Chapter 225: Chapter 225

“It still wasn’t enough to keep that young Alpha, Landon Walker. Still wasn’t enough to get the Alpha position yourself. The Alpha position you always wanted… what you could’ve had if your mate hadn’t been Sophie. It’s a shame isn’t it?”

When she sees surprise flicker in his gaze, her smile gets sweeter. Her face twists into one of pure joy, “You thought I didn’t know? That your father was the Alpha of Reddusk and you were the result of a tryst? From a human, nonetheless? The hidden disgrace of the family… You must’ve been so driven for power. So desperate to prove everyone wrong. Oh, you must’ve been so pleased when you found Sophie. So glad you had a mate. Finally, you’d be qualified to take over from your father with a mate.

Until you found out Sophie came from a tainted bloodline. It’s what made your father turn you away, right? Why he gave it your brother instead. Traditional Alphas like that don’t like sullied blood.”

Ivory sighs, her hand coming to touch her cheek, “I do pity Walker. Doesn’t even know his own father-in-law was trying to get him evicted, and in turn, promote you. The poor sod didn’t know you were still after the Alpha seat. Granted, not Reddusks…

but you planned on getting that too, right? Losing Selene to the rogue attack was slowly taking its toll on Walker, wasn’t it? You knew better than anyone your Alpha wasn’t faring well. I suspect if it went on that way, he would’ve lost his mind. And of course your Luna can’t run a pack by herself. You know better than to believe she’s fit to be Luna after watching her with the title for years. A pregnant, vulnerable Luna, especially. I bet you were so glad when Hestia claimed Raizel Locksworth was her mate. The Alpha of Alphas. What a prize, right? An upgrade from Walker. But then Selene came back and your plans went down the drain.”

Benicio says nothing. He stares at her, trying to focus his bleary gaze on her expression. The anger doesn’t subside, it’s just barely being contained. He stays mute as she continues to study him.

“Is there a point to this?”

He asks gruffly, giving in to end the silence. He was trying to gauge out her intentions. If she read so far into him, he questions why she hadn’t said or done anything yet. Was she really so devout and faithful to the Goddess’ plans that she stayed silent over everything? That she turned a blind eye to all that occurred? He didn’t need to ask.

The answer was yes.

The way she smiled was enough of an answer.

“Well,”

She says quietly, “It’s about to start soon. All the skeletons have to come out at some point. Your mate is out there squealing like a pig as a final attempt to save you.”

Benicio feels his chest tighten at her words. Sophie was telling them everything. He narrows his eyes at her, trying to spy any indication she was lying to rile him up. But there was none. There was only genuinity in those orange, blazing eyes.

She looks at the wall, eyes clouded over as she thought for a moment.

“Xeneron won’t stay silent either. I’m sure he’s lingering close.”

13:12 The Female Alpha’s Sanctuary 95.3%

It’s those words that makes Benicio laugh. He’s grinning, bloodied teeth showcasing for her to see. A spark of amusement runs deep in his veins. The Realization sinks in as he thinks of the rogue. The rogue that could change everything.

“If what you say… about Selene being gifted is true, then he’s coming for her, isn’t he?”

Benicio cackles, dry lips splitting as he leaned back and dropped his head against the wooden chair.

“He was never coming for Hestia.”

He mumbled, shutting his eyes.

“No,”

Ivory agrees, “He was coming for Selene.”

***

“Daddy issues gives birth to daddy issues.”

Noah frowns, “I should’ve known.”

I roll my eyes at him, folding my arms across my chest as Sophie tearfully looks around. I knew Benicio had to be from f ucked up backgrounds to be the cause of everything, I just didn’t think it would be like that. From one tragedy to another, our family line sure was cursed. An endless trail of bad luck, I suppose.

For someone whose been said to be a blessing, I lived a life worth calling a tragedy.

Whether or not what she said was true, it’s almost comical someone could consider this life of mine a gift. It felt anything but that.

To hear that both Sophie and Benicio had tried to see if either Hestia and I were gifted with the Goddess’ favor rubbed me the wrong way. It suddenly makes sense why they always dotted on Hestia.

She was gifted, therefore, she was better.

Sophie breathes in raggedly, sitting on her knees as she tries to recollect herself. She had sobbed the story away, each time sounding more and more pitiful until the self hatred became apparent. She clearly felt like her blood was at fault. As if what happened with Romanov was Luna’s fault.

To hate the person who was betrayed.