Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 117

At her words. memories of Hycinth floated through my mind…her barely able to get out of bed and the haunted look in her dead eyes. I shook my head sadly. “Hycinth may have had the willpower to walk away, but what good is it when she’s left miserable without him?”

Sydney studied my expression. “Hycinth really wants to come back?”

Bringing my other knee up, I rested both elbows on them and nodded. “She’d been making strides…grieving and facing the past. I hoped it would only be a matter of time before she was strong enough to make the decision on her own, and I think she was getting there slowly but surely. But she’s devastated after everything the Oracle told us yesterday. Alpha Grant hurt so many wolves in his effort to manipulate her future. Right now, she’s internalizing guilt for all of them and can’t see how anyone would want her when she was the catalyst for all of the pain.”

Sydney contemplated my words. “The pack is hurting now without their Luna and the effect her absence has had on Leander. I’m not saying it will be easy, but wolves instinctually want the family dynamic more than anything, and Hycinth did give so many of them a gift that no one else could give.”

That was true. I asked curiously, “How many wolves conceived that night?”

“All ten mated pairs are with pups. That’s never happened before. Usually, only one or two conceive…at the most, five…and that was out of a group larger than just ten mated pairs. It really is a miracle.”

I stared at Sydney in shock. The Oracle’s words played in my mind, “Her Army will be born with her.”

Was this what she meant?

It had to be.

Whatever destiny Hycinth’s daughter had was intrinsically intertwined with these other pups. I was sure of it.

“They are sad and afraid because of the upcoming war with Diamante, but at the same time, we have hope again. When your father killed Isabelle and her baby, we thought her destiny had ended. But now-“

“Wait a minute!” I interrupted, a cold feeling of dread slithering down my spine. “Isabelle…she was Leander’s mother, right?”

Sydney stared at me in confusion at my abrupt change in demeanor. “Yes.”

Somehow, I just knew I didn’t want to hear the answer to the next question but I had to ask. “What do you mean Alpha Grant killed her baby?”

Sydney’s brows pulled tight together. “Of course, he did. You already know this.”

I inhaled sharply. “No, I sure as hell didn’t.”

“Yes, you did,” Sydney insisted. “Hycinth told Leander she knew her father had tortured Isabelle and cut her baby from her womb.”

Her words hit me like a lightning bolt.

Cut her baby from her womb…??

I was gonna be sick.

My stomach lurched. I gasped for air. “Are you telling me that Leander’s mother was pregnant when Alpha Grant killed her?!”

The realization that we had vastly different versions of the story was finally beginning to dawn on Sydney’s face. She leaned forward, her expression intense. “Luca, this makes a difference… tell me exactly what you and Hycinth know.”

My head was spinning. “Beta Julian told me the fight had been terrible, gruesome…he emphasized that word. He said there was a lot of b***d, but in the end, Leander’s mother lost the battle. He said that Leander was the one to replace her, and at that point, Alpha Grant and the Luna retreated because when Leander showed up, they were outnumbered. They planned to continue the battle another day. There was no pregnancy! Why was a pregnant shewolf in battle anyway?” I was having a hard time keeping the hysteria out of my voice. “How could there be a baby?!”

“Luca, Isabelle wasn’t in battle. Cyril hadn’t sent her to fight. He would never do that, certainly not when she was outnumbered and carrying the hope of our pack. Your mother lied to her, enticed her into a fake peace treaty, and then they kidnapped and tortured her.”

“Oh, no…no…no…” I mumbled and gagged, choking down the bile coming up my throat. Out of all of the recent devastating revelations, this was the worst by far, even more than the death of my own mate. At least she had gone quickly and without prolonged pain.

But this….

…this was true evil.

Unable to sit still any longer, I lurched to my feet and paced across the room. The images in my head were wrecking me.

Hycinth was right…

…every f*****g thing about our lives was a lie!

I reached the far wall and banged my head against it again and again. “Why, why… why??!”

Hand gripping my shoulder tight, Sydney stood behind me, trying to stop my assault on the wall. She asked softly, “You really didn’t know, did you?”

Forehead throbbing, I stopped inflicting blow after blow, but I didn’t have the strength to push away from the wall. A sob came up my throat. “No.”

Sydney tugged on my bicep. “Come on. Let’s get another beer. We clearly both need it. And then we can talk.”

Docile as a lamb, I let her lead me back and sank down on the couch, before she went into the kitchen to retrieve two more beers. I’d never felt so defeated and lost.

When Sydney returned, I twisted the bottle open and turned it up, letting the cold liquid soothe my parched and thick throat.

I needed to think. There were just too many pieces, too much happening at once. I couldn’t miss anything. There was something in the back of my mind, something Sydney said before. What was it?

Something about Isabelle’s baby…

…I remembered now.

“What did you mean when you said the baby was the ‘hope’ of your pack?”

Sydney took a swig of her drink. “Everyone was shocked when Isabelle became pregnant at such a late age. Her pregnancy should have been impossible. We all knew her baby was special. You could just feel it around her. It was confirmed when the same Oracle you spoke with yesterday visited us. She explained the baby girl was meant for great things. She would unite the werewolf nations.” Sydney lifted and pulled a bent leg beneath her before settling back in her chair.

I was beginning to understand…