Chapter 701

Not Your Father
​”Father,” Lennox spat, his voice trembling with a mix of hatred and disbelief.

​A cackling, jagged laugh filled the room.

​”Father?” the voice mocked. “I am not your father, you prick. I just wore his face and his scent to get close enough to ruin you.”

​The three brothers froze. Levi and Louis exchanged a look of pure confusion.

​”What are you talking about?” Levi demanded, stepping toward the phone.

​”Damon is dead, boy,” the man sneered. “I am Neon. Your pathetic father died ten years ago. I was the one who cut his throat while he slept.”

​Lennox’s eyes went wide, his irises flickering wildly. “So… all the things we thought our father did? The abuse? The traps? The war against the rogues?”

​”All me,” Neon laughed. “I enjoyed pretending to be him. It made breaking you so much sweeter. Your real father was a ’hero’—a weak, soft-hearted King. I wanted to see if I could turn his ’Trinity’ into monsters. And look at you… you’ve grown up so full of rage.”

​”You’re lying,” Louis growled, his claws extending.

​”Am I? Ask your mother,” Neon said, his voice filled with amusement. “She knows the truth.”

​Before any of them could speak, Neon continued.

​”Get ready,” he said, the sound of a blade sharpening audible in the background. “I am not done with you all. I didn’t just want to kill you. I wanted to erase everything your father built. I’m coming for the mansion, I’m coming for your heirs, and I’m coming for that crown.”

​The line went dead.

​Lennox slammed his fist onto the desk, completely shattering the wood this time. He looked at his brothers, his chest heaving. “If he’s telling the truth… our father was murdered. And we’ve been hating a ghost for a decade.”

​”We need to find Mom,” Levi said, his voice urgent. “She’s the only one who can tell us who we actually are.”

​”Then we should teleport to her,” Olivia suggested.

​”No… it is risky,” Louis refused.

​Olivia frowned. “We can’t just stay here… we need to know the truth.”

​She stretched her hands out, and they hesitated for a moment before giving her their hands.

​Olivia closed her eyes and teleported, transporting them to a cottage. The air in the small, quaint cottage was thick with the smell of herbs. Olivia stood between them, her hands still tingling from the massive energy pull required to teleport four adults across the continent.

​Their mother, frozen with a fork halfway to her mouth, looked aged. The regal Luna they remembered was gone, replaced by a woman who looked like she was hiding from the world.

​Lennox didn’t wait. He immediately pushed his alpha instincts outward, his eyes scanning every shadow of the room to ensure they weren’t walking into another of “their father’s” traps. “It’s just her,” he muttered, his voice dropping into an angry growl.

​Selene scrambled backward, her chair screeching against the floor. “Lennox? How… how did you find me?”

​”Don’t ’sons’ us,” Lennox growled, his eyes burning with a predatory light. He didn’t even hug her; the betrayal felt like a physical wall. “We just got a call. From a man who claims he’s been wearing our father’s skin for ten years. Start talking, Mother. Is it true? Was the man who tortured us for a decade… an impostor?”

​Selene’s face collapsed. She didn’t try to deny it. She fell to her knees.

​”His name is Neon,” she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. “He was my mate. My true mate.”

​The three brothers recoiled as if they had been struck. The sacred bond of a mate was something they respected above all else—but this was perverted.

​”Forgive me,” she wailed, looking up at them with tear-streaked eyes. “I never loved your father, Damon. He was a good man, a kind King, but he wasn’t mine. I married him for the crown, for the wealth. But then I found Neon. He was a rogue, a nobody… but he was my soul’s match.”

​”So you killed your husband for a rogue?” Louis hissed, his claws digging into the palms of his hands.

​”We planned it together,” Selene confessed, her voice shaking. “I couldn’t stand Damon touching me when I craved Neon. I drugged your father’s wine that night ten years ago. He was so peaceful… he didn’t even wake up when Neon slid the blade across his throat.”

​Olivia gasped, clutching her stomach. She felt the unborn baby kick, as if reacting to the horror of the story.

​”Neon wanted the wealth,” Selene continued. “With the help of a dark witch, he stole Damon’s face and his scent. He became the King, and I became his accomplice. I thought he just wanted the wealth,” Selene continued, her voice hitching as she looked at the three powerful men who were once her little boys. “I thought we could just take the money and live our lives in secret. But along the line, I realized he didn’t just want the money—he wanted the throne. He wanted to be Alpha. And then… then I realized he wanted to kill you guys.”

​The brothers stood like statues, still not able to believe what they were hearing.

​”I never supported it!” she cried out, reaching a trembling hand toward Levi, though she didn’t dare touch him. “The moment he spoke of ’clearing the bloodline,’ I tried to stop him. But he threatened me. He told me if I spoke a word of the truth, he would make your deaths slow and painful right in front of my eyes.”

​She collapsed further into herself, looking small and broken on the floor. “We are no longer mates. The bond… I rejected him, but I couldn’t tell you the truth. I was so scared, and I was so ashamed. I watched you grow up hating a dead man while a demon wore his skin, and every time I tried to speak, my throat would seize with the memory of the witch’s curse.”

​Lennox stepped back, a look of pure loathing on his face. “So you let us live in a house with our father’s murderer. You let him sit in our father’s chair, sleep in our father’s bed, all because you were scared?”