Chapter 209

Alaric’s POV

“Lilia?” Eamon asked with disbelief. “The same Lilia who kidnapped my niece and tried to kill my sister?”

I wished I had a different answer for him than the one I had. “Yes. The very same.”

“How? How is any of this possible?” Eamon insisted.

“She used to be a princess,” I said, the same disgust rising within me that had the first time I’d heard this argument, when Wallace had to explain to me three different times over the phone.

“That was a false identity,” Eamon said. “She knew she wasn’t our sister, and she abused that to her own ends.”

“Yes,” I said. “But apparently there is a loophole in the rules that allows for anyone who once held the title of princess to compete, even if they no longer are such. It was to allow heirs of dissolved packs the chance to still represent themselves.”

“She’s abusing a loophole,” Eamon said. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Melinda and the exiled elders are supporting her. They believe if she makes a strong enough impression that I will be forced to reinstated them in the pack.”

“Fat chance of that,” Eamon said.

He and I could both agree on that, but that didn’t mean that Lilia, Melinda, and the rest wouldn’t try. They truly had no other options open to them, not unless they wanted to actually reform and prove themselves trustworthy.

I doubted those thoughts had ever even crossed their minds. None of them knew how to be honorable.

Eamon huffed, shaking her head. “Why isn’t Lilia in prison? I thought you locked her away after her attempt on Cara’s life.”

“I thought so too,” I said. “But the elders I exiled changed her sentence to exile before I removed them. All without my knowledge, of course. They forged the documents. They even called the guards holding Lilia and threatened them. George and Lilia’s mother are both still in prison. Lilia left and didn’t look back.”

“Charming,” Eamon sneered sarcastically. “We can’t allow this, Alaric. She is directly abusing the chain of command.”

“She deceived her way to freedom, but she is allowed to challenge me if she wishes.”

“It’s not you she’s going to challenge, though, it is? It’s Cara.”

Eamon wasn’t wrong. I’d been hoping Lilia would come after me and leave Cara alone this time, as I was the one she was truly furious with. If I had married her, Cara would be safe. I’d be miserable, but Cara would be alright.

Though, I supposed that line of thinking was useless. After all, the truth would have eventually been revealed sooner or later, and Lilia would have been out on the street.

All the events would have more or less played out the same no matter what I did or didn’t do.

Lilia was to blame for so much of Cara’s heartache. And now she was back for more.

“We have to find a way to stop this,” I said. “We can’t let her get to Cara again.”

“Agreed,” Eamon said. “I can’t exile her. She’s not a member of my pack, and as a contender in the competition, she now has special protections.”

“Which undoubtedly she has researched and is now exploiting.”

“Yes,” Eamon said. “Curse the lot of them.”

“We will have to work together,” I said. “But we won’t let them win. We defeated them in the past, we just need to do so again.”

“In that case, the first thing we need to do is tell Cara,” Eamon said.

I agreed.

“I saw her walking to her office,” I said.

“Let’s get her,” Eamon said.

Cara’s POV

“They don’t give me enough time to make things work,” the director said, shaking her head. “There’s just no room for another.” She scurried around the stage, utterly oblivious to the tension happening at the base of it, as Lilia and I faced each other for the first time since that warehouse when she had tried to kill me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I snapped. “How can this be allowed?”

My forcefulness drew the attention of the nearby contenders, who seemed surprised by my outburst. I’d been mostly quiet until now, even suffering through their bullying. Maybe I would have gone on that way, but not with Lilia here.

She had kidnapped my child.

“I don’t know how you can be so angry, Cara,” Lilia said. For some reason she was keeping her voice low and sweet. With how she seemed to shrink into herself, it was as if she wanted to come off as demure and innocent.

Those from packs far away, who didn’t know Lilia or her history with me and the BloodyMoon pack actually looked at her with sympathy! Then they glared at me as if I was the one who is the aggressor here!

“I’ve always thought of you as something like a sister,” Lilia said. “It hurts me that you don’t feel the same.”

“You tried to kill me,” I said.

“A misunderstanding!”

“You kidnapped my child.”

“I did no such thing. I was a victim too. My husband George was so terrible. I was so abused, married to him. How could you think I would ever do that to a child? George kidnapped up both. He held us both against our will.”

“You should be in prison!” I said.

“I’m innocent,” she said. “That’s why they let me go. Where is the proof that I did anything like what you are saying? You don’t have it. If only you could look past your trauma, Cara. You could see that I am just as much a victim as you.”

I wanted to strike her, to protect myself and my family and punish her for all that she’s done. I had no idea how or why she wasn’t in prison like she should be, but I wasn’t going to stand for it. Not anymore. Not one minute more.

I curled my fingers into a tight fist, drew back my hand – and stopped, as Georgie stepped into the space between us.

Looking at me, she said in a low voice, “You are only making things worse.”

“You don’t know what she’s done,” I said.

“I can guess,” Georgie said. “She’s a liar through and through. But no one else sees that, and if you hit her, you could endanger not just your own reputation but your place in this competition.”

“She shouldn’t even be here at all,” I said.

“Look around,” Georgie replied. There was sympathy in her eyes but intelligence too. She was smart as a tack and twice as cunning. “None of these people are on your side. You scraped through the commission by the skin of your teeth. You think they aren’t salivating, hoping you will step out of line so they can get rid of you for good?”

She was right, I needed to maintain my composure or I could lose everything, and Lilia could gain in my stead.

For now, the only way to take her down was to not let her win this competition.

“Ah!” said the director from the stage. “We can make room here. Cara! You will be here as normal, but if we move Charlotte over just a foot or so… yes. There will be room for Lilia right here beside you.”