Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 136

Aiden's pov

"Wait, are you saying that your mother orchestrated the massacre?" Ren whispered, unable to believe what he just heard, what Corrigan just told us and simultaneously voicing the question I'm sure I would have asked if I wasn't currently spiraling into madness. "No, she merely advised Edgar on the steps to take, knowing that it would weaken him enough to let Victor liaise with the hunters to infiltrate the pack."

"Why?" Zac was suddenly furious. Livid. "Why will she cause the death of THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE for no real reason?!"

"Victor convinced my mother that Edgar knew of her plans. And she needed him out of the way to get to his daughter. It's just power play for her. Victor killing your parents, Aiden, was something nobody saw coming."

I couldn't believe it. I could laugh at the absurdity of all of this.

Infact. Ha ha! Ha ha ha!! I can't-

I clutched my chest, panting hard, suddenly replaceing it difficult to breathe.

Everything... everything had been a lie...

My head spun, my ears ringing as I tried to process all the information that Cade had just thrown at me.

When he first showed up, we had wanted to get Lily and replace out why she left like that, but Rhea and Chelsea decided it was a better idea for them to go after her. While they had gone to replace her, we, the boys and I had led Cade to our basement lounge to hear what he had to say and why Lily had reacted so badly to him.

I was sure at the back of my mind that for her to have reacted that way, he must have done something to her because the look in her eyes when she saw him was almost a replica of how she used to look at me before; in fear and disgust. But this?

What Cade was saying was unbelievable. It couldn't be true. It was some kind of joke!

We were well acquainted with Cade Corrigan and his family and met each other at social functions thanks to our parents but he had ended up having to go to Gold crest high, founded by his grandparents while Zac, Ren and I had come to the academy which was built jointly by our families.

He didn't have any reason to have any sort of hatred towards me so how could he say that my uncle... my own uncle had been involved in the m******e of my family, his own family?

How could he say something so abhorrent and expect me to take it as truth?

All my life, I had been told that it was Edgar, Lily's father and it was what had played a huge role in how I had treated Lily from the start; but this? And everything he had been saying was going on with Gold crest? How could everything I ever knew be a lie?

Victor was many things, an abuser included but a mass murderer? The wards had been infiltrated with help from not just him but Cade's family? Rhodium, wolfsbane, silver... all those were a death sentence for our kind, and now this thing called feral blooms... I had narrowly survived that incident thanks to the protective spells that had been casted on me due to the numerous murder attempts at the time but what if I hadn't?

I would be dead, like my parents who had trusted Victor with their life and my sister who idolized him.

No, this was not possible.

It couldn't be.

Cade had to be lying.

My hands shaking, I grabbed Cade by the shirt and pinned him against the wall, shaking him hard.

"You're lying! Tell me you're f*****g lying, man!"

"Aiden" Ren called but Zac held him back.

"Why should I believe you? Why should any of us? Why should we trust a word that comes out of your lying mouth? You already admitted to working for a traitor! The council will have your head for it!"

Cade shoved me off and dusted his jacket, casting me a miffed glare. "Why would I come all the way here to fabricate a lie about my own family? I know this because I overheard Victor telling my mother about it and her being complicit in the plan. It was my own cousin, Kyle who had sold Victor the feral blooms and if you remember correctly, the ferals had left the workers in the house alone that dreadful night because they were intent on replaceing the alpha, luna, you and your sister, almost like they had been particularly instructed to do so.

"How many feral wolves do you know are that intelligent? Think, Aiden, think about it." He answered calmly, even though I was seconds away from tearing him to pieces for destroying the peace of mind I once had.

My shoulders dropped, suddenly heavy like I was carrying a boulder on my back, my claws retracted as my spirit slumped, my entire body racking with revulsion as I remembered how confused the entire pack had been that ferals had left people alive in the halls as they passed through and only slaughtered my family.

Regular ferals were chaotic, wild and unable to manage but those ferals that night had been oddly specific. Too specific.

Bile rose in my throat and when I staggered back, Ren gripped my shoulder, and I realized that I felt dizzy as he led me to sit.

I dropped my face in my hands. How could I face Lily after learning all this? How could I even look her in the eye and tell her that her father was indeed innocent after everything that I had done to her?

She would never even be able to forgive me for what I had done if she knew that all this time, all my accusations had been false?

Even if she did, now more than ever, it was glaring that a scumbag like me did not even deserve a pure soul like hers. I felt like throwing up.

"Have some water." Ren whispered gently, his hand on my back was the only thing that still kept me grounded despite the earth shattering news. He was a better man than I would ever be.

Zac frowned at Cade, his arms folded.

"How did you regain your memories? Because why are you just confessing now?"

"I always knew her name. Our texts were backed up, so it was easy to replace her face. We texted a lot, she used to send me pictures..." he cleared his throat, his cheeks going red, before he continued, "but my memories only started coming back to me a few weeks ago. I remembered the witch telling my mother that what he had done to me was only going to be reversed if he died. My guess is that he is dead now."

The witch... Nyx? I asked.

Of course, Aiden. He is the same one I killed.

You didn't tell me that he was connected to Cade. How much do you know?

I told you, we had an old score to settle. That is all you need to know about the matter.

With that, I felt his presence leave, leaving me with a bunch of unanswered questions swirling in my head. Nyx was done talking and if I didn't want him to throw a tantrum, it was best to leave him as he is.

"As to why I'm here now," Cade continued, "I've been keeping tabs on Lily since I started getting my memories back, all behind my mother's back, of course. I learned that Lily had found her mate in the process. While I don't think my mother or Victor know about it yet, it is only a matter of time before they do and restart their plans in earnest."

I glanced at Ren and saw that he was staring at Cade earnestly, a telltale that he was searching his mind.

"Is he telling the truth, Ren?" I asked, hoping he'd call bullshit.

Ren looked away from him to nod, his jaw stiff and body taut with anger and disappointment and we both knew that he wanted so badly for the whole truth to be a lie.

"So what do we do now?" Zac asked and Cade shrugged.

"My loyalty is to Lily and Lily alone. I don't care if you believe me, all I care about is keeping my mate safe."

Hearing that, something sparked to life in my chest, rage exploding in my veins as I glared at Cade.

"Your mate? Lily is mine! MY mate! Don't think for a second that because you came here and told this unbelievable as fu c k tale, you can just waltz back into her life and pick up where you left off."

"Being her boyfriend is very different from being her mate, Cade, we can't verify your claim since Lily never felt the bond. Choose your words carefully." Ren said, and I realized that he had rested his hand on my shoulder again, perhaps to stop me from acting on impulse because my claws were out again.

Cade scoffed at me. "You really are so full of yourself, Aiden. She was mine first and I didn't consent to having our bond broken which still makes her mine in my books. But unlike you, I'm not narcissistic enough to think I still have a chance with Lily after completely f*****g up what we had before. If I could go back, I would have never left Lily to herself, I'd have clawed my way back to her. But you, I heard about how you used to treat her and now you think you can wash all your misdoings away even with this recent information that has come to light? You're even lucky to kiss the ground that she walks on and you'd do well to remember it."

The fact that Cade was right enraged me so bad, I rose to my feet, ready to pummel his stupid fucking face when a loud explosion rocked the very foundation of the entire school, shaking the ground we were standing on. People started screaming and I heard the sound of scampering feet as they started running helter skelter. My eyes widened and I looked at the boys, as we all realized what was going on.

The wards surrounding Shadow Cove had been broken.

Again.