Chapter 0280

Her laughter echoes through the halls.

It’s light and musical.

A sound I haven’t heard in years.

My chest tightens with raw emotion.

Pure joy.

If only her mother were here to witness this.

I remember coming back from hunts.

Finding my little girl still awake.

Playing quietly with her mother.

She’d always light up when I walked in.

My mate would smile and say the same thing every night.

“Charlotte can’t sleep without your kiss.”

That final night… I never got to tuck her in.

My heart didn’t just break.

It vanished.

There was no trace of her anywhere.

Just a damn note from Seraphina.

Two words: “I win.”

She hid them perfectly.

Vanished into thin air.

I follow the sound of giggles to the kitchen.

Charlotte is on the floor.

Two little Lycan pups are climbing over her.

She’s laughing, pure and bright.

The sound fills the whole house.

I study the twins.

One looks just like Alexander.

The other has Athena’s features.

Their souls are still pure.

Tiny balls of light.

No darkness.

Not yet.

“She adores them,” Alexander says.

I stiffen. “They’re Lycans.”

“You were taught they’re all evil. But take it from your own daughter—they’re not.”

“They’re just pups. They haven’t become anything yet.”

“I’m not talking about them.” He gestures toward Charlotte. “I mean Zachary and Brianna. She loves them.”

“Is Daddy upset?” Charlotte asks softly.

“No, sweetheart. I’m not mad.” I smile and crouch down to her level.

She doesn’t smile back. Just watches me. Her eyes are exactly like her mother’s.

“Not you. My other daddy.”

My heart clenches. Hard.

“He’s not your daddy, baby girl.”

“Yes, he is. He saved me. Daddies save people.”

My daughter loves a Lycan like family.

It makes my blood boil.

“Daddy Zachary isn’t mad,” Alexander tells her gently. “He went to check on Isabella.”

“Is Isabella sad?” Her small voice is full of concern.

“Yes.”

“Because Julian is dying?” She hugs a teddy bear tightly.

Alexander goes completely still. He stares.

I know that look.

It’s the same one I get when I know things I shouldn’t.

“She’s never met him, has she?” I ask as the boys distract her.

“No. She shouldn’t know that.”

“Hunter genes,” I murmur with a faint smile. “And judging by your face… this isn’t the first time she’s surprised you, is it?”

Alexander signals for an omega to take the pups away.

Once they’re gone, he motions me to the table.

“She says things sometimes. Little comments. We started keeping her out of certain conversations. Just in case she understands more than we thought.”

“You can’t hide anything from her. Be glad she’s young. Just wait until she can read souls.”

His crimson eyes give nothing away, but his posture shifts. “You can read souls?”

“How do you think I know things I shouldn’t? Got any beer?”

He gets up and grabs two bottles from the fridge.

“Is that why you don’t like Zachary? Because of what you see?”

“Bingo.”

“Then why provoke Sebastian?”

“Because it’s easy. Speaking of… you might want to check on him. He hit his mate pretty hard.”

“She’s fine,” I add when he looks at me sharply.

I take a long drink.

He’s choosing his words when I hit him with my own question.

“How long has she been using the name Harrison?”

“Athena has always been a Harrison.”

“Not her. The other one. Harrison doesn’t come from her father’s side. It’s from her mother’s. Passed down like her special blood. They shared the same father, right?”

He nods slowly. “What did you know her as?”

“Seraphina Blackwood. Funny, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“Changing her last name to one tied to a powerful Lycan bloodline. Almost like she’s trying to convince everyone she’s the lost female Lycan they’ve been waiting for.”