Chapter 123

Cara’s POV

Melinda seems stricken by Alaric’s words.

“The elders prefer me for you,” she says. “You heard it from them yourself. How can you continue to be so stubborn?”

“The elders will not be making my life choices for me, especially not in board rooms without me even being present. And for you to show up here and try to purposefully disrupt the potential future I want with Cara? I don’t even know you, Melinda. I’ve barely seen you outside of some high society events. Who do you think you are?”

Melinda’s face scrunches up with annoyance, even as he posture straightens with defiance. “I am perfect for you. The elders said so!”

“Though the elders hold sway, they do not hold infallible power, especially not over me,” Alaric replies. “I am Alpha King, and I choose who I get to love. And to marry. You are none of these things. Get on the plane and go home. You only continue to embarrass yourself.”

I’m stunned, taking in the scene. Neither of the pair seem to notice me at all, arguing as they are outside of the gate.

“Come back inside,” Aidan says, his voice low, as he comes to stand beside me. “Let them argue themselves hoarse. You don’t need to hear it.”

Maybe I don’t, but I’m glad I did. Because, if neither of them know that I’m here and listening, then these words must be the truth.

The elders could be pushing Melinda on Alaric. It’s possible she was telling lies to try to push me away, out of the picture. Perhaps Melinda even tried to appeal to Alaric’s tastes by looking and dressing like me.

Though… there’s something about that dress she’s wearing. Haven’t I seen something like that before? What I notice is very specific… There’s a pin on one of the shoulders that seems to be hiking the bodice in a certain way as if to make it tighter over the chest.

That’s not something I do, and not something I’ve ever really seen done by anyone other than one other person. A person from my past who I thought was long gone from my life.

A rogue. Who impersonated me herself, and then tried to steal my life. Including Alaric.

Lilia.

Gods, I haven’t thought of that name in years, yet, now that I have… now that it’s out there in the open for consideration, I can almost see her fingerprints on all of the terror in my life lately.

I have no proof of course, other than this pin, which proves nothing. Perhaps Melinda and Lilia attended the same parties in the past, and Melinda picked up on the trick. There’s no evidence to support that the two could still be in contact or that they were ever friends.

Lilia, as a rogue, has been banned from stepping foot back in DuskWood pack lands. So if Melinda is still talking with her, they both would have had to go well out of their way to communicate.

Yet, though I want to dismiss this feeling inside of me as paranoia, I find that I cannot. I remember Lilia’s hatred of me, and the lengths she went to in her last effort to ruin my life.

I nearly died in that car accident. I nearly lost Ethan and Mia.

Is it really so outlandish to believe she might have come back now that I’m in the public limelight again, to more permanently finish the job?

I will need to talk to my brothers about this. Perhaps Eamon could look into Lilia, and see if she has taken refuge inside of BloodyMoon pack lands.

Even if I’m wrong, I will feel safer knowing where she is, and that she’s away from me.

Yet, before things can come to that point, I need to decide how to deal with the matter in front of me. Do I stand here, making my presence known, or do I retreat into the house like Aidan wants me to?

“Go, Melinda,” Alaric says. “Now.”

Melinda looks like she wants to argue, but in the end, with a huff, she spins and storms away. “You’ll regret this, Alaric!” she calls back over her shoulder. “I would have given you everything!”

“I didn’t ask for it,” he replies.

I linger too long in my indecision. While I hesitate, Alaric glances my way and sees me.

For a moment, we just look at each other while Melinda storms away. Then, I glance at Aidan. “Open the gate, please, brother.”

“But, Cara…”

“Please,” I say again.

Aidan might dislike Alaric, might even hate him for his slights against me, but he still loves me. He still bends to my request.

With a sigh, he turns to step back into the house. “He has five minutes. Then Ryan and I are coming out swinging.”

Honestly, five minutes is more than I could have hoped for with this group.

“Thank you,” I tell him.

Alaric goes into the house and releases the gate. It buzzes once then automatically opens, just enough for Alaric to walk through, which he does.

He walks toward me, determination in his eyes. It starts hard, but then it softens as he comes closer.

“Cara,” he says. “I’m so sorry for this misunderstanding. If you will allow me, I will explain everything.”

“You have five minutes,” I tell him, parroting Aidan’s words.

He wastes no time. “Apparently, the elders have decided that I’m taking too long in my courtship of you. They began to take steps to procure an heir without my consent. They sent Melinda here, hoping she would win my favor.”

“Did she?” I ask.

“No,” he replies quickly and sternly, leaving no room for doubt. “I had thought I made my intentions clear to them. I told them that you are the one that I want, and I will not pursue anyone else. Their love for the pack is strong, I’m trying to be understanding. They want heirs. But this is so far from the way of going about it…”

He shakes his head. “I’m dealing with the elders and their lack of boundaries on my own, but I am sorry, Cara. Though I didn’t ask for Melinda to be here, or for her to make up these lies and deceive you, I should have done more in the past to keep this from happening.”

“Like what?” I ask, not because I believe in his guilt, not if things really happened the way he’s saying, but because I want to know exactly what he means before I disprove him.

“I should have made it clearer, a long time ago, that you are the only one for me,” Alaric says. “I never should have rejected you as my mate. If I could go back in time… If I could make things different…” He closes his eyes a moment. “Perhaps we’d still have our children…”

His face crumples with guilt so strong that it knocks the wind from my chest.

Despite our differences and our disagreements, and everything else standing in the way of us being a couple, I cannot hold back any longer.

I cannot keep this man from the truth. Not one day more. Not one minute.

“I have a favor to ask of you,” I say. “I’m not asking for it out of turn. If you grant this favor for me, I will give you one in return.”

Alaric opens his eyes. “Of course, Cara. Anything.”

I swallow hard, taking the moment to gather my strength. Then I tell him. “Our children are alive, Alaric. Ethan and Mia. And I am desperately asking for your help in protecting them.”