“He helped me out, and I finally succeeded.” His words tumbled out faster now, desperate. “But the potion is wearing off. You could find out the truth, and if you did—” fear flickered across his face, “—you’d take everything from me. My pack, my people. I’d go back to being a rogue. So, I chose to end you.”
“They were never yours!” Mother’s scream tore through the air with such primal rage that even I flinched. Her eyes blazed with hate. “Everything is mine, and you stole it from me. My life, my people—everything! I will kill you, bastard!”
She lunged at him with supernatural speed. Her claws slammed into his ribs, and the sickening crack of bones echoed.
Father’s bloodcurdling scream pierced my ears, a sound so raw and agonized that despite everything, I felt my stomach turn.
My mind raced as I watched Mother’s vengeance unfold. No wonder she’d grown cold toward him, her body had known the truth even when her mind didn’t.
How could he be so evil? So utterly heartless? He’d stolen her life, her destiny, her very identity.
“Ma’am, you don’t have to kill him,” Finn said beside me, earning a dangerous growl from Mother.
“Why?” she questioned.
“Not yet. I need to find out why he destroyed my pack and my family.”
Mother dragged the bleeding, broken man to the center of the gathering, her claws digging into his arm.
Blood seeped through his shredded clothes, and his face was so swollen it was barely recognizable.
The crowd’s collective gasp and horrified whispers swelled around us. Mother’s grip never wavered, her eyes aflame with righteous fury as she presented him like a trophy—a warning of what happens to those who betray her.
Finn stepped forward. “Do you remember me?”
“Yes,” Father replied, his voice a resigned whisper as he surrendered to his fate. “You’re Scarlett’s mate.”
“Wrong. I’m Finn Foster, heir of the Steel Pack—the pack you destroyed years ago.”
Father gasped, and I felt the wave of terror roll off him. His eyes widened with recognition and dread.
“Y…you…”
“Why?” Finn’s voice trembled with barely contained rage. The pain emanating from him was so intense. “Why did you do that to my family?”
“It wasn’t my fault,” Father whimpered, tears mixing with blood on his mangled face. “Alpha Patrick once helped me, so I returned the favor. I was forced to do it. Please... have mercy.” The pathetic plea hung in the air.
Finn’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You killed everyone in my family, and you dare ask for mercy?”
“I did nothing but bury the evidence in his pack because Alpha Patrick threatened to destroy me,” he confessed, words tumbling out between gasps of pain. “He was the one in the dark, ordering me around.”
“My sister…” Finn’s voice trembled as he tried to hold back tears. His hands trembled at his sides. “Where is she?”
Father’s face crumpled with what almost looked like genuine remorse. “I’m sorry. Your sister is dead.” He swallowed hard before continuing. “Alpha Patrick... raped her to death.”
“What?” The word escaped me in a horrified whisper.
Rage poured from my mate like wildfire. Would this be the end of our relationship?
“Finn,” I called softly, my heart aching as I stepped closer to him. “Are you okay?”
“How could I be?” he roared, his voice shattering with anguish. “She was only fourteen! WHY?”
His howl tore through the place, so filled with grief and pain that tears sprang unbidden to my eyes.
In that moment, I knew that if Alpha Patrick were still alive, I would have burned him alive myself, slowly and without mercy.
“I will kill you in his place,” Finn growled, his deadly eyes fixed on my father, glowing with lethal intent.
“Please,” my father begged, crawling to clutch at my mother’s feet. Blood trailed behind him. “Don’t let him kill me!”
Now it was his turn to make him suffer. My father’s horrified screams echoed through the air as Finn beat him mercilessly.
Every bone in his body cracked under the force. Blood soaked the ground, washing toward where I stood.
Did I still need to take my revenge on him? I was thinking about this when she crossed my mind.
Heart pounding, I raced inside, desperate to drag Luna Elena out to face justice—but what I found stopped me cold. She was tied up, her body broken and still... dead.
“Ha,” I exhaled, disbelief numbing me from the inside out. “He must have killed her.”
I stumbled back outside, my legs numb and unsteady, barely carrying me. I saw Mother issuing commands with the authority that had always been rightfully hers.
“Tie him to the tree at the pack border. Let the birds feed on him.”
“No, Lucy!” Father screamed with the little strength he had left, true terror writhing his ruined face. “Kill me! I don’t want to be eaten alive!”
She turned away from his pleas as they dragged his sobbing form away.
The old elder man approached, his eyes solemn. “It’s over now,” he said quietly. “Our new Alpha is here.”
Without ceremony or fanfare, Mother reclaimed her rightful title.
“Long live our Alpha!” the pack members chorused, their voices rising in unison. I smiled through my exhaustion and took her hand, feeling its strength and warmth.
“All hail our Alpha.”
In the clearing, Finn stood alone, a lonely figure silhouetted against the chaos. My heart broke for him as I approached cautiously.
“Honey,” I whispered, reaching for him but afraid to touch.
He didn’t answer with words. Instead, he pulled me into a crushing embrace, burying his face in my hair.
“Don’t talk,” he pleaded. “I just want to stay like this.”
I held him tightly, pouring all my love and strength into the embrace. His tears soaked my shoulder as he shook with silent sobs.