Free Web NovelChapter 36: Chapter 36: I Killed My Father
The fight was brutal and bloody. I stayed in the middle, blade in hand, the twins kicking in my belly with every clash of steel.
Darius tore through the front line in wolf form. Kane and Rylan joined us, bloodied but alive. Rylan’s axe swung in wide arcs, splitting helms and shields. Kane moved silent and deadly between the tents.
I drove my blade into the first wolf who came at me, the latent alpha blood surging hot under my skin.
The beta tried to run but he wasn’t fast enough, or lucky so Rylan caught him first, and rose his axe to threaten him. The traitor man dropped to his knees, hands up.
"Please wait! Don’t kill me, I can take you to your father," he gasped. "He’s hiding in the old caves. He’s regrouping. He’s coming for the children. He says the curse will finish what he started."
I stepped forward, blade still in my hand, the twins kicking hard in my belly. The bond roared in my head, the brothers closing in around me.
"Then take us to him," I said. "Tonight. Now!"
The beta looked at me, then at the three kings, then at the blood on my blade. He nodded once and began leading us.
We rode deeper into the southern passes, the beta bound and gagged behind us. The caves were dark and narrow, the air thick with the smell of smoke and fear. My father waited at the back, surrounded by a handful of wolves, his eyes wild in the torchlight. freewebnσvel.cѳm
He smiled when he saw me. "Elena. Still alive. Still hiding behind cursed dogs and a belly full of bastards."
I stepped forward, the twins kicking again, the bond burning in my chest. "You threw me away once. You don’t get to bargain for what’s mine now."
We got into a fight again shortly after the confrontation but the fight was short because of my Alphas by my side. The brothers tore through his remaining wolves.
I drove my blade into the last one who came at me, the latent alpha blood roaring in my veins. My father tried to run. I caught him first.
He looked at me, his eyes wide with the same fear I had seen once before.
I didn’t hesitate. I lunged forward to him and drove my knife into his chest. He winced and held me closer to him. I twisted the blade and pushed it in deeper making him groan out in pain.
The blade went in clean, straight through his heart.
He muttered a confession into my ears quickly that made me sad and angry at the same time before he dropped to the cave floor, his blood pooling dark on the stone. He put his hands on his chest, gagging and wincing out of immense pain while still staring into my eyes.
The bond settled. The curse pushed, but the brothers held it back. The pack watched from the entrance, faces grim but steady.
My father was dead.
The man who had framed me, killed my sister, and tried to put silver on my children was finally gone. No more messages. No more gold. No more threats whispered in the dark.
I pulled the blade free and looked at the three kings.
The hunt was over. But the war was not.
The outer packs were still out there.
The curse would test us again in a few weeks.
And the North was waiting to see what the queen would do next.
The cave fell quiet except for the drip of blood and the distant howl of wind through the passes. My father lay on the stone floor, eyes open but empty, the arrogance finally drained from his face.
Darius stepped forward first, his claws retracting with a wet click as he knelt beside the body. He checked for a pulse he knew wasn’t there, then looked up at me. "It’s done."
Kane wiped his knife on the dead man’s cloak, storm-gray eyes flat. Rylan lowered his axe, the edge gleaming red in the torchlight, his breath still ragged from the fight.
I stared at the body a moment longer. The rage that had carried me through the caves felt heavy now, like a stone in my chest. I had wanted this for so long, but the victory tasted like ash.
The servant who had actually killed Lila was still out there in Shadowpine, living well on the reward my father had given him.
The confession he had spat out in his last breath echoed in my head: "the sedative he had ordered for Lila was just to make her temporarily ill, the framing he had planned to banish me, the servant who had killed her instead for selfish gain to make the frame-up ironclad and earn a bigger reward."
I wiped the blade on my cloak and sheathed it. "We burn the body. No grave. No name. He doesn’t get to rest among wolves."
The brothers nodded. Rylan dragged the body out into the open while Kane and Darius gathered dry brush.
The pack watched from the entrance in silence as the flames took hold. The smoke rose black against the twilight sky, carrying the last of Shadowpine’s old power with it.
The ride back to Frostfang was quiet. Lila was safe in the keep with Mara, but the twins in my belly kicked hard with every mile, as if they could feel the weight of what had just happened. The bond between the four of us hummed steady and warm, the curse quiet for now, but the shadow at the edges was still there, waiting for the next full moon to test us again.
The bailey was packed when we rode through the gates. The pack had heard the news from the scouts. They stood in silence as I slid off the horse, blood on my cloak and on my hands.
Darius lifted me down, his arm around my waist. Kane and Rylan flanked us. I walked straight to the center of the bailey with my hand on my belly, the twins kicking like they knew the moment mattered.
I raised my voice so the entire keep could hear. "Gamma Voss is dead. The man who framed me, killed my sister, and tried to put silver on my children is gone. I killed him myself. Any wolf who still carries his gold or his promises will face the same end. This is the last time Shadowpine threatens us."
The pack didn’t cheer. They didn’t need to. The silence that followed was heavier than any roar. One by one they dropped to one knee, heads bowed.
The beta who had taken charge after the traitor’s execution stepped forward and knelt first. The rest followed. The crack in loyalty was gone. In its place was something solid, something earned in blood.
I nodded once and walked into the keep with the brothers at my back. The war was over. The man who had started it was dead. But the North still needed a queen, and the twins in my belly were already demanding I become one.
The next few weeks passed in a steady flow of work and small victories. Lila was eight months old and crawling everywhere, pulling herself up on furniture and babbling at the top of her lungs whenever she spotted one of the brothers.
The twins in my belly had grown bigger and my belly became round and heavy, my steps slower, my hand often resting on the curve of my stomach. The nausea had eased, but the tiredness sat deep in my bones. I moved through the halls with purpose, one hand on my belly, the other adjusting the sling when Lila demanded to be carried.
The laws I pushed through became the new normal. "No more forced marriages for any girl under eighteen. No more pups used as bargaining chips. No more women traded for alliances without their consent."
The gammas grumbled at first, but they obeyed. The pack had seen me kill my own father in the caves. They had seen the brothers stand with me through blood and full moons. They were choosing us now.
One afternoon I sat in the great hall with Lila on my lap, the twins kicking in steady rhythms against my belly. A young mother from the eastern ridge stood before the throne, voice steady.
"My mate wants to send our daughter south for an alliance. She is fifteen. She wants to stay and train as a scout. The law says she can choose." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
I rocked Lila gently as she grabbed at my tunic. "The law is clear. She stays. She trains. The alliance can be made another way."
The mother nodded, relief in her eyes. The hall murmured approval. The pack was listening. They were learning.
Darius sat beside me on the throne, his hand resting on my knee under the table. Kane stood behind us, silent as always. Rylan leaned against the wall near the door, axe across his shoulder, eyes scanning every face.
The bond between the four of us was steady and warm, the curse quiet between full moons, but the memory of the last one lingered in the way Darius’s claws twitched when he thought no one was looking.
