Chapter 9
Adrian’s POV
Three months later, at Blackwood Manor.
“Sign here.” The bank representative pushed the bankruptcy papers in front of Victoria.
The once-glorious manor was now deserted, foreclosure notices plastered everywhere.
“Impossible…” Victoria trembled as she looked at the documents. “This is our ancestral home, passed down for three hundred
years…”
“My apologies, madam,” the representative said coldly. “Debts must be paid.”
Adrian sat in a corner, feeling like his soul had been ripped out.
For three months, he had watched his pack’s empire crumble piece by piece.
Stock value at zero, factories seized, employees all laid off.
The nobles who once fawned over them now avoided them like the plague.
“This is all your fault!” Victoria suddenly exploded, lunging at Adrian. “It’s all because of you, you fool!” She pointed a shaking finger at her son. “I warned you to stay away from Elena! But you threw away the entire pack for that woman!”
Adrian stared blankly at his mother.
“Mom…”
“Don’t call me Mom!” Victoria shrieked hysterically. “I have no son like you! Do you have any idea how many of our people are homeless because of your stupidity? Do you realize that three hundred years of pack honor has been destroyed because of you?”
Every word was a whip lashing Adrian’s soul.
“I know I was wrong…’
”
“Wrong?” Victoria laughed coldly. “What good does saying you’re wrong do now? Elena Astoria is the queen of the entire North, and what are we? We’ve fallen from grace into the pits of hell!”
Adrian couldn’t say another word.
He wanted to blame his mother for shaming Elena, but Elena’s departure, Gale’s death… it was all his own doing.
Gale.
Gale’s death!
After the bank representative left, Adrian suddenly remembered the question that had been haunting him.
Why had Gale lost his regenerative ability?
Why had the boy always seemed so frail?
“Tyler,” he called his Beta.
“Alpha?”
“I want you to pull the security footage from that night. And Gale’s medical records. I need to know the truth.”
Three days later, Tyler returned, his expression heavy.
“Alpha… I found something.” He handed Adrian a medical report, his hand shaking. “Gale’s blood tested positive for a high
1/3
Chapter 9
+15 Bonus
concentration of a Wolfsbane-based suppressant. The kind that permanently inhibits a werewolf’s awakening.”
Adrian took the report, his eyes widening in horror.
“What’s worse,” Tyler’s voice dropped, “based on the metabolic analysis, he had been regularly dosed with this for the last two
years.”
“Two years?” Adrian’s eyes shot up. “Sophia was still abroad then…”
“No, Alpha,” Tyler’s voice trembled. “I checked Sophia’s travel records. She made twelve secret trips back into the country over the last two years. Each time, she was in the vicinity of your home.”
Just then, the sound of high heels echoed in the room.
Sophia walked into the living room, as glamorous as ever, as if Adrian’s bankruptcy had nothing to do with her.
The moment she saw the documents in Tyler’s hand, her composure cracked for a split second before she masked it with a condescending smile.
“Sophia…” Adrian’s voice was a low, animalistic growl. “Tell me this isn’t real.”
“What is this nonsense?” Sophia asked, gesturing to the report with a dismissive flick of her wrist. “Darling, grief is making you paranoid. You’re looking for someone to blame, and you pick me?”
“The travel records. The poison,” Adrian snarled, taking a step forward. “Explain it.”
Tyler held up a tablet, playing the surveillance footage.
“And the shove, Alpha. It was aimed directly at the stone steps. It was calculated.”
Sophia watched the video, her smile finally dissolving into a sneer.
“So, the great Alpha finally figured it out. Took you long enough.”
“Why?!” Adrian shot to his feet, a furious fire burning in his eyes. “Gale was innocent! He was just a child!”
“Innocent?” Sophia laughed maniacally. “I was jealous! I was jealous Elena had your love, jealous of her noble blood, jealous that she had everything I ever wanted while I was cast aside!”
“So you murdered a child?!”
“It’s better that the little mutt is dead!” Sophia’s voice turned shrill. “I knew who Elena was! I wanted her to feel what it’s like to lose everything! I wanted her to know the price for stealing what was mine!”
“We were never yours to steal!” Adrian roared.
“But you were supposed to be!” Sophia shrieked. “If it wasn’t for her, you would have chosen me!”
“You would harm a child just to destroy her…”
“I’ll kill you!” Adrian finally snapped.
His eyes turned gold, sharp fangs extending from his gums.
His wolf had taken over completely.
“Alpha! Stop!” Tyler tried to intervene, but it was too late.
Adrian lunged at Sophia, his sharp claws plunging directly into her chest.
“Aaargh-“Sophia let out a piercing scream as blood sprayed from the wound. “You… for that bitch… you’re killing me…”
