Chapter 69: Bitter Truth
Chapter 69: Bitter Truth
(Third Person POV)
Victoria collapsed heavily against the wall outside Eleanor’s chambers. A harrowing sob tore from her throat, her usually composed frame trembling uncontrollably. Her wolf howled in
despair, the sound reverberating through the dim hallway like a mournful dirge.
Her hand raised shakily, pointing directly at Lucas, who stood stiffly just a few paces away.
“I never meant to kill my pup!” she wailed, her breaking voice echoing through the silent
corridor. Her golden–green eyes overflowed with tears as her wolf whimpered pitifully. “How
could you even think that? I raised her for fourteen years! Fourteen years she was mine!
Before… Before we even knew about Scarlett!”
The raw anguish in her voice gripped the onlookers. Pack guards shifted uncomfortably. Even
the dominant wolves present avoided her stricken gaze.
Victoria pressed a trembling hand over her chest, her breathing uneven.
“Every scraped knee, every nightmare that sent her running to me. Every full moon. Every
ceremony–every single moment, I was there… She was my daughter in every way that
mattered!”
Her voice cracked painfully mid–sentence. For a moment, the Luna’s sorrow hung in the air,
consuming all who heard her.
Lucas immediately stepped forward, his usually fierce demeanor softening at his mother’s
heart–wrenching cries. His wolf let out a small, pitiful whine, exuding submission before her overwhelming distress.
Falling down onto one knee, Lucas kept his head low, speaking hurriedly with genuine remorse. “I spoke rashly, Luna,” he admitted, his voice filled with regret. His golden eyes shone with anguish as he looked up at her tear–streaked face. “The fault is mine. I should never have
said…”
But Victoria turned her face sharply away, shunning his attempted comfort. Her visible
rejection struck him like a blow.
Lucas clenched his fists tightly, his wolf low–growling faintly in frustration.
Taking a shaky breath, he forced himself into control. Slowly, his expression hardened again
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as his focus flicked to Scarlett.
Her face, usually radiant with fragile beauty, was bruised and swollen. Violet handprints
marred her pale cheeks, evidence of Celeste’s earlier fury.
The sight ignited Lucas’s simmering anger. His burning eyes locked onto Scarlett’s injuries, his
heart aching for his sister–his true sister.
“It’s still Celeste’s fault,” he snarled finally, his claws lengthening as frustration boiled over.
His golden–green eyes swirled with rage. His wolf roared inside him, struggling to lash out at the perceived offense.
“How could she attack Scarlett like that?” Lucas spat, his voice rising with each word. His
tone was sharp enough to echo off the walls. “She’s ungrateful! After everything we’ve done,
after every time we’ve protected her–she’s completely out of control!”
The sheer force of his voice made lower–ranked wolves shrink back instinctively. Even some of
the beta guards surrounding Eleanor’s chambers hesitated to meet his gaze.
But then, a sudden silence fell over the hallway.
Alpha James’s powerful aura swept into the corridor before his footsteps came into view.
The heavy, deliberate sound of his boots against the stone floor broke through the building
tension like thunder announcing a storm.
Betty, the head housekeeper of Winters Pack, emerged quietly from Eleanor’s chambers just as James approached. Her graceful, measured presence added an unexpected weight to the
moment.
Though only beta–ranked, Betty’s decades of service granted her unparalleled respect. With her wolf’s composed gaze, she observed the fractured dynamics before her like an elder quietly
assessing unruly pups.
Her sharp, knowing eyes looked over the gathered wolves, noting every detail. From Lucas’s aggressive stance, to Scarlett’s shuddering tears, to Victoria’s trembling form–it was clear she
understood far more than she let show.
Standing taller, Betty let out a slight breath before beginning to speak.
“If Miss Scarlett hadn’t deliberately upset Elder Eleanor earlier today with petty, malicious gossip about Celeste,” she said firmly, her tone measured but scathing, “none of this chaos would have happened.”
Her words cut through the growing murmur of voices like the sharp edge of a knife.
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Lucas stilled entirely. Even his coiled wolf faltered under the weight of her calm accusation.
Several wolves in the hall gawked, caught off guard by her bluntness.
Victoria turned sharply at Betty’s words. Her tear–streaked face twisted in conflict. Guilt surged
forward like a wave, her wolf letting out a small, mournful whine as realization began to seep
- in.
