Chapter 0451

That was a cruel thing to say about a child. Even if Charlotte had called him bad.

Her fingers scrape against the wooden chair. “Last night, I felt this overwhelming urge to protect the family. I checked on everyone. I camped right outside Liam’s door just in case. Caleb found me this morning. The kid is insane. He tried telling Caleb that I hit him—just to get me in trouble.”

“Did you?”

“No! I know my reputation is terrible, but no. Besides, Caleb saw everything.”

“You understand why I had to ask?”

She nods slowly. “You’re one of many who hate me. There was a time I wouldn’t have cared. But I’m learning to accept it now. I know it’ll always be this way. I made too many enemies.”

“You did. But right now, you aren’t the problem we need to deal with.”

She leaps up from the chair. “What… the hell… is that?”

I turn and see a small black Lycan cub creeping toward me. I laugh softly. “So someone else can escape too,” I murmur, scooping Evrin into my arms.

“Are you telling me that’s your kid?”

“No.”

“One of Athena’s?”

“Yes.”

“He can shift?”

“Is there something wrong with your eyesight? Obviously, he can shift!” I snap.

“But he’s a kid. A baby.”

“And you had your abilities stripped. There’s a lot of weird stuff happening.”

“Does anyone else know?” she presses.

“No. And it needs to stay that way.” I hold her gaze until she reluctantly agrees.

“Are they going to bind him?” She follows me into the house.

“Why would they do that?”

“It could be dangerous for him. Shifting at this age… it might be harming his little body.”

“That’s not something you need to worry about.” I glare, making it clear she should shut her mouth before I do it for her.

“And you should be asleep,” I mutter to Evrin. His blue eyes lock onto mine, and he shifts back into his human form.

“This is insane,” Seraphina whispers. “And amazing. Why are they keeping this a secret?”

“Are you stupid? Did you lose all common sense when Levi stripped you?”

Evrin giggles. Seraphina just stares until a knock sounds at the door.

Caleb steps inside, his expression tight with concern. “You let her in.”

“I didn’t have a choice. One of the twins woke up. Everything sorted?”

“Yes. Thank you. Alexander is on his way home. We’ll move forward with the next step then.”

What did that mean?

“Let’s go,” he tells Seraphina before thanking me again.

I keep Evrin occupied until he finally drifts back to sleep. Sebastian appears. His frown almost mirrors Caleb’s.

“You okay?” he asks quietly. “Heard you got roped into babysitting Seraphina.”

I nod. “And she knows about Evrin. He climbed out of his cot and found me outside talking to her.”

He shrugs. “It was going to come out eventually. If it comes from her, no one will believe it anyway. Did she tell you what happened last night?”

“Yes. It has to be Levi, right?”

He sits beside me on the sofa. “Seems likely. Might explain why he has such an issue with Charlotte.”

“Seraphina spoke like she thinks Liam is already Rogue. Is that something we should consider? He’s not thirteen, but then this one already has his Lycan. What are you planning to do with him?”

“Caleb wants to bind him.”

“How will that help? If he doesn’t even have his Lycan yet, it won’t make a difference. How he’s acting right now won’t change either. Can’t we get Luc to figure out what his issue is and stop it that way?”

He goes silent.

“What is it?”

“Luc left. He left, and Hannah went with him.”