Page 92 of Pretty Lethal
We were so wrong.
As everything I thought I knew shatters around us, pieces I hadn’t even realized were part of the same jigsaw puzzle are starting to slot into place.
Carrie wasn’tsome party fuck or being used by Robbie.
She was the one running the whole goddamn show.
The one responsible for coaxing Wilder into the Elites, who tried to turn him against Hawk. The one who instigated that sick act of chasing Emilia through the woods.
She’s been under our noses this whole time, and we had no idea.
Wilder stares at the woman before him as though she’s a stranger. I guess, for all intents and purposes, she is. As far as I’m aware, Wilder has never met her. Has no recollection of who she is.
“My… mom?”
“Yes, my boy.” She beams down at her son as though he set the sun on fire.
“Welcome home.”
Chapter29
WILDER
Istare at the stranger before me, masquerading as my mother. We’ve similar hair color and her eyes are only a shade or two darker than mine. Regardless, she’s still a complete stranger to me.
She might call herself my mom, but as far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a mother. Nor a father. I may as well have been raised by wolves or leprechauns or any other fictional being that played as much of a role in my upbringing as my own parents did.
AKA played no role at all!
“Carrie?” Emilia asks, sounding just as baffled as I feel.
The woman… mom? Carrie?What the hell does one call someone who gave you life but has been estranged for pretty much your entire existence?She wholly ignores Emilia, seeming to only have eyes for me.
Mother and son reunited in the weirdest of fucking unions.
“You’re… the King?” I question, unable to wrap my head around it.
Her answering grin is wide and manic—I’m guessing my unhinged personality comes from her side of the family.
“I am. It was challenging to wrestle it away from your grandfather, and thanks to the society’s archaic views of women, I’ve had to keep it a tight-lipped secret. Although once I’ve proven my worth, they’ll see past my gender and realize I’m the superior choice.”
Her words buzz around in my head, making no sense whatsoever.
Leaning into me, she cups my face in her ice-cold fingers. “And you, my beautiful boy, will be at my side when we bring in a new era. One wherewerule. Wherewepull the strings and dictateeverything. We will be the ones who say which countries we invade and what resources government funding goes to. We will be the ones who decide the laws of this nation and dole out the punishments. We will eliminate everyone who is a stain on society and make this country great again.”
Fucking hell, the woman is deluded. She makes me look fucking sane.
“You went into that fire a weak, pampered boy, yet you emerged a fierce and savage monster.” Her fingers stroke reverently along the sides of my face, her expression soft and tender. “Beautifully damaged. Perfectly molded.”
“He is not a monster!” Emilia yells. At her interruption, my mother’s face loses that tenderness, a harsh mask setting over her features that has my body tensing in defense of Emilia.
Her hands press firmly against my cheeks, almost squishing them as she slowly turns to face Emilia.
“Just because you refuse to see the monster within does not mean it doesn’t exist.”
In a bout of defiance, Emilia glares right back at my mother. “Oh, I see the darkness that resides within him, but unlike you, I don’t view it as a monster to be molded and tamed into a creature to do my bidding. Wilder is not a pet to be controlled. He is not a fucking domesticated house cat!” I almost snort at the imagery. “Wilder is every bit true to his name. He is wild. Savage. Vicious. Downright feral. Nevertheless, he isonlythose things to protect the people he loves.”
Pride swells in my chest, a tidal wave of love surging. I have never felt more seen in all my life than I do right now. Emilia has said she is unafraid of my darkness. She has stood up to it on numerous occasions, but I hadn’t appreciated until now just how clearly sheseesme.Allof me. Every dark, damaged, broken part that can never be pieced back together.
