“There’s been an accident, sir! I need to discuss with you, maybe in private-”
I interrupt the butler with a single word, “Who?” My body is deadly still.
My butler glances at Lilia quickly before leaning into me closely “Cara Wilson.”
All breath escapes from my lungs.
…CARA?!
An accident.
Is she hurt?
Is she alive?!
Grey paces in my mind, howling and growling.
***
86%
+5
“How serious?” I ask my butler.
“I’m not sure, sir, but I hear it’s not looking up.” He glances back towards the crowd, clearly uncomfortable with being the center of attention at a moment like this.
“Get a doctor on the phone. NOW!” I order roughly.
“Alaric!” Lilia’s voice sounds like something halfway between a plea and a demand.
I run a hand through my hair and turn to face the crowd. Hundreds of wolves have gathered here today to witness this wedding.
But they won’t get to.
“Wedding’s cancelled!” I yell into the crowd simply.
“WHAT?!”
“What did he say?”
“Cancelled?!”
“This has never happened before!”
The outrage from the crowd is palpable. People are leaving their seats en masse; some heading towards the exit, some towards the altar. The pack elders are rushing towards me, no doubt trying to change my decision.
15:30 Wed, Jan 1 G Gu
Chapter 24
All the color has drained from Lilia’s face, and, for just a moment, it looks like she’s seen a ghost.
Then a flash of realization crosses her face, and a strange smile its her lips. “Cara’s been in an accident.” She whispers to herself. She sounds… She sounds happy
“What have you done?!” I yell to her.
Grey is swearing and cursing her in my mind. His words are obscene enough to make a sailor blush. His snarl rips through my body, like he wants to take over.
I mentally tell my wolf to get a hold of himself. Shifting now would take everything from bad to worse. No, we need to talk to the doctor.
We need to hear if Cara’s alright.
Then we can deal with whoever is responsible for this.
***
I’m being surrounded by pack members, all speaking at once. They’re pleading with me from all sides.
“Alpha King, sir, you must reconsider!”
“Everything is ready, there’s no need to postpone now! You must go forward with the ceremony!”
“Cara can be dealt with later! The wedding must continue!”
The nobles are relentless. But they’re wasting their breath; I’m not having this damned wedding today and that’s final.
I knew this day felt wrong from the start. I should’ve trusted my gut.
“You should have listened to me!” Grey screams at me.
***
13
My butler pushes through the crowd of nobles, elbowing his way in. There’s a phone in his outstretched hand, reaching towards me.
“For you, sir! It’s the doctor!”
I snatch the phone from him and silence the nobles with a single warning glare. I need to hear the doctor’s words, not theirs.
“This is Alpha King Alaric Grant. Give me Cara Wilson’s condition.” I bark into the phone. Politeness be damned.
“Hello, sir. This is the chief of surgery here at the hospital. Firstly, I want to give you my deepest and sincerest congratulations on your wedding day—”
“Just get on the with it!” I yell at him. I don’t give a shit who he is or what he wants to congratulate me for. I just need to hear if Cara’s okay.
If she’s alive.
***
“Oh, right, yes of course!” He says sheepishly before continuing
“The patient was in a vehicle accident and sustained multiple serious injuries. She has several broken bones and appears to
3/4
色
be in the midst of a miscarriage.”
…What?!
…A miscarriage?!” I ask.
Cara is… was… pregnant?
I’m flooded with memories of all those fainting spells, all those trips to the hospital.
The chief of surgery keeps going, “Yes, and it’s rather unfortunate, too. It appears she was pregnant with twins.”
Chapter 25
Alaric’s POV
…Cara was pregnant?!
With twins?!
Lilia’s face is expressionless now, but I will never forget that little smile. The look of satisfaction on her face when she heard it was Cara who had been wounded in the accident.
“LILIA!” Grey growls in my head. “She did this!!! She is responsible!!”
She has hated Cara ever since the two first met. Lilia saw Cara as a rival, as an enemy.
How many nights did Lilia tell me to say how much I preferred her over Cara? Begging me to stroke her pathetic ego?
“I’m the best you’ve had, right?” Lilia had asked me with her big doe eyes one night after we’d had sex. “Better than everyone else? Better than her?”
She hadn’t said Cara’s name, but we both knew who Lilia had meant.
I assured Lilia that she was of course the best sex I’d been had.
Which was a lie.
But the look of triumphant relief on her face was enough to show me I’d answered the question correctly.
I thought that would be the end of it, but Lilia asked me to compare her to Cara constantly. Big things, little things, it didn’t matter. Lilia always needed reassurance that she had won this imaginary competition between her and Cara.
I figured it was normal she–wolf insecurity. I thought Lilia was just being territorial because she cared for me so much. Because she loved me.
Now I see how wrong I was.
Lilia didn’t just want to win. She wanted Cara to lose.
How many wolves would have to die before Lilia would be satisfied?
At least two. Cara’s babies…
I growl out loud and step closer to Lilia. She hunches her shoulders, making herself smaller. Making herself look like less of a threat.
As if that will save her from my
wrath.
“Alaric, no!”
It’s Eamon. He has placed himself between me and his sister. Between me and that murderer.
It’s a bold and brave move to step between an Alpha King and his intended target. I’m sure Eamon wants to protect his little sister; I’d probably do the same if I were him.
I don’t want to fight Eamon. It would cause an inevitable war between Pack DarkWood and Pack BloodyMoon. There would be more bloodshed, more destruction.
I’ve worked so hard to make DarkWood the powerful pack it is today.
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15:30 Wed, Jan 1 GGU.
Chapter 25
I’ve worked so hard to make sure each member of the pack canot just survive, but thrive.
Fighting Eamon and starting a war would make all of that for nothing. But his sister killed Cara…!
I stop in my tracks, giving him a hard stare.
The wedding guests who remain are gawking at the scene, eyes bulging out of their heads processing the heated exchange.
Eamon holds my gaze then turns on his heel towards Lilia.
There’s a loud SLAP as Eamon’s hand crosses Lilia’s cheek.
Lilia grabs her face, a pink handprint immediately starting to form.
The crowd gasps. Hell, I’m sure I gasp, too.
What the hell?!
+5
The room is deadly quiet. No one speaks, it’s like time has stopped from the sheer shock of Eamon slapping Lilia. His own sister.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and the buzzing fills the silence, breaking the spell of the shock. I don’t care who’s calling, but the distraction is enough to remind me…
Cara.
She’s at the hospital.
I need to go to her!
“I’ll deal with you later,” I growl at Lilia, who is still cradling her cheek. I turn to look at my butler, “Grab the car, we’re going to the hospital.”
“Wait.” Eamon says, facing me. “There is something you need to hear first.” He looks at all the pack members still gathered around us. “You all need to hear this.”
I eye him carefully before deciding to let him speak. Knowing Eamon, he wouldn’t try to in a mood like this unless it was something really important. “Make it fast,” I warn him.
Eamon nods at me then turns to speak to the crowd.
“Lilia is not the princess of Pack BloodyMoon.”
Once again, the crowd gasps.
My blood feels ice cold.
“What?” My voice is razor sharp, and my eyes narrow at Eamon.
“She was raised in my family as one of us. But, as I found out recently, that was a carefully constructed lie. She is a bastard, an illegitimate child borne out of an affair between my father and our childhood nanny.”
Eamon’s face is serious, and I believe his words immediately. It takes a hell of a lot of guts to air your family’s dirty laundry in public. I can’t help but feel my respect for him grow.
