novelraw Chapter 137: They Are Hiding Something
Chapter 137: They Are Hiding Something
Leo’s POV
Camilla and Talia both fell to their knees, their hands clasped in front of them as if they were praying to the Moon Goddess herself. "Please, Alpha Leo... please," they begged, their voices trembling with a desperation that only made my lip curl in disgust.
Father Lennox stepped forward, his expression carved from stone. He looked at the sisters, then at the healers who were struggling to keep Bianca steady. "Go with your sister," he commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument. "Take her to the medical wing. I will settle this."
They didn’t wait for a second invitation. They scrambled out of the room with the healers, the sound of their sobbing fading down the hallway until only the six of us remained: me, Liam, Leon, Father Levi, Father Lennox, and Father Louis.
Father Lennox turned to me, his eyes narrowing. "Leo, I know what she did was wrong. I know the gravity of her actions, but—"
"Father, there is no ’but,’" I cut him off, my voice sharp and final.
"There is," he insisted, stepping closer, his scent flaring as if to remind me that he was still the head of this family. "You are forgetting she is your mate. The bond is sacred, Leo. You cannot simply discard a marked mate because of a lapse in judgment."
I frowned, a bitter taste filling my mouth. It was obvious Father still believed that the Moon-Lily mark on my neck was real. He still thought the Goddess had sanctioned this misery.
Liam stepped up beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. "So what?" he spat, his voice dripping with hate. "Even if she has his mark, he is going to reject her. Bianca and her sisters are not worthy to be Lunas. A Luna who uses dark magic is a poison to the pack. Imagine what else they’ll do once they realize their tricks aren’t working anymore."
Father Levi’s face was a mask of purple-tinged fury. "We will caution them! We will bring them before the Council and ensure they are disciplined. But you boys cannot divorce them. Under the High Treaty, a divorce is only permitted if the mate is caught being unfaithful. That is the law."
I scoffed, a harsh, dry sound. "No. I am making a new law."
"Son," Sir Lennox said, his tone dropping to a low, warning note. "Let’s avoid war. The Silver Lake Pack is large, and their allies are many. Divorcing her is an act of war. You would be throwing this pack into a bloodbath over a failed spell."
"I am not scared of war!" I yelled, the force of my voice shaking the light fixtures above us. "We are gifted Alphas! We will easily defeat them. Fathers, you men have changed. You’ve become soft, hiding behind treaties and politics. Why are you pressuring us to stay married to these women? What are you so afraid of?"
Father Levi remained silent, but Father Lennox’s jaw tightened. He looked older in that moment, and more exhausted.
Father Louis, who had been watching the exchange with a haunting silence, finally spoke. "You’ll understand someday, Leo. There are things in motion that are bigger than your personal happiness."
"Bianca will be punished by the Council," Father Lennox continued, his eyes locking onto mine with a chilling finality. "She will be stripped of her ceremonial duties for six months. But the divorce is not happening. You will go to that medical wing tomorrow, and you will show the pack that you are a supportive husband. If you don’t... the consequences will be far worse than a broken neck."
I glared at him, my hands clenching into fists so tight my raw knuckles began to bleed again. "Never happening..." I spat.
I looked at Father Levi, then back at my father, Lennox, before turning my head away in sheer disgust. They were hiding something. I could feel it in the way they traded glances—a secret buried so deep it was rotting the very foundation of this pack.
"Get out," I whispered.
"Leo—" my father started.
"GET OUT!" I roared, my wolf finally breaking through.
Father Levi and Louis scurried away while my father, Lennox, lingered for a moment, a look of disappointment on his face before he, too, disappeared.
Once the door clicked shut, the room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence. The air still tasted of Bianca’s blood and that foul, burnt-herb scent of her failed magic. I looked at Liam and Leon. My brothers looked as ravaged as I felt—hollowed out by a year of living with witches instead of wives.
"They’re lying to us," Leon said, his voice a low, angry growl. "About everything. The way they looked at each other when you mentioned the divorce... that wasn’t just fear of a war. That was the fear of a secret being unraveled."
I reached up and touched the thread bangle hidden under my watch, the rough texture grounding me. "There is something going on behind our backs. Something deep. This isn’t just about treaties and war anymore."
Liam, who had been staring out the window into the darkening forest, finally turned around. His eyes were haunted, the gold of his wolf flickering restlessly.
"I had a dream last night," Liam said quietly.
I frowned, looking at him. "A dream? Now? Liam, we have a crisis on our hands."
"Listen to me," he snapped, his voice trembling. "It wasn’t just a dream. It felt like a vision. I saw our whole family—Father Lennox, Father Levi, Father Louis. I saw Lana and Lyra. Even Jane and Jameson. We were all in the Pack Hall, but it was cold... freezing."
He took a jagged breath, his hands shaking. "And then I saw her. I saw our mother, Leo. She was standing there with them. And all of them—every single one of them—fell to their knees. They were weeping, reaching out to us, begging us for forgiveness."
A chill that had nothing to do with the cold bath I’d taken earlier swept over me. I exchanged a look with Leon. Our family, every one of them on their knees?
"It was clear," Liam continued, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Our family is hiding something from us. Something so big they think they’ll need to beg for their lives when we find out."
The confusion in the room was thick. We had always known our fathers were acting strange lately and perhaps a bit manipulative, but this felt darker.
"Wait," Liam said, his eyes widening as a memory surfaced. "A year ago... right after we came back from India, after the wedding... Lana said something strange to me. She said, "Liam, I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me.’"
I froze. "She said that?"
"I didn’t think much of it then," Liam muttered, rubbing his face with his hands. "I thought she meant she was sorry we had to marry the sisters. But the way she said it... like she had committed a crime against us."
I looked at the bloodstain on the carpet—Bianca’s blood. The woman I was being forced to stay tethered to by a father who claimed he wanted to avoid war.
"Brothers, something is up," I said, my voice hardening. "Lana knows. Our fathers know. Even the younger ones might be in on it. They’ve played us for years, keeping us distracted with grief and fake mates while they buried the truth."
I stood up, my wolf snarling in agreement. The silence of the packhouse felt like a trap now, every wall filled with ears, every hallway a maze of lies.
"We have to dig into it," I said, looking at Liam and Leon. "No more acting like ’good sons.’ No more following treaties. If we have to tear this packhouse apart stone by stone to find out what they did to Scarlett—and what they’re still doing to us—then that’s exactly what we’re going to do."
Leon cracked his knuckles, a dark smirk finally appearing on his face. "So, where do we start? Father’s study? Or do we make Lana talk?"