Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Lucifer
"Your Majesty."
Marcus pushed open the study door, his expression grim. I set down the file in my hand and looked at him.
"Liam again?"
"Yes." Marcus placed a report on my desk. "Third District. Got into it with two other wolves. By the time the guards arrived, he'd already bloodied one of their noses."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Here we go again.
This was the fourth time this month. Five times last month. Six the month before. Liam was getting more rebellious, more out of control. Street fights, backtalk to teachers, and once he'd even scaled the school wall to skip class—guards found him outside a bar.
A ten-year-old kid outside a bar? Thank God the bouncer had some integrity and couldn't be bribed to let him in.
I rubbed my temples. They were throbbing.
"What about the other two wolves?"
"Both from noble families." Marcus's tone carried a hint of helplessness. "Their parents have already filed complaints. Said Liam was too rough, and that—"
He paused.
"Said what?"
"That you're indulging your bastard son and making the Hale family a laughingstock." Marcus looked at me carefully. "The Elder Council's been talking too."
My fingers drummed twice on the desk.
Bastard son.
That label had followed Liam for five years. After I banished Elena, I'd announced Liam's identity—that he was my biological son, not adopted. A rash decision made in the heat of the moment. I thought it would be better for him.
I was wrong.
Announcing his identity only made the whispers louder.
"Mixed-blood bastard."
"Spawn with no known mother."
"The Hale family's shame."
These words reached Liam's ears, spread through his school, and echoed across all of Silver pine.
And I could do nothing. Liam didn't care about any of it. He hated me for one reason only—because I'd banished his mother.
"Bring him back." I ground out. "Now."
Marcus bowed and left.
I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. The chandelier's crystals caught the afternoon light, flashing, piercing.
Liam turning out like this—that was on me.
Five years ago, I threw Elena out with my own hands. I denied she was my mate in front of everyone. I let the bond shatter. I watched her kneel in the rain, begging me to believe her, and I walked away.
Then Liam found out. He learned Elena was his birth mother. He learned I was the one who drove her away. He learned I didn't believe her.
From that day on, he changed. He stopped calling me "Dad," switched to "Your Majesty." He stopped talking to me unless I spoke first. He started cutting class, started fighting, started finding every way possible to tell me—he hated me.
I hated myself too.
After a while, the door opened, and Liam walked in. His T-shirt was stained with blood, his lip split, his hair a mess. He stood in the doorway, hands shoved in his pockets, chin tilted up, eyes full of defiance.
Marcus bowed to me and quietly closed the door.
"Fighting again." My voice came out cold, laced with warning. "Why?"
"They started it." Liam leaned against the desk, that slouching posture stoking my anger another degree. His tone was flat, like he was commenting on the weather.
"What did they say?" I frowned.
"Nothing much." He shrugged. "Just some stuff about my mom."
My fingers clenched.
"What stuff?"
"You want to hear?" Liam lifted his head to look at me, those gray eyes—identical to mine—filled with mockery. "They said my mom was a liar, a mongrel, a whore trying to climb into your bed. So I beat them up."
He said it casually, but I saw his hands balled into fists inside his pockets.
"Liam—"
"Anything else?" He cut me off. "Can I go now?"
"No." I stood, walking around the desk. "Do you understand what your actions do to the Hale family? Those nobles are already talking—"
"I don't care."
"You should care!" My voice rose. "You're the Hale heir. Your every action represents—"
"Represents what?" Liam suddenly shouted back. "That you threw my mom out? That you didn't believe her? That you let her give birth to my sister alone?"
His voice echoed through the study. I stood there, something lodged in my throat.
"You know what?" Liam's eyes reddened, but he didn't cry. "My mom was pregnant. When you banished her, she had wounds on her stomach. She almost died. Then she gave birth to my sister alone and ran away."
My chest felt like something had slammed into it.
"How do you—"
"I looked into it." Liam's voice dripped with hatred. "If I want to find something out, I can. I'm Your Majesty's bastard son. I've got half your bloodline. Those people might look down on me behind my back, but to my face they have to bow and scrape!"
My hands were shaking.
"But I don't care what they say. I know I'm not a bastard. I have a mother. You know what? The day you threw her out, I wanted to call her Mom!" Liam stared at me. "She'll never get to hear it now."
I opened my mouth, tried to say something, but no sound came out.
"So don't talk to me about the Hale family's reputation." Liam turned toward the door. "You have no shame yourself. Why would I care about any of this?"
"Liam!"
He stopped but didn't turn around.
"Your credit card. I'm cutting it off." My voice was tight. "Until you learn some self-control."
Liam stood there, shoulders trembling slightly. Then he laughed once and pushed through the door. It slammed shut behind him with a bang.
I stood in the study, hands braced on the desk edge, breathing hard.
My wolf whimpered low in my chest. It lay there, head resting on emptiness—the space that should belong to our mate.
If Elena were still here—
The thought surfaced like always. If Elena were still here, Liam wouldn't be like this. If Elena were still here, we'd be a complete family with a daughter, and Liam would be a responsible big brother instead of this. If Elena were still here—
But she wasn't.
Because I drove her away.
I walked to the window, looking down at the street. Sunlight spilled across the cobblestones, pedestrians coming and going. Silver pine was still Silver pine—prosperous, bustling, orderly.
