Chapter 26: Sacrificed One Daughter
Chapter 26: Sacrificed One Daughter
(Lucas’s POV)
I stood there, rooted to the spot, staring into the dark hallway long after Celeste had
disappeared with that insufferable guard of hers.
Her words gnawed at me. Three moons. Three moons, and she would be gone.
The stench of guilt clung to the air, curling around my senses, suffocating. I clenched my fists,
struggling to push down the bloom of frustration that grew in my chest.
Her words replayed themselves endlessly in my mind. The way she had declared her
departure, as though she had no reason left to stay. As though she wanted nothing more than
to sever ties with all of us.
I wanted to roar. To howl. To shatter this oppressive silence.
But I couldn’t–not here. Not now.
A quiet whimper broke me from my spiraling thoughts. I turned sharply, my gaze finding my
mother standing close by.
Victoria, the ever–composed Luna, looked wrecked. Her face seemed smaller somehow, drawn
with a pain that mirrored her wolf’s cries.
It was enough to shake me from my haze.
“Mother,” I said, my voice a growl that barely masked my anger. “What is going on?”
Her lips trembled, but no sound came out.
“What did she mean, ‘three moons‘?” I pressed, stepping closer. “This isn’t like her. What did you tell her?”
Victoria’s green eyes filled with unshed tears. She hesitated, as though searching for the right thing to say but finding none. “Lucas…”
“Don’t ‘Lucas‘ me,” I snapped. My patience was wearing thin. “You begged me to let her go earlier! Now this? What are you hiding?”
She shook her head. “Not here,” she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “Come inside. I’ll explain everything.”
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Chapter 26: Sacrificed One Daug…
Her words chilled me to the marrow, sending a warning deep into my bones. Whatever this
was, it was bad.
Victoria turned and moved toward the pack house with a heaviness in her steps I’d never seen before. I followed, fists tightening at my sides.
I caught sight of Scarlett being carried into one of the healing chambers as we entered.
Her frail frame looked even smaller on the healer’s pallet, her auburn hair clinging to her damp
forehead. My wolf stirred protectively, a snarl rising in my throat.
“Why is she here?” I demanded, gesturing toward the chamber.
Victoria paused briefly, casting a worried look toward Scarlett as the healers worked on her.
She… collapsed earlier,” Victoria murmured. Her voice was filled with barely restrained
concern. “She became weak again after the moon run.”
“Again?” I muttered under my breath as I rubbed my temples, irritated. Scarlett’s wolf was
always so fragile–so quick to falter.
”
But something about Victoria’s avoidance made me narrow my gaze. No matter how much
Scarlett needed healing, I knew there was more she wasn’t saying. Something weightier hung
over this room.
“Fine,” I growled, grinding my teeth. “We’ll deal with that later. Now, explain what’s going on
with Celeste.”
Victoria’s shoulders drooped as she leaned against the doorframe for balance. For a moment,
she looked as though she might collapse like Scarlett had.
“She’s agreed to a mating alliance,” she confessed quietly. Her hands twisted together, her
wolf whining louder. “With Marcus Blackwood.”
The room spun for a moment, and then my wolf erupted.
“Marcus.”
His name left my lips like a curse, dripping with venom. My voice was loud enough for the healers down the hall to glance in our direction.
“Marcus Blackwood? Have you gone insane, Mother?”
Victoria flinched, her green eyes wide in the dim hallway light. “Lucas-”
“No!” I barked, cutting her off. I took a step toward her. “Do you know what that wolf is capable of? The things he’s done?”
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“I know!” she shouted back, her voice trembling under the weight of her emotions. “You think I
don’t know, Lucas? Do you think I wanted this?”
“Then why the hell would you even consider it?” My voice dropped, each word sharper than the
last. “You’re handing her over to a monster, Victoria. A sadist. Why? Explain it to me because it
makes no damn sense!”
Her hands shot up, grasping the sides of my face to force my gaze–not unlike she used to
when I was a child throwing tantrums.
“Look at me, Lucas,” she whispered. “We didn’t have a choice. We had no choice.”
“No choice?” I repeated bitterly, jerking away from her grip. “That’s not good enough!”
