Free Web NovelChapter 198: Chapter 198 Helena’s Blackmail Day
Caesar’s POV
My wolf erupted with barely contained fury as I closed the study door behind Helena, the heavy click of the lock echoing like a gunshot in my chest.
If William hadn’t been her brother, if he hadn’t been one of the few people alive who knew the truth behind my carefully crafted façade, Helena would have been banished from our territory years ago.
The image of Sylvia standing alone upstairs burned through my mind—her back straight, her chin lifted in quiet pride even as uncertainty crept into her eyes.
She trusted me.
And for the first time since I claimed her as my mate, I wasn’t sure whether I was protecting that trust—or slowly choking the life out of it in the name of love.
Something savage twisted around my heart, tight and merciless.
I would rather face a thousand enemies than watch that quiet recalibration settle into her gaze—the moment when someone realizes the ground beneath them has shifted, and nothing will ever feel solid again.
Dylan’s latest intelligence reports surged to the forefront of my thoughts, uninvited and damning.
William’s movements over the past month had been disturbingly irregular.
Missed pack council meetings.
Encrypted communications routed through off-grid channels.
Private meetings with unidentified contacts.
The same William who had stood beside me when Vertex was forged in blood and calculation.
The same William who had helped me design the illusion of a Wolf King with limited resources—strategically vulnerable, politically underestimated. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
He knew everything.
The fabricated weaknesses.
The hidden leverage.
The reason I had buried my true power beneath layers of misdirection.
William had once thrown himself in front of a blade meant for me.
I could still feel the warmth of his blood coating my hands that night.
Still hear my own voice swearing into the darkness that no one—no one—would ever be allowed to weaponize that loyalty against me.
Now even that sacred certainty was cracking.
Until I knew what game William was playing, keeping Helena close was a necessary evil.
A dangerous gamble.
But better than letting her operate in the shadows, whispering poison into the right ears.
"You’ve redecorated," Helena said lightly, trailing her fingers along the edge of my mahogany desk as if she owned the place. Her eyes gleamed with manufactured nostalgia. "Remember how we used to sneak in here during your father’s territory gatherings? You’d show me all the secret passageways."
I didn’t react.
"Helena," I said flatly, "cut the crap. Why did you say that in front of Sylvia?"
"Isn’t she your most trusted Luna?" She stepped closer, her smile sweet, her eyes sharp with predatory hunger. "Or is she still not worthy of knowing everything about you like I do? Do you still need to use her to hide the fact that you’re Vertex Corporation’s CEO?"
"You only know because of your brother, Helena," I replied, my voice cold enough to freeze bone.
Her expression shifted, just slightly. "I think you know very well that we can only be friends."
"You never even gave us a chance, Cae." Her tone softened, dropping into a practiced whisper. "We could’ve been unstoppable together. The Blackwood and Conrad packs, united."
"I’ve only ever seen you as family, Helena." My words were precise. Lethal. "Like a sister. Nothing more. Nothing ever."
"A sister?" She laughed, sharp and venomous. "Is that what you tell yourself to justify twenty years of willful blindness? The mate bond may not have clicked into place between us, but we could’ve built something legendary."
"My wolf recognized Sylvia the instant I laid eyes on her," I said, each word grounded in truth. "There was never a choice after that." freewebnσvel.cøm
Helena’s composure cracked.
Rage twisted her features as furious tears welled in her eyes. "Then why not tell her everything?" she demanded. "Why keep pretending you’re some vulnerable Alpha scraping for alliances when you’re the one pulling the strings?"
My blood turned to ice.
Not because she was wrong.
But because she was saying it here.
In this house.
With Sylvia directly above us, breathing the same air—completely unaware that her entire world hovered on the edge of destruction.
"Choose your next words very carefully," I warned.
Helena tilted her head, studying me like a puzzle she already knew how to solve.
"I wonder," she said softly, "how your precious mate would feel if she ever realized that the man she trusts so completely has been several moves ahead of everyone else this entire time."
The walls felt like they were closing in.
Not because of Helena.
But because if Sylvia learned the truth now—twisted through Helena’s mouth—it would sound like betrayal instead of protection.
Manipulation instead of love.
My wolf clawed at my ribs, demanding blood, demanding dominance—but the man in me stayed perfectly still.
Losing control would give Helena exactly what she wanted.
"What do you want?" I asked, my voice deadly calm.
Her tears vanished instantly, replaced by a calculating smile that confirmed every suspicion I’d ever had.
"One day," she said. "Just you and me. Shopping. Dinner. Like the old days."
She leaned closer, her voice silk over steel. "A small price to pay to ensure your mate doesn’t hear the truth from someone who enjoys watching things burn."
My first instinct was to tell her to go to hell.
My second was to imagine Sylvia caught in the crossfire—paying the price for loving me.
That thought shattered something vital in my chest.
"Fine."
The word scraped out of my throat like broken glass.
In that moment, I didn’t feel defeated.
I felt disgusted with myself for choosing silence over honesty—even temporarily.
"One day," I continued. "After that, you disappear from our lives."
She smiled like she’d just won the lottery.
"I knew you’d see reason."
