Chapter 104: You knew
Chapter 104: You knew
(Celeste’s POV)
Each step felt like a punishment. My body was screaming, but there was no reprieve. Every move sent jagged pain through my wolfsbane–burned skin, and my silver–scarred wolf was
whimpering so softly I could barely sense her anymore.
“Just… keep moving,” I whispered to myself, almost pleading.
Each step back to the Winter Pack house felt like the longest distance I had ever traveled. The
air pressing against me was cold–it bit at my wounds beneath my clothes. Marcus had
ensured no visible marks would betray his actions, but the searing pain beneath the surface
was my proof.
His violet eyes burned in my mind. His voice echoed relentlessly: “We’ll continue after I rest,
little mate.”
I clenched my fists, focusing on each step instead of the lingering dread. Nina. I had to reach Nina. Her silver–gray wolf would understand. She would help.
But as I neared the pack house, I felt my wolf stir ominously. A scent hit me like a wall, sharp
and bitter in its strength. My nose burned as moon–blessed wine filled the air.
Then, he appeared.
Lucas. His tall frame stumbled slightly as he stepped into view, his golden eyes glazed with
drunken abandon. He reeked of alcohol, the kind the guards sometimes drank during pack
celebrations.
“You,” he drawled, his lips curling into an unkind smile as his wolf’s aggressive aura surged
around him. “Look… who’s finally back.”
My legs wanted to move, to keep walking, but Lucas blocked my path. His broad shoulders and tense stance told me there was no slipping around him.
“Don’t do this,” I muttered softly, keeping my head low and my voice steady.
Lucas tilted his head, his smile widening in mockery. “Don’t do this?” His laughter was sharp
and unkind. “Did Marcus tire you out already, sister? Are you too exhausted to talk to your dear
brother?”
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Chapter 104: You knew
The word “brother” made my chest ache in ways I didn’t want to acknowledge. It felt like venom now–like something used to wound me instead of bond us together.
I pushed toward him, keeping my focus ahead, refusing to engage. But Lucas’s hand shot out too fast. His claws latched onto my arm, tight enough to send fresh waves of burning pain through the silver–burned skin.
“I’m talking to you, Celeste,” he snarled. His voice had turned sharper, louder, cutting through. the cold night like a blade. “Don’t you dare walk past me!”
The pain was unbearable. My body wanted to cry out, but I bit the inside of my cheek to hold it
back.
“Let me go,” I said as evenly as I could manage, though my voice shook despite all my effort.
But Lucas didn’t release me. His claws pressed against my burned skin slightly harder, and his golden eyes bore into mine with rage that I didn’t recognize anymore.
The faint sound of footsteps reached my ears. Scarlett’s voice followed, sugary and false as
always. “Lucas, please,” she said sweetly as her emerald eyes focused on me with practiced
concern. “You shouldn’t handle her so roughly.”
Her wolf radiated a delicate show of “concern.” I could feel it weaving through the tension like
a spun thread. But beneath the surface, her satisfaction bled faintly into the air, just enough
for my enhanced senses to detect it.
“Release her,” Scarlett insisted. “That’s Marcus’s mate you’re holding, after all. You wouldn’t
want to upset His Highness, would you?”
At Scarlett’s carefully placed words, a bitter growl rumbled from Lucas. His grip on my arm
tightened briefly before releasing with a shove, almost sending me to the ground.
“Marcus’s mate,” Lucas mocked, spitting the words like they were poison. His wolf’s aura
surged angrily, pressing against my already shaky form.
“Is that what she is now?” Lucas’s laughter followed, cruel and hot. “Marcus’s mate… yet still
crawling back here.”
“Lucas, enough,” Scarlett pleaded softly, her voice trembling just enough to sell the
performance.
But Lucas ignored her–or maybe her words just fed him further. His golden eyes were sharper
now. Anger flickered hot, almost wild, across his face.
“You belong there!” he shouted suddenly, his voice sharper, colder. His hand gestured toward
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Chapter 104: You knew
the trees–the direction of Marcus’s hunting grounds. “You belong in the Dark Forest… with the other broken wolves!”
His words felt like stone slamming into my chest.
The “broken wolves.”
The pack’s whispered term for Marcus’s victims.
The words carried a weight, one Lucas knew, and he was flinging it at me deliberately.
“No,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Lucas…”
“You knew,” I said hoarsely, my throat raw from screaming hours before in Marcus’s den. “You
knew about the hunting grounds.”
