Chapter 14
Nothing but The Truth
Romero
“Alpha Romero, with all due respect, how can you be sure this isn’t just a fabrication by two witches?” Mr. Darius asks, still bent in that shallow, insincere bow.
Everything I’ve seen since arriving here coils through my thoughts.
The Silver Moon Pack has never felt welcoming, especially not to Omegas.
And these elders… I still don’t know how much power they truly hold.
But from what I’ve witnessed, they act less like leaders and more like men afraid of losing control.
The wolf-head necklace rises in my mind again. My father’s heirloom. Passed down through generations, only to vanish after revealing everything it had carried in silence. My grandfather gave it to my father. My father gave it to Diana.
Not my mother, but a true mate who ran, a love that shattered him. Now I know who she was, one of the elder’s sisters and maybe already passed away because of her sickness. Hidden in plain sight.
Was this fate? The Moon Goddess pulling threads I never saw, guiding me here, to Alexa, to this moment? A chance to mend something broken long before I was born. A chance to unite what should never have been divided.
I turn to Alexa. She’s holding Harlow, her hand steady on his back, grounding him. There’s something quiet and undeniable in the way they fit together.
But some bonds are not meant to be broken. Not even by fate. I can’t come between them. In the end, my path mirrors my mother’s. Standing outside a true mate bond, close enough to see it, never meant to claim it.
“Harlow’s necklace belonged to my father,” I say, my voice calm, unshaken. “He’s the one we’ve been searching for.” Silence stretches. “He’s my half-brother.”
The room detonates into noise. Gasps. Shouts. Disbelief tearing through the elders like a storm. I let it happen. I don’t flinch. Not when the truth finally stands where no one can bury it again.
“Are you sure, Alpha Romero?” Mr. Darius asks again, sharper now.
My gaze locks onto Harlow. Something inside me surges. Johan presses forward, a low, insistent force under my skin.
“Go.”
So I do. Each step feels heavier than it should, like I’m walking through years I never knew I’d lost. I stop in front of Harlow. Up close, it’s undeniable.
The same blood. The same bone. I pull him into me, arms locking around him, tight enough to make it real.
“I found you,” I whisper, my voice rough, breaking despite myself. My grip tightens. “I finally found you…”
The word lands between us, raw and misplaced, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not for him. It’s for the man we both lost, Dad.
“Alpha Romero?” Harlow breathes, confusion threading through his voice, but he holds on anyway.
I pull back just enough to see him. Tears threaten to pour for a second, but I don’t look away. My hands rise, almost without thinking, tracing the shape of him, rubbing quickly to check my instinct. The line of his jaw. The set of his shoulders. Familiar in a way that hits too deep to ignore.
His eyes stop me. Dark. Just like our father’s. Something I never had.
A laugh breaks out of me, sudden and unsteady, cutting through the weight in my chest. I grip his shoulders harder, like I need to anchor us both in this moment. Then I pull him to my side, my arm slung around him. Solid. Certain.
Together, we turn to face the elders. Let them look. Let them see what they tried to erase.
“Listen closely,” I say, my voice cutting clean through the noise.
“I, Alpha Romero Blackmoore, recognize him as my brother. From this moment on, he stands as Harlow Blackmoore. He is an heir of Alpha Blackmoore of the First Light Pack.” My words roll through the ballroom like thunder, leaving no space for doubt.
I turn to Beta Julius, seated among the guests. He gives a sharp nod and lifts his phone, snapping a photo. A second later, my own phone vibrates in my pocket. The announcement is already moving through the First Light Pack.
“Is this a joke?” Mr. Darius stammers. Mrs. Gertrude looks just as shaken.
“It’s not,” I reply, my gaze hardening. “Anyone who lays a hand on him, anyone who dares mistreat him, answers to me. The First Light Pack will protect him as one of our own.” I let my eyes linger on them a second longer and both of them go pale.
“Hm. Now that’s interesting,” Alpha Alastair says, a slow smirk pulling at his lips.
The room erupts into murmurs. Voices overlap, questions spilling into each other. The air shifts, heavy with everything that has just been set in motion.
Harlow turns to me, blinking like he’s still trying to catch up with reality. I don’t rush him. I just hold his gaze and let him take it in.
Movement draws my attention. Mr. Pascoe is already crossing the room, fast and unsteady. Tears streak down his face, but he doesn’t stop. When he reaches us, Alexa steps aside, giving him space. I loosen my hold on Harlow, letting him face the man fully.
“Mr. Pascoe…” Harlow starts, uncertain.
“Harlow,” Mr. Pascoe says, his voice breaking. He grips Harlow’s arm, desperate and trembling. “Forgive me. Forgive my sins. Forgive your grandparents for their arrogance. And your mother… for leaving you alone.”
His breath shakes. “Grandma Phillips has passed away. Her son disappeared. There’s no one left in that home.” His grip tightens. “I’m your family now. The only one you have left.”
Harlow doesn’t pull away. “It’s okay, Mr. Pascoe,” he murmurs. “There’s nothing to forgive. I understand my mother now. I never hated her. Not her, not the Phillips family.”
There’s a calm in his voice that settles something in the room. It fits him in a way that feels… right. Mr. Pascoe exhales, something like relief breaking through his grief. He straightens, pride rising in his posture.
“Then hear this,” he declares. “You are the son of Diana Wright, descendant of the Wright family of the Silver Moon Pack. From this day forward, you are also part of my family.”
He pauses, his expression softening. “Call me Uncle.”
Harlow hesitates for a heartbeat. Then he murmurs, “Yes… Uncle.” That’s all it takes.
Mr. Pascoe breaks into a wide, tearful smile and pulls him into a tight embrace. Even after he lets go, his hand keeps patting Harlow’s back, like he’s making up for years in seconds. I can’t help it. A grin spreads across my face.
Across the room, Mr. Darius and Mrs. Gertrude look like the ground has shifted beneath them. The truth has stripped them bare. There’s nowhere left to hide.
“So, Mr. Pascoe,” Alexa says, her voice cutting clean through the moment, steady and precise. “This confirms Harlow carries an Alpha bloodline. His Lycan is pure. Not stolen. Not enhanced by some cheap transformative potion. Correct?”
“Yes. Yes,” Mr. Pascoe answers immediately, nodding again and again, a bright, almost disbelieving smile still on his face.
“Harlow Blackmoore is a Lycan of pure Alpha lineage,” he continues, his voice ringing out across the hall. “The son of Diana Wright and Alpha Gregory Blackmoore, born under true mate bond. There is no doubt left. He’s more than worthy of becoming an Alpha.”
“That’s not proof,” Mr. Darius snaps, his voice sharp with resistance. “All of this comes from memory magic. We demand real evidence.”
“Fine,” I say without hesitation. “We’ll run a DNA test. My hospital will handle it.”
“No,” he shoots back. “We go to another hospital. Neutral ground.”
I almost laugh. “Suit yourself.”
Before I can say more, Mr. Pascoe steps forward again, planting himself firmly beside Harlow. “It doesn’t matter,” he says, his voice steady now. “I stand as witness to his bloodline and his strength. Once the results are out, we will proceed with his coronation as our Alpha.”
Silence ripples outward from him. Then his gaze shifts. It sharpens.
“And until then,” he says, looking straight at Mrs. Gertrude, “the elders will convene in private. We will decide the proper punishment for traitors… and cowards.”
The words hang in the air, heavy as a verdict already written.