Chapter 642

Elgin:

“You did the right thing,” she told me over the phone.

I slowly nodded to myself.

I had stepped aside for a moment to talk to her.

I told her everything about Madeline, how they were going after her, and how I had responded to it all.

She kept reassuring me. She said I had done nothing wrong.

“Listen, Elgin, even if you’ve cut ties with Elara, you can still adopt her. She’s still your blood. And why do you listen to Silver so much? That little girl is your daughter. Go adopt her. Save her from the monster Madeline has become.”

She spoke with complete confidence from the other side of the call, and her words made me think again.

I had been calling Madeline a monster.

And now she was too.

I knew that if I went there and tried to take Elara away from Madeline while calling her a monster in the same breath, that would truly be the end.

Not that there was much left between us already.

Still, a part of me had held onto hope.

I kept thinking that once everyone else abandoned her, she would eventually come back to me.

But looking at everything now, I was no longer sure having her back would even be a good thing.

My mother and father-in-law were about to become council leaders.

I was marrying Rosetta.

I was going to have two lunas from powerful packs.

Maybe Madeline belonged in the past now.

“You’re right,” I said firmly. “I’ll talk to you once it’s done.”

I ended the call and turned around, only to find Silver standing there.

“So now you discuss important things with her?” she asked quietly. “You could’ve talked to me too.”

There was sadness in her voice.

I walked up to her at once and took her hands in mine.

“You know, babe, I need to understand what’s going on in her head. If we manage to

get Elara back and looked like kind people, along with all the packs Rosetta has

secured since her mates died, we’ll be unstoppable. You’ll become the ultimate queen.”

I brushed Silver’s cheek gently, trying to reassure her.

I had no intention of leaving Rosetta.

In some ways, she reminded me of Madeline.

If I was losing Madeline, then maybe having Rosetta softened the blow.

But Silver mattered to me just as much.

I wanted both of them in my life, but Silver was struggling to accept it.

Or maybe she was trying to.

Still, I could see her pulling away from me bit by bit, and I did not want that to happen.

“Okay,” she murmured. “Promise me you won’t let Madeline fool you again.”

She did not realize there was no chance of that happening anymore.

Unless Madeline threw herself at me and called me her slave.

And I knew she never would.

Her ego was far too big for that.

After that, I left with the council to capture the monster everyone feared so much.

I suppose it was always going to come to this.

When Madeline first transitioned, I was terrified for her.

Later, I convinced myself her wolf had buried it all so deeply that it no longer existed.

But I had been wrong.

Sadly, this was how things had to end.

“Let’s go,” I said as I approached Abigail.

My mother stood beside her, with Lord John at her side.

Both of them needed to prove they could become capable leaders.

Still, Lord John had a better chance.

He was already among the candidates expected to become a council leader, while my mother was only hoping that after today people would finally see her as a legitimate choice.

Once all the warriors, council

and several Alphas banet

members, future council leaders et there, we

the cabin

began marching toward t

It was the same cabin I had suggested she might be hiding in.

I knew I was betraying Madeline now, but that was the least of my concerns.

My loyalty belonged to Silver and Rosetta.

The moment we reached the top of the hill, we saw Madeline standing outside with her children.

“Everybody, take shelter! Get inside!” she screamed before rushing back toward the cabin.

The two Alphas ran with her but stopped at the front porch instead.

After Madeline shoved Lady Eugenia

safely inside, she stepped back on

and locked the door behind her.

Then she took her place between Byron and Ron.

Looking at the two of them, I could not help thinking she had simply replaced me and Graham.

They reminded me of us.

Two fools who thought we still had a chance with her.

Then my gaze shifted toward the grave nearby and the words carved into the stone.

The handwriting looked like Lady Eugenia’s.

This is where your son died, and this is where you will be buried.

A chill crawled over my skin.

Baxter was dead?