CHAPTER 216: _ CASTELLS’ WAR

Eli’s her boyfriend?

...?!.

Heidi shoots up from her chair so fast it scrapes across the marble floor. "Excuse me?!"

Sierra smirks. "What, did I hit a nerve?"

Her wolf is a storm now. "Say the word and I’ll rip her tongue out through her teeth. How dare she try to bring you down at the expense of her brother’s heart and happiness?"

Heidi clenches her fists so hard her nails bite into her palms. "You lying..."

"Enough!" Mrs. Castell slams her hand on the table, voice echoing like thunder. "You will not speak to my daughter that way in my house!"

Heidi turns to her, shaking with fury. "Your daughter is lying! You know she’s lying!"

"Watch your tone," Mrs. Castell warns, chin raised. "You forget your place."

Lucan scoffs with incredulity. "This is insane." He steps in front of Heidi like a shield, facing his mother. "You’re humiliating everyone here."

Mrs. Castell glares at him. "You will not take that girl’s side."

"I’m taking the side of reason," he shoots back. His hands are trembling, but his words are steady.

Mr. Castell finally stands. His calm has limits. "Enough. Both of you." He turns to Eli. "Boy, speak. Are you a thief? Are you Heidi’s boyfriend?"

Eli hesitates. His lips part. Nothing comes out. His shoulders shake once before he glances down again.

Heidi’s heart twists. Say something, she wills him silently. Please. Don’t let them kill you with silence.

But Eli can’t. Whatever Mrs. Castell did to him—whatever threats or humiliation she used... has broken his will to fight.

Lucan’s face tightens. He understands it instantly, Heidi can tell. The pain there is too deep for confusion—it’s recognition.

Mrs. Castell folds her arms. "See? He won’t deny it. Thieves never do."

Sierra looks smug. "And now we all know who Heidi’s been sneaking around with."

Heidi’s wolf snarls. "Let me come at her. Just one claw swipe. I’ll make it poetic."

No, Heidi thinks, but it’s getting harder to hold that line. Her pulse is thunder, her body wound tight. How can they do this? How could Mrs. Castell be so devious? How could she turn the narratives and intend to ruin her son completely?

At this rate, Heidi is sure the woman has known about Lucan and Eli’s little secret all along. She’s just been turning a blind eye, waiting for the perfect moment to crush Eli and free her son from what she must have, and is considering a destructive and shameful companionship.

Mr. Castell sighs. "Enough of this circus. Clara, we’ll deal with the boy properly. Guards will escort him out. As for you, Sierra and Heidi..."

"Escort him out?" Lucan explodes. "He’s not an intruder! You don’t even know what happened!"

"Lucan!" Mrs. Castell snaps. "You will not embarrass this family for some low-class thief!"

Heidi watches it all unfold like a slow-motion car crash. Lucan’s throat bobs, his eyes flick to Eli, pleading, desperate. Eli looks back and there’s a world of apology in that single glance.

Heidi feels it like a gut punch. That look says everything they can’t say aloud.

Lucan’s fists clench. "You’re making a mistake," he says through his teeth.

Mrs. Castell doesn’t even blink. "The only mistake here was letting people like him near our home."

Heidi can’t stay silent anymore. "People like him? You mean wolves who weren’t born with silver spoons shoved up their—"

"HEIDI!" Mrs. Castell’s voice thunders "That is ENOUGH!"

But Heidi doesn’t stop. Lucan has stood up for her in more ways than she can count. She won’t stand back and watch his family ruin him. If he won’t say the needful, she will.

Her voice shakes but she keeps going. "You talk about decency while you ruin people’s lives for sport. You talk about purity while your daughter’s out here fabricating evidence and dragging others through filth because she can’t stand not being the center of attention. Maybe look at your own family before you judge someone else’s."

The room freezes.

Lucan looks at her like she’s just thrown him a lifeline. Sierra looks ready to lunge. Mrs. Castell looks like she might combust.

The breakfast is ruined. The peace is dead. And the Castell family has no idea how close they are to being torn apart—for real this time.

The silence after Heidi’s outburst feels radioactive. Every person in the Castell dining room is still, as if a single word might set off an explosion.

Then, with the kind of calm that’s scarier than shouting, Mr. Castell adjusts his cufflinks and clears his throat. "Enough. We are not a pack of savages. Sierra..." His voice hardens as he turns toward his daughter. "You said you have proof. Call your friends. Bring the video. We’ll see what we’re dealing with before I make any judgments."

Sierra’s jaw drops. "What? Dad, what do you mean before? The evidence is obvious!"

Mr. Castell doesn’t even flinch. "Then it shouldn’t take long to prove, should it?"

Sierra makes an indignant noise halfway between a growl and a squeal. "I can’t believe this! You’re seriously giving her—the Moon Blessed—the benefit of the doubt?" She flings her hand toward Heidi like she’s pointing at something diseased. "She doesn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as us, and you’re asking for evidence? You never asked me for proof when I said the maids broke something! You just believed me!"

"Because that was a broken dish," Mr. Castell sighs, his tone as calm as a man describing the weather. "This is a serious accusation. And I will not make a judgment about anyone’s future based on gossip."

Sierra gasps dramatically, spinning toward her mother for backup. "Mom! Are you hearing this? He’s defending her!"

Mrs. Castell’s eyes flash. "I’m hearing, Sierra. I am also trying to understand how a man I married became so spineless that he can’t even stand by his own family."

Mr. Castell’s jaw flexes. "Standing by our family doesn’t mean condemning someone without proof. We’ll do this the right way." He turns back toward the guards, who’ve been hovering awkwardly near the doorway. "Take the boy—Eli—to the pack court. I’ll meet you there shortly."

Eli stiffens, and Heidi’s chest tightens. The words pack court feel final. Everyone knows what that means.