Chapter 25 #3
Leon steps through the doorway, his usual composed demeanor intact, but I catch the tension in his shoulders immediately. His blond hair is slightly disheveled, as if he has been running his hands through it, and there’s something grim in his brown eyes that makes my blood run cold.
“Lucian.” His voice is tight. “I have information about your mate’s background. You’re not going to like it.”
I lean back in my chair, every muscle in my body coiling tight. “Tell me.”
Leon moves closer to my desk, his hands clasped behind his back. “I’ve been investigating the Silver Stone Pack’s records, trying to piece together Astra’s family history.”
“And?”
“Her mother, Elena, was the daughter of the previous alpha. She was supposed to marry Gareth in an arranged union to solidify his position in the pack.” Leon’s jaw tightens. “She refused. Instead, she eloped with a rogue shifter.”
The pieces start clicking together in my mind, none of them painting a pretty picture. “Go on.”
“She was brought back to the pack against her will. Pregnant with Astra.” Leon’s voice grows darker. “Elena’s father—the previous alpha—was reportedly very protective of both her and the child. From what I can gather, he tried to shield them from Gareth’s anger.”
“Tried?”
“Gareth killed him.” The words fall like stones into silence. “Challenged him for the alpha position and defeated him in battle. This happened when Astra was about two years old. After that, he had complete control over her mother and her.”
Rage builds in my chest, hot and violent. The image of Astra as a child, defenseless, at the mercy of that bastard, makes something primal roar in my head. “What did he do to them?”
Leon hesitates, and that tells me everything I need to know about how bad this is going to be.
“Leon.” My voice is deadly quiet. “What did he do?”
“He isolated them completely. Cut them off from the rest of the pack.” Leon’s hands clench by his sides now. “Astra’s mother was denied food rations, health benefits, any support from the pack infrastructure.”
“How did they survive?”
Leon’s jaw works for a moment before he answers, and his voice drops to almost a whisper. “Gareth gave Elena a choice. She could earn their keep through…certain services to the pack members, or else he would kill her daughter.”
I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach. For a moment, I can’t breathe, can’t think past the roaring fury that threatens to consume me entirely.
“He forced her into prostitution.” The words taste like poison in my mouth.
“Yes.” Leon’s voice is flat, professional, but I can see the disgust in his eyes. “It was the only way she could keep Astra alive. Gareth made sure Elena understood that her daughter’s life depended on her compliance.”
I’m on my feet before I realize I’ve moved, my hands braced against the desk as waves of rage crash over me. That bastard. That fucking bastard took personal revenge against a woman who dared refuse him. And Astra—sweet, innocent Astra—grew up watching her mother suffer for her sake.
“Lucian—”
“Where is Gareth now?” My voice doesn’t sound like my own. It’s lethal, the voice of a man who’s about to commit murder.
“Still imprisoned, along with his daughter.” Leon’s tone suggests he knows exactly where my thoughts are heading. “But Lucian—”
“How long?” I interrupt him. “How long did this go on?”
“Until her mother died. Astra was eight years old.”
That’s right. She told me she was a mere eight years old when she lost the only person who loved her, the only person who protected her in that hellhole of a pack. A child, completely alone, with nothing but her herbs and whatever scraps of healing knowledge her mother had managed to teach her.
She’s been surviving alone since she was eight years old in a world that taught her she was worthless, that her only value was what she could provide to others. Eight years old, an orphan in a pack that saw her as a burden at best.
“What about Astra’s father?” I ask, my voice hoarse. “The rogue her mother eloped with?”
Leon’s expression grows even grimmer. “I don’t know. There’s no record of him after Elena was brought back to the pack. He either abandoned them or...” He doesn’t finish the sentence, but we both know what he’s implying.
“And her mother’s death?” The question tastes like ash in my mouth.
Leon hesitates again, the same careful pause that tells me he’s about to deliver another blow. “The pack records list it as illness, but...” He shakes his head. “The Silver Stone pack members I’ve managed to speak with are tight-lipped about it. I have a feeling it wasn’t natural causes.”
The implication hangs in the air between us like a poison cloud. My hands pound the desktop.
“There’s more,” Leon says bleakly.
“More?” I can barely get the word out past the rage choking me.
“I’m still investigating, but the records from that time period are.
..selective. There are gaps, inconsistencies.
Someone has been very careful to hide certain information.
” Leon meets my gaze. “I think there’s more to her mother’s story, more to why Gareth was so obsessed with punishing her.
And more to why Astra’s grandfather was so protective of them. ”
More secrets. More pain. More reasons why the woman sleeping in my bed has been through hell.
I sink back into my chair, my hands shaking with the effort not to shift right here in my office and hunt down every person who ever hurt her.
“Keep digging,” I say finally, my voice hoarse. “I want to know everything. Every detail, every name, every crime committed against them.”
“What about Gareth?”
I look up at Leon, and whatever he sees in my eyes makes him take a step back.
“Gareth is mine,” I say softly. “When the time comes, he’s mine.”
Leon nods once, understanding. “And your mate? Do you plan to tell her what we’ve learned?”
The question stops me cold. How do I tell Astra that I know the truth about her childhood?
How do I explain that I’ve been investigating her past, uncovering secrets that she has probably never shared with anyone?
Hell, I don’t even know if she remembers this part of her life.
She was so young when most of it happened.
How do I tell the woman I love that I know her mother was forced to sell her body to keep her daughter alive?
“Not yet,” I decide. “Not until we know everything.”
But even as I say it, I know the truth will come out eventually. And when it does, it’s going to destroy what little peace Astra has managed to find.
The Eclipse Born investigation, the court politics, the tutors—none of it matters compared to this. There are people who hurt my mate, tortured her family, and made her believe she was worthless.
And I’m going to make every single one of them pay.
The sunlight streaming through my office windows suddenly feels cold, casting long shadows across the reports scattered on my desk. Elsewhere in this palace, Astra is still sleeping peacefully in our bed, completely unaware that the demons from her past are about to catch up with her.
I only hope I can protect her from the truth long enough to destroy the monsters who caused it.