Victoria pressed a shaking hand to her chest, as though trying to steady her own breathing.”
She’s been through enough. And with…”
Her voice cracked. She inhaled sharply before continuing. “With her reputation, there’s no other wolf who would accept her. At least this way, Celeste will have protection. And Marcus’s
status as royal blood secures her in a way no one else can.”
“Protection?” I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and sharp. “You think Marcus Blackwood is going to protect anyone? Are you hearing yourself right now?”
Victoria faltered but didn’t look away.
“Let me guess,” I sneered. “This was Regina’s doing, wasn’t it? She brought it to you wrapped in some pretty little lie about ‘alliances‘ and ‘prosperity, didn’t she?”
“It’s not just Regina, Victoria admitted, her tone heavy. My sneer faltered. “It’s about Scarlett
too.”
Something inside me snapped at her admission.
“Scarlett? What does Scarlett have to do with this?”
Victoria’s face tightened, guilt splashed across every inch of her usually unreadable features.” Scarlett’s claim to Alexander is dependent on removing any whispers connecting him to
Celeste. This was the cleanest solution.”
The world froze around me as her words settled, piercing through the roaring in my mind.
“You sacrificed one daughter…” My voice was low, vibrating with suppressed rage. “…to make
life easier for the other?”
“That’s not how it is!” Victoria barked. “Don’t twist this, Lucas, please!”
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“Then explain how it isn’t!” I challenged, stepping closer again. “Because it sounds like you’re
selling Celeste off to save Scarlett from whispers and gossip!”
Her defenses fell apart then–cracks spreading across her expression like shattered glass.” You don’t understand what it’s been like! The pack tensions, the rumors, the politics- everything was threatening to fall apart. This… this was the only way to keep the peace, Lucas.
I let out a short, humorless laugh. “Peace. Is that what you’re calling it? Sending her away to
that wolf is peace?”
“Stop!” Scarlett’s frail voice spilled into the conversation, cutting through our heated exchange.
Victoria rushed toward Scarlett’s pallet, her concern palpable as she crouched to check her
temperature. Scarlett’s emerald eyes, clouded with confusion, turned toward me.
“It’s not that bad, Lucas,” she said softly, her wolf’s submissive whimpering mixing with her voice. “Being the mate of the Alpha King’s nephew… it’s an honor. It could restore Celeste’s
reputation.”
The calm and detached way she spoke of this “solution” only enraged me further.
“She doesn’t need honor from someone like Marcus Blackwood!” I roared, startling even
myself with my outburst. “He’s a monster, Scarlett! You have no idea what you’re talking
about!”
Her eyes widened, her wolf shrinking from my display. Victoria wrapped an arm protectively
around her daughter.
“Stop antagonizing her!” Victoria hissed; glaring up at me with blazing green eyes.
I shook my head, pacing furiously across the room. My wolf was on the brink of snapping through my control. “You’re all blind! You don’t see the truth. You’re feeding her to a wolf worse
than the one who put her in chains before!”
Victoria stood abruptly, her voice sharper than I’d ever heard it. “And what would you have me
do, Lucas? Hm? Tell me!”
She gestured around wildly, her composure entirely gone. “Find her another mate? There isn’t one who would take her after what happened in Moon Shadow Prison. Fight the Alpha King’s
sister?! Risk this entire pack for one wolf?”
The mention of the prison drained the boiling anger from my veins, leaving only bitter
resentment in its wake.
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I hated Marcus. I hated Regina.
And right now, I hated Celeste.
For agreeing to this. For choosing him, when part of me refused to admit why that choice hurt
so much.
“She agreed to this?” I asked coldly, refusing to look at Victoria.
“She… yes,” Victoria said hoarsely. “She agreed. She chose this.”
Something inside me twisted violently at the confirmation. How could she? After everything- everything–our pack gave her.
“Three moons,” I muttered under my breath, my wolf howling in my chest, the pain raw and
jagged.
This was her choice. Her betrayal.
“Leave her alone.” Victoria’s command came softly. “And stop this anger. It will lead to
nothing.”
I stormed out of the healing chambers, barely containing the fury thrumming through my
veins.
Celeste chose Marcus.
And I would never forgive her for it.
