Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 111

Lucky

The Oracle walked out the door, leaving both Hycinth and me gutted and raw with the truth, utter devastation in her wake.

Unable to make my body move, I slumped in the chair across from Hycinth. Her arms were wrapped around her middle, clutching her belly. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She rocked back and forth. Confusion swirled unchecked in her irises, mirroring mine, trying to wrap her head around the impossible.

But neither of us couldn’t any make sense out of what we’d heard.

Nothing made sense anymore…

Lost blue eyes focused on me. “I thought it was about the war, Lucky-the decades-old conflict between our pack and Leander’s -it was supposed to be about the war!” Hycinth wailed, gasping for breath. Desperation colored every word. “Not me! Why did they have to kill Leander’s mother and your mate because of me?!”

I inhaled slowly and let the breath out. I wasn’t sure I could talk about my mate without breaking down into a puddle on the floor, so I focused on the first part of her statement, hoping to undo just a little bit of the damage done, “We don’t know for sure they killed Leander’s mother because of you,” but even as I said it, the words rung hollow.

“You know it’s true,” Hycinth insisted, twisting her hands together. “It has to be connected. Why else would they have been there? Why else would they have attacked her…if not an attempt to get to Leander?” Her eyes cut wildly, darting back-and-forth around the room. She was losing control. This revelation was just too much for her. She loved our parents. So had I, with my whole heart…

…but they hadn’t loved me.

Not even a little.

They couldn’t have…not, and still do what they did.

They stole the most precious gift from me.

My thoughts shifted darker-what kind of death had they given her? Had it been quick and painless, or had they been ruthless and showed no mercy? I shuddered at the thought. The cold pit in my stomach churned.

I knew her name-Madison-but I needed to know more. Someone else in our pack had to know. Maybe my father’s-no, that wasn’t right, that bastard didn’t deserve the title and I refused to think of him like that anymore- maybe that jackass Alpha Grant’s old beta, Julian, knew something. Of course, that was if the little rat was still alive. Hycinth and I had left in the middle of the battle. We hadn’t seen firsthand who lived or died. When Ever dropped the bomb that our pack still existed, I’d been so shocked, it hadn’t even occurred to me to ask him about individual wolves.

“It’s all my f-fault,” Hycinth whispered, her voice hitching, “All my fault.”

“What did I tell you about that?” I practically growled. So much pain had been needlessly inflicted. They’d caused so much heartbreak. It had to stop…and it had to stop now. “I’m not going to let you take the blame for their actions.”

“But what about my actions?” she countered dismally, a hard shudder running down her spine.

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I left Leander…my soulmate! And my Wolf…” Her face contorted, the words dying on her lips. She slumped forward, one hand fisting her shirt right over her heart, and struggled to breathe, sucking in gasping lungfuls of air.

Instantly, I eased out of my chair and dropped to my knees in front of her. The added stress of our parent’s betrayal on top of everything else was not good for the baby. I worried about the little life squirming in her belly. Lifting her head gently, I held her tortured gaze. “Breathe with me! Slowly. In and out.”

She nodded and forcibly worked to control her hysteria, sobs and hiccups coming from her lips.

“You did the best you could with the information you had.” I squeezed her fingertips and smoothed a stray lock of hair away from her face. “You said it yourself. You thought Leander’s mother’s death was a result of the war. So did I.”

“It was all a l-lie,” she whimpered, her voice catching. “None of it was real, every moment, of every day -meaningless. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

I couldn’t deny her statement. I felt the same way. Losing the last bit of strength I had, I dropped my forehead to hers. “I know…I thought I was a beloved son…but I’m nobody’s son.”

Once an orphan, always an orphan…the chant went through my mind.

Just a pawn to be played with.

“Oh, Lucky,” Hycinth sobbed, her shoulders shaking. “I’m so sorry they did this to you.” Her head snapped up, her bleary gaze turning fierce. “You may not be their son-they never deserved you-but you will always be my brother.”

Her love washed over me, tangible in the air. My heart twisted in my chest. Holding tightly to her fingers, I sat back on my haunches, and spoke through gritted teeth, “I wish it would have been me.”

Hycinth’s brow furrowed as she searched my expression. “I don’t understand.”

“To kill them,” I hissed, a muscle jumping in my locked jaw. “Leander deserved their b***d…but I deserved it even more. It should have been mine to take.” My Wolf’s claws itched for b***d. I didn’t know how she would take my next statement, but I couldn’t keep it bottled inside. “If I could bring them back right now, I would…just so I could stare into their eyes and revel as the life went out of them.”

The sadness in her eyes deepened. She didn’t disagree. She spoke barely above a whisper, “You’re right. It should have been you.”

We sat silently for a moment until she shook her head and murmured, “I don’t understand that kind of evil.”

I shook my head. “No. It will never make sense. The only thing we can do now is move on.”

Her bottom l*p quivered. “How?”

Knowing that my mate was dead radically changed my perspective on Hycinth’s choices. She had something precious, something I would never have. She couldn’t throw it away. Not for any reason. My goal had always been for her to grow strong enough to return to Leander, to let go of the past and have the future she was always meant to. And during the last few months, she’d been opening up, slowly but surely. She had made progress. But now I realized time should never be wasted. Even one minute apart was too long, not when there was no promise of tomorrow or even the rest of today. “You know what you need to do, don’t you?”

She understood exactly what I meant. Tears breached her crescent lashes, the salty liquid trailing down her cheeks. “Lucky, I’m not fixed, I’m not better. I’m worse. I…I’m broken.”

My resolve strengthened. Now was the time. “Yes. This news has been a hell of a hit to both of us, but you can’t keep running from your problems. You ran from Leander three years ago, and you’re running again now.”

Hycinth sucked in a sharp breath at my words