Chapter 241: Their Reasons

Words : 1640 Updated : Oct 12th, 2025

Chapter 241: Their ReasonsLennox’s POV Silence. The kind of silence that swallows you whole. The kind that sinks its claws into your chest and squeezes until you can’t tell if you want to scream, vomit, or laugh. Cousins. After everything... after the bond we thought we had? After the way we loved her? Louis turned around so fast his boots scraped the marble, his fists clenched, so tightly his knuckles looked like bone. "No... no, this can’t be right." But it made sense. It made horrible, painful sense. I thought back to Great-grandmother Hailee’s words. "Something is coming... something that will break you. But don’t be afraid—it was meant to be." This was what she meant. It was Olivia. I buried my face in my hands. "Why... why didn’t you tell us? Why keep this a secret?" Father exhaled slowly. "Because it wasn’t my place. Parker told me Olivia’s story in confidence. But when I discovered the truth... when I realized she was part of our bloodline, I knew things had to end between you." I looked up at him sharply. "So you forged letters and destroyed her life instead?" "She’s family, Lennox!" Father snapped suddenly, the calm in his voice breaking for the first time. "You were falling for her. All of you were. It wasn’t right." "You could’ve told us the truth!" Levi shouted. "And what would you have done?" Father shot back. "Would you have believed me? Or would you have loved her anyway? And besides, I knew none of you would have left her." "We would have had the right to know!" I roared. Father looked at me, pain flashing in his eyes. "Maybe. But I wasn’t willing to take that risk. So yes, we forged the letters. We gave them to the guards to pass on. I acted as if I believed Parker had stolen from the pack, though I didn’t. But I needed Olivia to be cast down. I needed her to become someone you wouldn’t look at again." My stomach churned. "So you turned her into an omega," I muttered bitterly. "Just so we’d reject her." "Just so you’d forget her," Mother added softly. "We didn’t know the letters would be spelled. We only wanted her to leave you. We never wanted her dead." Father ran a hand through his hair, looking more exhausted than I’d ever seen him. His voice lowered. "The plan was working," he said, as if trying to convince himself more than us. "You hated her. She had no place in your hearts anymore. She was an omega, disgraced, avoided by everyone. And you... you were slowly moving on." Mother nodded faintly. "You were getting closer to Anita. We thought... maybe you’d finally forget Olivia." But the moment she said it, something snapped inside me. Forget her? They wanted us to erase Olivia like she was nothing. Like she hadn’t been our whole damn world at one point. Father continued before I could speak. "Then the Moon Goddess... decided to bind you to her. All three of you." He looked at each of us, his eyes dark. "Your mate. Your blood. The same girl we fought so hard to push away from you three." Louis cursed under his breath and turned away, shaking. Levi clenched his fists, his jaw ticking. I just stood there. Frozen. "And when that happened," Father went on, "we knew we couldn’t stop it anymore. But we also couldn’t let the truth come out." He paused. His voice broke slightly. "So I did what I had to do." He sighed. "I forced you to mark her." I shook my head in disbelief. Father’s eyes shimmered—not with tears, but shame. "I was pained... Goodness, I was. I knew what I was asking you to do. Marking her meant sealing the bond forever. But if you didn’t... if you refused... the council would ask questions. The Moon Priestesses would get involved. Bloodline investigations would follow." "You knew she was related to us," I said hoarsely, "and you still made us mark her?" "I had no choice," he said, voice sharp with guilt. "An Alpha must never reject his mate—it would have raised alarms. Questions. And if the truth of her parentage came out, there would be consequences for everyone. For you. For the pack. For her. So I forced the bond to complete. Quietly." A suffocating silence fell again. I couldn’t breathe. The girl we had loved—obsessed over, fought for, hurt, and broken—was our blood. Our distant cousin. It made me want to vomit. And yet... even as the weight of the truth settled on my shoulders like a boulder, the love didn’t go away. I hated it. I hated myself for it. But it was still there. This pull... this ache... this invisible string that tied me to her. Even knowing the truth, I still wanted her. I didn’t know about my brothers. Maybe