Page 153 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
“Keep digging,” I say finally, my voice hoarse. “I want to know everything. Every detail, every name, every crime committed against them.”
“What about Gareth?”
I look up at Leon, and whatever he sees in my eyes makes him take a step back.
“Gareth is mine,” I say softly. “When the time comes, he’s mine.”
Leon nods once, understanding. “And your mate? Do you plan to tell her what we’ve learned?”
The question stops me cold. How do I tell Astra that I know the truth about her childhood? How do I explain that I’ve been investigating her past, uncovering secrets that she has probably never shared with anyone? Hell, I don’t even know if she remembers this part of her life. She was so young when most of it happened.
How do I tell the woman I love that I know her mother was forced to sell her body to keep her daughter alive?
“Not yet,” I decide. “Not until we know everything.”
But even as I say it, I know the truth will come out eventually. And when it does, it’s going to destroy what little peace Astra has managed to find.
The Eclipse Born investigation, the court politics, the tutors—none of it matters compared to this. There are people who hurt my mate, tortured her family, and made her believe she was worthless.
And I’m going to make every single one of them pay.
The sunlight streaming through my office windows suddenly feels cold, casting long shadows across the reports scattered on my desk. Elsewhere in this palace, Astra is still sleeping peacefully in our bed, completely unaware that the demons from her past are about to catch up with her.
I only hope I can protect her from the truth long enough to destroy the monsters who caused it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lucian
The stone staircase descends into darkness, and each footfall echoes through the cold corridors like a death knell. My boots click against wet rock as I make my way deeper into the palace dungeons, the air growing thicker with each step. Then, the smell hits me—dampness, rot, desperation. It clings to everything down here.
But none of that matters. Not the stench, not the shadows, not the way the torchlight flickers against the walls like dying hope. All that matters is getting answers.
I find them in the third cell from the end, exactly where the guards told me they’d be. Two figures are huddled in the dim light filtering through the iron bars, and the sight of them makes a feeling of satisfaction unfurl in my chest.
Alpha Gareth sits on the stone bench, his once-commanding presence reduced to a pathetic and broken one. His gray hair hangs in greasy strands around his face, and his clothes are stained with who knows what. But his eyes—those calculating, gray eyes that I remember from our first meeting—still hold thatspark of arrogance. Even here, even now, he thinks he’s better than he is.
Harper crouches beside him, her once-golden hair matted and tangled, her face streaked with tears and dirt. She has wrapped her arms around herself like she’s trying to hold the pieces together, and when she sees me approaching, she springs to her feet so fast she nearly loses her balance.
“Prince Lucian!” Her voice, desperate and pleading, cracks on my name. “Oh, thank the Goddess, you came!”
She rushes toward me, her hands grabbing the cold, iron bars as she presses her face between them. Her blue eyes are wide and hopeful, filled with the kind of frantic pleading that makes my stomach turn.
“I knew you’d come,” she breathes, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I knew you’d realize—about us, about what we could have together. You’ve changed your mind, haven’t you? About wanting me?”
The delusion in her voice is almost painful to hear. Even now, even after everything, she still believes in some fantasy where I choose her over Astra. Where I’m here to rescue her because I’ve finally seen her worth.
“Please,” she continues, her voice starting to sound frantic, “get me out of here. I’ve been waiting, hoping you’d remember how good we could be together. I know I can make you happy, Prince Lucian. I know I can—”
“Shut up, Harper.”
The words stop her rambling instantly, and she flinches as if I’ve slapped her. Behind her, Alpha Gareth finally looks up, his eyes meeting mine with a mixture of hatred and resignation.
“Your Highness,” Gareth says, his voice hoarse but still carrying that mocking edge I remember. “How delightful. Come to gloat over your prisoners?”
I ignore him, my gaze moving between father and daughter with cold calculation. Harper is still staring at me, optimism and desperation warring in her expression, while Gareth watches me with the wary attention of a wild animal that has found itself in a cage with something even more dangerous than itself.
“I have questions,” I say simply. “About Astra’s family.”
