Chapter 0060

Alexander

Occasionally, sharp little remarks would slip through, catching both of us off guard.

“I’m not acting strange. There’s just a lot happening right now.”

“You’re being foolish again!” Titan grumbled.

“What should I say? ‘By the way, you were bound more than twice because they were terrified of you.’ Or maybe, ‘Don’t worry about shifting—you’ve already done it!’ Do you think she wants to hear that, Titan? She’s terrified of shifting!”

“Fine,” he sulked. “Handle it your way.”

“You…you still haven’t said anything,” Athena murmured. “Is Titan…is he saying something to you? Is he talking about me?”

“Titan cares about you as much as I do. We just have different opinions on how to handle certain situations.”

Her brow furrowed slightly. “He wants you to…tell me something?” Her frown deepened.

“Not here,” I muttered, glancing around at my pack members moving nearby. I took her hand and led her back toward the house, shutting us inside my office.

She dropped into a chair and immediately pulled her knees to her chest. It took me some time to realize this was her way of protecting herself—a defense against Dominic and his followers targeting her ribs and stomach. Now, it had become a habit whenever she felt vulnerable.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” she whispered. “Genevieve is back, and now you and Titan have decided…”

“This has nothing to do with Genevieve.”

“I don’t…I don’t understand.”

“Over the past few days, we’ve spent a lot of time in the bedroom. During that time, we had a visitor.”

“Dominic?” she asked, alarmed.

“No. A Witch.”

“Oh.”

“The same Witch who bound your abilities.” I delivered the news slowly, like peeling off a bandage. “When you were a newborn pup.”

Her forehead wrinkled, eyes widening. “No…I was six.”

I held back the rest for now and explained that this was the same Witch I had met to discuss unbinding her. The same Witch who had fled when I mentioned the name of Athena’s pack. Now I understood why.

“She helped Dominic?”

“No, Athena.” I sighed. “She helped your father.”

Her eyes dropped from mine. Her hands gripped the armrests, knuckles turning white as she squeezed the wood. I felt her anger surge.

“My…my father?”

“Yes.”

“My father…he wanted me bound?” She spat out the words.

Her anger faded quickly, replaced by tears welling in her eyes.

“I know this isn’t what you want to hear, Athena, but from what she told me, I don’t think it was only Dominic and Victoria responsible. I believe it goes back further.”

She sat there, staring at me with her blue eyes. My heart ached for her. I had never encountered a pack like this—secrets thicker than blood, all centered around her.

“W…why?”

“They feared you.”

She let out a nervous laugh. “Me?”

I had to tell her the truth.

“You were able to shift at birth, Athena. They had you bound, and then when you were one, you started shifting again. Your Lycan side was fighting it. You, at one year old, understood why the Witch was there. You purposely kept shifting into a Lycan, hoping she wouldn’t be able to bind you. Athena, that’s unheard of.”

“For Wolves,” Titan muttered.

Athena stared at me as if I were insane. Pure disbelief that I would suggest she had already shifted. Her mind refused to accept it.

“You’re…you’re wrong. I would know. I…”

“You wouldn’t remember. No pup would or could remember that.”

“I… That can’t be. You’re wrong.”

“I’m only repeating what the Witch told me.”

“You believe her.”

“Madame Zora can be elusive at times, but she has always eventually told me the truth. Even if it’s like drawing blood from a stone. Sometimes cash makes her more cooperative. But this time, she didn’t even want money.”

“She’s not listening,” Titan muttered.

I glanced back at Athena. Her eyes were closed, nose wrinkled as she frowned.

“Are you okay?”

“I think I’ve heard that name.”

“Madame Zora?” I asked curiously.

Her jaw clenched as she nodded.

“From someone here?”

“No, it’s just…something up here.” She tapped her head. “It feels familiar.”

“Like I said, they feared you, Athena. That’s why the Witch was involved. They fear a female Alpha.”

“I’m not—”

“You are a rare female Alpha of a dying breed.”

She stood and moved around the desk to the window. “I’m not powerful, Alpha Alexander. I’m just me…the girl who was made a slave. I’m not…I’m not anything powerful. And I wish…please stop saying it.”

I felt her sadness. She refused to believe it was possible.

“If they are dying, let them die out,” she muttered, still gazing out the window.

“Let them die out?” Her comment surprised me, and I needed to confirm what I had heard.

She turned to me slowly. A tear traced its way down her cheek, but her expression was filled with anger. “They did horrible things to me. They don’t deserve to live.”