Page 157 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
I turn to leave, then pause at the bottom of the stairs.
“Oh, Gareth?” I look back at him, and what he sees in my expression makes him go pale. “Remember how you killed Elena? How you made her death slow and painful and public?”
“What about it?”
“That’s exactly how you’re going to die.” I let that sink in for a moment. “But first, I’m going to make you suffer the way she suffered. Every indignity, every violation, every moment of helpless terror—you’re going to experience all of it.”
The color drains from his face completely. “You can’t. The law—”
“I am the law.” My voice booms through the dungeon with all the power of the crown. “And you’re going to discover exactly what that means.”
I start up the stairs, leaving him alone in the darkness with nothing but his memories and the knowledge of what’s comingfor him. Behind me, I hear him call out, his voice cracking with the first real fear he has shown.
“Wait! Your Highness, wait! I can tell you more! About the Eclipse Born, about Astra’s bloodline! There’s more to the story!”
But I don’t stop. I don’t turn around. I don’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he has gotten under my skin.
I have everything I need for now. The rest—the missing pieces, the hidden secrets, the full truth about what Astra really is—all of that will come out eventually. It always does when you know how to apply the right pressure.
And Gareth? Gareth is going to have plenty of time to think about everything he has done while I arrange for his very special execution. Plenty of time to remember Elena’s screams and wonder if his own will sound the same.
The stone steps echo under my feet as I climb back toward the light, leaving the past buried in darkness where it belongs. But not forgotten. Never forgotten.
Some things are too important to forget.
Some people are too evil to forgive.
And some deaths are too merciful to allow.
My father’s study is exactly as I expect to find it—dimly lit by the fire crackling in the massive stone hearth, papers scattered across his desk, and the familiar scent of old leather and parchment hanging in the air. What I don’t expect to find is Luna perched on his shoulders like some sort of feline scarf, her black fur stark against his silver hair.
She opens one amber eye as I enter, acknowledging my presence with the kind of regal indifference that only cats can master, then settles back into her nap. My father doesn’t look up from the document he’s examining, his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose.
“Father.”
“Lucian.” He sets the paper aside and removes his glasses, careful not to disturb Luna’s comfortable position. “I take it your visit to the dungeons was...enlightening?”
I don’t even bother asking how he knows where I’ve been. My father has eyes and ears everywhere in this palace; nothing happens without him being informed within the hour.
“In a manner of speaking.” I close the door behind me and move to stand before his desk. “I need to ask you about a bloodline called Eclipse Born.”
The change in my father’s expression is immediate and dramatic. The casual authority he always carries shifts into something sharper, more alert. His pale eyes stare at me with sudden intensity, and I see his jaw tighten almost imperceptibly.
“Eclipse Born,” he repeats slowly, like he’s testing the words. “Well, that’s a term I haven’t heard in ages. Where did you encounter it?”
“Came up during my questioning of Gareth.”
The King leans back in his chair, disturbing Luna enough that she opens both eyes and fixes him with an annoyed glare. He absently reaches up to scratch behind her ears, his expression growing distant and troubled.
“Eclipse Born was an ancient bloodline,” he says finally, his voice careful and measured. “An old lineage with tremendous power, completely exterminated by the Umbra Council long before I took the throne.”
“Why?”
“Because they possessed a dangerous ability. Something that threatened the established order.” My father’s expression grows grimmer. “The Council hunted them down methodically, eliminating them one by one over the course of several generations. Back then, the Council was far more zealous about purity. Anything that wasn’t pure wolf shifter was considered an abomination to be eradicated.”
I move closer to his desk, my mind racing. “What kind of ability?”
“I’m not entirely certain. The records from that time are sparse. Deliberately so, I suspect.” He strokes Luna’s fur absently, his eyes distant. “But whatever power they possessed, it was significant enough that the Council considered the entire bloodline too dangerous to live. Every man, woman, and child. Complete extermination.”
