CHAPTER 48: The Revelation

CHAPTER 48: The Revelation

Jared's POV
"You're lying," I snarled, my jaws still around the Lycan King's neck.
"Am I?" he choked out. "Ask your Beta, Caleb. Ask him who gave him the key to that room. Ask him who suggested he find you a woman that night. Ask him why he chose Georgia especially. "
My blood ran cold. Caleb. My best friend. My most trusted friend.
"No," I said, but doubt was already coming in.
"He was there," the Lycan King continued. "Before me. Before you. He had her first. Then he brought me in. Then he drugged you and brought you to finish what we started."
"Stop talking!" Georgia screamed, her voice breaking. "Stop saying these things!"
I stared at her. Tears streamed down her face. Through the mate bond, I felt her pain, her fear, her shame.
Three men. Not two. Three.
"Why?" I demanded, pushing harder on the Lycan King's throat. "Why would Caleb do that?"
"Ask him yourself," the Lycan King rasped. "He's right outside the cave."
I froze. "What?"
"I sent word to your pack that I had Georgia and the children," the Lycan King said. "Your Beta rushed here to 'help.' But I wonder... did he come to save them? Or to make sure his secret stayed buried?"
I released him and shifted back to human form. I had to know the truth.
I walked to the cave opening. Sure enough, Caleb stood there with several pack fighters.
"Alpha!" Caleb called out with relief. "Thank the gods you're safe. We came as soon as we got word."
I looked at my best friend. The man I'd trusted with my life. The man who'd stood beside me for fifteen years.
"Caleb," I said slowly. "I need you to tell me the truth about something."
"Of course," he said, stepping forward. "Anything."
"That night six years ago," I said. "When you brought me that woman. The night I was drugged. Where did you get her?"
Caleb's face went pale. Just slightly. But I saw it.
"I found her wandering the halls," he said. "I thought you two would be compatible, so I—"
"Stop lying," I interrupted. "The Lycan King just told me everything. You were active. You hurt Georgia first. Then you brought him in. Then you brought me."
The cave had gone silent. Everyone was looking at Caleb.
"That's ridiculous," Caleb said, but his voice shook. "Why would I do that? Georgia was nobody back then. Just a failed Omega."
"Exactly," I said, understanding now. "She was weak. Broken. Easy to hurt. And you've always had a thing for hurting the weak, haven't you?"
Memories came rushing back. Times when Caleb had been rude to lower-ranking pack members. Times when he'd suggested harsh sentences. Times when I'd dismissed his behavior because he was my friend.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Caleb said, backing away.
"Then prove it," I challenged. "Let Oracle Mira look into your memories. If you're innocent, you have nothing to hide."
Caleb's eyes darted to the cave exit. He was thinking about running.
"Don't," I warned. "You won't make it three steps."
For a long moment, nobody moved. Then Caleb's shoulders slumped.
"It wasn't supposed to go that far," he said quietly. "It started as a joke. Your brother James said if we could get you to sleep with some strange girl, we could use it to embarrass you. Make you look weak. So I found Georgia. She was perfect—already heartbroken, already weak from your rejection."
My stomach turned. "You drugged her."
"James did," Caleb said quickly. "I just... I just watched at first. But then..." He stopped.
"But then you couldn't help yourself," Georgia said, her voice deadly quiet. She'd moved to stand beside me. "You saw a helpless girl and you decided to take what you wanted."
Caleb wouldn't look at her. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Georgia laughed, but it was a terrible sound. "You're sorry? You destroyed my life! You violated me! You made me pregnant with children I had to raise alone!"
"Wait," Kelvin said from behind us. "If Caleb was first, and the Lycan King was second, and Daddy was third... which one of you is our real father?"
The question hung in the air like poison.
"I don't know," Georgia whispered. "I never knew. The time... it could have been any of them."
I looked at Kelvin, Emma, and Kelsey. Three children with my red hair and green eyes. I'd always assumed they were mine because of that. But what if...