they felt the same. Maybe not. But one thing echoed painfully in my chest—Father was right. Even if he had told us the truth back then... we wouldn’t have let her go. We would have loved her anyway. We would have held on. That’s how far gone we were. Louis broke the silence, his voice hoarse. "Who are her real parents?" Father’s expression tensed immediately. "That’s not my place to say." "Not your place?" Levi snarled, stepping forward like he’d break Father’s neck with his bare hands. "You made us hate her. And now you’re suddenly silent?" Father stood firm. "I promised Parker I’d protect that part of her story. I won’t break that promise." "Even now?" I growled. "After all this?" Mother stepped forward, her voice barely above a whisper. "He’s right. It’s not our story to tell." I let out a bitter laugh and shook my head, pain swelling in my chest like a storm. "You took everything from her. You made her feel unloved, unwanted... you turned her into a ghost in her own home. And now you want to act noble? Now you want to protect her?" Neither of them answered. I looked at my parents—and for the first time in my life, I felt nothing but disgust. "You will never be forgiven for this," I whispered. Not for the letters. Not for making us hate her. Not for forcing us to destroy her with our own hands. Neither of them spoke. Neither tried to defend their actions. I turned and walked out of the throne room, not looking back. I didn’t want to hear another word. Not from them. Not from anyone. My legs carried me blindly through the hallways, my heart aching. I didn’t know where I was going—I just needed to be alone. Somewhere no one would think to find me. Somewhere silent. The library. No one ever came here anymore. It was always quiet... cold... still. Just how I needed it to be. I pushed the doors open and stepped inside, letting the rich scent of old books and polished wood wash over me. I walked slowly through the aisles, trying to breathe, trying to think, but nothing made sense anymore. I wanted to scream. But instead, I slumped into the farthest corner near the windows. I thought I was alone... until I heard a voice. "Lennox?" I froze. I turned, and saw Rebecca at the door. She looked just as I had last seen her—still dressed in that flowing white gown, her long dark hair tumbling over her shoulders. But her eyes widened in surprise the moment she saw me. "Oh," she whispered. "I didn’t know anyone would come here today." I stayed silent, staring at her. Her gaze drifted over me slowly... and then she noticed it. The redness in my eyes. The way my fists were trembling. She stepped closer, gently, like she was approaching something fragile. "Lennox... are you okay?" "I’m fine," I muttered, turning my face away. "Just needed space." I made a move to leave—quick, sharp steps—but she moved faster, blocking my path gently with her hand on my arm. "Wait," she said softly. "Sometimes... it’s okay to not be okay." I paused, swallowing hard. She looked at me, her voice even softer now. "I know you’re an Alpha. You’ve been trained your whole life to be strong, to hold everything in. But... you’re still human." Her words hit me like a punch to the chest. Because I’d heard them before. Not from her. But from Olivia. She said them years ago, when I broke my arm in training and refused to show pain. She was massaging the bruise and whispered those same words to me... "You’re still human, Lennox. You’re allowed to hurt." That memory hit me hard. My lips trembled. My throat closed. And before I knew it, the tears came. I tried to stop them. God, I tried. But I broke. Right there. In front of Rebecca. A woman I barely met twenty-four hours ago. She gasped softly and reached forward, pulling me into her arms. I should have pulled away. But I didn’t. Because in that moment, I felt safe. Warm. Like for once, someone saw through all the rage and pain and armor... and just held me. I clung to her, my forehead buried in her shoulder, and let the sobs come. She rubbed my back slowly, whispering, "It’s okay. Let it out." I don’t know how long we stayed like that, but when I finally pulled back, I met her eyes. Something shifted. The air thickened between us. Our eyes locked. My breath caught. And then... without thinking—without planning—we kissed. Softly. Slowly. Like the world paused for a heartbeat just to watch us break every rule. It was wrong. It was confusing. It was everything I wasn’t supposed to want. But in that moment... it happened. And I didn’t stop it.

Chapter 241: Their Reasons

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