< 253 The Final Blow
253 The Final Blow
Lucian
“I’m sorry, Mommy,” Lacy whispered, barely able to lift her head. “I really am. I wasn’t thinking. My jealousy toward Darian… it consumed me. I just wanted him to feel what I felt-what it’s like to grow up without a
mother.”
Her voice cracked as she turned to Darian.
“I always felt out of place here. Like a stranger in my own home. I just wanted to belong, even if it meant belonging somewhere else. It hurt pretending to be your cousin when I was your sister. It was torture.”
She wiped her face, shaking.
“I used to dream about playing with you. Growing up together. Sharing everything. But our mother kept the truth, and I envied you-for having what I couldn’t. I’m sorry, Darian. I never meant to hurt her. I didn’t know it was poison. If I had… I wouldn’t have done it.”
Then her gaze shifted to me.
“Alpha Lucian… I’m sorry. For everything. For helping my father rob you. For betraying the trust this house gave me. There’s no excuse. I just hope… someday… you’ll find it in you to forgive me.”
She exhaled like she’d been holding her breath for hours. But then her expression changed.
“There’s something else,” she said, her voice suddenly firmer.
“While I was in Rockville, I overheard the men talking-bragging about their plans. Mistwood’s army is gathering on the east coast of Driftwake. Kentyille is housing the core force that will march into Mooncrest. They’re planning a full assault. Driftwake and Mooncrest-taken simultaneously.”
She looked at me, urgency now breaking through the tears.
“My father is leading it.”
Silence hit the room like a gunshot.
“They have infiltrators in your military. Some are already stationed in Driftwake, Neev, Brava, and
Goldenpeak-to force a regional surrender.”
And then she said the words that lit a fire in my blood.
“Most importantly… they’re planning to take your son. On the eighteenth of this month.”
The air left the room.
“They’re negotiating with his mother-Tina. And someone who works at the facility. They offered a huge sum of money. Tina… she seems desperate. They think she’ll say yes.”
I stood immediately, the chair scraping behind me.
<253 The Final Blow
Everything else fell away.
“What!” I growled, the word ripping from my throat before I could stop it.
Lacy nodded, her expression hollow.
“They didn’t tell me,” she said. “I overheard it while pretending to be unconscious… after they’d raped me
for hours.”
My fists clenched.
Tina. Tina. After everything, she was still finding ways to be a liability. Still dragging my son into danger.
Hadn’t she learned?
“I’ll call my father,” Mara said, already pulling out her phone. “We’ll have the doctor fly Richard back today.” I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to stay grounded. Mara’s voice was calm, firm-but I could feel her fear. I shared it. But fear wasn’t useful now. Only action was.
“No,” I said, stopping her mid-dial. “I’ll handle this myself.”
I pulled out my phone and called Rowan. He answered on the third ring.
“Alpha,” he greeted.
“Listen carefully,” I said. “Arrange transport to Neev. Bring my son back today. Take the chopper. Arm your
men.”
“Understood,” he said without hesitation.
“Is Denis there yet?” I asked, though I already suspected the answer.
Rowan hesitated. “We haven’t been able to reach him.”
Of course not. Darian hadn’t followed through with the dismissal.
“I’ll deal with it myself,” I said flatly. “But I want my son with me tonight. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I hung up.
Then I turned back to Lacy.
“Does your father have weapons?” I asked.
She nodded slowly.
“That’s why he wanted me to seduce the Alpha of Mistwood-Lance Kingsley. He had an arms shipment coming. My father wanted me to plant bugs on his phone and computer so his pirates could intercept the
vessel.”
I sat up straighter. That wasn’t just leverage. That was a potential tipping point.
53 The Firiat BROW
“What happened?” I asked.
“He sent someone else when I refused,” she said. “And I think she succeeded. They got the ship’s
coordinates. That’s why my father left Rockville. He’s planning a pirate hijacking. Alpha Kingsley won’t know it’s him, so he’ll still support him.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“And after Mooncrest?”
“He plans to take Mistwood next,” she said. “He wants both islands. Wants to stamp the Moongrove name across them-total control.”
I stood slowly, every muscle tight with fury. I had heard enough.
“Mara?” I said, turning to my wife.
She met my eyes briefly, then looked at Martha-still cradled by Darian, both locked in silent heartbreak. Across the room, Tiffany stood abruptly.
“I need to check on my daughter,” she said, voice too steady to be genuine. She was shaking beneath the
surface-her shock leaking through the seams.
Mara gave her a small, understanding nod.
Tiffany walked out, leaving us with the aftermath.
Mara turned her gaze to Lacy. Her face was calm. Steady. But there was a firmness in her eyes that left no
room for hope.
“I can’t sentence you to death,” she said gently. “But I can sentence you to prison.”
Lacy didn’t even flinch.
“You’ll be locked away for a minimum of five years,” Mara continued. “You’ll be given time to reflect, to confront the damage you caused-and hopefully, to change. When you are free again, may you return a better version of yourself.”
The silence that followed cracked under the sound of Martha’s sudden wail.
It wasn’t rage.
It was grief.
The kind that didn’t come from losing a daughter-but from knowing your daughter had lost herself.
Mara’s judgment had been merciful. More than Lacy deserved. But it was also necessary. Her hands were far too stained to be ignored.
I turned to Darian, my voice clipped. “Handle her sentencing.”
He nodded once, tight-lipped.
* 263 The Final Move
I stood, fists clenched. My insides burned.
Alaric had raped, enslaved, murdered-and now I knew he’d tortured my mother to death out of spite. That knowledge sat in my chest like poison.
And I couldn’t get even. Not yet.
I needed to move. I needed to act before the rage made me reckless.
There was still something I could control.
“Time to deal with Denis,” I muttered under my breath, already heading for the door.
He’d ignored a direct order.
And in times like this-disobedience was a luxury no one could afford.
