Chapter 196: What My Father Did
Aurora’s POV
"Came to see the man who ruined your life?" Alex sneered, his eyes drilling straight into me. He tried to lean forward, but the heavy silver chains pulled him back against the wall with a sharp clang. He let out a harsh, wet laugh. "You know, girl, I still wonder about it. Every single day in this dark hole, I think about it. I wonder how I didn’t kill you that night."
He turned his eyes to Oliver, a wild, questioning look on his face, before snapping his gaze right back to me. "How did you do it? My men searched every inch of that house. We are wolves. We can smell any scent from miles away. How were you able to hide your smell so well that neither my men nor I could perceive you? You should have died with the rest of them."
I did not flinch. I tightened my grip on Oliver’s hand, keeping my body perfectly still.
Alex spat on the floor, his face twisting with annoyance. "Lucky bitch," he muttered.
I took a step closer to the glowing iron bars, my eyes burning with an old, deep pain that I was finally ready to face. "Why did you do it, Alex? What did my father ever do to you? He was a good man. He was a kind man. He was no threat to you."
Alex’s face changed. The smug smile disappeared, replaced by an ugly, bitter anger. He spat toward the bars, his chest heaving.
"Your father was a big mouth!" Alex shouted, his voice echoing loudly in the stone hallway. "That is what he did! He couldn’t mind his own business. Your father saw something he shouldn’t have seen."
He leaned his head against the stone wall, a dark grin spreading across his face as he remembered the horror he had caused. "Instead of keeping his mouth shut like a smart wolf, he ran his mouth. He told people. He threatened to go to the Alpha Council and report me. He thought he was being a hero. He thought his little human laws could stop a Lycan."
Alex shook his chains, making a loud, angry noise. "He was a fool! He thought he could ruin my plans and get away with it. So, I had to shut him up. I had to wipe out his entire name so nobody else would dare to talk. He brought that fire down on his own head, Aurora. Your family died because your father didn’t know how to stay quiet."
I felt Oliver shift beside me. His large frame grew incredibly tense, and I could feel the anger boiling up in his chest. His Alpha aura flared so hard and heavy that even the guards at the door shifted uncomfortably. He stepped forward, his voice dangerously low and thick with power.
"He was an honorable man, Alex," Oliver said, protecting me with his words. "Unlike you. You murdered innocent people to hide your cowardice. And look where it got you."
Alex looked up at Oliver, his eyes wide and crazed. "I did what I had to do to survive, Oliver! And I would do it again!"
I looked at the shouting, broken man behind the bars. The answers I had waited years for were finally out in the open, but I didn’t feel sad. I felt completely detached, as if Alex were nothing more than an insect beneath my shoe. The heavy weight I had carried for so long suddenly felt lighter, because it only proved how pathetic the monster truly was.
"My father died an honorable man," I said softly, my voice easily cutting through Alex’s frantic breathing. "You are going to die tomorrow as a traitor, disowned by your own father, hated by the entire world. Your name will be wiped from the history of this pack, while my child will inherit everything you ever wanted."
Alex choked on his own breath, his face turning bright red with fury as my words hit his pride like a physical blow. He began to scream and thrash against his chains, the metal clanging wildly against the stone.
I didn’t want to look at his face anymore. I simply turned my back on his ugly screams and looked up at Oliver, a peaceful smile finally touching my lips.
"I am ready to go now, Oliver," I whispered gently, tugging his large hand. "The monster is already dead inside. Tomorrow is just a formality."
Oliver didn’t say another word to the screaming man behind the bars. He just wrapped his large, warm arm around my waist and guided me away from the dark cell. We walked back up the winding stone stairs, leaving Alex’s wild shouts behind us. The air grew lighter and warmer as we reached the upper floors of the palace, but my heart still felt heavy with everything I had just heard.
We walked back into Oliver’s bedroom. The room was quiet, with the soft morning light still spilling across the floor. I walked over to the edge of the large bed and sat down, my legs suddenly feeling weak. Oliver closed the heavy wooden door behind us, cutting off the rest of the world. He walked over to me slowly, his eyes full of worry, and sat down right beside me on the mattress.
He didn’t force me to speak. He just reached out and took my hand, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.
I stared down at our joined fingers, my mind racing. "Oliver," I whispered, my voice shaking a little. "What did my father see? Alex said my father saw something he shouldn’t have seen. What did he find out?"
Oliver let out a long, heavy breath. He looked down, a dark shadow crossing his face as if he hated the words he was about to say.
"Your father saw Alex commit a terrible crime, Aurora," Oliver said quietly, his voice deep and serious. "Alex attacked a young girl from a neighboring pack. He raped her, and he broke her so badly that she died from her injuries. He thought he could cover it up because he was the Lycan King’s son."
Oliver squeezed my hand a little tighter. "But your father was there. He saw what Alex did to that poor girl, and he refused to stay quiet. Your father stood up and testified against him in front of the elders. He told everyone exactly what Alex had done. He wanted justice."
Oliver’s jaw clenched, a flash of anger in his sea-blue eyes. "In a fit of pure rage and pride, Alex wanted revenge. He couldn’t handle the fact that a mere werewolf had exposed his true nature. So, he took his rogue wolves, went to your home, and destroyed your family to bury the witness."
As the truth finally hit me, a sharp pain stabbed through my chest. The tears I had been holding back came rushing out all at once.
"Just a witness..." I sobbed, my voice breaking completely as I buried my face in my hands. "He was just a good man trying to do the right thing. Just because my father wanted to protect an innocent girl, Alex murdered my entire family? He burned my home for that?"
The cruelty of it broke my heart. My family was gone, all because my kind, brave father refused to look away from a monster’s crime. I shook with heavy, painful sobs, the tears wetting my hands.
"Aurora, please," Oliver pleaded softly. He moved closer, wrapping his massive, warm arms around me and pulling me against his chest. He was mindful of his own bandages, but he held me with a desperate force, tucking my head into the crook of his neck. "Please don’t cry, my love. It breaks me to see you like this."
But I couldn’t stop. The pain of the past was washing over me like a flood, and I kept crying into his shirt, my shoulders shaking as I let out years of hidden grief.
Oliver didn’t let go. He held me tightly, rocking me gently back and forth while his hand stroked my hair. When my sobs finally began to slow down, he gently lifted my chin with his fingers, forcing me to look up into his beautiful blue eyes. They were burning with a deep, fierce love.
He leaned down and kissed me. It wasn’t a gentle kiss to comfort a child; it was a deep, passionate, and breathless kiss that took all my sorrow away. His lips moved against mine with a fierce hunger, reminding me that I was alive, that I was loved, and that I was safe in his arms. The familiar scent of rain and forest washed over me, clearing out the cold darkness of the dungeons.
When he finally pulled back a little, his forehead rested against mine, his hot breath brushing my lips.
"You are not alone anymore, Aurora," Oliver whispered fiercely, his large palm moving down to rest flat against my stomach, holding onto our baby. "You have me. I am your man, and I am never leaving you. And you have your brother, James. The doctors say his vitals are getting stronger every day. He will wake up soon, Aurora. I promise you, he will wake up, and we will be a family."
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