Chapter 0046

Athena

“Enough!” Alpha Alexander’s voice cuts through the tension. His crimson gaze burns into me, even as he addresses Caleb.

“Don’t you want justice?” Caleb’s question hangs in the air. “For everything they did to you?”

“I said that’s enough.” Alpha Alexander’s eyes shift, pinning Caleb in place. “Not another word. Athena has made her choice.”

“I’m only stating facts. The pack is rightfully hers. She could claim it. Take her place as Alpha of the Lycans.”

“And I’m ordering you to stop talking. Now. You will answer questions only. You will not push your agenda on her. Are we clear?”

Caleb’s brow furrows slightly. He obeys, closing his mouth.

Apart from the eyes, he bore a faint resemblance to my father. At least, the fragments I could recall. My memories of him were hazy, fractured.

Except for one. The haunting image of blood streaking down his face as they dragged me away.

“You claimed they all knew.” Alpha Alexander steps closer to Caleb. Was this intimidation? “How?”

“My informant told me.”

“Your informant?”

“You could’ve asked him yourself if you hadn’t killed him.”

I was certain Alpha Alexander would strike. Instead, he just loomed over him. It reminded me of Marcus and the others.

Hovering above me. Whispering all the vile things they planned to do.

Alpha Alexander keeps his fists at his sides. “Dominic had no idea about your spy?”

“No.” Caleb’s eyes flick toward me. “He was the only one who never laid a hand on you. He despised what they were doing. He wanted to beg them to stop, but it would’ve made him look weak. Like a traitor.”

“He should have helped her anyway.”

“He was one Lycan. He couldn’t do anything except feed me information. Otherwise, Dominic would have known.”

“What about you? You stood back and let them brutalize her because you feared death?” Alpha Alexander’s tone is icy.

Caleb looks directly at me. “If it had been Isabella, I would’ve died trying to save her. I wouldn’t have stopped. I wouldn’t have sat back gathering intel from the inside. I would’ve gone in and torn heads from necks to save my sister.”

“It wasn’t that simple.” Caleb protests. “I told you, I tried getting near the house. Once Dominic realized who I was, he made it impossible. I tried.”

Caleb’s blue eyes lock with mine. “I truly tried.”

“Not enough!” Alpha Alexander snaps. He gives a sharp nod to Beta Sebastian.

“Let’s go!” Beta Sebastian grabs Caleb’s arm and hauls him out.

“That did not go as planned.” Alpha Alexander sighs, moving in front of me. “I wanted him to reassure you. To tell you that whatever you become doesn’t matter. Instead, he gave you more reasons to hate yourself.”

“He looks like my father.” I mumble, barely processing his words. “I… I don’t want to believe it. But his eyes… they’re like mine. Like my mother’s.”

“Could you sense him?”

“He smelled… familiar.” I shake my head. “There’s nothing up here.” I touch my temple. “I don’t remember a baby in that house.”

“He says he’s nineteen. That makes him three years younger. You don’t recall a toddler?”

“No. Nothing.” No memory of a baby. Or a small child. I never heard talk of an attack. Never heard Dominic mention increasing security.

But I remember every face that ever hurt me.

“And I will hunt every single one of them down.” Alpha Alexander murmurs, stepping closer to me.