Chapter 589
If you thought having blue balls was bad, then try having the fading throes of your mating fever interrupted. It was like being starved while the food sat right in front of you—close enough to touch, yet untouchable. The frustration was maddening, leaving Violet in a sore, seething mood.
But even the relentless ache of the mating fever couldn’t hold a candle to the cold, jarring shock of seeing your evil mother-in-law teetering on death’s door.
In that instant, Violet’s arousal didn’t just fade, it was snuffed out like a candle.
Zara Storm lay motionless on the hospital bed, looking nothing like the evil mother-in-law Violet knew. Her face was a mottled canvas of purple and blue, as though someone had punched the daylight out of her. Angry red bruises circled her neck, stark evidence that someone had tried to strangle the life out of her. TĘśe source of this á´„ontent ÉŞs.net
The beep-beep of the machines monitoring her vitals filled the room, but it was the sheer number of wires and tubes attached to her body that made the sight even more unsettling. Zara’s usually proud presence was gone, replaced by a pale, fragile figure teetering between life and death.
Violet’s eyes quickly shifted to Alaric. His expression was full of shock and disbelief. Sure, he’d wanted to kill his mother with his own hands more than once, but this sudden, brutal attack was jarring, even to him.
“What happened?” Alaric asked numbly, his voice hoarse, as if he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Alaric’s gaze slid to Ace, suspicion in his blue eyes. It wouldn’t surprise him if his brother also wanted revenge on their mother after everything she had done.
Ace caught the look and immediately scowled, his brow furrowing in offense when he decoded what that accusing stare meant.
Alpha Caspian noticed the tension between his sons and intervened before it escalated. “Your mother was attacked.” he announced, his tone heavy with restrained fury.
Alaric froze, his tone sharpening instantly. “Attacked? By who?”
He wouldn’t have cared if Ace had done it. Family vengeance was one thing. But an outsider? Absolutely not. If members of the pack started believing they could punish the Luna and walk free, then anarchy was just around the corner. Today it was his mother—tomorrow, it could be him, Ace, or his father or even Violet.
When his father didn’t answer right away, Alaric pressed, his tone cutting through the tense silence. “Who. Did. This?”
Ace broke the silence. “Your beta.”
“What?!” Alaric was almost certain he’d misheard.
Ace didn’t flinch. “Finn attacked our mother, Alaric. Or, like I believe, he intended to kill her.”
Chills ran down Alaric’s spine, sinking like ice into his veins. Finn?
When had Finn even returned to the pack?
Alaric had grown so used to isolating himself and keeping Finn at arm’s length for so long that it was almost easy to forget he even had a beta.
Now that neglect had come back to bite him. Hard.
The reality hit like ice water, numbing his veins and choking the breath from his lungs.
His most trusted wolf.
His second-in-command.
The one sworn to guard his back had gone for his mother’s throat.
For a moment, Alaric made an excuse for Finn. Perhaps his beta had been furious over what Zara had done and had simply gone to avenge his Alpha.
But Finn hadn’t even been around when it happened.
And when his father laid out the full details, every last excuse Alaric had built for him vanished like vapour.
Caspian said grimly, “Your beta returned last night, almost at the same time I arrived. When I interrogated him for his negligence, all he gave me were flimsy excuses. I told him his role as your beta would be reviewed.”
His jaw tightened, regret in his eyes. “I let him go, not knowing he would retaliate in the worst way possible. He used wolfsbane gas on the guards stationed both inside and outside your mother’s holding cell, then forced his way in.”
“Like Ace said, his intention was likely to kill her,” Caspian continued, his voice bitter. “But your mother… she’s a strong woman. In times like this, I suppose her resilience finally pays off.” Though his tone carried resentment, the raw relief in his eyes showed how deeply he’d feared losing her.
Violet asked, “Why isn’t she healing?”
Ace answered gravely, “She was stabbed with silver badly. When we found her, she had practically crawled her way to the passageway before collapsing. The wolfsbane in the air weakened her further, and the suppressor cuffs cut off whatever natural healing process she had left. Above all, it’s a miracle she’s even alive. Her healing will be slow but she will survive.”
“That’s relieving, I guess.” Violet tried to sound sympathetic. She was sorry for what happened to Zara, but her feelings for the woman weren’t going to change one bit.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Alaric muttered, shaking his head. “It doesn’t make sense that Finn would attack my mother just because you threatened his beta position. If there was anyone he’d go after, it should be you. Something isn’t right here.”
“Something isn’t right,” Griffin echoed, his expression tight and unreadable.
“You see!” Alaric pointed at Griffin. “He agrees something’s off—”
He didn’t get to finish because Griffin suddenly moved, striding toward the window, his entire body taut.
Violet sensed his sudden apprehension. “Griffin, what’s wrong?” she asked cautiously.
Griffin tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. “Do you hear that?”
The room stilled instantly as a strange tension thickened the air. At once, everyone tapped into their wolf senses, their eyes glowing faintly. Then they heard the screams, faint at first but rising, swelling into chaos.
Griffin’s head snapped toward them, his voice a bark of command. “We’re under attack!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a deafening bang erupted, followed by a violent rush of wind and fire exploding inward as a massive blast engulfed them whole.