But for me, it was missing the most important thing.
Missing her.
Five years. For five years, I'd been searching for her. I'd sent people to every corner of Silver pine, to surrounding cities, even to other kingdoms. I'd combed through every record, questioned everyone who might have seen her.
But she'd vanished like smoke.
I'd gone to the Gray house.
That day, I stood at the Gray family gate, Cecilia—Elena's mother—standing nervously at the bottom of the steps, the entire Gray household behind her.
"Where's Elena?" I asked.
"I don't know." Her voice shook. "I banished her."
"What?"
Cecilia flinched. "Because she tried to harm a royal child, so I had to—"
My fists clenched.
"She's your daughter."
"No, she's just a mistake I made when I was young." Cecilia rushed to distance herself. "Nothing more."
I stood there, looking at her ingratiating face, that place in my chest tearing open. Elena had always been alone.
If I'd believed Elena back then, if I hadn't thrown her out, she wouldn't have been banished by her own mother. She wouldn't have given birth alone, wouldn't have run, wouldn't have disappeared.
All my fault.
"Your Majesty."
I snapped back, turned around, and frowned when I saw who it was. Lina stood in the doorway holding a tea tray.
"I heard Liam caused trouble again." She walked in, seemingly oblivious to my expression, setting the tray on the desk. "Are you all right?"
"Get out."
"You don't look well." Lina poured a cup of tea and offered it to me, doing only what she wanted. "Do you need to rest?"
I took the cup but didn't drink.
I hadn't wanted Lina to come today. I had work to handle, a new shop on the commercial street to inspect—I'd only brought Marcus. But Lina insisted on tagging along, said she was worried about me, and wanted to help.
I refused twice. She came anyway. For five years, Lina had remained at Hale Manor.
By rights, I should have made her leave—she'd made Elena lick her shoes!
But the Hale family had taken her in, and without solid grounds to expel her, it would damage the family's reputation.
The Elder Council disagreed, too. Wolves respected their elders.
And besides, I still needed to investigate something.
The Butcher Squad.
Those two men who attacked Liam at the Harvest Festival, what they'd said before dying—"The task you gave us is done"—kept echoing in my head. Who were they talking to? Now I knew it couldn't have been Elena. She was Liam's birth mother—how could she harm her own child?
I'd been investigating for five years and found some leads. The cult's mastermind was a woman, cautious, never showing her face. I started thinking about Lina's expressions, those dark looks, how when I'd planned to merely banish Elena, Lina had been even more agitated than Marcus.
I couldn't be certain, but I couldn't ignore any possibility either. So I kept Lina close, watched her, waited for her to slip up.
"Lucifer," Lina's voice pulled me back. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing." I set down the cup. "You can go."
"But—"
"I said you can go."
Lina's expression froze. She stood there, fingers gripping her skirt.
"Lucifer, the way you've treated me these past years..." She bit her lower lip. "Are you still thinking about Elena?"
My gaze landed on her face. "What do you think?
I'm warning you—" I stepped closer, staring into her eyes, no hint of intimacy, only suppressed fury.
"Lina, don't ask about things that don't concern you.
Don't forget, I haven't settled accounts with you for humiliating Elena.
When I find her, you'll lick her shoes too! "
Lina's face went deathly pale, but she still spoke. "But she hurt Liam! With the Butcher Squad!"
"But you still did all this for her." Lina's voice trembled. "You repealed those laws against mixed-bloods. You announced Liam's identity. You even defied the Elder Council to search the human world for her!"
"She's my mate!" I growled.
"But what you're doing—the Elder Council is furious!" Lina took a step forward, then backed up under my glare, hand pressed to her chest, trembling.
"What I do doesn't require anyone's approval." I looked at her. "Including yours."
Lina's face went white. She stood there, lips quivering.
"Lucifer, I'm just worried about you—"
"Don't be."
"But I—"
She suddenly stepped forward, her hand landing on my arm.
"Lucifer, I've been by your side all these years. I took care of Liam, helped manage the household, I—"
I jerked my arm away.
Lina stumbled back, nearly falling. She looked at me, eyes reddening.
"Listen carefully." My voice was ice, each word clipped. "There is nothing between you and me. You took care of Liam—that was your choice. I never asked you to, and besides, Liam can't stand you!"
"But—"
"Whatever feelings you have for me, bury them." I took a step forward, and Lina instinctively retreated. "I feel nothing for you. Never have. I told you before I only loved you like family. Now I don't even have that!"
Lina's face went ashen. She opened her mouth, tried to speak, but no sound came out. She turned and left, footsteps quick, almost running. The door closed behind her, and the study fell silent again.
I stood there, hands braced on the desk edge.
Elena. My Elena. Where are you?
I rubbed my temples and left the study.
"Marcus."
He'd been waiting outside and immediately bowed. "Your Majesty."
"Prepare the car," I said. "I need to find Liam."
Marcus bowed and went to make arrangements.
I stood in the hallway, looking at the sunlight outside.
Liam must still be wandering the streets.
I'd cut off his card—he shouldn't have much money on him.
Knowing his personality, he wouldn't come home on his own.
He was probably getting into more trouble.
I had to find him, talk to him properly. I didn't know if he'd listen, but I had to try.
Because I'd already lost Elena. I couldn't lose Liam too—couldn't let him keep spiraling down this path.