But Betty wasn’t finished.
“When Elder Eleanor regains consciousness,” she continued succinctly, her voice high and
clear, “she will commend Celeste, as she always has.”
Betty’s eyes flickered toward Scarlett, narrowing slightly. “For once again defending her wolf’s
honor.”
The word “honor” weighed heavily as silence rippled through the gathered wolves once more.
Scarlett flinched at the older woman’s sharp gaze. For a brief second, cracks broke across her delicate, weeping facade.
Betty’s wolf, seasoned by years of battles spoken and unspoken, did not falter. Her attention
shifted to the alpha now–a silent dare to contradict her assessment.
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“Between Young Alpha Lucas hiring mercenary wolves to abduct Celeste…”
Lucas shifted uncomfortably under Betty’s steady words, his eyes narrowing defensively.
‘…Miss Scarlett actively manipulating Eleanor’s health…”
Scarlett’s cheeks flushed deeply, though her trembling tears persisted to distract from her
guilt.
…And Luna Victoria wielding sacred silver against her own daughter…”
Victoria took an involuntary step back, her wolf yipping weakly at the direct call–out.
“…this pack is spiraling,” Betty concluded, her voice softening just slightly. “You can feel it. I
can feel it. Even those born lower in rank feel it–this pack is heading toward catastrophe.”
She paused deliberately, giving her warning the full weight of its meaning.
The phrase hit Alpha James directly. His usually calm expression tightened visibly.
“Catastrophe,” repeated within his mind like an ominous chant. It summoned all his worries forward again, no longer allowing him reprieve.
As the Alpha of one of the kingdom’s strongest packs, James Winter had spent months
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maintaining tenuous alliances. Every second of his energy had gone toward presenting the Winter Pack as a shining example under the Alpha King’s reign.
But in prioritizing the outside world, he had missed the cracks forming beneath his own house.
Scarlett’s smooth manipulations over the past months. Lucas’s reckless, ill–thought–out schemes.
And Victoria… Victoria.
Her impulsive, emotional decision to wield ceremonial silver–the thought alone made his wolf growl in disbelief.
Lucas stood stiff with tension, his jaw locked. For a moment, his pride tempted him to snap- to disregard Betty’s words entirely.
But Betty’s aura carried too much weight, her message too deeply rooted in truth.
She sensed his resistance before he even spoke. Staring him down, she gave a brief shake of her head, dismissing his menace with quiet grace.
“Fix this, Alpha,” she murmured softly, lowering her tone to the barest whisper. Only James
could hear it now. “Fix your family before there’s nothing left to fix.”
She glanced at Victoria one last time–then at Scarlett’s tearful, shaking form–and finally
retreated back toward Eleanor’s chambers without another word.
James’s attention snapped sharply to Scarlett.
His expression darkened as his initial pity for her fragile figure dissolved into something far
more commanding.
For the first time since Scarlett’s return, James saw her as more than his lost daughter.
He saw not only her manipulations but also the consequences spilling from each calculated
flick of her tongue.
“Precious daughter,” he growled low, the warmth in his usual endearment now entirely absent.
“You nearly killed your grandmother today.”
His words came slow, deliberate, and heavy with authority. It pinned Scarlett in place like a
weight she couldn’t shake.
The tears in her emerald eyes grew even thicker. She stumbled back reflexively, her wolf beginning to keen pitifully at her father’s commanding aura.
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Chapter 69: Bitter Truth
Victoria whimpered softly, clutching Scarlett closer even as her own emotions unraveled.
Scarlett reached out with trembling hands toward James.
“I–I just thought…” she started, her voice so soft that even nearby wolves had to strain to hear,
Her lips trembled, tears now falling to the floor like broken crystals.
“I thought if Grandmother spoke to Celeste… she respects her so much… Maybe… Maybe Grandmother could have stopped her from punishing Brother…!”
But James didn’t flinch. He neither interrupted her nor offered the smallest sign of comfort.
“And when I spoke, I didn’t know…” Scarlett continued. Her trembling voice cracked almost
melodically. “I didn’t know it would affect her health! I swear, if I had known… I never would have said anything!”
She stepped closer despite his cold demeanor, her lips quivering like a lost pup seeking
warmth.
“I was just trying to protect our family, Father!”