"There's a way to know for certain," Oracle Mira said. She pulled out a small crystal. "Blood magic. It can identify real parents."
"Do it," Georgia said instantly. "The children deserve to know the truth."
Oracle Mira pricked each child's finger, collecting drops of blood in the crystal. Then she did the same to me, Caleb, and the Lycan King.
We all watched as the crystal glowed, processing the information.
Finally, the light faded. Oracle Mira looked at the results, and her face went white.
"What?" I asked. "What does it say?"
"The triplets—Emma, Kelvin, and Kelsey—share the same father," Oracle Mira said slowly. "They're yours, Jared."
Relief flooded through me. They were mine. Actually mine. "But Kaia..." Oracle Mira continued, looking at the little girl. "Kaia's father is neither Jared nor the Lycan King."
"Then who?" Georgia asked desperately.
Oracle Mira pointed at Caleb. "She's his daughter."
The cave burst into chaos.
"No!" Kaia screamed, running to me and hiding behind my legs. "He's not my daddy! You are!"
Caleb looked at Kaia with something I'd never seen in his eyes before. Softness. Wonder. "I have a daughter?"
"You have nothing," I growled. "You attacked her mother. You don't get to claim her now."
"She's my blood," Caleb said. "I have rights."
"You have no rights," Georgia said. "You're a rapist. A monster. And you'll never touch my daughter."
"Our daughter," Caleb corrected. "Whether you like it or not."
I punched him. Hard enough that he fell to the ground.
"The only reason you're still alive," I said, "is because I want you to suffer. I'm stripping you of your Beta spot. You're banned from this pack. If you ever come near Georgia or any of these children again, I'll kill you myself."
"You can't do this," Caleb said, wiping blood from his mouth. "The pack laws—"
"The pack laws say I can do whatever I want to traitors," I interrupted. "And that's what you are. A traitor."
I nodded to the troops. "Take him away. Lock him in the dungeon until we decide his sentence."
As they pulled Caleb away, he looked back at Kaia one more time. "I'll come back for you," he said. "You're mine. And I always collect what's mine."
The Lycan King started laughing. "Oh, this is great. Absolutely perfect."
"Shut up," I growled.
"Don't you see?" he continued. "You can't kill me now. If you do, your best friend becomes Kaia's only living father. And pack law says that biological fathers have custody rights. Even criminal fathers can ask for visitation once they've served their time."
My blood went cold. He was right. If I killed the Lycan King, Caleb would be Kaia's only real father. And while he'd be punished for what he did, he wouldn't be killed—assault wasn't a death penalty crime in pack law.
Which meant someday, legally, he could try to claim Kaia.
"So here's my new offer," the Lycan King said. "Let me go. Don't chase me. And in return, I'll use my position as Lycan King to legally claim Kaia as my daughter. That will trump Caleb's claim. She'll be safe from him forever."
"In exchange for what?" Georgia asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," the Lycan King said. "Consider it an apology for my part in that night. I was young and stupid and let your mother control me. I regret it. And while I'd love to know my daughter, I can see she's better off with you. So I'll claim her formally to protect her, but I won't try to take her from you."
"Why should we trust you?" I asked.
"Because I'm the only option you have," he said simply. "It's either me or Caleb. Choose."
Georgia looked at Kaia, then at me. Through the mate bond, I felt her fear. Her desperation.
"Fine," Georgia whispered. "You can claim her. But you stay away from us. No touch. No visits. You're just a name on paper."
"Agreed," the Lycan King said.
He walked to the cave opening and disappeared into the night.
I held Georgia as she cried. The children gathered around us, all of them scared and confused.
"It's over," I said. "Finally, it's over."
But even as I said it, I knew I was wrong.
Because Caleb's words echoed from the dungeon transport: "This isn't over, Jared! I'll get out soon! And when I do, I'm taking what belongs to me! Kaia is mine! And so is something else you don't know about yet! Something I've been hiding for six years!
Something that will destroy everything!"
What else could he possibly be hiding?