CHAPTER 101: DESIRE PATHS

ALDRIC

I leaned back in the leather chair of my room’s lounge and stared at my phone. The screen glowed in the dim light of the room. Cian’s voice mail had been sent to Valentine minutes ago. By now the witch would have heard it. By now her family would be in shambles trying to figure out what to do.

I could picture it perfectly. Madeline’s stone faced father finally cracking. Madeline’s mother wringing her hands while playing dumb And Madeline herself sitting there with blood she thought was on her hands while I dangled Cian’s mother’s life in front of her like a carrot.

Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

I scrolled through my contacts and found Madeline’s number. My thumb hovered over the call button. Should I give her a few more minutes to stew? Let the panic really sink in?

No. It was better to strike while the iron was hot. While she was still reeling from whatever lecture her father had given her. While she still felt guilty about the witch I’d made her kill.

I pressed call.

The phone rang once. Twice. Three times.

She was making me wait. The little brat was actually making me wait. I grinned despite myself. She still had some fight in her after all. Good. I liked it better when they had spirit. Made breaking them so much more satisfying.

The line clicked.

"Did you silently curse me out before picking up?" I kept my voice light. Friendly even.

There was silence on the other end. I could hear her breathing though. Quick, shallow and definitely angry.

"Im only saying that because I expected you to pick up faster."

"You called for a reason." Her voice came out clipped. Cold. "Do not waste my time."

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. "I’m trying to break the ice here, Madeline. We’re going to be working together again. Might as well be civil about it."

There was more silence. She was grinding her teeth now. I’d bet money on it.

"Anyway." I sat forward and rested my elbows on the desk. "Sooner or later your father would get a voice note from my very traumatized and depressed nephew."

"Oh I have had that conversation." The ice in her voice could have frozen hell over. "What the fuck Aldric? Cian sounded terrified. What are you doing to his mother? Is she really going to die?"

"Not anymore."

I heard her sharp intake of breath. The way she tried to control it and failed.

"I just called to tell you one thing." I picked up a pen from my desk. Clicked it open and closed. Open and closed. "Do not contact Cian until the wedding of Alpha Julius."

"What?"

"You heard me." Click. Click. "I know you would be facing some temptation already. That hero complex of yours must be screaming at you to rush in and save the day. So don’t think about it. Do not even dare."

A scoff came through the speaker. Sharp and bitter. "I will not stand for you hurting Cian."

"Are you going to threaten me with that lock of hair again?" I set the pen down. "I am sure it gives you some false sense of security and I am happy to play along. But I know the last thing you are is stupid. So stop threatening me. I can be quite petty."

"You think I will not kill you?"

There it was. The tremble beneath the bravado. The fear she tried so hard to hide.

"Oh I know you want to." I stood up and walked to the window. Looked out at the mess of the garden that an estate pack house such as Skollrend had. At the trees swaying in the night breeze. "I know you and your father want to do it badly. But you two are terrified of the repercussions. The release of what your father has done. How your family will suffer for it."

I paused and let that sink in.

"And you my dear are very family oriented."

Her breathing had quickened. I could practically see her face. The way her jaw would be clenched. The way her hands would be shaking with impotent rage.

"I realized it quite perfectly when you chose your father and your family over Cian years ago."

That hit home. I heard the sharp exhale. The way she tried to cover it with a cough.

"Will you prove me wrong this time around?"

"You monster." Her voice cracked. "You left me no choice."

"Of course I did." I smiled at my reflection in the window. "I am thorough but I am no monster. The thing is... No one can have their cake and eat it. I know that too well. So you should catch up with the times witch. I gave you a choice and you chose your family."

I turned away from the window and walked back to my desk. This conversation was almost done. Just one more twist of the knife.

"It was nice talking to you. Greet Valentine for me."

"Can you promise me that his mother will not die before I arrive?"

The desperation in that question.... Good goddess... The way she tried to hide it too and failed. Delicious.

"It’s only a little cardiac arrest." I sat down. Picked up the pen again. "Don’t worry. She will be fine."

Click. Click. Click.

"If anything... Who you should be worrying about is the new girl. The Omega bride."

There was a pause. But I could tell she was curious. She was absolutely dying to know. "What about her?"

Perfect. She’d taken the bait.

"Cian seems to be warming up to her." I let amusement color my voice. "It is uncanny really. Soon enough Cian’s walls will probably fall and he might fall for her. We cannot let that happen now. Can we?"

The silence that followed was everything I’d hoped for. I could picture Madeline’s face going pale. Could imagine the way her stomach would drop. The way jealousy and guilt would war inside her chest.

She still loved him. After everything. After all the years and all the hurt. She still loved my nephew.

Which made this so much easier.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. The sound wanted to bubble up. Wanted to spill out in a cackle that would give away just how much I was enjoying this. But no. Control. I needed restraint.

"Goodbye Aldric."

Her voice was flat. Empty. Like she’d shut down something inside herself.

"See you soon."

She didn’t say it back. The line just went dead.

I set the phone down on my desk and stared at it for a long moment. Then I let myself laugh. Low and quiet at first. Then louder. Until I had to press my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound.

She would come. Of course she would come. I’d made sure of it. Dangled Cian’s mother’s life in front of her like a prize. Planted the seed of jealousy about this Omega girl. Given her just enough information to make her desperate and not enough to let her plan.

My phone buzzed. A text from one of my contacts in the pack. An update on the security around Cian’s mother. On the Omega Luna settling into her new life.

I read it all. Absorbed every detail. Added it to the map in my head. The constantly shifting chess board where I moved pieces and removed threats and positioned everything just so.

Some people would call what I was doing evil. Monstrous even. Those were Madeline’s words weren’t they. You monster.

But I wasn’t a monster. Monsters acted without purpose. Without plan. They destroyed for the sake of destroying.

I was an artist. And Skollrend was my canvas.

Every stroke mattered. Every color had purpose. Every line led somewhere deliberate.

Cian didn’t understand that yet. He thought he could resist. He didn’t realize that I’d been shaping his father croaked.

A lot has happened to him. None of it was random. None of it was chance.

All of it was me.

I stood up from my chair and stretched. The clock on the wall now read past midnight. Late. But I wasn’t tired. My mind buzzed with too many thoughts. Too many possibilities.

I walked to the bookshelf. Ran my fingers along the spines. Found the one I wanted. A journal. Old leather with worn pages.