Chapter 36 Knox
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Knox
Two days of waiting while my father and Noah hunted down Blade.
Forty-eight hours of pacing my office until I’d probably worn a groove in the floor.
I hadn’t slept more than an hour at a time, couldn’t eat, couldn’t think about anything except Alderic walking free while knowing he’d orchestrated Blake’s death.
My wolf wanted blood. Wanted to storm into Alderic’s house and tear him apart piece by piece. Make him suffer the way Blake had suffered. The way we’d all suffered for seven years thinking it was just bad luck, wrong place wrong time, when really it had been murder.
Lina was upstairs napping with the twins. She’d tried to stay up with me the first night, but I’d sent her to bed. Someone needed to be functional for our children, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be me. Not until this was over.
I stared at the papers spread across my desk for the hundredth time. Bank transfers. Coded messages. Proof that Alderic had paid for my brother’s death. Proof that he’d tried to kill my mate and children. How many other “random” rogue attacks over the years had actually been his doing?
A knock on my door interrupted my spiral into homicidal planning.
“Come in,” I called, not looking up from the evidence.
Cole entered, and immediately I knew something was wrong. He looked gray, older than I’d ever seen him. His usual easy confidence was gone, replaced by something that made my wolf’s hackles rise. Guilt rolled off him in waves so strong I could practically taste it.
“We need to talk,” he said, closing the door behind him.
I studied my best friend, the man who’d stood by me through everything. Cole who’d helped me search for Blake’s body. Cole who’d been there when I’d nearly drunk myself to death in the months after. Cole who’d covered for me when I’d come back from Pine Valley a broken mess five years ago.
His hands were shaking. Cole’s hands never shook.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, though dread was already pooling in my stomach.
He sat heavily in the chair across from my desk, staring at his hands instead of meeting my eyes. The silence stretched between us, and with each second that passed, my anxiety ratcheted higher.
“It’s about Mary’s baby,” he finally said, voice barely above a whisper.
My blood turned to ice. “What about it?”
“I know who the father is.”
The way he said it, the way he still wouldn’t look at me, the way shame poured off him in nauseating waves...
“Who?” I asked, but his expression told me everything. My mind rejected it even as the pieces clicked into place. “No. No, you didn’t-”
“It’s mine,” Cole confirmed miserably, finally meeting my eyes. “The baby is mine.”
The world tilted sideways. For a moment, I couldn’t process the words. Cole. My best friend. My beta. The one person I trusted above all others had...
My fist connected with his jaw before I realized I’d moved. The crack of impact echoed through the office, and Cole went down hard, his chair toppling backward. He didn’t try to block, didn’t defend himself, just took it.
“WHAT THE FUCK, COLE?” I roared, standing over him as he pushed himself up on his elbows, blood already dripping from his split lip.
He could have fought back. Should have fought back. We’d sparred a thousand times, and he knew how to handle my temper. But he just sat there on my office floor, looking up at me with those guilty eyes.
“My best friend? With HER?” The betrayal burned through me worse than any physical wound. “How long? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LYING TO ME?”
“It was months ago,” Cole said, not even wiping the blood from his face. “Before any of this started. Before the marriage proposals, before the pregnancy announcement. It was just... Christ, Knox, it was just one stupid night.”
I paced away from him before I could hit him again, my hands clenching and unclenching. “One night? You fucked Mary Thorne for one night?”
“We were both drunk at the summer festival. You were away on pack business. She was... different. Seemed vulnerable, lonely. We talked about books, if you can believe it.” He laughed bitterly. “I was an idiot. Thought maybe I saw something real in her.”
“So you fucked her.” My voice was deadly calm now, which was worse than yelling.
“So I fucked her,” he confirmed. “And regretted it immediately. When I woke up the next morning, she was already talking about how this could work to both our advantages. How she could use it to make you jealous, finally push you into claiming her. I told her to forget it happened. That it was a mistake.”
I spun to face him. “But it wasn’t just one night, was it?”
“It was,” he insisted, finally pushing himself to his feet.
“I swear on Blake’s memory, Knox. It was one night.
But when the rumors about you and Mary started, when Alderic began pushing the marriage at every council meeting, I ended any contact with her immediately.
Wouldn’t even be in the same room as her.
But apparently...” He gestured helplessly. “She was already pregnant.”
