Chapter 107
Jackson's POV
The drive to Wilson Estate took twenty minutes—twenty minutes of white-knuckled fury and Orion's constant demands for blood.
He endangered her. He used her. We should kill him.
"I need answers first."
Then we kill him.
"Maybe."
The massive iron gates swung open automatically as I approached. Of course Miles was expecting me. He'd probably been watching the whole thing unfold on some surveillance feed, waiting to see if I'd take the bait.
The main house blazed with lights, every window illuminated like some kind of twisted welcome. I parked and sat for a moment, hands still gripping the wheel, trying to wrestle my rage into something controllable.
My phone buzzed. Ryan and Jake, asking if I was okay.
I didn't answer. Couldn't. Not yet.
The front door opened before I reached it. Miles stood in the entrance, backlit by the chandelier's glow, a glass of whiskey in one hand.
"Welcome home, Jackson." His voice was smooth, unbothered. "I've been waiting."
I pushed past him into the hall, my body vibrating with barely contained violence. "Cut the crap, Miles. You almost killed her."
He closed the door, took a sip of his drink. "Did I? Or did I give you a reason to finally stop hiding?"
"How long have you known?" The words came out rough, barely human.
He swirled his whiskey. "That you're not the 'weak, incomplete shifter' you've been pretending to be?" A pause. "About three years."
The air left my lungs. "Three years? And you never said anything?"
"I was curious." His eyes gleamed in the firelight. "Watching you play the role so perfectly. You almost fooled everyone, Jackson. Even me. Almost."
My fists clenched, nails elongating into claws before I could stop them. "So you decided to force my hand by putting an innocent girl in a death trap?"
"You used her as bait," I snarled, taking a step closer. "You drugged her. Chained her. Left her to drown in freezing water. All to prove a point?"
"All to prove you're ready." Miles stood, meeting my advance without fear. "Do you know how hard it's been, watching you waste your potential? You're stronger than Lennox Martinez. Faster than any Beta in your pack. You could be the greatest Alpha that territory has seen in generations."
"And what if I don't want to be?" My voice cracked. "What if I just want to study medicine, dance, live my life?"
His expression hardened. "Then your parents died for nothing."
The world went red.
I was across the room before I knew I'd moved, my hand wrapped around his throat, slamming him against the portrait wall. My mother's painted eyes watched as I threatened to kill her brother.
"Don't." My voice was barely recognizable, more Orion than Jackson. "You. Dare."
Miles didn't fight back. Didn't even flinch. Just looked at me with something that might have been approval.
"Your parents were weeks away from challenging the old system," he said calmly, despite my grip on his windpipe. "He would have won. He would have changed everything for our pack." A pause. "But he died. Conveniently."
I released him, stumbling back. "What are you saying?"
Miles straightened his collar, completely unruffled. "Your parents weren't just Alpha and Luna, Jackson. They were reformers." His eyes held mine. "They planned to change everything—to end the hereditary succession system. Under their proposed reform, Alpha position would go to the strongest, most capable wolf of each generation. Not automatic inheritance. True meritocracy."
My breath caught. "What?"
"The pack council meeting was scheduled to vote on it. Your father had the support. Your mother had convinced the Luna council." Miles moved to the window, his silhouette dark against the glass. "The reform would have passed. Everything would have changed."
"Then what happened?"
"Sixteen years ago, the night before that crucial meeting, your parents were driving home from a preliminary gathering." His voice was eerily calm. "A truck hit them on a bridge. They fell into the river." He turned back, and something cold flickered in his eyes.
My legs felt weak. "That was an accident. The driver was drunk."
"Was he?" Miles challenged. "Or was he paid to be in that exact spot at that exact time?"
The room spun. "You're saying someone murdered them? To stop the reform?"
"The council meeting was cancelled due to mourning. You were only five years old—too young to inherit." He paused, letting the implications sink in. "So Lennox stepped in as Alpha. And the reform... was never mentioned again."
I sank onto the couch, my head in my hands.
The truth was, I'd always suspected my parents' deaths weren't just an accident. Some part of me had known, even as a child, that Alpha and Luna don't just die in random car crashes. But I'd convinced myself it was simple—they were powerful, their position was coveted, someone wanted what they had.
So I'd been clever. Or so I thought.
Hide your strength. Play weak. Stay out of pack politics. If no one sees you as a threat, no one will come after you.
It had seemed so logical. So safe.
But this—this—changed everything.
They hadn't died because of what they had. They'd died because of what they wanted to do. Because they were trying to make things better, fairer, more just. Because they actually gave a damn about the pack's future instead of just clinging to power.
My world tilted on its axis.
If I'd known—if I'd understood the real reason—I would have become someone completely different. I would have trained relentlessly. Built alliances. Fought for the Alpha position not out of obligation, but to finish what they started. To honor their vision. To make their deaths mean something.
Instead, I'd hidden. Pretended to be weak. Wasted years playing it safe while their murderer walked free and their reform died with them.
But then again... if I'd done that, if I'd been that person...
I'd probably be dead too. Another "accident." Another young Alpha heir eliminated before he could become a threat. Maybe my cowardice had kept me alive. Maybe my ignorance had saved me.
My thoughts spiraled, contradicting themselves, each realization sparking another question. Had I made the right choice for the wrong reasons? Would my parents be proud or disappointed? Should I have fought, or was survival its own victory?
I didn't know anymore. I didn't know anything.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I finally managed.
"Because you were too young. Too weak. Too... human." He sat across from me, his voice gentler than I'd ever heard it. "But now? You've proven you're ready."
"Ready for what?" But I already knew the answer.
"To claim your birthright. To become what you were born to be." He paused. "To find out who killed your parents and make them pay."
The offer hung in the air between us, poisonous and tempting in equal measure.
Orion wanted it. Wanted the power, the position, the chance for revenge. Yes. Alpha. Ours. Make them pay.
But I thought of Ellie, shivering in my sweatshirt. Of the life I'd built carefully away from pack politics. Of medical school, street dance, normal human concerns.