Chapter 0069

I discovered something crucial about Lycans last night.

She remains silent, simply watching me while she eats her breakfast.

“It’s believed that Lycans can create more of their kind. By biting humans.”

Her toast slips from her fingers. Blue eyes widen. Her jaw goes slack. “Is that...true?”

“I can’t say for sure. But the possibility is strong. That’s how the first ones were made.”

“Why would...why would Dominic want more?”

“Numbers. Right now, he doesn’t have enough. But if he succeeds,” I pause, watching her closely. I already know how she’ll react. “They’ll need their true Alpha. Not some impostor.”

“I’m not—”

“But you are, Athena. It’s in your blood. Whether you accept it or not. If Dominic creates a new wave, many will despise what he’s done. They’ll hate what they’ve become. They’ll hate being Lycan.”

“Like me,” she whispers, dropping her gaze to the fallen toast.

“Exactly. Imagine their strength if they had a leader who understood that hatred.”

“I’m not... Alpha Alexander, look at me. I’m...the furthest thing from a leader.”

“It’s in your blood.”

“Stop saying that. My father had me bound. He didn’t want this. He raised Dominic as my older brother.”

“Fathers don’t always know what they want.”

I lean back in my chair with a sigh. She watches me carefully.

“I’m a bastard. The son of an Alpha and an Omega. My father grew desperate for an heir. He convinced an Omega to carry me.”

“I thought—”

“Isabella and Julian had a different mother. She took me in. Raised me no differently than her own children. Our fathers make poor choices. But sometimes, those choices put us exactly where we need to be.”

Her blue eyes lift to meet mine.

“Your father set your life on a downward path long before Dominic came along. He rejected you instead of embracing you. Then Victoria entered the picture. Yet you survived, Athena. For twenty-two years, you survived everything thrown at you.”

Her heart is racing wildly.

‘You blew it,’ Titan mutters. ‘Too intense. You scared her.’

She screws her eyes shut and shakes her head. “I’m not...I’m sorry...I have to go.”

I don’t stop her as she flees. Titan was right. I ruined any chance of making her feel powerful.

‘Told you,’ he mumbles, fading into the back of my mind.

Athena keeps her distance most of the day. Every time I catch a glimpse of her, she’s muttering to herself.

Late afternoon, a scream echoes through the house. I race to the kitchen and find her surrounded by broken glass. A deep cut on her hand drips blood onto the floor.

I pull her away and remove the glass shard. The wound heals instantly. It vanishes within seconds, leaving no mark. As if it was never there. Another sign of her Alpha blood.

Her blue eyes flash up to mine. “Sorry,” she whispers.

“It’s fine.” I murmur, turning her hand over in mine. “Before your binding at eighteen, did you always heal this fast?”

She nods. “They hit me,” she frowns. “Over and over. The bruises faded in seconds. Why?”

“I keep saying it, Athena. Healing this quickly...it’s because of Alpha blood.”

She pulls her hand back and shakes her head.

I pick up another piece of glass and slice my own palm. The wound disappears in seconds. “If this were Sebastian, it would take much longer. Theodore’s injury took hours to heal.” I grab her hand again, holding it up between us. “This is who you are.”