I reached out through the pack bond, tasting the truth of his words. No deception, just bitter regret and self-loathing so strong it made me nauseous.
“You’re not lying,” I said, and somehow that made it worse.
If he’d been having an affair, if he’d been deceiving me for months, I could have written him off as a traitor.
But one night of stupidity that spiraled into this mess?
That was harder to process. “Fuck, Cole. Do you realize what you’ve done? ”
“Given Alderic exactly what he wanted,” Cole said bitterly. “A way to tie his family to power. Even if it’s through the beta instead of the Alpha, it’s still a connection. I played right into their hands.”
“It’s worse than that,” I said, sinking into my chair. “Mary knew. She had to know she was pregnant when she made that announcement. Which means...”
“Which means she was willing to lie about the father to trap you,” Cole finished. “And when that didn’t work, she’d probably have revealed the truth eventually. Either way, Alderic wins.”
My phone buzzed on the desk. A text from Noah: We have him. Blade agreed to testify. Coming back now.
“They got Blade,” I said, showing Cole the message.
Relief flashed across his face. “Time to end this.”
“Yeah.” I stood, already planning. “I’m calling an emergency pack meeting for sunset. Every member, mandatory attendance.”
“Knox...” Cole’s voice was quiet. “What about... my pup?”
The pain in his voice made me pause. Whatever else had happened, there was an innocent child involved. A pup who didn’t ask to be conceived in deception or used as a political pawn.
“We’ll figure it out after,” I said finally. “After Alderic is dealt with, after Mary faces justice for her lies. The pup is innocent in this. But right now, we take down Alderic.”
“What are you going to do?”
“What I should have done from the beginning. Tell the truth. All of it.” I met his eyes. “That includes your part, Cole. The pack needs to know everything.”
He nodded, no hesitation. “I know. I’ll take whatever punishment you decide. I betrayed your trust, even if I didn’t mean to. That deserves consequences.”
“Later,” I said. “Right now, we have bigger problems than your dick’s poor decision-making skills.”
That got a weak smile from him. “Fair enough.”
I pulled out my phone, sending the mass text to all pack members. Emergency meeting, sunset, mandatory attendance. Anyone who missed it better be dead or dying.
“Today, everyone learns the truth,” I said, looking at the evidence scattered across my desk. “Every lie, every betrayal, every secret. No more hiding, no more politics, no more games. Alderic thinks he’s won? He’s about to learn what happens when you come for a Raven’s family.”
Cole stood to leave, then paused at the door. “Knox? I’m sorry. For all of it. I never meant-”
“I know,” I cut him off. “We’ll deal with us later. Right now, we have a pack to save and a traitor to destroy.”
He left, and I was alone with my thoughts again. But this time, instead of pacing, I had a purpose. In a few hours, everything would come to light. Alderic would face justice. Mary’s lies would be exposed. And my family would finally be safe.
I looked at the photo on my desk, the one Noah had taken yesterday. Lina laughing as the twins climbed all over me, her engagement ring catching the light. My real family. My mate, my pups, my everything.
Today, the pack would meet their future Luna and their true heirs. Everyone would learn the truth. No more secrets.
***
The pack hall filled quickly once word spread about the emergency meeting. Wolves streamed in from all corners of the territory, whispers and speculation running wild. Emergency meetings were rare, usually reserved for war declarations or Alpha challenges. The tension in the room was electric.
I stood at the podium, Cole beside me despite the bruise darkening his jaw. The projector was ready, laptop loaded with all of Noah’s evidence. Hunt stationed himself by the main doors while other trusted wolves covered the exits. No one was leaving until this was over.
Alderic sat in the council section, his usual smug confidence on full display. Mary sat next to him, one hand resting on her barely-showing belly, playing the part of the wronged almost-mate perfectly. They both looked so sure of themselves, so certain they’d won.
They had no idea what was coming.
I scanned the crowd, noting who was present and who was missing. My mother sat in the front row, having surprised everyone by staying to help. Her presence alone had most of the pack on edge. Serena Raven didn’t attend pack meetings unless something monumental was happening.
“Pack,” I began, letting my Alpha voice carry through the hall. The whispers died instantly. “Many of you have heard rumors over the past weeks. Mary Thorne claims to carry my heir. The council pushes for marriage. Questions swirl about the future of our pack.”