Page 168 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
Lucian’s thumb strokes the back of my hand. “You know what we learned about your mother’s death. About how your pack betrayed her.”
The memories feel distant, like looking at someone else’s life through thick glass. “I don’t remember much from my childhood,” I admit. “Bits and pieces, but nothing clear about what happened.”
“Your wolf is protecting you,” Lucian explains gently. “Trauma can make shifters’ wolves suppress memories that are too painful to process. It’s a survival mechanism.” He looks at me with concern. “Don’t try to remember, Astra. Please. Some things are better left buried.”
A smile tugs at my lips—the first genuine one I’ve felt since finding out I’m Eclipse Born. “You’re right. My mother protected me to her last breath. She wouldn’t have wanted me to remember the horrible things that happened. She’d want me to live a happy life.”
“And you will,” Lucian says fiercely. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“I will,” I agree. “But before I do that, there’s something I need.”
The temperature in the room seems to drop several degrees as a cold and final tone takes over in my voice. Lucian goes very still, recognizing the shift in my mood.
“Revenge.”
The word hangs between us like a blade waiting to fall.
“I want Harper to suffer. I want Gareth to suffer.” My voice grows harder with each word. “I want every packmate who took part in my mother’s murder to suffer.”
Lucian studies my face cautiously. “That’s not who you are, Astra.”
“Maybe not,” I say softly. “But it’s the one vindictive thing I want. The one darkness I need to satisfy before I can let go and be happy. They killed my mother, Lucian. They destroyed my childhood, my sense of safety, my ability to trust. They deserve consequences.”
Through our bond, I feel his internal struggle—his protective instincts warring with his understanding that some wounds require retribution in order to heal.
“They do deserve consequences,” he says finally. “And they’ll have them.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.” His cobalt blue eyes burn with shared fury. “Harper, Gareth, and every other packmate who betrayed your mother—they’ll all pay. You have my word.”
The cold satisfaction I feel should probably worry me. But as I look at my mate, at the man who’s willing to help me find justice for wounds that have festered my entire life, all I feel is gratitude.
Some debts can only be paid in blood, and I intend to collect every drop.
Lucian squeezes my hand gently. “There’s someone else who wants to see you. Daciana has been asking to speak with you since yesterday, but I told her you needed more rest.”
My heart lifts slightly. Daciana—my oldest friend, the one constant from my childhood. “Send her in.”
He presses a soft kiss to my forehead before leaving, and moments later, Daciana enters. But the woman who walks through the door looks nothing like the fierce warrior I remember. Her shoulders are hunched, her eyes red-rimmed, and guilt radiates from every line of her body.
She can’t meet my eyes, and with each passing second, dread builds in my chest. Something is terribly wrong. Daciana fidgets with her hands, opens her mouth several times as if to speak, then closes it again. The silence stretches between us like a chasm.
Finally, I can’t stand it anymore. “How much did you know?”
The question breaks her. Daciana collapses into the chair beside my bed, her face crumpling as sobs wrack her body.
“There are things far too terrible for a child to be part of,” she chokes out between tears.
My stomach drops at the way she words this, like she’s speaking from experience. “Daciana, what are you saying?”
She rocks back and forth in the chair, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. “As the Beta’s niece, I had firsthand knowledge of what was being done to your mother.”
The words hit me like ice water. “Knowledge of what, exactly?”
For a long moment, she can’t answer me. She just sits there, shaking, years of suppressed horror written across her face.
“Daciana.” My voice is sharper now, the anxiety making me impatient. “What knowledge?”
