Chapter 466
Four hundred and sixty eight
Alexander POV
Even Cherry had told me to go.
She didn’t say it out of moral duty. I went because I needed to get this mess out of my head.
ME
She and Emma had wanted to come along, but I refused. Cherry didn’t need to be reminded of that dark phase of our lives, and my growing knowledge of Meridian had taught me that pregnant women were the most vulnerable targets. I wasn’t risking Emma or the baby near a dying anchor.
Since I was still under medical restriction and hadn’t been cleared to drive long distances alone, Emma had coordinated with Charlie.
Charlie’s enforcers arrived at the rogue camp before dawn to pick me up. There was still bad blood between us, and history didn’t vanish overnight. But Charlie had stepped up to speak the truth and stayed with Zachary during his final hours. That spoke volumes.
Lucas rode with me in the back of the enforcer SUV. Neither of us spoke as we drove toward the estate.
When the vehicle passed through the gates of the Iron Wells estate, nostalgia hit me so hard that I struggled to breathe.
This was my father’s house. I had grown up here before my world burned to ash.
For a moment, I was a child again, sprinting across the gravel driveway toward Kobe, who used to sneak me hot pastries and hide me behind the stables whenever I got into trouble with Elizabeth,
Lucas noticed my rigid posture and gave my shoulder a reassuring pat. I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat as we stepped into the morning air.
Walking toward the double doors brought back memories I’d spent years trying to bury.
I remembered every corner of the estate. I remembered standing in this foyer at ten years old, staring in horror at my mother’s body near the staircase, half-burned and broken, and I hadn’t understood what I was seeing. I remembered how quickly Elizabeth stepped into my mother’s place and then weaved schemes to isolate and destroy me.
My eyes drifted toward the dining hall, visible through the archway.
Dizziness washed over me, making me wobble.
“You good?” Lucas muttered and reached for my hand.
“Yeah,” I rasped, though my hands were shaking.
We stopped outside the master suite, the room that had once belonged to my parents before becoming the center of Elizabeth’s
lies.
I stood motionless in the hallway.
“You can do this,” Lucas said, nodding at me.
I gripped the brass handle and pushed the door open.
The room reeked of decay and illness.
Zachary lay on the oversized bed.
He was emaciated, his gray skin stretched over skeletal ribs. The arrogant Alpha who had strutted through these halls with a sneer was gone, stripped of his pride.
He stared at me without yelling or moving. He barely even had the strength to blink.
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1 stood in silence, waiting for the hatred I’d carried for a decade to return.
I expected to feel triumphant
Instead, I felt nothing but pity.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Zachary rasped. A bitter smirk crossed his lips. “You must be happy now. Watching me suffer like this.” His chest heaved. “I probably deserve it p>
I said nothing, watching him.
“For what it’s worth…” Zachary’s gaze shifted toward the ceiling. “I was deceived, too. By my mother. By all of them. If you’d been in my shoes back then, you would’ve done the same thing. Or worse p>
“Maybe,” I said, my voice rough. “Even so, I tried to reach out to you. Countless times over the years. Every tirne, you turned your back on me p>
Zachary didn’t speak.
“I’m not here to mock you,” I said. “Revenge means nothing. The truth speaks for itself p>
He covered his face with his bony hands, his shoulders shaking as he began to cry.
I froze. Under Elizabeth’s strict rule, men didn’t cry. Weakness was beaten out of us. Seeing Zachary break down left me speechless.
“I’m in so much pain,” he choked out, digging his fingers into his scalp. “I don’t see the point of being alive like this. And now I find out I’m not even our father’s son. There’s no coming back from that. Even if I miraculously recover, I’ll still be a joke p>
“Why do you care so much about what other people think?” I asked, stepping closer to the bed.
“Because…” He choked on a sob. “Because I was raised to believe that was all I was worth p>
He stopped resisting. I could see his surrender in his eyes. He lowered his hands and looked at me through tear-filled eyes.
“Please,” Zachary whispered, his voice trembling. “Please forgive me for everything I took from you. You can have it all back. The throne, the house, everything. I don’t care about any of it anymore. I just want to be free from this pain p>
Before I could answer, a tremor seized him. His back arched off the mattress as he began to convulse.
“Hold him!” Lucas shouted, lunging forward to grip Zachary’s shoulders while I pinned down his legs to keep him from falling
off the bed.
The nurse rushed in, shouting orders. But when she saw oily sweat breaking out across Zachary’s skin, she stopped and shook her head.
There was nothing she could do.
“What demon shit is this?” Lucas muttered as he struggled to hold Zachary against the shaking mattress.
I shot him a warning look.
Gradually, the convulsions subsided. Zachary slumped against the pillows, gasping for air. The nurse hurried over and pressed a cup of water to his cracked lips.
When his breathing steadied, Zachary raised a trembling finger toward a wooden box on the floor at the foot of the bed.
“Open it,” he rasped.
Lucas moved to retrieve it, but I caught his arm. I didn’t want him touching anything tainted by Meridian magic.
I lifted the lid. Inside lay the Alpha signet ring of Iron Wells, along with the original parchments documenting the pack’s
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founding decrees and lineage. These heirlooms had passed from father to son for generations.
“I already instructed the high council,” Zachary rasped, his gaze fixed on me. “They have my formal abdication. You won’t face opposition. They swore on their blood p>
I looked at the ring, then back at Zachary
Silence settled over the room.
“Please… forgive me,” he repeated.
I swallowed, fighting back tears. Men don’t cry, I reminded myself. But looking at him, I couldn’t ignore the suffering of the boy who had been shaped by the same toxic household I had survived.
“I’ve never hated you,” I told him, my voice cracking. “I hated what you did. I hated that you were an arrogant asshole. But you were always my little brother. That never changed. And I forgive you p>
Peace settled over Zachary’s face.
His body relaxed, and a smile touched his lips. He lifted his head and stared toward the window, his eyes unfocused.
“They’re leaving me,” he whispered, his voice distant. “I feel so much lighter now p>
I exchanged a bewildered glance with Lucas.
Had my forgiveness given Zachary the release he needed?
Was this what breaking the curse required?
Back in the camp, we gathered around the dining table with Emma, Lucas, and Cherry. For the first time in a while, I ate a full meal without forcing myself. The phantom pressure in my chest had vanished.
Emma sat beside me, her hand resting on mine. Between bites of her own dinner, she occasionally fed me pieces of meat.
Halfway through the meal, her phone buzzed against the table.
She picked it up and answered.
“Hello p>
She gasped and covered her mouth.
“Oh, my God…” she whispered.
Dread settled in my chest.
I already knew.
Emma remained frozen, then lowered the phone, her hand trembling as she looked at me.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice low.
Emma swallowed.
“Zachary’s dead,” she whispered.
ONE
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