I hated the desperation in my own voice, but I couldn’t stop it. The pain, the hours of torture, the cruel realization that Marcus’s den wasn’t unique suddenly converged.
Lucas froze for a moment. His glazed eyes blinked as his focus shifted. He tilted his head just
slightly, and his wolf’s sharp senses stirred.
Finally, he smelled it.
The blood. It clung to me faintly, a metallic tang that even the cool air’s breeze didn’t wash away. His gaze shifted toward the dried blood near my temple–the only mark visible from
Marcus’s torture.
For a moment, confusion flickered in his expression. His golden eyes wavered as recognition
began to creep in.
moved a step closer, ignoring the sharp burning agony it cost me. My body cried out with
each shift, but my voice was louder than the pain now.
“You knew,” I pressed, trying to keep my ground. “You knew what Marcus does there, didn’t
you?”
Lucas didn’t respond. His wolf bristled almost nervously, but he didn’t meet my gaze.
Before I could say more, he growled low in his throat and shoved me again.
This time my legs gave out completely. My body collapsed onto the cold stone path, and I couldn’t catch myself in time. The impact sent fire coursing through my back where Marcus’s
earlier lashes crisscrossed my skin.
“Celeste!” a familiar voice gasped sharply.
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Chapter 104: You knew
Victoria stood at the top of the steps leading to the pack house. Her green eyes were wide
with alarm, darting between me and Lucas.
Her wolf’s whimper filled the air, vibrating faintly as she stepped closer. The conflict between
her maternal instinct and her deeply rooted guilt burned as brightly as her wolf’s aura.
“Lucas, stop this,” she ordered softly, though there wasn’t the sharp disciplinary tone an Alpha’s mate should have held.
Victoria’s presence should’ve felt like reassurance. Instead, it twisted the blade already buried in my chest. Her guilt–filled wolf couldn’t meet mine directly.
As she knelt toward me, I finally found my voice. It was hoarse, quiet, but each word struck
harder than it sounded.
“You all knew,” I stated coldly, my violet eyes locking onto hers, refusing to let her look away this time. My wolf pushed through despite the searing pain, demanding answers–demanding acknowledgment of her crime.
“You knew,” I continued, my voice rising slightly. Each word cut against the silence only interrupted by our wolves‘ distressed sounds. “What Marcus does there.”
Victoria stilled as if I’d struck her. Her maternal wolf whimpered louder, but even her nails digging faintly into the stone couldn’t mask it–guilt.
Her silence spoke louder than anything else ever could.
“You all knew,” I repeated, louder now. My hands pressed against the floor as I pushed myself into an upright position. Pain surged again, but I used the anger, the bitterness, to steady myself.
Lucas’s wolf was still growling faintly, but the slight unease creeping along it was noticeable. Scarlett’s wolf, meanwhile, maintained false innocence–silent and observant, as though
analyzing her next move.
The heavy footsteps of an Alpha approached before anyone could speak. The sound of authority pulled instant attention.
Alpha James arrived from the direction of the central path. His stature loomed over us all, his wolf’s alpha dominance demanding immediate silence.
Lucas’s growl cut off instantly at the Alpha’s approach, though his stiff shoulders and uneven stance betrayed the influence of moon–blessed wine still raging through him.
*Lucas,” James reprimanded sharply. His expression was firm, no–nonsense. His wolf’s
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authority filled the space, pressing over everyone present.
“You will not speak disrespectfully about Marcus again.” His tone brooked no argument. “He is the Alpha King’s nephew. Do not forget that.”
A
Lucas’s frustration was visible as his lip twitched briefly before settling into a firm scowl. Still,
the influence of his father’s presence tightened his wolf’s unease, forcing submission.
“Everyone knows Marcus’s reputation,” Lucas spat bitterly, though his voice was quieter now under James’s dominance. “Pretending otherwise won’t change how the pack whispers about
him!”
The brewing tension between them only pressed more heavily against my scarred wolf. Exhaustion weighed heavily, but the biting anger rising from my chest spilled out before I
could contain it.
“You knew,” I said again firmly., My voice rang out, sharp and cold.
James’s stern gaze flicked down toward me for the first time. The heavy dominance of his wolf wavered slightly under the unsettling tension riding in my words.
“So everyone knew what awaited me,” I said, staring at all of them now. My hands gripped the freezing stone beneath them as I steadied myself upright.
“In those hunting grounds,” I continued, my tone sharp and accusing, “you knew. And yet you still pushed me into his territory.”
