KADEN’S POV
The guards stepped forward, bending down to pick up her cold body as if she were nothing more than trash to be cleared away, but I snapped.
"Step back! Do not touch her!" I roared, my voice echoing through the courtyard like thunder. The guards instantly flinched, stepping back in terror.
I marched directly up to Alpha Kelvin, my heavy boots slamming against the stone steps. For reasons I couldn’t even understand, a hot, raging fire was burning through my veins. I wasn’t just angry—I was deeply pained on her behalf. She was his daughter, for Goddess’s sake! Was this the kind of hell she had to pass through every single day while living in this place? Even a monster parent would mourn their own dead pup. How could a father be this cold?
I know what you are thinking. Why do I care? I am the Alpha King. I am the one who hated her. I am the one who locked her away, and tortured her. But looking at this pathetic excuse of a father, a sickening realization is starting to choke . I am not the only monster in her story.
I glared down at him, my eyes flashing pitch-black. "Is Rebecca actually your daughter?"
Alpha Kelvin swallowed hard, his face turning pale under my dominant stare. He nodded quickly, trying to find his voice. "She is, my Lord. But she... she is nothing but a disgrace. I had a drunken night years ago and slept with a lowly house maid. That mistake is the only reason Rebecca was ever born."
I clenched my teeth so hard I felt the bone creak. A mistake. This explained everything. So to him, she was just an unwanted, illegitimate mistake. No wonder she was treated like dirt. No wonder she didn’t look like a princess. No wonder she endured pain without fighting back.
My mind flashed back to the day I dragged her away from this pack. She hadn’t looked at her family for help, and they hadn’t shed a single tear then, either. I had thought it was because they were deeply loyal to the crown, horrified by her cri. What a fool I was. They weren’t disgusted by her actions; they were just glad to finally be rid of their unwanted garbage. They had handed her over to with smiles hidden behind their fake bows. Every bruise I gave her, every cold night she spent starving in my dungeons—it wasn’t a punishnt that broke her spirit, because her spirit had already been crushed right here in this courtyard long before I ever touched her.
"Alpha Kelvin, whether she is illegitimate or not, she is your daughter!" I growled, stepping so close our chests almost touched. "She carries your blood! How can you stand there and not feel even a tiny bit of pain for her death?"
Kelvin shifted his weight, trying to play the loyal servant. "She ceased to be my daughter the very second she murdered your Queen, my Lord. We only care about your justice."
"Shut up!" I snapped, the sheer force of my voice making his wife trip backward in fear. "Do not use my dead Queen as an excuse for your hollow heart! This is not about the death of my wife. You never loved Rebecca. You never did!"
He swallowed hard, unable to et my eyes.
Slowly, my gaze shifted away from him. My eyes landed on his legitimate daughter—Monica—the one who had stood in the library and testified against Rebecca. She was hiding half a step behind her mother, her chest heaving as she tried to look like an innocent bystander. But there was sothing wrong with the way her hands trembled, a sudden shift in her scent that slled less like grief and more like pure, suffocating panic. And for so strange, unexplainable reason, looking at her right now, a heavy seed of doubt began to sprout deep inside my mind. Kane’s words danced in my ears: She was innocent.
Before anyone could react, I marched straight up to Monica and wrapped my large hand tightly around her throat, lifting her slightly off her feet.
The mont I did, Alpha Kelvin completely panicked. "My Lord, please!" he gasped, reaching out a trembling hand but not daring to touch .
I scoffed darkly. So, he treasures this daughter. He can watch one child get thrown into the forest like garbage, but he will beg for the life of the other. The hypocrisy made my stomach turn.
I brought my face inches away from Monica’s, watching her eyes fill with real, unscripted terror. "Did you lie to ?" I demanded, my claws nicking her skin. "Did you lie to about what you witnessed in that library?"
"N-No..." she choked out, her hands clawing weakly at my wrist, her face turning red "I swear... King Kaden... I didn’t lie!"
I stared deep into her eyes, searching for any glitch, any sign of guilt. "You better be telling the truth," I warned, my voice dropping into a low, terrifying promise. "Because if I ever find out that you lied to ... you already know exactly what I am capable of doing to a traitor."
I violently pushed her away, sending her crashing onto the stone floor where she lay gasping and sobbing for air.
Turning on my heel, I began to walk back toward the car, ready to leave this pathetic pack behind. But just as my foot hit the gravel, a strange, powerful pull stopped dead in my tracks.
I wanted to leave. I really did. I hated Rebecca. She was a murderer who deserved a cold, naless end. That is what I kept telling myself. But as I looked back at her peaceful, pale face resting on that cold stone, my chest tightened so hard I could barely breathe. I couldn’t do it.
I couldn’t leave her body in the hands of people who had spent her entire life treating her worse than garbage."
I turned back toward my lead royal guard.
"Pick up the body," I commanded coldly, pointing to Rebecca’s still form. "We are leaving with it."
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