Chapter 641

Madeline:

“I think he would have wanted this,” Ron uttered as he placed a flower on Lord

Jonah’s grave.

After everything that had happened, Byron and Ron decided to bury Lord Jonah beside the place where Baxter’s body had been left.

Everything had happened too quickly, and all of it had been terrible.

My tears would not stop.

For a while, I truly felt as if my own life was falling apart too.

Especially when Ron returned carrying Lord Jonah’s lifeless body.

That was when I learned that Byron’s closest friend, his royal beta, had betrayed him as well.

It made me realize how packs, status, and ranks could turn a person, even a werewolf, into a monster.

I was completely shattered.

Then there was Lady Eugenia.

When she regained consciousness and learned that her husband had suffered a heart attack and died, she screamed and cried for hours.

After that, she went completely silent.

My children were deeply disturbed too.

It was the first time they had seen death.

The first time they had seen a dead body.

We had already put them to sleep inside, but we were still standing around Lord Jonah’s grave after burying him.

We stepped back to give Lady Eugenia a chance to speak to Lord Jonah one last time.

She walked forward in slow steps before suddenly collapsing to her knees beside his grave.

“Just like my son, you left me too,” she said, her voice breaking as her fingers dragged through the sand. “What am I supposed to do without both of you now? I have no one left.”

She whispered the words so softly, yet she looked completely shattered.

I had never seen her like that before.

Ever since I had known Lady Eugenia, she had always carried herself with grace and quiet pride.

But seeing her like this truly broke my heart.

“You’re not alone,” I whispered.

Lady Eugenia slowly straightened her back, though she remained seated beside the grave.

“They’re your family too,” I added softly.

Baxter had two children.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I went silent.

I had spoken about Baxter in the past tense.

I immediately started shaking my head as my body trembled along with it.

I could not accept that Baxter was truly gone.

The thought of Baxter never coming back meant spending the rest of my life alone and in pain.

And I did not know how I was supposed to survive that.

I had two children to raise so everyone would expect me to live for them.

But when all hope had already been ripped away from my life, how was I supposed to keep going?

I turned away and buried my face in my hands as I cried.

“Of course you would say that,” Lady Eugenia muttered.

Slowly, I lowered my hands from my face and looked at her.

“Even after everything I did to you,” she continued quietly.

I was about to step forward and hug her when she added, “But you should be

blamed for all of this. You are the reason they’re gone today.”

The moment those words left her mouth, I turned toward her in disbelief.

“Okay, that’s enough. Stop blaming her for no reason. Can’t you see that other people are the ones who wronged us? Ron shouted at Lady Eugenia.

She quickly rose to her feet to face him.

“No. Nobody wronged you,” she snapped. “This is because of her. All of you chose

to stand beside her. That’s why you’re suffering now.”

Every word she said cut deeper than the last.

And the worst part was that I still saw her as family.

I still believed I would take care of her, while she stood there convincing everyone

that I was the problem.

“Think about it,” Lady Eugenia continued bitterly. “Everyone who gets involved with Madeline either ends up dead or humiliated. People are supposed to stay away from her”

She wiped her tears before pulling her phone from her purse.

She had been receiving notifications the entire time we were in the car.

Then her expression twisted.

“Oh, now I understand why,” she yelled suddenly, making me cover my mouth. “Because she’s a fucking monster.”

It felt deliberate.

Almost as if she had already seen the news and had been waiting for the perfect moment to use it against me.

“Now it all makes sense. She’s a cursed wolf. Someone like her should be locked away and kept far from everyone.”

She screamed the words before pressing a hand against her forehead.

I instinctively stepped toward her to stop her from collapsing, but Byron grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

It was the first time he had ever used his strength against me.

The first time he had touched me against my will.

“Enough,” Byron hissed, his tone

.et

shocking me. This woman is calling.

you a monster. She’s humiliating.

you, treating you cruelly, and you still want to care for her?”

His grip tightened slightly around my arm.

“That’s enough kindness, Madeline. The world doesn’t bow to kind people. It

destroys them.”

As those words sank in, I closed my eyes and broke down completely.

I was exhausted and so broken.

I had lost a man I saw as a father figure.

And I had lost my mate, the man I had waited so long to find again.

All this time, I kept going because I believed I would see Baxter again.

And for what?

Just to find out he had died while I knew nothing about it.

Before another word could be spoken, all of our attention shifted when we heard

shouting in the distance.

It sounded like a crowd was moving toward us.

I already knew what was happening.

The warriors were coming to arrest me.