Chapter 11
As I approached the villa, a familiar scent of pine and rain lingered in the air–Caspian’s scent. My heart, hardened by loss, remained unmoved as I opened the door, only to find him slumped against the doorframe. His appearance was a stark contrast to the proud Alpha he once was. He looked a decade older, his once–groomed beard now unkempt, and his eyes bloodshot, reflecting the torment that had taken root deep within him. Around him, a trail of cigarette butts lay scattered, the air thick with the acrid smell of smoke.
“Claire…” His voice was hoarse, filled with a desperation I hadn’t heard before. “I didn’t know… I didn’t know Kylo was my son.”
He reached out, grabbing the hem of my skirt like a man clinging to the last vestiges of hope. But my heart remained cold, untouched by his pleas. How could he expect forgiveness when he hadn’t even given Kylo a chance? How could he doubt his own flesh and blood?
You didn t know?” I echoed, my voice sharper than the wind outside. “You thought he wasn’t your child, and you didn’t even bother to find out? You just assumed he wasn’t yours?”
He flinched as if my words had struck him like a physical blow. Regret filled his eyes, an emotion too late to make any difference. “I was afraid,” he admitted, his voice trembling. “Afraid of what the investigation might reveal… afraid that Kylo was really Alpha Atlas’s son.”
Alpha Atlas? His name in Caspian s mouth was almost laughable. I hadn’t seen Atlas since the day he helped me fend off a drunken harasser in a town far from our pack. Our paths had crossed only by coincidence, yet here Caspian was, using that one moment as fuel for his insecurities.
“You were afraid I’d run off with Atlas?” I asked, my tone incredulous. “Didn’t you already push me away? Didn t you already have Ophelia?”
He looked down, unable to meet my gaze, his hands trembling as they hung limply by his sides. The truth was, his fears had no foundation, just as our relationship had none. But it no longer mattered.. The one thing that could have bridged the gap between us our son–was gone, and no amount of remorse could change that.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I said, my voice hollow. Kylo was gone. No truth, no revelation, no apology could bring him back.
“Claire, please,” he begged, his voice cracking under the weight of his guilt. “I’ll do anything you want. If you want to marry me, I’ll marry you. If you want my life, its yours.”
The once–proud Alpha, reduced to a man begging for scraps of forgiveness, was a pitiful sight. But his humility did nothing to soften my heart. Instead, it reminded me of the countless nights I had spent in tears, wishing for him to see me, to see Kylo, only to be met with indifference and scorn.
“I want my Bloodvenom Pack back,” I said firmly.
Caspian’s eyes widened in shock. This was not the request he had expected. But I had dreamt of Kylo. In that dream, he had asked me to live well, to go out and see the world. For Kylo’s sake, I would step out of the shadows that had plagued my life.
He hesitated, his eyes searching mine for some sign of hesitation, but there was none. Finally, he nodded.
Caspian had always misunderstood the dynamics between my family and him. He had held a grudge against me and my mother, believing that we had kept him in the pack for selfish reasons. He thought that we had prevented him from joining the Shadow Crest Pack, a more powerful pack that he had longed to be part of. He didn’t know that it was my father, Alpha Aldous, who had stood in his way, threatened by the possibility that Caspian might one day take his title. To protect Caspian from this harsh truth, I had kept silent, even giving him the title of Alpha of Bloodvenom Pack to appease his
ambitions.
Caspian had mistaken my actions for manipulation, believing that I was trying to trap him and that my mother had used our mateship to bind him to the pack. He had refused to marry me until after my mother’s death, convinced that he was nothing more than a pawn in our game. Little did he know, it was my father who had never wanted him there at all.
But now, it was time to untangle the mess.
The next morning, Caspian called a pack meeting, summoning every member of Bloodvenom to the grand hall. The air was thick with tension as the pack gathered, whispers of speculation running through the crowd. They had no idea what was coming-
Caspian stood tall before them, though the weight of his decision was evident in the set of his shoulders. His voice, however, was steady and authoritative, the voice of an Alpha who had made his
choice.
“From this day forward,” he declared, his voice echoing through the hall, “I, Caspian Asmund, relinquish my title as Alpha of the Bloodvenom Pack. I pass this title to Claire Laurentia, the rightful. heir of former Alpha Aldous Laurentia. She is your Alpha now, and you will obey her and bow to her authority as you once did mine.”
Gasps of shock rippled through the crowd, but I remained still, my face betraying none of the emotions swirling within me. Caspian had handed me the pack, and with it, the burden of leadership.
Back then, I could barely step into the Alpha’s office without feeling out of place. Now, as I stood in what was now my office.
Beta Clayton, always loyal, brought me the lunch coming from Caspian every day, encouraging me to eat amidst the endless paperwork that now consumed my days.
On some days, Caspian would go to talk to me, himself.
“You don t’have to do this alone, you know. We don’t have to separate. Isn‘ t it easier not to sever the mate bond? It will only hurt you.”
Chapter 12
